Novel approaches to the regulatory control of financial services providers: The importance of cultural context

This study investigates the effectiveness of a public sector financial management initiative. Specifically, the powers awarded to the Irish Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO) in 2013 to name and shame malfeasance by financial service providers (FSPs) in its annual reports. As the first country to award such powers to its public sector financial ombudsman, Ireland represents a novel setting in which to test the impact of regulatory disclosure as a way to promote accountability and transparency. Our results show that the number of complaints lodged against malfeasants dropped in the immediate aftermath of this and, following a one-year lag, so did the percentage of complaints lodged that proceeded to a full investigation and legally binding finding. Despite the failure of such strategies in some jurisdictions, the Irish experience indicates that regulatory disclosure can, in line with Neo-Durkheimian institutional theory and consistent with the accounting and accountability literature, have considerable impact where and when contextual preconditions are met. These findings have important implications for the operationalisation of regulatory disclosure as an accountability enhancing measure in other jurisdictions.     

Effect of Consumption Values on Women’s Choice Behavior Toward Organic Foods: The Case of Organic Yogurt in Iran

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of consumption values (i.e., functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, epistemic value, environmental value, and health value) on women’s choice behavior toward organic yogurt. Structural equation modeling is used to assess data collected by a questionnaire survey. The results indicate that functional value–quality, functional value–taste, and functional value–price; conditional value; epistemic value; and health value have positive effects on choosing organic yogurt by women, and social value, emotional value, and environmental value have no effects on the subject. Among variables, epistemic value and health value have the highest impact on consumer choice behavior toward organic yogurt. So this study concludes that the main influence factors on choice behavior regarding organic yogurt are epistemic value and health value. In fact, consumers have high knowledge about organic yogurt benefits related to their health.     

Role of Shopping Values and Web Atmospherics in E-Satisfaction and Repurchase Intention

Expected to touch US$55 billion in 2016, the e-commerce market in India presents an unprecedented growth opportunity for retailers. Existing studies have identified factors influencing shoppers’ online behaviour pertaining to the developed economies. Hence, it becomes pertinent to validate these antecedents for the economies like India. The article addresses this gap by examining the role of shopping values and web atmospherics, on e-satisfaction of Indian shoppers. Using multiple regression analysis, it also examines the influence of e-satisfaction on repurchase intention. The findings suggest that effectiveness of information content has the most significant impact on e-satisfaction. Web entertainment, utilitarian values and web informativeness are the other influencing factors. Contrary to the earlier studies, this study didn’t find any influence of hedonic shopping values on shoppers’ satisfaction. Also, e-satisfaction was found to have a positive influence on repurchase intention of e-shoppers. The article suggests select strategies that can be adopted by e-retailers.     

Quantitative and qualitative insights into consumers’ sustainable purchasing behaviour: a segmentation approach based on motives and heuristic cues

The present study draws on the concepts of motives and heuristics to thoroughly understand consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviour in the context of personal care products. The mixed-methods approach combines real purchasing data with in-depth qualitative data to generate insights with a high external validity. In the first section of the study, quantitative analysis is applied to actual purchasing behaviour (n = 10,772,477) to identify market trends. Three main groupings, along with specific heuristic cues, are established. In the second step, a qualitative study (n = 21) provides deeper insights into consumers’ motives and decision-making processes. By synthesising the quantitative and qualitative research findings, a segmentation approach is developed. Relevant motives and values, and corresponding specific heuristic cues are identified for each consumer segment. Analysis suggests that consumers are motivated by self-interest and environmental motives, and that they use simple heuristic cues to make quick and satisfying purchasing decisions. Both retailers and manufacturers can leverage these insights to seize the opportunities of the developing market for sustainable personal care products.     

区域文化创意产业发展的空间策略——以大珠三角地区为例

经济的转型与发展离不开区域间的产业分工与合作,文化创意产业的兴起与发展不仅是区域经济发展的重要力量,也是促进经济增长的核心要素之一。大珠三角地区在逐步完成了快速的经济增长和工业化阶段以后,对经济的发展方式和城市化的质量提出了更高的要求。空间不仅是制约大珠三角地区发展的关键要素之一,也是区域文化创意产业发展的重要载体和政策手段。本文最后通过对大珠三角地区的研究,以文化经济学和经济地理学的相关理论为基础,以粤港澳三地的文化创意产业为主要分析对象,对三地文化创意产业的发展的现状进行剖析,并在此基础上对文化产业的空间分布进行定性分析,探讨区域文化创意产业发展的影响因素,找出合理的空间结构,为区域文化创意产业的发展提供政策建议和新的路径选择,同时也为区域经济的转型和发展研究提供新的理论视角。     

文化差异对消费者奢侈品购买行为的影响——以中国和英国市场为例

越来越多的企业开始参与国际化进程。而在这其中,企业为了更成功地实施全球营销策略,文化是其中一个不容忽视的关键因素。顾客的购买动机和消费行为都会因为文化环境的不同而各异。本文意在研究跨文化差异对中英消费者奢侈品消费行为的影响——中国以集体主义文化为代表,英国以个人主义文化为代表。英国近年来奢侈品消费市场正迅猛增加而中国更是成为世界最大奢侈品消费国。在前人研究的基础上,本文将着重研究文化差异对奢侈品消费行为的影响。通过比较分析,希望本文的研究能够为营销者们在一个文化多元的全球市场中提供一些建议和参考。     

利用钢结构建筑残值证券化实现钢铁资源储备

在地球资源枯竭之前,为了国家在未来的国际资源争夺战中占领制高点,应未雨绸缪对资源实现大规模的战略储备。当前,利用我国建筑业高速发展机遇期,大规模推广钢结构建筑以求较大规模钢铁集中消耗形成＂藏钢于屋＂即可实现钢铁资源的战略储备,这样一种储备不会影响钢铁资源在建筑中使用价值的发挥,从而规避了＂冬眠＂式储备。钢结构建筑成本高是制约其发展的瓶颈,根据钢结构建筑中钢材易集中回收以及残值较高的特点,文章提出了钢结构建筑残值证券化的新概念。采用钢结构建筑残值证券化手段,可以让证券持有人在分享因资源枯竭或通货膨胀带来的丰厚收益的同时分担高昂的建造成本,从而能够使国家以超低成本或零成本实现大规模钢铁资源战略储备。     

民间音乐在新农村思想文化建设中的作用及发展途径

民间音乐是民族民间文化的组成部分,凝聚着中华传统文化的精华.应正确认识民间音乐的价值和作用,充分挖掘蕴藏在农村传统民间文化的精髓,激发农村文化活力,使其更好的服务于新农村建设.     

论凸显文物的非物质文化属性提升博物馆的社会教育效能

文物是人类劳动、智慧和精神的结晶,是向社会公众进行爱国主义、革命传统和历史唯物主义教育的最直接的物证。文物包括物质和非物质两大属性,文物的价值和社会教育功能都是通过非物质文化属性来体现的。因而,要提升博物馆的社会教育效能就必须要充分凸显文物的非物质文化属性,利用文化部门的宣传教育优势,结合旅游业的宣传推广,植根学校和社会教育,才能达到提高公众文化素质的目的。