Antecedents,consequences, and reducers of perceived risk in social media: A systematic literature review and directions for further research

The social media has become an integral part of the marketing strategy. Marketing activities are now more inclined to online social networks (OSNs) than ever before in the history of the business. More and more consumers are joining OSNs for the sake of fun, socialization, and online buying. Every user perceives some degree of risk while joining and using OSNs. The current systematic literature review gathers and synthesizes research records of the last 9 years (2010–18) on consumer perceived risks concerning OSNs. We used PRISMA as a protocol to conduct this systematic literature review. The synthesis provides a detailed account of the perceived risk factors, their antecedents and consequences, risk-reducing strategies, and future research potential in the said domain.     

Understanding the Factors That Affect the Adoption of Innovative High-Technology Brands: The Case of Apple iPhone in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine how innovation attributes, social influence, and perceived risk can affect technology brand adoption. The impact of innovation attributes, social influence, and perceived risk on iPhone adoption has been tested through series of tests (i.e., reliability, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlations, multiple regression analysis, and moderation effect of gender). The sample consists of 134 Malaysian students. Results revealed the importance of relative advantage, trialability, and social influence as key constructs in adoption intention. The study also showed that gender of the consumer has no moderating effect on the adoption intention. Practical guidelines are provided to marketing managers on how to use those factors to increase the adoption of new brands among customers.     

Antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic deals: A frame of resource exchange

This study examines the antecedents and consequences of both timing and content of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) for attracting and retaining valuable employees. A resource exchange frame theorizes the influence pattern of personal individualism value, social skill, and perceived insider status on i-deals timing. Individualism and social skill are expected to relate to both ex ante and ex post i-deals; perceived insider status is anticipated to relate only to ex post i-deals. The frame also suggests that i-deals’ content and personal development relate primarily to relational and balanced psychological contracts; the other ex post i-deals, flexibility and workload reduction relate to transactional psychological contracts. The frame was tested with data collected from 289 Chinese employees in the telecommunication industry.     

An Empirical Investigation of Brand Equity: A Cross-Country Validation Analysis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to propose and test a model in order to better understand brand equity. The goal of this research is to identify the drivers and determine how they influence brand equity performance in the researched industry in order to develop a more effective brand strategy. Quantitative data collected are used to test a model of brand value in the context of the food industry. The findings of this research provided evidence that the customer-based brand equity model can be applied to the food industry context and be used to guide marketing activities internationally. Brand awareness has a positive influence on brand associations and perceived quality. Brand associations have a positive influence on brand loyalty. Finally, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations all have a positive effect on brand equity. This study contributes to the scarce international brand equity literature by testing the proposed model using data from a sample of consumers in two European countries.     

Brand Personality of Global Quick-Service Restaurants in Emerging and Developed Markets: A Comparative Study in Brazil and the U.S.

This study aimed to determine the dimensions of the personality of global quick-service restaurant brands perceived by young consumers in the U.S. and Brazil, and whether these dimensions showed similar configurations in both countries. A survey was carried out with two QSR brands (McDonald's and Subway). Data analysis utilized exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The study identified five personality dimensions for each of the brands studied in each country. Results support the proposition that global brands can carry a common meaning across nations, but also that certain local nuances of brand personalities can differ.     

Measuring Corporate Citizenship in Two Countries: The Case of the United States and France

Based on an extensive review of the literature and field surveys, the paper proposes a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship meaningful in two countries: the United States and France. A survey of 210 American and 120 French managers provides support for the proposed definition of corporate citizenship as a construct including the four correlated factors of economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary citizenship. The managerial implications of the research and directions for future research are discussed.     

A New Look at the Antecedents and Consequences of Relationship Quality in the Hotel Service Environment

Abstract

As economic conditions improve, hotels are investing in new ways to improve service quality and perceived value that hopefully will lead to better customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study took a new look, with newly developed scales, at the antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in the hotel service environment to shed new light on the factors hotels have to deal with to achieve their objective of satisfied and loyal customers. Using a structural equation model, it was determined that the tangible and intangible factors of perceived value, timeliness, and hotel facilities are antecedents of hotel quality. Hotel quality, subsequently, is a determinant of both customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, consistent with previous research, customer satisfaction is not a guarantee of customer loyalty.     

