The thrust to free trade: Conviction or fashion

Recently many developing countries flocked to free trade because the forces that led policymakers to resist trade reforms in the past have weakened. Apart from obvious external pressures from lending institutions, developing countries may simply have seen that cooperation promises more benefits than conflict in the area of international trade. The ideological debate between market forces and government planning has been decided in favor of market forces. However, another possibility not much considered is that trade reform is in vogue and this provides the motivation for following suit. Thus, trade reform can precipitate a cascade effect (Hirshleifer's term) of countries queuing up to adopt trade reform policies. A country is more likely to favor the notion of trade reform if two or more other countries have already successfully moved in that direction.     

Humor and cognitive responses to advertising stimuli: A trace consolidation approach

Despite the predictions of several attitude change theories, most empirical research suggests that humorous communications are no more persuasive than their serious counterparts. The present study adopted a trace consolidation theory approach and tested the hypothesis that humorous appeals are more persuasive than serious appeals when time for trace consolidation is allowed. The trace consolidation theory hypothesis was supported most directly by shifts in cognitive responses. On some measures, sex differences were also observed. Specifically, males were found to be more susceptible than females to the humorous persuasive appeal.     

Numbers don't lie—do they?

It's easy to forget that behind every number is a person trying to impress, mislead, or please an interviewer.     

Equality for women?

Many women still perceive men as their superiors in intellect. Although this double standard is dying, it is dying oh, so slowly.     

“私人定制”高管薪酬

正最好的公司绝不会让薪酬成为被诟病的话题。要给崭露头角的人传达这样一个信号:"你与众不同,所以我们给你尽可能高的奖励。"在比较好的公司,董事会和CEO都会着力组建现有或潜在的领导班子,他们也总会在推进人才发展计划时配套以相应的薪酬战略。但也有不少公司对薪酬体系存有错误的看法:他们认为,先把智囊团组建起来再想"钱"的事。如果董事会纵容甚至自己也持有这种想法,那么公司组建起来的人才系统必然是二流的。     

Sampling in the twenty-first century

This article summarizes the most significant developments in survey sampling in the twentieth century, especially as they relate to marketing and marketing research, and attempts to predict, based on what we know now, significant developments that will occur early in the twenty-first century. The article is divided into the following sections: (1) Developments in Door-to-Door Sampling, (2) Developments in Telephone and Mail Surveys, (3) Location Samples, (4) Focus Groups and Other Sloppy Samples, (5) Sampling Rare Populations, (6) Business Surveys, (7) Panels, (8) Developments in the Theoretical Foundation of Survey Sampling, and (9) The Evolutionary Process and Future Developments. Seymour Sudman is Walter A. Stellner Professor of Marketing and the deputy director of the Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author, co-author, or editor of 20 books and more than 200 articles dealing with sampling and survey methods. Edward Blair is a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Houston and the head of the department. He is the author (with Seymour Sudman) of a text on marketing research, and his articles on research procedures have appeared in various academic journals. He also has taught sampling and other topics at the American Marketing Association’s School of Marketing Research since its inception.