Controllability and consumers' preference for sad and happy esthetic stimuli when feeling sad

Drawing on the coping and emotion regulation literature, we argue that when consumers feel sad after a failure, their relative preference for sad (vs. happy) esthetic stimuli is a function of controllability or the extent to which the responsible party have control over the cause of the failure. Specially, when feeling sad, consumers' preference for sad (vs. happy) esthetic stimuli will increase (decrease) with controllability because sad esthetic stimuli facilitate approach-oriented coping by maintaining consumers' attention toward the failure that elicits their sadness while happy esthetic stimuli facilitate avoidance-oriented coping by diverting their attention away from the failure. The findings of four experiments provide evidence supporting the hypothesized effect of controllability on consumers' preference for sad (vs. happy) esthetic stimuli, and the predicted mediating role of attention deployment (toward the failure vs. away from the failure) in explaining the effect.     

Children's perception of dinner conversation with parents in Japan

The children's perception of dinner and dinner conversation with their parents was surveyed for sixth‐grade students of elementary school in Japan. The data were analysed from the gender of children and attending parents. The children had dinner and dinner conversation more frequently with their mother than with their father. With father attendance, girls and boys had the same frequency of dinner and dinner conversation, although, with mother attendance, girls had dinner conversation more frequently than boys. Most of the children felt happy when they had dinner with their parents. However, a lower percentage of children felt happy when having dinner conversation with their parents, thought that they were important to their parents and thought dinner conversation was useful. More children felt happy during dinner and dinner conversation with their mother than with their father. However, there was no perceived difference in the usefulness of the conversation based on the father or the mother attending. The contents of conversation were greatly affected by which parent was attending. Subjects concerning children's manners were talked about more frequently in conversation with mothers than with fathers. Children had more frequent conversations with their father about ‘social issues’ and the ‘parents’ surroundings’ than with their mother. Girls had more frequent conversations on a wider variety of subjects with their mothers than boys. Girls could more easily share in their mothers’ knowledge or sense of values through dinner conversation. Boys were, for the most part, excluded from this process in conversation with either parent.     

Guidelines for commercial negotiators

Most negotiators would be happy to sharpen and refine their bargaining skills. The following points, drawn from practical experience, can help them do so.     

Television Commercial Evaluation in the Context of Program Induced Mood: Congruency versus Consistency Effects

Abstract

This study examines the effect of the mood induced by television program content on subjects' evaluations of commercials. Specifically, happy or sad commercials are viewed in the context of a television program designed to induce these respective moods. The competing predictions of Mood Congruence Theory versus the Consistency Effect are examined to interpret the results. For all dependent measures considered, findings were in accordance with a Consistency Effect interpretation of the results. For two such measures (i.e., liking for the commercial and purchase intention) the Consistency Effect was statistically supported. Hence for these measures, it was found that a happy commercial viewed in the context of a happy program was evaluated more favorably than the same commercial viewed after exposure to a sad program. For the sad commercial, the reverse effects for these measures were evident as this commercial performed more favorably in the context of a sad program relative to a happy one. The dominance of a Consistency Effect interpretation of the results over that of Mood Congruence are interpreted in the context of advertising strategy.     

Reference distorted prices

I show that when consumers (mis)perceive prices relative to reference prices, budgets turn out to be soft, prices tend to be lower and the average quality of goods sold decreases. These observations provide explanations for decentralized purchase decisions, for people being happy with a purchase even when they have paid their “valuation”, and for why trade might affect high quality local firms “unfairly”.     

试谈图书馆与读者权利和义务

进入21世纪后,国内公共图书馆事业发展中的人文问题日益凸显.2002年在图书馆法与知识产权研究专业委员会的策划和推动,图书馆精神、图书馆道德、图书馆权利等基本理念在中国得到迅速传播,公共图书馆界近年更提出:保障读者权利,实现快乐阅读.要实现阅读快乐的目标,仅从保障读者的权利保障出发,片面强调读者权利的保障而忽视了读者义务的履行,所获得的阅读快乐不可能是完整的、全面的.公共图书馆有保障读者权利的义务,同时也有积极培育并监督读者自觉履行义务的义务.读者的权利与义务只有在得到同样重视的前提下,才能保证读者利用公共图书馆的整个过程是快乐的阅读是快乐的.     

