Does character's gender matter in inspirational brand story? Exploring the moderating effect of gender role conformity

Inspirational brand story is a widely used marketing strategy in brand building. However, few empirical studies have investigated the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of a successful brand story strategy. The current study examined the influence of lead character's gender in inspirational brand story on consumer–brand identification based on the social identity theory, benevolent sexism, and gender schema theory. Results from two experiments demonstrated that the gender of inspirational brand stories has an impact on consumer brand identity through the mediation effect of sympathy. Compared with a male character, a female character elicits viewers' sympathy, which results in high brand identification. Such a gender effect is stronger when there is a high level of perceived gender role conformity. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The effectiveness of information interventions to improve domestic food safety among rural consumers

Consumer education on food handling behavior is regarded as an effective method to improve domestic food safety and prevent foodborne illness, but is usually overlooked in rural areas. Using a presurvey and two rounds of postsurveys targeted at rural consumers from China included in a randomized controlled trial, this study investigated the effectiveness of two information interventions—a leaflet with tips for best practices and the leaflet plus consumer education sessions conveyed by phone—and compared them with a control group. Cloth use behavior was the target in the trial and five specific aspects were evaluated: (1) whether the cloth was made of old clothes, (2) whether the one used to clean kitchen tables was also used to wash dishes, (3) whether it was hung to dry, (4) how it was disinfected, and (5) how long the cloth was used before being discarded. Firstly, consumers' behavior was scored by summing the above-mentioned five behaviors. The results estimated using the difference-in-difference model showed that respondents in the leaflet-only group improved to a greater extent than those in the control group, but their difference in progress was not statistically significant until the second round of the postsurvey. Respondents in the leaflet-plus-phone group were quicker to adopt suggested practices and made discernible improvements compared with those in the leaflet-only group in the first round of the postsurvey, but the gap between these groups narrowed to statistically insignificant in the second round of the postsurvey. It was concluded that one consumer education session was effective and made a difference in the long term, whereas more education sessions produced normative behavior at faster rates, showing a significant improvement in the short term. Then, the study estimated the effectiveness of interventions on the five specific behaviors separately. The results were estimated using a probit difference-in-difference model and showed that the suggested behaviors with lower costs or a greater difference from past behaviors were more likely to be adopted by consumers. Consumer education facilitates proper food handling practices among rural households, which should be considered by policy makers.     

不可再生资源消耗与内生经济增长：模型与实证

随着中国经济的高速增长,资源对增长的约束日益突出,资源稀缺与巨大需求之间 的矛盾使得增长与资源的关系值得关注。本文在Groth和Schou模型基础上扩展基于不可再生 资源①的内生增长模型,并利用中国1981～2009年数据实证检验持续增长所需要的条件, 最后给出有关资源利用的政策建议.     

中国城市化对GDP影响研究

随着中国经济的发展，中国的城市化规模日益扩展，进程不断深入，但对GDP增长的积极影响不明显。为此，一是要积极提高全民族的文化水平，特别是对要继续提高受高等教育人口在总人口中的比重，使之与城市化水平高的发达国家相接轨；二是要在产业规模方面，除了要积极发展第三产业之外，应该特别注意调整地区之间的产业结构，减少重复建设，真正实现区域之间的优势互补，相互促进；三是要注意防止过多的人口成为大城市发展的负担。     

一锅东方魔汤的神奇故事--重庆武陵山珍公司董事长毕麦专访

这是一次餐饮史上的伟大创新:这是一群土家人的美食梦想; 这是一个预言与传统的深度撞击;这是重庆美食步入的一个全新世界; 一个普通的餐饮企业究竟有怎样的魔力能让社会各界频频光顾? 一只生长在深山老林的小小野菌究竟又有着怎样的独特魅力? 本期我们走近毕麦,走进武陵山珍,一同发掘这深埋在的武陵山区的旷世瑰宝……     

新生代农民工自我身份认同影响因素分析

农民的社会融合,特别是进城务工农民的社会融合是中国城市化发展的必然趋势。当前中国农民工这一群体中分化出来的新生代农民工更加具备社会融合的客观条件,他们的知识技能和健康状况均优于第一代农民工,但是当前中国新生代农民工实际社会融合程度仍不容乐观。造成这一问题的原因在于新生代农民工缺乏对于"市民"身份的认同。文章对自我角色认同这一表征进行了多分类无序变量的逻辑回归分析和交互分析,研究结果发现,影响新生代农民工自我身份认同的主要因素在于新生代农民工的性别、文化水平、收入、婚姻和行业等因素。在分析结论的基础上,文章提出了保障新生代农民工各项基本权利的政策建议和新生代农民工自身综合素质发展的意见,以加快新生代农民工对于"市民"身份的认同程度,早日实现农民的社会融合。     

没有国界的国家馆

在去参加第53届威尼斯艺术双年展开幕式之前的几天,我受邀出席了在意大利北部城市Bergamo的当代美术馆GAMeC举行的国际年轻策展人论坛,今年论坛的主题是"国际策展人的终结?"围绕着像威尼斯双年展、卡塞尔文献展等全球达几十个之多的国际性展览的策展策略和模式进行反思和讨论。讨论之中也不免提到了威尼斯双年展这个一直以一个策展人为主导选择艺术家的大     

浅析创新营销

在市场经济日益发展的今天,创新营销被看作是本世纪经济发展的源动力。在具体实施创新营销中,要注重产品质量、产品整体设计的创新;利用品牌形象与商誉进行产品创新;用名牌占领市场进行创新;加强时人的创新研究。