Informal group influence among situationally/dispositionally-oriented consumers

Consumer susceptibility to reference group influence has been demonstrated for certain products and buying situations. This article reports a study designed to determine if reference group influence varies between consumers classified as situationally-oriented and dispositionally-oriented. Results indicate a considerable difference between the two groups. Independence Health Plan     

The development of a standardized student evaluation form

The original purpose of student evaluations was to provide feedback to the instructor to improve his/her teaching. However, the use of student evaluations in assessing promotion and tenure decisions is becoming increasingly apparent. Given that students represent one valuable source of evaluation data, the task involves gathering the information so as not to bias or influence the results. Thus, the objectives of this report are to discuss the methodology and pitfalls in the construction of a data collection instrument, and produce a “model” student evaluation form that may serve as the basis for establishing validity by having the academic community put it to the test.     

The effect of interstate highway on driving times and regional shopping center drawing power

Previous studies of the driving times of shopping center patrons have not examined the effect of limited access highways. This study analyzed the impact of interstate highways on the driving times of 204 shoppers at three medium-sized regional shopping centers. Those shoppers indicating usage of interstate highways to reach their shopping destinations were significantly more likely to incur travel times greater than fifteen and twenty minutes than those not using the available interstate roads. In predicting the drawing power of these shopping centers, factors besides mass were found to be useful. These include square footage of shopping goods, stores, and number of parking places.     

Strategy in research design and hypothesis testing

The efficiency of a research design may be measured in terms of the degree to which knowledge is enhanced within given resource constraints. Thus, two different types of research design, even though they contain the same number of expected observations, may differ considerably in the amount of information provided. An example is the number N of 32 observations obtained with an analysis of variance witheither 2 factors, 2 levels per factor and a replication of 8or 4 factors, 4 levels per factor and a replication of 2. We analyze and compare the relative efficiencies of regression and variance analysis models and their implications to research strategy development. Three major considerations are evaluated: (1) short versus long time horizon (interval until effects of a decision are realized), (2) small versus large cost of erroneous rejection of the Null Hypothesis and (3) gross versus refined stage of development of the research study. A set of general guidelines towards improved designs is developed.     

The case of the team-spirit tailspin

Richard Johnson, newly appointed president of Century Airlines, knew the company's survival depended on customer service, which in turn depended on motivated employees. So he created the Century Spirit program to build team spirit by encouraging employee participation, individual initiative, and open communication. Among the program's early successes was a newspaper started by a group of flight attendants. The Plane Truth published information about benefits and work conditions as well as feature stories and humorous articles. It quickly became popular not only with flight attendants but also with pilots, machinists, and baggage handlers. As time went on, though, the Plane Truth began to run articles critical of the company. When management cut back workers' hours, the newspaper questioned what sacrifices the executives were making. When technical services released figures showing long turnaround times, the paper questioned the machinists' work ethic. Worried that customers might see the newspaper, Richard Johnson wanted to cancel it. The president of the flight attendants union also wanted to see it go because it was stirring up trouble with the machinists. Joan Raffin, Century's human resources director, was asked to stop the publication. But she hesitated. She knew that employee morale was on the brink, but she didn't know whether the newspaper was venting workers' frustrations and reinforcing team spirit or stirring up old animosities and bringing the whole company down. Was it creating more tension than unity or vice versa? Experts on organizational change, motivation, and management analyze the situation and make recommendations for what Joan Raffin should do.