A Green Picture is Worth A Thousand Words?: Effects of Visual and Textual Environmental Appeals in Advertising and the Moderating Role of Product Involvement

This study examined the main effects and interaction effects of textual environmental claims and green visuals on attitude-toward-the-ad (A_ad), attitude-toward-the-brand (A_b), purchase intention (PI), and green brand associations. In general, the use of textual environmental claims and green visuals lead to more positive advertising responses and more favorable perception of the brand's environmental effort. Textual environmental claims had stronger impact, but if no textual information was available, the use of green visuals could also generate positive perception of the brand's environmental effort. In addition, when textual claims or green visuals are present, participants perceived high involvement products as more environmentally friendly than low involvement products.     

Consumers’ evaluation of brand portfolios

This study explores how consumers evaluate lodging brand portfolios and shows the important role of brand-specific associations and brand portfolio effects in forming brand attitudes toward extended brands. The findings suggest, in general, that both brand-specific associations and brand portfolio affect consumers’ evaluations of extended brands. In addition, brand fit and familiarity are found to be important in consumers’ attitude formation in that they moderate attitude transferability between a brand portfolio and its extended brands. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

民间商会的“一业多会”问题及其求解路径——基于温州行业协会的实证研究

由于相关法律法规没有理顺地、业、会之间的关系,这使一业多会成为可能。行业协会组织边界的约束、部门条块分割及其利益诉求、企业家的利益驱动等使这种可能转化为现实。与一业一会相比,一业多会通过扩大入会率和矫正寡头化现象而更具有代表性。因此,在制度设计上,应该通过培育竞争机制、民主机制和绩效评估机制以及取消政治激励来推进一业多会的发展。     

商会和行业协会在日本经济高速增长过程中的作用

商会和行业协会作为一种“中间性组织”,是日本战后经济体制的重要组成部分。在日本实现经济高速增长的过程中,商会和行业协会不仅通过形成“有组织的市场”对资源进行合理、有效的配置,而且在弥补市场经济的缺陷和不足以及协助国家进行经济战略管理和制定、实施产业政策等方面,发挥了政府、企业和市场不可替代的作用。     

The evolving role of trade associations in negotiated environmental agreements: the case of United Kingdom Climate Change Agreements

Voluntary and negotiated agreements are becoming increasingly popular instruments for regulating industry's environmental performance. Although their main purpose is to modify the behaviour of individual firms, the coordinating role of trade (or industry) associations is often critical to their environmental effectiveness. Thus, a clear and mutually agreed understanding of associations' role in the agreement process is essential. This paper examines the nature of trade associations' input into the negotiation and implementation of environmental agreements, using the case study of United Kingdom Climate Change Agreements. Results show associations serving a range of coordinating roles, including the aggregation of members' viewpoints, negotiation of agreements, provision of regulatory and technical knowledge and collation of performance data. We conclude that further involvement of trade associations in negotiated and voluntary agreements can bring appreciable, though not uncontested, benefits in terms of environmental effectiveness. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

社会转型期辽宁省饭店行业协会贡献的实证评述

社会转型以来,我国各行各类协会的功能、地位、作用等方面都发生了适应市场经济的变化,并有了长足的发展,由此而带来的学术研究成果也颇多,但有关饭店行业协会的研究,目前还鲜见于公开发表的文献中。这与服务于中国最早对外开放,最早引进国外先进管理理念的饭店行业的实践成果相比,存在巨大的反差。本文以辽宁省饭店行业协会为例,对其打造的影响力、生命力、创新力、凝聚力四方面的贡献进行了实证评述。     

Industry associations as facilitators of social capital: The establishment and early operations of the Melbourne Woolbrokers Association

Relocation of the selling of Australia's wool clip from London to cities in Australia in the late nineteenth century led to the creation of wool selling industry associations, such as the Melbourne Woolbrokers Association (MWA). Highly successful in fostering competitive collaboration that improved market efficiency, the Association rested on the social capital brought to it and further developed by the participants, individuals with extensive connections in the pastoral, banking and transport industries. The collective social capital vested in the Association enabled the earning of economic rents, firstly from the high trust created through internal cohesion reinforced by formalised sanctions, and secondly from a capacity to span ‘structural holes’ between networks outside of the Association.     

Perceptions of Governance in Africa

Abstract

This paper reviews a survey of 800 business leaders and civil servants in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Like most African countries, these eight countries have undertaken governance reforms over the past decade, trying to include a wider range of views expressed by organized interest groups in the formulation of economic and commercial policies. This survey aimed to learn how business and government leaders perceive those recent governance reforms.

First, do managers and civil servants see local trade associations successfully representing the broader business point of view with decision makers, and keeping their members informed of current and proposed public policies? Second, to what extent do perceived principal/agent tensions divide companies from “their” business associations? Third, how does industry structure affect perceptions of business association perfor mance? A fourth issue is whether perceptions exist of “bureaucratic capture” or of excessive state power over business associations in the sample countries.

Most respondents see major problems with governance, though across countries they report the impression of improvement and expect further gains. This raises the risk of unmet expectations should the pace of reform slacken. Business associations are reported to work reasonably well as policy advocates for better governance. They are seen as doing a fair job of keeping members updated on the policy environment. There was little difference in opinion between larger and smaller companies, and surprising overlap between the public and private sectors. These findings are grounds for wary optimism about business-government relations in the region.

Progress will not occur automatically, however. Companies in Africa need to redouble their government relations and policy advocacy activities. The region's industry and trade associations are promising vehicles for expressing the interests of the business community.     

大学生参与不同类型社团与其社会化进程的关系分析

通过4所在宁省部属高校3220份参与社团大学生的有效问卷调查可以发现，大学生参与不同类型的社团对其社会化具有不同的影响程度；依此为基础，进行统筹兼顾，合理规划，改善大学生社团的结构功能，会使大学生社团活动在素质教育中的作用得到更充分的发挥。