Consumer ethics: moral ideologies and ethical beliefs of a micro-culture in the US

This study explores the ethical ideologies and ethical beliefs of African American consumers using the Forsyth ethical position questionnaire (EPQ) and the Muncy–Vitell consumer ethics questionnaire (MVQ). The two dimensions of the EPQ (i.e. idealism and relativism), and gender were the independent variables and the four dimensions of the MVQ (i.e. illegal, active, passive and no harm) were the dependent variables. A sample of 283 students from a historically black university was used to explore the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Findings suggested that consumers who scored higher on the idealism scale and lower on the relativism scale were more likely to reject questionable activities. On average, females expressed more willingness to reject questionable activities than males.     

Predictors, consequence, and measurement of ethical judgments: Review and meta-analysis

As a central construct in theories of ethical decision making, ethical judgments have been the subject of more than one hundred empirical studies. Despite its size, the ethical judgments literature seems to lack clarity in three areas. First, empirical results are sometimes inconsistent or contradictory across studies. Second, a broad array of diverse measures of ethical judgments raises concerns about research validity. Third, differences in sample composition may affect comparability of study results. To help resolve these issues, this study conducts a review and meta-analysis of the ethical judgments literature. The results offer insights in all three areas. They help resolve some of the inconsistencies in the relationships between ethical judgments and certain theoretical antecedents; they support the use of diverse measures of ethical judgments; and they offer caution in the use of student samples in ethical judgments research.     

Development and validation of the Personal Nostalgia Scale

This research conducts five studies and uses 1185 respondents to develop and validate a six-item, seven-point Likert scale capable of measuring a personal nostalgia response to an advertisement. Traditional forms of scale development and a variety of experimental conditions are undertaken to develop and validate the scale. Statistical techniques include t-tests, correlation, regression, confirmatory factor analysis and a multitrait–multimethod matrix. This research fulfils a significant gap in the current knowledge as the current scales neither distinguish between the distinct types of nostalgia nor measure personal nostalgia as a response to advertising independently of other reactions. This is despite personal nostalgia being considered as a distinct form of nostalgia with a suggested differing influence on a number of important consumer behaviour responses. The scale has implications for researchers undertaking future studies exploring personal nostalgia's influence on consumer behaviour reactions. Nostalgia is also a commonly used and has effective advertising appeal, and this research provides practitioners with a parsimonious instrument to measure the level of personal nostalgia experienced as a result of advertising exposure. This assists in ensuring accuracy when predicting consumer reactions.     

Personal and professional values underlying the ethical judgments of marketers

This study explores the relative influences of two levels of value orientations, personal values and professional values, underlying the ethical judgments of marketing practitioners. The data were obtained from a mail survey of the American Marketing Association's professional members. The results generally indicate that a marketer's ethical judgments can be partially explained by his/her personal and professional values.Anusorn Singhapakdi is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University. His papers focusing on various topics in marketing ethics and corporate/consumer social responsibility have been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings.Scott J. Vitell is Associate Professor and holder of the Michael S. Starnes Lectureship in Marketing and Business Ethics at the University of Mississippi. His work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andResearch in Marketing as well as various other journals and proceedings.     

独立董事个人特征与任期内公司经营绩效

本文针对独立董事在性别、教育、专长、经验和资源等方面的个人特征与其任期内公司经营绩效之间的关系,基于2008—2010年间沪深A股上市公司的样本数据,利用多元线性回归分析予以检验。研究发现,从整个任期来看,独立董事的性别、学历、职业背景、多重董事身份、年龄和国际经验等个人特征均不会对公司经营绩效产生显著影响,只有法律专长、会计专长和管理经验等个人特征才具有显著的绩效效应。本文提出,如果监管者希望独立董事制度有助于改善公司经营绩效,就应当进一步完善该制度,促使独立董事聘用与公司经营管理之间的联系更加紧密,建立有助于独立董事充分发挥作用的制度和环境,提高独立董事改善公司经营绩效的激励。     

The influence of ethical climate on marketing employees' job attitudes and behaviors

In this study, two data sets were used to test the validity of the Babin, Boles, and Robin (Babin BJ, Boles JS, Robin DP. Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees. J Acad Mark Sci 2000;28(3):345-358.) measure of ethical work climate and its relationship with role stress, pay satisfaction, supervisor satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The results indicated that ethical work climate is a multidimensional construct and that its dimensions influence marketing employees' job attitudes and job behaviors. Facets of job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediated the relationship between ethical work climate and turnover intentions and turnover.     

