Have “Millennials” Embraced Digital Advertising as They Have Embraced Digital Media?

Consumers’ attitudes toward advertising ethics are of interest to marketers who understand that negative attitudes can be harmful to brands. Today advertisers increasingly depend on internet advertising. This study compares attitudes of Millennials (the first generation to use digital media more than traditional media) toward internet advertising with attitudes toward advertising in traditional media. Similar to previous generations who had more negative attitudes toward TV advertising, which was their most frequently used medium, Millennials’ attitudes appeared to be more negative toward internet advertising. Thus, we conclude that advertisers must work to engender positive relationships with Millennials through more ethical internet advertising and other innovative strategies.     

On the demand for independent and active audit committees

We extend the literature on director independence and the role of the board by focusing on the importance of audit committees in the contracting process. We find that the demand for independent and active audit committees is positively related to the demand for accounting certification. In particular, we find that the likelihood of a firm having a completely independent and active audit committee is negatively related to firm growth opportunities and managerial ownership and positively related to firm size and leverage. Our results suggest that audit committees are an important organizational construct related to the demand for accounting certification.     

The environmental value‐attitude‐system model: A framework to guide the understanding of environmentally‐conscious consumer behaviour

Business writers such as Charter in 1992 predict that addressing the environmental consciousness of consumers will be one of the most important issues industry will face in the 1990s, and was seen by Ottmann in 1992 as the marketing trend of the decade. In 1993 Coddington judged much of green consumer potential to be latent as the environmental concern expressed in surveys was not clearly visible in current consumer behaviour. How best to respond to this new challenge and exploit the potential market is still causing confusion amongst marketers. However, it is a practical business concern as consumers may become more explicit in their demand and use their purchase power as an economic vote to effect social and environmental change. It is argued that marketing conclusions can only be drawn from a thorough understanding of the phenomenon. In this paper, the value‐attitude‐system model of Vinson et al. in 1977 is applied and extended to provide an insight into the complex phenomena affecting environmentally‐conscious purchase behaviour by integrating the underlying influences from the individual belief system.     

Selective Exposure and Retention of Political Advertising

This article examines the relative roles of “selective exposure” to and “selective retention” of political advertising during the 1972 presidential election. Data was gathered in two regionally diverse metropolitan areas, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Philadelphia indicated greater general exposure to mass media political advertising while Atlantans were more inclined to recall specific advertisements. In general, a medium rated high for advertising exposure mentions will be rated low on selective retention of message, and vice versa. The authors conclude that because of selective exposure and retention, political advertising may only be effective in reinforcing political beliefs rather than in the conversion of voters.     

Covert operations

Few executives have insight into what really goes on in their organizations. CEO Stephen Martin seized a rare opportunity to anonymously discover the nitty gritty of his company. He shares his insights with Julian Birkinshaw and Stuart Crainer.     

Reducing risky interactions between tourists and free-ranging dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in an artificial feeding program at Monkey Mia, Western Australia

We studied interactions between tourists and free-ranging bottlenose dolphins in an artificial feeding program at Monkey Mia, Australia. We used logistic regression to identify factors that contributed to the incidence of “risky” (potentially injurious) interactions between tourists and dolphins. Rates of dolphin-to-tourist risky interactions were heightened with longer waiting times before dolphins were fed. We documented differences among provisioned dolphins in their proclivity to engage in risky interactions; however, it was more likely for risky interactions to be initiated by tourists. Our findings suggest several readily implemented management strategies to reduce incidence of risky interactions. Long-term monitoring of tourism based on artificial feeding is essential to identify and rectify detrimental effects of provisioning on dolphins, to ensure the safety and welfare of dolphins and tourists, and to promote sustainability of this potentially harmful tourist activity.     

Rental Housing Markets and the Natural Vacancy Rate

This paper employs new census vacancy rate data to analyze the price-adjustment mechanism for rental housing. The study extends previous research on this topic, which provided conflicting evidence concerning the traditional theory of rental housing market adjustment (see Smith [10] , [11] ; DeLeeuw and Ekanem [2] ; Eubank and Sirmans [4] ; and Rosen and Smith [8] ). Cross-section and time-series data are pooled to estimate natural vacancy rates for sixteen United States cities for the 1981–85 period. The analysis further explores the determinants of variation in natural vacancy rates across those metropolitan areas.     

Repeated payment delinquency among young adults in the United States

There is concern in the United States about young adults falling behind financially due to the increased use of student loans and low wages. This study investigates payment delinquency as a measure of financial distress to better understand how young adults might be struggling. Personality traits are incorporated into the model to determine the extent to which behavioural factors are correlated with financial behaviors and if they predict a habit trend of payment delinquency. The 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nationally representative longitudinal data set, is used in the study. A random effects probit model and a dynamic random effects probit model are used to examine late bill pay (harassed by bill collectors) and late rent or mortgage payments (more than 60 days late) over a period of 8 years (2007–2015). Results from the analysis indicate that payment delinquency in a previous period increases the likelihood of payment delinquency by 10 percentage points in a subsequent period. Conscientiousness decreases the likelihood by 2.1 percentage points, while neuroticism increases the likelihood by 1.6 percentage points.     

Regional Trade Agreements and the Pattern of Trade: A Networks Approach

This paper uses a complex network approach for the analysis trade effects from regional trade agreements on world trade flows. We use bilateral trade data to compute the network community structure for every year between 1970 and 2000. We compare this to null community structures that emerge from various models based on regional and geographical classifications, the implementation of RTA's and gravity models of trade. Our results show that RTA formation appears to have a cyclical pattern on the world trade network community structure. We document periods where bilateral trade flows and the structure of the world trade network are consistent with those predicted by formation of RTAs. These cycles occur in 1980–86 and 1990–96. At the same time, we document periods in which the pattern in the world trade network is not explained by RTA formation. Two periods, 1986–90 and 1997–2000, show a pattern of bilateral trade flows that moves away from the prediction that results from assuming RTA formation as the driving force in the determination of the world trade network structure. Factors contributing to the latter parts of the cycle during our sample period include formation of regional trade networks in East Asia that account for a significant portion of world trade but are not formalised by RTAs in force.