Environmental Reporting of Global Corporations: A Content Analysis based on Website Disclosures

Today, more corporations disclose information about their environmental performance in response to stakeholder demands of environmental responsibility and accountability. What information do corporations disclose on their websites? This paper investigates the environmental management policies and practices of the 200 largest corporations in the world. Based on a content analysis of the environmental reports of Fortune’s Global 200 companies, this research analyzes the content of corporate environmental disclosures with respect to the following seven areas: environmental planning considerations, top management support to the institutionalization of environmental concerns, environmental structures and organizing specifics, environmental leadership activities, environmental control, external validations or certifications of environmental programs, and forms of corporate environmental disclosures.     

Moral Reasoning as a Determinant of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Study in the Public Accounting Profession

This study examines the relationship between an employee's level of moral reasoning and a form of work performance known as organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Prior research in the public accounting profession has found higher levels of moral reasoning to be positively related to various types of ethical behavior. This study extends the ethical domain of accounting behaviors to include OCB. Analysis of respondents from a public accounting firm in the northeast region of the United States (n = 107) support a positive and significant relationship between moral reasoning and two dimensions of OCB: interpersonal helping behaviors and sportsmanship behaviors. This study controls for previously identified determinants of OCB (e.g., procedural justice) and demographic variables (age, sex, tenure and social desirability). Results suggest that moral reasoning accounts for professional behaviors that are perceived as intrinsically good by the employee and economically beneficial by the employer.     

Brand Analyses of U.S. Global and Local Brands in India: The Case of Levi's

ABSTRACT

This study investigates differences between U.S. global and local brands in the Indian market. Attitudes toward American products and the brand equity of U.S. global and local casual apparel brand in the Indian market are examined. It is postulated that global and local brand influence brand equity, which is composed of brand image, brand awareness, emotional value, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and purchase intention. A total of 411 college students in India participated in the survey. Using repeated measures ANOVA, this study finds that Indian consumers perceive global and local brands differently based on brand equity.     

Social Entrepreneurship in Nonprofit Organizations: An Empirical Investigation of the Synergy Between Social and Business Objectives

Social entrepreneurship in nonprofit organizations has emerged as an increasingly important domain, both in academic research and in practice. This article attempts to further enhance our understanding of the management of nonprofit organizations by investigating the way they balance social and business objectives. Over 200 senior managers of nonprofit organizations participated in our structured telephone interview. The data revealed that many organizations worried about the potential for reduced or lost funding, especially during economic hard times. Issues of sustainability usually headed their list of concerns. Many of these organizations sought to establish revenue generating business streams to offset expected funding shortfalls. The data suggested that over 70% of the nonprofit organizations we interviewed resided in the social entrepreneurship zone. Our results also showed that maintaining a social objective and managing a viable business can be complementary and mutually beneficial activities.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Change in Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective

Stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance. This relationship is investigated by examining how change in CSP is related to change in financial accounting measures. The findings provide some support for a tenet in stakeholder theory which asserts that the dominant stakeholder group, shareholders, financially benefit when management meets the demands of multiple stakeholders. Specifically, change in CSP was positively associated with growth in sales for the current and subsequent year. This indicates that there are short-term benefits from improving CSP. Return on sales was significantly positively related to change in CSP for the third financial period, indicating that long-term financial benefits may exist when CSP is improved.     

Measuring Corporate Social Performance in France: A Critical and Empirical Analysis of ARESE Data

This article studies the idea of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) from a critical perspective using empirical elements derived from analysis of year 2000 ARESE data. ARESE is the French first mover social rating agency providing quantified data about the Social Performance of French companies. The paper starts out by reviewing leading CSP models and discussing problems inherent to the measurement of this construct before going on to present and analyse ARESE data - whose suitability for existing models will be discussed.     

Emotional Exhaustion in Offshore Call Centers: A Comparative Study

The aim of this study is to draw on a cognitive-affective personality system to test if the personality–emotional exhaustion–turnover intentions/perceived service quality relationships are valid among agents working in offshoring call centers. This is achieved by comparing these relationships between two groups' agents: (a) agents interacting with customers having the same national culture in a developed country (ACSC); and (b) agents in a developing country interacting with customers having a different national culture (ACDC). Data were collected from three call centers in Morocco, representing the ACDC group, and a call center in Canada which represented the ACSC group. Data was analyzed using two steps: (a) a paired-samples t-test; and (b) a path analysis using a bootstrap based on the Monte Carlo method. The findings reveal invariant measure of all our concepts, and significant differences between the two groups (ACDC and ACSC) with respect to some personality–emotional exhaustion–turnover intentions/perceived service quality relationships.     

