Knowledge Effects on Curiosity and New Product Advertising

Abstract

Advertisers commonly advocate when writing ad copy, “Keep it simple!” In keeping with this belief, ads are typically written at less than the tenth grade level. The authors assert that this view may be too simple in view of the complex processes underlying cognitive processing. In an experiment where print ads did not vary in terms of their concreteness, the authors found that increasing levels of readability made no differences in recall, attitudinal judgments or purchase intent.     

Emotions in outsourcing. An empirical study in the hotel industry

This research aims to analyze the role of positive and negative emotions in decisions about supplier switching in the hotel industry. It shows how, in addition to switching costs and relational norms, positive emotions, such as happiness, empathy, gladness and satisfaction, also act as switching barriers and influence the likelihood of supplier switching. The findings also provide evidence that psychological factors moderate the influence of economic and relational factors. The empirical study was conducted in hotels and restaurants in two tourist areas of Asia and Europe: the Antalya Coast in Turkey and the French Riviera.     

Local Strategic Partnerships, Neighbourhood Renewal, and the Limits to Co-governance

This article analyses the Government's approach to using Local Strategic Partnerships in Neighbourhood Renewal. The Government claims to have established a policy framework that combines co-ordination and co-governance. However, it appears that there is an unbalanced approach to supporting these two aspects. Co-ordination is supported strongly through funding, target setting and the accreditation process, while co-governance has only weak funding and accreditation processes to ensure its success. The authors conclude that the Government is keen to keep control over the levers of regeneration and is therefore more than slightly ambiguous over its espoused aim of encouraging co-governance.     

Right from Wrong: The Influence of Spirituality on Perceptions of Unethical Business Activities

A network sample of 162 employees from across the U.S. was studied to assess the relationship between individual spirituality and perceptions of unethical business activities. Analyses indicate that degree of individual spirituality influences whether an individual perceives a questionable business practice as ethical or unethical. Ramifications of these findings regarding the role of spirituality in enhancing workplace ethicality, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

The influence of model age on children's reactions to advertising stimuli

Two studies are reported that explore the role of age of model as a nonverbal cue in advertising directed to children. Conventional advertising wisdom holds “older is better” when casting for commercials directed to children. The purpose of the current work is to focus on the merits of this wisdom. Three different age ranges of models were paired with either toys (Study 1) or foods (Study 2). Preschoolers' attitudinal (affective, evaluative, and behavioral intent) responses to the products were measured. Study 1 (n = 36) with toys suggested support for the conventional wisdom. Study 2 (n = 36) was a replication of procedures from the first study with substitution of food items for toys. Study 2 resulted in no statistical differences at the traditional .05 level, but a trend appeared on behalf of the older- and younger-age models outperforming the same-age ones. The second study's results suggested that the nature of the product may moderate the effects of the adage, “older is better.”     

The Transition to the Euro: Some Perspectives from Economic Psychology

The reactions of EU consumers to the arrival of the euro are likely to be far more complex than people's typical pragmatic and expedient adaptations to everyday economic change. This article discusses the major problems and psychological issues that are likely to arise in domains where the euro can be expected to have a major impact. More specifically, the domains considered include the following: the symbolic meanings of money; learning, remembering and information- processing; judgement and decision-making; expectations, concerns, and beliefs of EU citizens (consumers); and, propaganda, communication and attitude change. The article concludes with a number of tentative policy recommendations.     

The Diversion of Order Flow on French Stocks from CAC to SEAQ International: a Field Study

The competition between SEAQ International and Continental European equity markets to attract transactions in the most actively traded European stocks has intensified since the late 1980s. Because their transactions are organised in a different manner, and because reporting standards are not the same, comparisons of official transaction volumes from SEAQ International and the French CAC market system are misleading. The objective of this paper is to scrutinise the order flow for French stocks and the reporting procedures on both market systems, so as to ascertain the effective transactions on each market and estimate actual market shares. Based on both the observation of official statistics and a field study of order flows conducted among five large and active brokerage houses with a book on both markets, SEAQI's market share in French stocks as reported in previous studies using only official volume statistics seems largely overstated.     

Strategic exchange in the development of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

The potential of computerised human resource information systems (HRIS) is often not realised for several reasons. Taking a relational/processual rather than a systems approach, a case study of a global HRIS developement project is examined using strategic exchange to highlight important social considerations of organisational, group and individual projects.