A different perspective on consumer engagement: exploring the experience of using health apps to support healthier food purchasing

ABSTRACT

Healthy food purchasing behaviour may be facilitated through the use of health apps if used for the necessary time period. However, little is known on the factors that influence the user experience and facilitate or impede their continued use. The purpose of the present research is to explore the lived experience of using a health app to support healthier food purchasing behaviour. Findings identify the presence of behaviour change motivation and anticipated effort levels as drivers of app engagement. It appeared that behavioural, cognitive and emotional dimensions of engagement may influence one another, driven by contextual influences, to simultaneously contribute to the intrinsic experience of engagement. The research makes practical and theoretical contributions to the consumer engagement literature and highlights the need to focus on understanding and capturing the specific engagement context to better understand engagement.     

Lesbian and gay expatriation: opportunities,barriers and challenges for global mobility

The research presented in this paper addresses an important gap in the expatriation literature in examining perceptions of opportunities, barriers and challenges for expatriation of lesbian and gay (LG) expatriates. This is an area that is under-researched despite such individuals representing a growing sector of the global talent pool. Based on an analysis of interviews with 20 LG expatriates, the study draws on social capital theory as a lens for highlighting LG expatriates' unique attributes and networks. The research is significant in suggesting that the expatriates' sexual minority status is viewed as both a disabler and enabler in expatriation. We suggest that there is a corporate ceiling for LG expatriates, and that they experience discrimination and stereotyping, and oftentimes limited organizational and host-country support. Significantly, the findings also extend research in suggesting that LG workers may have more opportunities in global staffing than previously thought and a valuable role in contributing to inclusivity debates and policy development on the global business stage. Furthermore, LG expatriates may be accepted in host countries when homosexuality is deemed legally or socially unacceptable for locals, and legal and financial independence within LG partnerships may provide them with more mobility than their heterosexual counterparts.     

Public–Private Sector Comparisons of Nurses’ Work Harassment Using Set: Italy and Australia

Using Social Exchange Theory, this study compared the impact of nurses’ workplace relationships with management and colleagues upon nurses’ work harassment, psychological well-being, and engagement within the public and private sectors in both Australia and Italy. Using survey data from 1,587 nurses, SEM findings indicated that public sector nurses in Australia had the lowest satisfaction with supervision, higher work harassment, and lower engagement and psychological well-being, than the other groups. The implications include that poor workplace relationships enable work harassment and therefore management upskilling is required along with changes in performance measures to ensure greater nurse well-being and engagement.     

Workplace bullying,workplace relationships and job outcomes for police officers in Australia

One alleged consequence of new public management (NPM) methods and practices, bullying, is seriously under-researched. The authors examined the impact of workplace relationships on police officer bullying and job outcomes. The quality of supervisor relationships seemed to buffer officers’ perceptions of bullying and, hence, their job outcomes. The consequences of the present post-NPM management practices are problematic, with negative implications for police officers in forming effective workplace relationships, which then negatively impact job outcomes, thereby affecting the quality of services delivered to the public.     

The Rationale for Occupational Pensions

Employers and employees have no incentive to include pensionsas part of employment contracts unless the pension completesa missing market, or ameliorates an imperfection in existingcapital or labour markets. We examine the influence on the choiceand design of occupational pensions of capital- and labour-marketimperfections. In capital markets, we focus on basis risks,taxation, employer default risks, transactions costs, portfoliorestrictions, and liquidity constraints. Aspects of labour marketsaffecting occupational pensions may be the presence of firm-specifichuman capital, asymmetric information between firms and potentialhires, the presence of moral hazard, and internal labour marketsin firms which cause employers to attempt to control the retirementbehaviour of workers. The implications of this analysis of occupationalpensions for public policy towards pensions are briefly examined. Footnotes ¹ E-mail address: dg.mccarthy{at}imperial.ac.uk     

Multimarket Contact in Health Insurance: Evidence from Medicare Advantage*

Many industries consist of large firms that compete in multiple geographic markets. Such overlap, defined as multimarket contact (MMC), may facilitate tacit collusion and soften competition. We examine the effects of MMC on health insurance prices and quality using comprehensive data on the Medicare Advantage (MA) market from 2008 through 2015. Our identification strategy exploits two plausibly exogenous changes to MMC: (1) out-of-market mergers; and (2) policy-driven changes in the benchmark rates of other markets. Our results consistently support the mutual forbearance hypothesis, where we find that prices are significantly higher and high-quality plans less pervasive as MMC increases.     

Affective commitment,home-based working and the blurring of work–home boundaries: Evidence from Germany

Analysis of data from the representative German Linked Personnel Panel revealed that, overall, the use of home-based working is associated with a higher affective organisational commitment on the part of employees. However, this is less often the case when the use of home-based working involves the blurring of work–home boundaries. Perceived trust and fairness on the part of supervisors mediates the association between employees' experiences with working from home and their affective commitment. These results show that experiences with home-based working shape employees' perceptions of trust and fairness in their exchange relations with supervisors and thus their affective commitment to the organisation. Employees' experiences with home-based working that reflect its supportive implementation by their employers and supervisors are critical for their commitment. Our results provide the first evidence that in exchange relations between employees and supervisors, perceived fairness is as important as perceived trust.