Effects of mentoring functions on receivers' organizational citizenship behavior in a Chinese context: A two-study investigation

This research examines the relationship between mentoring functions received by employees and their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and the moderating effects of perceived quality relationships with mentoring function providers in China. Results of Study 1 from a sample of 385 supervisor-subordinate dyads reveal that role modeling received by protégés positively relates to their OCB, and perceived mentoring relationship quality moderates the association between career support received and protégés' OCB. Moreover, nonprotégés and protégés who receive high levels of overall mentoring functions perform more OCB than protégés who receive low levels of mentoring functions. Results of Study 2 from 258 supervisor-subordinate dyads show that role modeling received by subordinates positively relates to their OCB directed at individuals (OCBI) and at the organization (OCBO) while career support received positively relates to OCBO. Additionally, leader-member exchange moderates the linkages of role modeling with OCBI and OCBO.     

How to Become Central in an Informal Social Network: An Investigation of the Antecedents to Network Centrality in an Environmental SCM Initiative

Environmental supply chain management (SCM) initiatives often evolve as informal, grassroots efforts that are driven by policy entrepreneurs at lower management levels in an organization. These individuals usually are not in positions of power or authority to convince others to support the initiative. They thus rely on central positions in informal networks to gain access to and influence over other employees to be better able to sell these initiatives. This study examines how individuals arrive at positions of centrality within the networks surrounding environmental SCM initiatives. Linking social network theory and social capital theory with findings from the organizational behavior and environmental arena, the study investigates how an individual's proactive personality and commitment profile—affective, normative, and continuance commitment—might affect network centrality through the mediating role of championing behavior. Investigating the implementation of an environmental SCM initiative at a multinational enterprise, the authors identified a 90‐actor social network surrounding the initiative. The results provide evidence that championing behavior fully mediates the relationship between commitment and network centrality and to a lesser extent between proactive personality and network centrality. These findings suggest that championing behavior can enable an actor to become more central in social networks. Further, the results indicate that in an environmental SCM context, engendering the right type of commitment is a much more important driver of championing behavior than the proactive personalities of individual actors. This finding suggests that even employees who do not have proactive personalities can champion environmental initiatives and become central within the informal networks that surround these initiatives, if they strongly desire to support the initiative and believe that the initiative will lead to positive change.     

中国文化贸易的决定因素——基于分类文化产品的面板数据考察

中国文化进口主要集中于综合国力较强的发达国家,而且绝大多数文化产品进口受到出口国市场容量大小的影响,如建筑和设计、珠宝等,但受中国购买力水平影响较小;中国绝大多数文化产品出口受进口国购买力水平影响较为明显;中国文化生产效率的提高可促进其他视觉艺术、珠宝、电影和录像、建筑和设计等文化产品的出口,但对中国文化进口的影响并不明显;除古董进口及其他视觉艺术的出口以外,中国绝大多数文化产品的进、出口与距离变量呈负相关关系;自由贸易区可以促进中国绝大多数文化产品的进、出口.     

Perceived organizational justice, trust, and OCB: A study of Chinese workers in joint ventures and state-owned enterprises

We examine the relationships among perceived organizational justice, trust, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of workers in joint ventures (JVs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China. We hypothesize different dimensions of organizational justice are related to trust in organization and trust in supervisor, which will in turn affect workers’ OCB. Some of these relationships are hypothesized to be different in SOEs and JVs owing to the differences in management practices and employment relationships between them. Our hypotheses are tested on data collected from 295 supervisor–subordinate dyads in a JV and 253 such dyads in an SOE. The analyses reveal that (1) the positive effect of distributive justice on trust in organization is stronger in JVs than in SOEs, (2) the positive effect of procedure justice on trust on organization is stronger in SOEs than in JVs, (3) the effect of interaction justice on trust in supervisor is similar for both types of organization; (4) trust in organization affects OCB in both SOEs and JVs, and (5) trust in supervisor affects OCB in JVs only.     

全球商业革命下的瀑布效应与虹吸效应——应用于对泛珠江三角洲和台湾区域经济分工与协作的初步分析

文章介绍了全球商业革命的三个特征以及发展中国家所面临的挑战;分析了全球商业革命影响下逐渐形成的新的全球商业秩序的本质属性;提出了系统集成关系中的虹吸-瀑布效应模型,分析了虹吸效应和瀑布效应对于产业结构演变的影响;分析了发展中国家在新的全球商业秩序中的困境,并应用上述理论对泛珠江三角洲和台湾区域经济分工与协作进行了初步分析。