What kind of donor are you? Uncovering complexity in donor identity

Identity is a useful lens to understand donation behavior. However, studies have typically conceptualized and examined donor identity as a generic, unidimensional concept. Through in‐depth interviews with 52 blood donors, this study sets out to discover if there is more complexity to donor identity, and what implications this might have for marketing communications, in the context of donation of the self (e.g., blood, organs, time, and effort). We use sentiment polarity and amplification analysis of inductive themes to uncover distinct patterns reflective of four different donor identities. We label these the Savior, Communitarian, Pragmatist, and Elitist, which are underpinned by theories of gift‐giving, sharing, pragmatism, and signaling, respectively. The typology offers a theory‐building mechanism to anticipate the effects of marketing stimuli on donation behavior. We conclude by presenting four theoretical propositions, for which we provide preliminary empirical evidence. The survey data is suggestive of action readiness for donation behavior when a marketing communication message is aligned with its intended donor identity.     

Exploring the effects of leaders’ individualized consideration in extreme contexts

Abstract

Role clarity and trust in leadership are two crucial factors supporting soldiers in coping with uncertainty and imperfect knowledge. The present study examined the effects of leaders’ individualized consideration on both factors in a sample composed of 161 paratroopers from a parachute division of the NATO Airborne Forces. Conditional process modeling revealed that (1) leaders showing individualized consideration increase followers’ role clarity and, in parallel, develop a trusting relationship with them; (2) critical upward communication and perceived workload mediated and moderated these relationships, respectively. The implications of these findings for safety research and their practical applications are outlined.     

Performance of methods to conduct mediation analysis with time-to-event outcomes

Previous studies have discouraged the use of the Cox proportional hazards (PH) model for traditional mediation analysis as it might provide biased results. Accelerated failure time (AFT) models have been proposed as an alternative for Cox PH models. In addition, the use of the potential outcomes framework has been proposed for mediation models with time-to-event outcomes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of traditional mediation analysis and potential outcomes mediation analysis based on both the Cox PH and the AFT model. This is done by means of a Monte Carlo simulation study and the illustration of the methods using an empirical data set. Both the product-of-coefficients method of the traditional mediation analysis and the potential outcomes framework yield unbiased estimates with respect to their own underlying indirect effect value for simple mediation models with a time-to-event outcome and estimated based on Cox PH or AFT.     

Where to refuel: Modeling on-the-way choice of convenience outlet

For many goods consumers do not make a special trip to a store. Especially for a convenience good such as fuel they will buy the product while on-the-way to some final destination. This paper introduces on-the-way choice of retail outlet as a form of convenience shopping. It presents a model of on-the-way choice of retail outlet and applies the model in the context of fuel retailing to explore its implications for segmentation and spatial competition. The model allows analyzing how choice of retail outlet varies not only with spatio-temporal variables (distance, detour, local competition and agglomeration) but also with trip-related characteristics such as time of day and prior awareness of one's purchase need. The model is a latent class random utility choice model. An application to gas station choices observed in a medium-sized Asian city show the model to fit substantially better than existing models. The empirical results indicate consumers may adopt one of two decision strategies. When adopting an immediacy-oriented strategy they behave in accordance with the traditional gravity-based retail models and tend to choose the most spatially convenient outlet. When following a destination-oriented strategy they focus more on maintaining their overall trip efficiency and so will tend to visit outlets located closer to their main destination and are more susceptible to retail agglomeration effects. The paper demonstrates how the model can be used to inform segmentation and local competition analyses that account for variations in these strategies as well as variations in consumer type, origin and time of travel. Simulations of a duopoly setting further demonstrate the implications.     

Pursuit of loyalty in service recovery: The roles of brand equity and cognitive reappraisal as moderators

This research investigates the roles of brand equity and cognitive reappraisal in the association between the perception of justice and loyalty via customer affection in a service failure and recovery context. Survey data were subjected to the conditional process analysis using the regression-based method. Results reveal that customer affection plays a mediating role in the link between the perception of justice and loyalty. In addition, brand equity and cognitive reappraisal contribute as moderators in influencing the behavioral outcomes. Implications for researchers and managers are also provided.     

Telecommunications and economic development – The 21st century: Making the evidence stronger

A review of the literature on the relation between telecommunications and economic development published since the turn of this century is undertaken. Two stages have been considered: until 2008, most contributions continued to examine the role of telecommunications taken together; since 2009, the impact of broadband –and, to a lesser extent, of mobile communications– dominates the research agenda. All in all, the role of telecommunications as a catalyst to leverage economic growth has been conclusively proven over the years. Taking into consideration the shortcomings of previous research, suggestions for future work are also provided.     

Teaching effectiveness of non-native English-speaking teachers in business disciplines: intercultural communication apprehension and ethnocentrism

Teaching effectiveness of non-native English-speaking teachers (NNEST) in accounting, economics and finance has become a significant issue due to the increasing trend of hiring NNEST in business schools. However, the literature has focused on the English language competence of NNEST, which is only one element of the factors that influence teaching effectiveness. This study examines students’ perceptions of teaching effectiveness of NNEST in business disciplines in an Australian university to understand relevant NNEST issues of teaching from a cross-cultural communication perspective. Data were gathered via focus groups and student evaluation of teacher performance surveys. The thematic content analysis of the data indicated that students acknowledge that NNEST are knowledgeable and hardworking teachers; however, issues of intercultural communication apprehension hinder their teaching effectiveness. Besides, ethnocentric world views of students tend to adversely influence the teaching evaluation of NNEST. This study concludes that NNEST’s issues are broader than mere linguistic competence, which suggests that business schools should focus on enhancing cultural understanding and minimising intercultural communication apprehension of NNEST in efforts aimed at enhancing NNEST’s teaching effectiveness.