无缝运动内衣的产品设计与工艺

随着人们对内衣的要求越来越高以及针织技术的进一步完善,新一代一次成型针织无缝内衣应运而生;在不同的场合对于自身内衣功能要求也不同,快乐运动的生活方式已成为人们普遍的日常生活,无缝运动内衣的产品设计与工艺的特点也成为内衣行业发展方向.详述了无缝内衣产品的特点,应用产品独有特性设计及生产技术的优势.提出无缝运动内衣产品的开发要素,并展望了该产品的市场前景.     

旅行者渴望他们的旅程充满新奇

酒店电子营销计划的关键是网站,酒店网站对酒店发展前景和客人有强烈的影响,它必须不断将相关信息以正确的方式发送到各种移动和社交媒体平台中。旅行者会使用各种设备以各种不同的方式对酒店进行研究。如果酒店以旅游者喜欢的在线／社交／移动语言向他们发送消息,那么他们选择该酒店的机率就会增加。为了向客户及潜在的客人表示你关心他们并希望为他们服务,酒店营销人员将需要了解如何使用极具吸引力的内容来使他们的旅行变得浪漫。营造一个健康的网站并建立与客人之间的快乐关系的最佳处方,是要保持稳定剂量的新鲜内容。     

高校学术团队幸福管理探析——基于人本经济学和机制设计理论

伴随着知识经济时代的发展以及生活水平的提高,知识的重要性凸显,幸福也成为人们生活所追求的,学术团队的幸福成为学术界研究的一个重点和热门话题。文章从人本经济学和机制设计理论分析了学术团队幸福管理的基本框架,并对当前学术团队幸福现状进行分析,从团队目标、团队结构、团队激励和考核等方面提出了建议和对策。     

Seven ways to increase servers' tips

Touching, smiling, greeting, squatting, drawing happy faces, and other simple actions are shown to increase servers' tips.     

Age‐Related Differences in Emotion Regulation within the Context of Sad and Happy TV Programs

The marketing literature on program context includes several studies on the influence of program‐induced positive and negative emotions on the evaluation of embedded television advertisements. While the majority of these studies have been conducted with younger adults, new discoveries on the differentiated processes of emotion regulation among younger and older adults are reviving interest in this topic. The present study examined the impact of television program context on program‐induced affective reactions and on the processing of embedded television advertisements among younger and older adults. Program‐induced mood valence was manipulated by using excerpts from sad and happy films. This research shows that affective reactions elicited by sad and happy television programs, as well as attitude toward the advertisement, differ between younger and older adults. The level of sadness reported by older adults was lower than that of younger adults within a sad program context. The results also show a negative influence of a sad (versus a happy) program on attitude toward the advertisement among younger adults but not among older adults. These results confirm that in advancing age, it is possible to shape emotional responses to suit regulation goals.     

The effect of consumer values on the brand position of green restaurants by means-end chain and laddering interviews

The rise of environmental awareness has changed consumer demands and values. One of the greatest challenges for green marketing of a restaurant presents in the introduction of green positioning to consumer decision-making. This study uses a means-end chain to investigate consumer awareness, decision-making processes, and consumer values with regard to restaurant attributes. The results of the study show that consumers value the following green attributes in restaurants: taste, using recyclable or biodegradable products, local ingredients, energy conservation, and carbon reduction. In terms of result benefits, consumers value feelings of health benefits, environmental protection, increased consumption frequency, happy mood, and an ability to help the environment. In value terms, consumers hope that their choice of restaurant can improve their relationships with others and lead to a happier life. The findings show that consumers with different awarenesses of the green attributes of restaurants have different decision-making processes. However, they share the same terminal value of a “happier life.” For restaurants, this provides the opportunity for green brand positioning. Restaurant operators can use decoration, menu choices, and services to attract their target customers.     

