Parents of preschool fire setters: perceptions of the child-play fire hazard

The present study sought to learn about risk perceptions held by parents of preschool fire-setters. A 41-item survey was distributed to 60 parents whose children, aged 6 years and younger, had previously set fires and who were involved in intervention programmes throughout the US. Most parents did not think their children would play with matches/lighters, or knew how to use these items, although some had witnessed their children playing with matches/lighters previously. Most parents reported having taken precautions to keep matches/lighters out of reach and also educating their children about fire. Regardless, children not only set fires, but in 40% of cases climbed to access the match/lighter. Parents' perceptions of their children's proclivity for fire play were not consistent with their actual fire-play behaviour. Parents underestimated the likelihood that their children would play with matches/lighters. Although most reportedly undertook preventative measures aimed at thwarting fire play, these strategies were ineffective. Traditionally relied upon precautionary techniques, such as storing lighters out of reach and discussing the dangers of fire, were not sufficient to stem interest and resultant fire play.     

Authentic British food products: a review of consumer perceptions

Historically, soil, land, climatic constraints and individuals’ skills all contributed to the characteristics of regional food. Food, however, is also subject to the influences of colonialism, immigration, cultural exchange, international trade, improved distribution and technology. British food is constantly evolving in order to fulfil the demands of each generation. Thus, the concept of an authentic British food product is becoming increasingly unclear. This paper therefore addresses what today British consumers actually perceive to be authentic British foods. Results of an exploratory qualitative study are reviewed. Five focus groups were conducted with individuals responsible for half or more of their household’s shopping. The groups incorporated consumers with a range of demographic and economic characteristics. The data gathered from the focus groups revealed that British perceptions of authenticity relate to both artisan as well mass‐produced, branded products. In addition, five dimensions affecting consumer perceptions of an authentic British food product were identified, including: uniqueness to Britain, a cultural or traditional association with Britain, characteristics of the production process, the presence of an authority and specific extrinsic characteristics of the product. The findings have implications for product differentiation and communication, for producers and retailers and also for independent trade associations.     

Integrated system of occupational safety and health and fire protection of the fire rescue brigades members

The objective of the conducted research is the identification and determination of requirements of members of fire rescue brigades during operations in the conditions of high risk in order to minimize the possibilities for injury incidence during the intervention. The research is focused on examination, determination and identification of factors affecting the increasing number of occupational injuries of members of fire rescue brigades during interventions. Hypothetical framework of the research problem consists of general hypothesis and six special hypotheses. Results suggest that almost all respondents believe that their skills and abilities are applicable in the intervention phase, but less than a half believe that their skills are applicable in prevention phase. Two-thirds of respondents stated that in their organization they have support for further education and upgrading while a half of respondents stated that they need education concerning identification, assessment and management of risks that can lead to emergency situations.     

Consumers’ perceptions of the fairness of price-matching refund policies

This paper examines the antecedents and consequences of perceived price-matching policy fairness. Among the antecedents, we study the effects of the refund depth if a lower competitive price is identified, the degree that the retail product assortment is available at competing retailers, and the consumers’ inference as to the retailer's motive for the price-matching policy. Product assortment uniqueness is identified as a key driver of fairness perceptions, both directly and indirectly through inferred motive. The three experiments show that consumers’ perceptions of the fairness of a store's pricing policy influence their price fairness perceptions, consequently influencing their retail shopping intentions.     

Innovative approaches to domestic heating: homeowners' perceptions and factors influencing their choice of heating system

The paper focuses on Swedish homeowners' perceptions of innovative heating systems, and those factors that influence their decision to adopt a new heating system. The systems studied were: district heating, heat pumps and pellet boilers. Results of two household surveys – one covering the whole of Sweden in autumn 2004 and the other in the city of Östersund in summer 2005 – revealed that approximately 80% of the survey respondents, particularly those with resistance heaters, did not intend to install an innovative heating system. Economic aspects, functional reliability and indoor air quality were found to be the most important factors influencing respondents' choice of a heating system. Survey respondents thought that a bedrock heat pump system has a number of advantages with respect to the annual cost of heating, security of fuel supply, environmental benignity, market value of the home and low greenhouse gas emission. A district heating system has advantages regarding functional reliability, system automation and time required to obtain information. A pellet boiler system has one main advantage: investment cost. Compared with homeowners having other types of heating systems, those with resistance heaters accorded more importance to investment cost due to the high cost of installing a water‐based system for heat distribution within the home.     

