Smoke Gets in Their Eyes? Third-Person Effects of Electronic Cigarette Advertising

This study examined the relationship between smoker status and attitudes toward e-cigarette usage, third-person perceptions of e-cigarette advertising, and support for regulation of e-cigarette advertising within the context of a media-saturated environment. Survey results (n = 615) indicated that participants perceived e-cigarette advertisements as having a more powerful effect on others than on themselves and that nonsmokers perceived this more strongly than did smokers. Nonsmokers were found to have more negative attitudes toward e-cigarette use than smokers. Mediation analysis indicated support for a serial indirect effect of smoker status on support for regulation through attitudes toward e-cigarettes and third-person perceptions.     

A framework of environmental mitigation for the convention and exhibition centers in the China greater Bay area

The numerous participants in convention and exhibition (C&E) events and the consequently huge consumption of direct and indirect resources have increased the environmental pressure on C&E centers to implement environmentally friendly practices and procedures. This paper explores the innovative methods adopted by green-certified C&E centers and synthesizes a reference framework of environmental mitigation practices for the C&E sector in the Greater Bay Area, which was recently designated as a major regional development area in China. Eleven green-certified C&E centers were selected to establish a comprehensive and indicative framework containing 59 actual environmental practices in three major categories. Suggestions made by 12 experts for modifying the fit of the constructed framework to suit the local geographical and climatic situations of C&E centers in the China Greater Bay Area were examined.     

Segmenting foodies for a foodie destination

ABSTRACT

The consumption of food is an integral part of a tourism experience. As foodie travellers seek out unique food experiences, it is valuable for tourism destination managers to understand their preferences and behaviours. Using a 61-item foodie activity scale, 2948 surveys were analyzed to determine clusters of foodies. The findings suggest that researchers or destination managers should avoid a “one size fits all” approach in the development of foodie destinations. Giving attention to the travel preferences and types of experiences that foodie segments prefer may allow communities reap the benefits of serving as a destination for foodie travellers.     

Maintaining a Flexible Payout Policy in a Mature Industry: The Case of Crown Cork and Seal in the Connelly Era

This case study suggests that the payment of cash dividends may not be essential to the long-run success of even mature companies. A mature company in a mature industry, the Crown Cork and Seal Company did not pay any common dividends during John Connelly's 33-year tenure as chairman and CEO. During that period (from 1957 to 1990), the company used stock repurchases along with a compensation policy featuring low executive salaries and generous executive stock options to motivate and execute a focused business strategy. Under the leadership of Connelly, Crown was rescued from what appeared to be certain bankruptcy to become one of the most profitable firms in its industry. Debt was immediately paid down, preferred stock was retired, and the firm's operations were revamped and streamlined. Instead of following the diversification strategies of larger industry peers, Crown's strategy was focused and driven by profit margin and customer service. This strategy eventually led Crown to invest internationally and acquire one of its major rivals. In addition to significant equity ownership by Crown's management and board members, the company's board had a remarkable number of “outsiders” and representatives from international operations, creating a culture that was outward-looking as well as cohesive. And without paying a dollar of dividends—a practice that many finance scholars believe imposes a necessary discipline on mature companies—Crown both preserved its financing flexibility and produced a remarkable record of increases in both profits and market value.     

Differences between workstations and keypad group support systems: Implications for keypad GSS facilitators

Organizations are successfully using group support systems (GSS) to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction in organizational meetings. Meeting success relies on making an appropriate match between group, taks, and technology. This responsibility often falls to the meeting facilitator. This article draws upon GSS and facilitation literature to develop a framework for the discussion of effective facilitation in workstation and keypad meeting environments. The article identifies differences between the systems and how they impact upon the behavior of the meeting facilitators and their choice of technology. Compensatory actions are proposed for keypad facilitators to address the lack of key workstation features. Keypad strengths are also identified to show the opportunities available to facilitators to maximize the benefits of using these GSS. Further, it is proposed that different types of GSS are not mutually exclusive and should be seen as complementary components of a suite of GSS tools designed to support organizational goals.     

Voting for pollution policy: the importance of income inequality and openness to trade

This paper analyzes how openness and the distribution of factor ownership interact to determine individual and aggregate demand for pollution policy. Analysis of voter preferences in autarky shows that an increased stake in either the dirty or the clean industry can induce an individual voter to prefer stricter environmental policy. Similarly, the paper shows that poorer voters may be the greener voters within an electorate. The model also reveals that the incidence of pollution policy depends upon a country’s trade regime, with consequences for the direction in which income inequality influences aggregate demand for pollution policy.     

The case for educated UK consumers: the National Consumer Council's consultation on consumer education

Consumer education is an integral part of the consumer empowerment mix. Over recent years the importance of consumer education as a vital tool for protecting consumers and making them better informed has been increasingly recognized in the UK. As part of the developing policy debate in the UK, the National Consumer Council (NCC), one of the key consumer champion bodies, has been arguing the case for a national strategy for consumer education. In order to establish whether a national strategy was needed and, if so, how a strategy could be structured and introduced, the NCC carried out a national consultation. In excess of 100 responses were obtained from a very broad range of organizations. This paper provides a review of the secondary data gathered for the NCC research. It was found that although there are many organizations and networks involved in consumer education in the UK, it lacks focus, is fragmented and is not efficient or coordinated. The research highlighted a need for a strategic approach to place educated and empowered consumers at the heart of the marketplace.     

Getting Cinderella to the ball: putting education at the heart of financial education

The recent banking collapse has called into question all activity related to financial services, from regulation to consumer protection, to financial education. Since the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development's 2005 ‘Recommendations on Principles and Good Practices for Financial Education and Awareness’, there has been an increase in financial education activity, yet the world is a different place. The role of financial education, its scope and its potential, must now be critically analysed to help ensure its efficacy in supporting financial rectitude in challenging times. The authors draw on several years’ experience in the design and delivery of financial education programmes and debt prevention interventions, informed by their perspective as educationalists. In this theoretical commentary, they seek to influence the discourse on financial education, and position education as a foundational discipline in financial education. The authors identify potential risk to the future of financial education, engaging with the literature that questions the validity of financial education as an endeavour in consumer protection, which points to the dearth of empirical evidence to support its effectiveness, and which queries the efficacy of resourcing such initiative development. They argue that financial education focused on consumption cannot serve the citizen; rather, financial education must be rooted in the needs of the individual. Through these analyses, the authors highlight areas of further research, which when undertaken, can lead to more effective outcomes for all. This article introduces the concept of financial edification as an approach to financial education, predicated on the needs of the individual. In repositioning financial education as a pedagogical endeavour, the article asserts that financial education, when not driven by education, cannot achieve its true potential; it is time for Cinderella to go to the ball.     

A Consistent Method for Calibrating Contingent Value Survey Data

This paper outlines a statistical method for calibrating contingent value survey data derived from the assumption that individuals make constrained utility maximizing decisions. The method proposed allows us to determine the influence of respondent characteristics on bias, as distinct from their influence on the preference parameters. A specific functional form for individual preferences was used to derive closed-form analytical expressions for willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-accept that allow systematic deviations in individual responses to be explicitly modeled by providing a structural interpretation of the error term. Promising results are obtained for both open-ended and dichotomous choice data using three CV data sets.