“Happy Together”: Effects of Brand Community Engagement on Customer Happiness

Because the pursuit of happiness is fundamental, humans perform a wide range of activities, including consumption, to lead a happy life. For marketers, findings from positive psychology suggest that customer happiness may arise through customer engagement. This article proposes a conceptual framework of customer happiness in brand communities and analyzes the effect of customer engagement on customer happiness, as well as on the ultimate outcomes of word of mouth and purchase intentions. Structural equation modeling provides a test of the model through an empirical study with 518 members from the online brand community for a German automotive brand. Customer engagement exerts a significant positive effect on customer happiness, which in turn increases positive word of mouth and purchase intentions. Therefore, marketing managers should invest in brand communities to engage customers and build and maintain their happiness and loyalty.     

: EBEN97 in Prague

This year the European Business Ethics Network celebrates the tenth anniversary of its founding by holding its Annual Conference in Prague. We are happy to print this announcement from the Organizing Secretary of the Conference Planning Committee.     

Should donation ads include happy victim images? The moderating role of regulatory focus

We examine how victim imagery interacts with ad messaging’s regulatory focus to determine the effectiveness of donation appeals. We predict and show that ads that combine a happy victim image with a promotion-focused message uniquely increase donation intentions. We demonstrate that this occurs because the combination of promotion-focused messaging, which makes gain goals salient, and a happy victim image, which signals gains are occurring, increases consumers’ perceived response efficacy. Four studies test the interaction of victim imagery and regulatory focus showing the predicted effect. We also test the mediating role of perceived response efficacy and rule out several alternative explanations. Our findings extend prior work which has overlooked the interactive effects of victim imagery and ad messaging and the effects of victim imagery on perceived response efficacy. By exploring these dimensions, we offer marketers and consumers guidance on how to construct effective fundraising ads.     

In Search of a Happy Ending

In this paper, we consider the question whetherbusiness ethics courses should have a happyending. The paper starts by considering ideasthat might give students who take businessethics courses hope that they can play a rolein promoting improved corporate cultures. Thepaper then explores Jesuit teachings as theyrelate to ethical decision-making. Inparticular, the paper highlights the idea ofdiscernment, which encourages students tobecome self-aware and to test their ability toact on principles of right and wrong. Ultimately, the paper concludes that there isno easy answer to the question whether businessethics courses should have a happy ending. Students who are ever mindful of the importanceof discernment are the most likely tounderstand the true nature of the moral mazesthey face in bureaucratic organizations.     

Sad but smiling? How the combination of happy victim images and sad message appeals increase prosocial behavior

Marketing Letters - The present research examines how a combination of a happy (vs. sad) victim image and a strong sad message appeal can promote prosocial behavior. The underlying reason is that...     

Pricing by intuition: Managerial choices with limited information

In making pricing decisions, managers can chose from several pricing strategies. To ensure long-term business success, pricing choices need to balance numerous requirements, from revenue streams to keeping customers happy. The complexity of pricing decisions and time pressures that often accompany them prompt the need for fast, simplified decision algorithms. The present exploratory study examines the ways in which considerations of price fairness and competitive strategy combine in managers' decisions regarding the price level.     

高职院校快乐体育教学模式

针对高职院校传统注入式体育教学模式中存在的问题,在终身体育、健康第一、身心并重的指导方针下,我们对高职院校体育教学模式进行了研究,结果表明:构建快乐体育教学模式能突出同学参与的主体意识,激发学习兴趣,有利于教学目标的实现;构建快乐体育教学模式应本着系统性,科学性,实用性的原则,从学校体育教学每一个环节的分析入手,全面研究各要素的特点,调整各系统要素的关系,以求得系统功能的最优。