Effects of service setting and other consumers’ age on the service perceptions of young consumers

Services are often delivered in settings where many consumers are present at the same time, yet the issue of how other consumers affect service perceptions has received little attention. We study young adults’ response to fellow consumers who are middle-aged and old, testing predictions based on recent research suggesting that stereotypes are context dependent, and that stereotypes of older adults vary depending on the person attributes considered. Varying the age of the other consumers and service settings we find that the presence of older consumers affects young adults’ attitude to the service as well as their patronage intentions. Young consumers’ attitude to the service deteriorated in the presence of older consumers for services requiring physical attributes, but this was less so for services requiring personal expressive attributes.     

MBA Student Opinion about the Teaching of Business Ethics: Preference for Inclusion and Perceived Benefit

Data about whether business ethics should be taught generally,whether it was included in the current class the students were taking, and how beneficialthat inclusion was are analyzed in relation to two general questions about the qualityof the course. The database is from a large U.S. MBA program in an institution thatis committed to integrating business ethics throughout the curriculum. Thegraduate students felt strongly that ethics should be taught in business classes. All five itemsunder study were significantly correlated with one another and a factor analysisidentified two major factors. Significant effects were found in student opiniondepending on whether the course was elective or core as well as the discipline of theclass. Areas for future research were suggested.     

Strategic Framing: A Study of the Antecedents of Threat and Opportunity Perceptions

A model of the antecedents of managers' perceptions of market situations as threats or opportunities (strategic framing) is examined in order to explore possible explanations for managers' tendency to overlook threats and opportunities which arise due to changing market conditions. The results indicate that threat and opportunity are not polar opposites, as assumed in the literature, and that threat and opportunity perceptions have different causes. Implications of the findings for enhancing the responsiveness of firms to changing market conditions are discussed.Walter K. Koch Chair in Entrepreneurship     

Shaping Ethical Perceptions: An Empirical Assessment of the Influence of Business Education,Culture, and Demographic Factors

Recent events at Enron, K-Mart, Adelphia, and Tyson would seem to suggest that managers are still experiencing ethical lapses. These lapses are somewhat surprising and disappointing given the heightened focus on ethical considerations within business contexts during the past decade. This study is designed, therefore, to increase our understanding of the forces that shape ethical perceptions by considering the effects of business school education as well as a number of other individual-level factors (such as intra-national culture, area of specialization within business, and gender) that may exert an influence on ethical perceptions. We found significant effects for business education, self-reported intra-national culture, area of specialization within business, and gender for some and/or all areas of ethics examined (i.e., deceit, fraud, self-interest, influence dealing, and coercion). One of our most encouraging findings is that tolerance for unethical behavior appears to decrease with formal business education. Despite the prevalent stereotype that business students are only interested in the bottom line or that business schools transform idealistic freshman into self-serving business graduates, our results suggest otherwise. Given the heightened criticism of the ethicality of contemporary managerial behavior, it is heartening to note that, even as adults, individuals can be positively affected by integration of ethics training.     

Consumer acceptance of food irradiation: a test of the recreancy theorem

Consumers living in both developed and developing nations rely upon foods that have been produced and processed in many countries and in a wide variety of ways. Therefore, it is not surprising that they express concerns about the safety of their food supplies. A technology proposed to improve consumer trust in food safety is irradiation. Despite extensive education efforts and endorsements given by many health‐related organizations worldwide, food irradiation has been slow to gain widespread acceptance. This ineffectiveness of diffusion efforts might indicate a need to broaden our theoretical perspectives of consumer acceptance of controversial technologies. Most theoretical approaches explain acceptance primarily as a function of perceived risks associated with a technology. The recreancy theorem, in contrast, explains acceptance as a function of public trust in societal institutions to effectively manage a technology. This study investigated the extent to which the recreancy theorem explained acceptance of food irradiation by US consumers, while statistically controlling for perceived risk and social‐demographic variables. The study used a longitudinal field design to survey one adult each in 116 households located in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area during the first large‐scale market test of irradiated food. The results indicate that the recreancy theorem might provide a valid conceptual approach to gaining a broader understanding of consumer acceptance of controversial new technologies.     

父母陪伴对青少年非认知能力的影响——基于亲子共餐视角的准实验研究

采用中国教育追踪调查(CEPS)两期面板数据,利用双重差分倾向得分匹配法(PSM-DID),从亲子共餐这一微观视角来探究父母陪伴对青少年非认知能力的影响。结果显示,亲子共餐频率的降低对青少年的非认知能力总水平及其分维度情绪稳定性、宜人性和尽责性均有显著的负向影响,反之,亲子共餐频率的提高对青少年的非认知能力总水平有显著的正向影响,但具体从各维度来看,亲子共餐频率的提高仅对青少年的宜人性产生显著的正向影响,而对情绪稳定性和尽责性均无显著影响。     

Development of Industruct: A Scale for the Measurement of Perceptions of Industry Structure

The development of INDUSTRUCT, an instrument designed to measure perceptions of industry structure based on Porter's five competitive forces formulation, is described. A seven-step procedure based on psychometric principles was used in the process. The results indicate that a valid five dimensional scale can be defined and an instrument developed to provide a satisfactory basis for implementation in future theory testing.     