Ethical selving in cultural contexts: fairtrade consumption as an everyday ethical practice in the UK and Germany

Fairtrade consumers, by enacting their political and moral concerns through consumer choice, are at the same time constructing themselves as ethical selves. I will argue that they can only do so by drawing on cultural contexts. While fairtrade is instituted in supranational organizations and acts on a global level, there are still differences on a national level. On the basis of an Anglo‐German study, this paper seeks to map out the cultural contextualization of fairtrade consumption on both a supranational and a national level. The paper identifies the framing role of global consumer culture and an implicit ethics of equitability inscribed in capitalist practices of exchange and specifies how these play out differently in Germany and the UK. In both cases, there are strong references to sovereign consumer choice, and expectations of equitability in commodity exchange have been found. But while, in the British case, there is more emphasis on individual choice and taste, German fairtrade consumers seem to follow more what they perceive as an authoritative discourse. And, while British respondents envisaged the relation to be achieved with producers along the lines of a business relationship, German respondents conceptualized it more as a paternalistic employment relation between fairtrade organizations and producers. Differences will be explained in terms of distinctive consumer cultures, national moral economies and colonialist histories. I will argue that the two national settings not only offer different opportunities and challenges in terms of market success but also pose distinct ethical questions for fairtrade marketers.     

Exploring origins of ethical company/brand perceptions: Reply to Shea and Cohn's commentaries

This article responds to key questions that Shea (2010) and Cohn (2010) raise on Brunk's (2010a) work on consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) of a company or brand and expands on suggestions for further research. In particular the response here (1) considers concerns of generalizability, impact of cultural context, and transiency of the domain of CPE framework, (2) offers new insights into the complex and dynamic nature of CPE and its formation, (3) discusses issues relating to ethical consumption behavior, and (4) concludes with a debate on managerial implications including real-life strategic as well as operational challenges of effective CSR management.     

个人理财:基于生命周期理论和现代理财理论的分析

我国金融业务中,个人理财业务在短短的几年时间中得到了长足发展。这种变化是金融体系内部技术、管制、竞争等因素作用的结果,是一种适应全球金融业发展的必然趋势。个人理财业务的发展历史很短,对其系统化的提升和总结需要较长的一段时间,理论上的探讨还不够成熟。探讨个人理财的理论基础将是我国个人理财发展过程中必须面对的一个课题。本文将探讨生命周期理论和现代理财学中的有关理论,以期为个人理财业务提供理论基础。     

Perceptions of ethical work climate and person-organization fit among retail employees in Japan and the US: A cross-cultural scale validation

International retailers can only be successful if they understand similarities and differences between cultures. This study compares retail employees' perceptions of ethical work climate and person-organization fit in the U.S. with those of the same employee type in Japan. The results can help retailers understand employee perceptions of their relationship with the firm. An important aspect of this research involves testing the cross-cultural validity of the ethical work climate (EWC) and person-organization fit (POF) scales. Findings suggest that these scales are valid in both different national contexts and can also be used to compare differences between the cultures. Significant differences were noted in the EWC and POF between retail employees in Japan and the U.S. The relationship between EWC and POF varies significantly for employees in Japan and the U.S.     

Bringing meaning to the sales job: The effect of ethical climate and customer demandingness

Top performing salespeople are attracted to organizations that provide opportunities to make full use of their abilities. Responses from 1450 sales directors from a leading direct selling organization were used to examine salesperson's experienced meaningfulness. Results show that experienced meaningfulness is critical to sales because it impacts salesperson's performance, turnover intentions and felt stress. Further, ethical climate and customer demandingness influence experienced meaningfulness perceptions.     

会计准则国际趋同：国家利益分析及其调整——基于国际制度合作理论的研究

会计准则国际趋同是我国会计准则建设工程的战略选择,如何看待这种战略选择与国家经济利益维护之间的关系,在会计准则国际趋同过程中,如何公平、公正与合理地实现利益共享、权益双赢,从而促进全球经济和谐有序发展,成为人们十分关注的问题。本文借鉴国际经济关系制度合作理论,在分析会计准则国际趋同战略价值的基础上,论述了会计准则国际趋同与制度合作、与国家经济利益之间的关系,并提出了在会计准则国际趋同过程中进一步调整国家利益、完善制度环境的基本对策。     

