Attributes influencing clothing store choice for an emerging market’s Generation Y Twixter customers

The aim of this paper was to determine the key attributes influencing a sub-segment of Generation Y, the Twixters’ choice of clothing retailers in South Africa, an emerging market. Generation Y has been identified as an important segment particularly for apparel and the Twixter sub-group comprises a third of the segment. Using a positioning theory lens, retailers need to understand the attributes a target market finds important as stores are positioned in consumers’ minds on those attributes. The study therefore sought to determine what these Twixters consider to be important attributes in their clothing store selection. The study comprised two stages; a qualitative stage based on focus group discussion data in which the attributes were determined, discussed and defined, and a quantitative stage, which involved a survey administered to 368 Twixter respondents which determined the relative importance of the attributes to Twixters in their clothing store selection. The results reveal that these Twixters appreciate the price–quality relationship and prefer clothing stores which provide high quality, unique and fashionable merchandise that meets their value for money requirements. The results of the study, although not generalisable, provide noteworthy insight for clothing store and apparel marketers targeting these Generation Y customers.     

Understanding the distinctiveness of Chinese Post-80s tourists through an exploration of their formative experiences

Chinese Post-80s (the Chinese equivalent of Generation Y) are a distinct generation that emerged during a period of rapid political, social and economic change under Deng Xiaoping’s policy exploration with capitalism. Chinese Post-80s demonstrate higher levels of both complexity and sophistication in their tourist behaviours when compared with earlier generations of Chinese tourists yet their distinctiveness has been largely ignored in tourism research. Underpinned by generational cohort theory, this study explores the formative experiences of Chinese Post-80s and provides insights into the way these experiences have shaped this generation and their outbound travel. These formative experiences include Reform and Open Policy, One Child Policy and Education Reforms. Two discrete groups: “made in China” and transnational Chinese Post-80s tourists have been identified. We argue that while Chinese Post-80s tourists may share many aspects in common with their Western counterparts, this generation presents its distinctiveness due to its emergence from a specific sets of events with China’s rapid change that make Chinese Post-80s different from any generation in the global environment, creating new academic inquiries for established theories of generational studies. This nuanced understanding of Chinese Post-80s tourists has profound implications for theory and practice in the context of Chinese outbound travel.     

以管理学视角探讨学生为中心的教学实施

以学生为中心的教学实施,必须有一定的前提和基础.根据管理学中的X和Y理论,要让学生参与,必须增强其自我管理的责任感,提高学生参与的积极性,培养学生参与能力,明确评价标准,控制课堂规模.在教学实践中,可以采用任务完成式教学,讨论式教学和演讲式教学,提供给学生充分参与的机会.     

Generation Y: An Agenda for Future Visitor Attraction Research

This study provides a comprehensive secondary‐based synthesis of previous studies on the profile and patterns of consumption of Generation Y, their consumption experiences and the role of information communication technologies and social media in determining their emerging patterns of behaviour at visitor attractions. The paper concludes by advancing a management‐oriented attraction research framework specific to Generation Y with a set of research propositions proposed to stimulate further research and management action on this specific and highly influential generational cohort. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of gender,social cause,charitable support,and message appeal on Gen Y's responses to cause-related marketing

Abstract

This study examined the influence of gender, type of social cause, amount of charitable support, and message appeal on Gen Y consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions towards an apparel brand within the context of cause-related marketing. A questionnaire, with an experimental design component, was administered to a sample of 562 Gen Y college students. Results suggest that Gen Y consumers are more likely to form positive attitudes towards an apparel brand when the amount of the charitable support is clearly communicated. Gender did not influence attitude towards brand, but did predict purchase intentions. Attitude towards brand, subjective norm, evaluation of the advertisement, and involvement in social causes were strong predictors of purchase intentions. When developing CRM initiatives, marketers should consider Gen Y's involvement in a social cause (e.g. volunteerism) rather than their stated interest in the given cause, and they would be well advised to state precisely (in advertisements) the amount of monetary contribution made to charitable causes.     

The influence of gender and culture on Generation Y consumer decision making styles

Through the use of case studies of Cardiff (UK) and Charlotte (USA) this paper provides a comparative study of the retail structure of British and American cities. Three of the most striking contrasts can be seen in the intra-urban location of retail activity, the role of planned and unplanned shopping centres, and in the amount of retail space provision. Retailing in USA cities tends to be more decentralized, with a greater role for planned shopping centres and more retail space than in British cities. Reasons for this are explored.     

Bayesian approach to LR assessment in case of rare type match

The likelihood ratio (LR) is largely used to evaluate the relative weight of forensic data regarding two hypotheses, and for its assessment, Bayesian methods are widespread in the forensic field. However, the Bayesian ‘recipe’ for the LR presented in most of the literature consists of plugging‐in Bayesian estimates of the involved nuisance parameters into a frequentist‐defined LR: frequentist and Bayesian methods are thus mixed, giving rise to solutions obtained by hybrid reasoning. This paper provides the derivation of a proper Bayesian approach to assess LRs for the ‘rare type match problem’, the situation in which the expert wants to evaluate a match between the DNA profile of a suspect and that of a trace from the crime scene, and this profile has never been observed before in the database of reference. LR assessment using the two most popular Bayesian models (beta‐binomial and Dirichlet‐multinomial) is discussed and compared with corresponding plug‐in versions.     

Y2K

This paper studies, within a general equilibrium model, the dynamics of Year 2000 (Y2K)-type shocks: anticipated, permanent losses in output whose magnitude can be lessened by investing resources in advance. The implied dynamics replicate three observed characteristics of those triggered by the Y2K bug. (1) Precautionary investment: Investment in solving the Y2K problem begins before the year 2000. (2) Investment delay: Although economic agents have been aware of the Y2K problem since the 1960s, investment did not begin until recently. (3) Investment acceleration: As the new millennium approaches, the amount of resources allocated to solving the Y2K problem increases. In addition, the model predicts that Y2K investment peaks at the end of 1999. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E22, E32     

The impact of manager philosophy on knowledge management systems

This paper analyses how information about managers and technology can be used to provide those managers with a system that is congruent with their needs. In particular, using McGregor's Theories X and Y philosophies, managerial needs are elicited and then contemporary knowledge management technologies, including intelligent agents, and the way they are implemented, are analysed to determine how they meet those manager needs. Different knowledge management technologies are found to be important to manifesting the requirements of particular management philosophies. For example, ‘Theory X’ appears consistent with use of intelligent agents to ‘monitor’ behaviour. This leads to the concept of ‘technology congruence’, where the choice of the technology ultimately is tied to which view of the world the manager employs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work values preferences of Generation Y: performance relationship insights in the Australian Public Service

Empirical research to date has provided few insights into the values and performance norms of Generation Y in the workplace. Our exploratory qualitative study treats work values preferences as inferred performance behavior in an attempt to shed light on the Generation Y performance relationship in the Australian Public Service (APS). Adopting a person–organization values fit framework, our study draws attention to how Generation Y employees (N = 60) and older managers (N = 20) shape key aspects of performance around their own different values judgments of APS operational procedures (i.e. ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’ vs. ‘legitimate governance’) and merit-based promotion (i.e. ‘it’s just wasting people’s time’ vs. ‘younger employees expect too much, too soon’). Findings suggest areas of work supportive of an efficient Generation Y performance relationship (i.e. Generation Ys’ work ethic), as well as inefficient areas of performance where managers and Generation Y hold different work values preferences (i.e. unrealistic expectations; underperforming colleagues; decision-making processes). Performance implications associated with how managers may respond to the work values preferences of Generation Y are discussed.