Loosening the belt: on the effects of goal‐conflict situations on regular savings

This paper examines the effect of implementation intentions on consumers' success in pursuing conflicting saving–spending goals. Surveys of participants in a community‐based savings programme were conducted to test whether the forming of implementation intentions in specific action plans facilitate the pursuit of the focal savings goal. The intervention had no effect in facilitating the savings goal, suggesting that goal conflict undermines goal commitment above and beyond the influence of commitment mechanisms. Inquiring into the reasons for not saving within the implementation intention group, we found that conflict with spending goals emerged as a partial mediator explaining subjects' failure to enact their savings intentions. Implications for community‐based savings programmes are also discussed.     

The Ethics of the US Business Executive: A Study of Perceptions

Gallup Polls have reported on the perceived ethics of various professions in the US since 1976. Clergymen and pharmacists were consistently identified as two of the most ethical professionals in the 1980's and 1990's. Business executives have not fared well in these polls and have not been rated among the top ten most ethical professions in any of the years the poll was taken. Ethical codes have not done much to belay the perception that the US business executive is not very ethical. Whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will impact the ethical behavior of business executives remains to be seen.     

Injuries increase the amputee burden at the prosthesis centre: a 2-year retrospective survey of amputees in a low-income setting

The aim of this study is to survey different types of injuries as the cause for prosthesis fitting in the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (IPM&R). This retrospective chart review was conducted at the IPM&R at the Dow University of Health Sciences, from the year 2007 till 2009. We selected all amputees who got enrolled in our institute for prosthesis fitting with major amputations, during the above mentioned period of time. Informed verbal consent was taken from each patient before recording their data at the IPM&R. Anonymity has been maintained. Data for this study was collected through a structured questionnaire, variables included: gender, age, town of origin, cause of amputation, level of amputation, limb involvement (unilateral or bilateral), level and causes of amputations. The data entry and analysis were done on SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences) version 16.0. Of the amputee burden of our study, 55.9% was due to trauma, which is a preventable cause of disability. This is mostly affecting men in the productive age group. New strategies need to be devised in order to alleviate the burden of amputations resulting from preventable injuries.     

Being in Someone Else’s Shoes: the Role of Gender in Nascent Entrepreneurship

Several studies have shown the existence of significant differences in the rate of new business creation between men and women. Specifically, it has been shown that women are much less likely to be involved in entrepreneurship than men worldwide. It is not yet understood, however, if such differences are the result of personal characteristics of the individual and of her economic environment or are, instead, the result of universal and, perhaps, evolutionary phenomena. Our empirical analysis is conducted using representative samples of population for 37 countries and a special form of bootstrapping that allows us to equalize individuals’ conditions and, as a result, analyze the choices of men and women put in identical economic environments and socio-economic circumstances.      

高职教育对接文化产业发展研究——以浙江省为例

文化产业作为朝阳产业,其发展前景非常可观。然而,以浙江省为例,该省高职院校在对接文化产业发展的过程中存在合作形式单一、专业设置滞后等不足。为了解决这些问题,应解放思想、更新办学理念;以市场需求为导向调整专业设置;以提高技能为主线,优化教学课程;以提高能力为重点,完善师资配备;以产学结合为准则,强化技能培训。     

Modeling customer perceptions of complaint handling over time: the effects of perceived justice on satisfaction and intent

This paper proposes a model of the effects of perceived justice on customer satisfaction and intent following a service or product failure and a recovery attempt. We tested the model using two field studies that captured customer perceptions over time, and the results largely support the model’s path estimates and explanatory power. Study One also supports the hypothesis that procedural and interactional justice are more influential in forming overall firm satisfaction than distributive justice. As hypothesized, satisfaction with recovery was a stronger predictor of the likelihood of spreading positive word-of-mouth (WOM intent) than overall firm satisfaction, and overall firm satisfaction was a stronger predictor of purchase intent than satisfaction with recovery. The results also suggest that satisfaction partially mediates the effects of justice on WOM intent and purchase intent. Finally, we draw on the findings of this study to offer implications for service recovery researchers and managers.     

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.