我国个人所得税再分配效应及累进性的实证分析

税收是调节收入分配差距的有效手段之一。本文循着层层递进的逻辑,建立了税收再分配效应及累进性分解的数学理论模型,实证分析了1995年到2008年间我国个人所得税的再分配效应,剖析了影响其变动的深层次原因。结果表明:除2006年外,我国个人所得税起到了正向、且进一步加强的再分配效应,但调节效果非常有限;平均税率明显偏低,累进性基本呈下降趋势;分类征收模式导致总体累进性下降,工资薪金所得税是个人所得税累进性的主要来源;免征额在工资薪金所得税的累进性中起主导作用,其次是税率结构,而社会保障支出起较小的累进(或累退)效果。因此,在公平视角下改革与完善我国个人所得税制迫在眉睫。     

One strike and you're out: Qualitative insights into the formation of consumers' ethical company or brand perceptions

Drawing on 20 long interviews (McCracken, 1988) with general consumers, this research suggests that the impact of various kinds of un/ethical business practices of a given company on consumers' perceived ethicality (CPE) is asymmetrical. The resulting taxonomy identifies three distinct dimensions of varying directions and impacts on CPE, with the personal interest of the evaluating person moderating and mediating the dimensions' slopes: (1) Monovalent ethical dissatisfiers which have a negative effect; (2) Bivalent ethical dis/satisfiers that either favorably or unfavorably influence ethical perceptions, commensurate with a company's efforts; and (3) Monovalent ethical satisfiers, capable of generating a positive impact. The achievement of positive CPE appears highly challenging for a variety of reasons identified. Only one instance of perceived misconduct can be sufficient to contaminate a company/brand's CPE, despite otherwise exemplary behavioral records or altruistic engagement. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for managers and academics.     

The effects of ethical climate on organizational identification, supervisory trust, and turnover among salespeople

This study examined how an ethical work climate influences salespersons' organizational identification, supervisory trust, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and turnover. Using a sample of 393 salespeople, the results found that facets of an ethical work climate are related directly to supervisory trust and organizational identification. One aspect of an ethical work climate, ethical norms, was related directly to turnover. These results indicate that an ethical work climate can directly affect salespersons' job attitudes and outcomes. The results indicate the importance of measuring ethical work climate from a multi-dimensional perspective.     

Kafkaesque institutions at the base of the pyramid

Impelled by neo-liberal ideology, base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) and subsistence market discourses have put emphases on markets, profits and entrepreneurialism. Because of this ideological mooring, there is a marginal understanding of the role of the State and its impact on the poor in these discourses. Franz Kafka’s work provides a critical perspective on the role of the State in BOP or subsistence settings. This ethnographic study in India examines transactions related to land and highlights the Kafkaesque nature of the State. The institutional setting is fraught with Kafkaesque elements such as inaccessible and indecipherable legality, abusive power relations and alienation of subaltern subjects. It further shows that the illicit character of the State is an important reason for illegal practices in subaltern settings.     

Globalization and the dynamics of cultural identity

This paper presents a simple model where micro-founded dynamics of cultural identity are endogenous and interact with an international trade equilibrium. This process generates a strong home bias under autarky. We then show that goods market integration causes a phenomenon of cultural divergence, whereby the distributions of cultures become more dissimilar across countries and one of the cultures that existed under autarky ultimately disappears. By way of contrast, we show that social integration causes cultural convergence and can counterbalance the effects of goods market integration.     

中西感伤诗学溯源

西方自柏拉图开始，经中世纪阿奎那，再到黑格尔，都将感伤视为“软弱的”甚至“病态的”情感加以排斥。席勒关于感伤的论述独树一帜，将感伤提升到理论层面。中国一直有感伤的文学传统，孔子“诗可以怨”对文学产生了很大的影响，“诗怨”理论正是中国感伤诗学的萌芽。     

文革时期思想政治教育的教训

文革时期,思想政治教育在错误理论的指导和反革命集团的操纵下遭受了严重的破坏。作为思想政治工作者,在彻底否定文革的同时必须以史为鉴,坚持好马克思主义的指导思想,处理好社会主义社会的各种矛盾,协调好政治与经济及其他业务工作之间的关系,科学客观地分析影响,实事求是地总结教训,从惨重的代价中思考思想政治教育的作用与价值,为开创新形势下思想政治教育的新局面提供历史借鉴。     

江苏省文化贸易特色构建及挑战

江苏省文化贸易在政府产业政策推动下,出口总量及文化品牌打造初现成效,但同时又面临文化产品特色不明显的问题。江苏省如何在利用好现有丰富的文化资源情况下,避免同质化经营,做好文化产品的创新及衍生品开发,是其文化贸易持续发展必须解决的问题。