Just How Prepared Are You? An Application of Marketing Segmentation and Theory of Planned Behavior for Disaster Preparation

The threat of a disaster is very real for many, and preparation is vital. To identify differences in how people respond to disaster preparation, a segmentation approach may be useful. Based on a survey, cluster analysis and application of the theory of planned behavior, this study finds four segments in the population. The unprepared and uninterested segment may be encouraged by associating preparation tasks with benefits other than disaster resilience. Willing but could do more may respond to information highlighting that government support may not be enough in a disaster. For it’s just too difficult, barriers need to be addressed, lowering costs of preparation and changing perceptions of difficulty. Those in knowing, interested, and prepared could be encouraged to help spread the word of the importance of preparation. Further recommendations are made for the wider public policy context, including a call for more segmentation approaches to build understanding and resilience.     

Green Marketing and the Concern over the Environment: Measuring Environmental Consciousness of Jordanian Consumers

SUMMARY

The purpose of this article is to explore the attitudes of Jordanian consumers regarding both their current environmental consciousness and their willingness to adopt environmentally friendly consumption behavior. The article is based on an empirical investigation of consumer attitudes for a sample of 303 university students drawn from Jordanian universities, using a drop-off method. The article concludes that Jordanian consumers were, generally, concerned about the environment, as they demonstrated reasonably high levels of environmental consciousness relating to various environmental issues. However, this pro-environmental attitude was not sufficient to turn good intentions into actual buying actions, possibly due to several factors, such as loyalty to traditional products and weak credibility of “green” claims. The article stresses the need to link consumers' good intentions to actual buying behavior through a green marketing strategy, which focuses on the unique characteristics of green products and how they impact the environment, within the cultural context of the Jordanian consumer. Over time, we hope that these efforts can lead to a culture of green consumerism within a framework of environmental responsibility.     

Considering Technological Impacts When Selecting Food Suppliers: Comparing Retailers' Buying Behavior in the United States and Europe

Purpose: The research investigates the impact of emergent technologies, specifically supply-chain technology and food-production technology (i.e., genetically modified organisms [GMO]), on global food retailers' supplier decisions.

Methodology/approach: Qualitative research is conducted to examine technology-related vendor selection criteria of food retailers in 5 European countries comparing to those in the US.

Findings: Our findings show that global food retailers view supply-chain technology as a competitive advantage and is integrated as an important selection criteria; however, selection criteria differ for food-production technology between the United States and the European countries. European food retailers explicitly oppose food-production technology (GMO), while U.S. food retailers implicitly accept food-production technology. Emerging from this opposing view, global food retailers establish similar criteria for organic food (non-GMO) supplier selection: reliability, distance, consistent quality, and relationships with suppliers.

Research implications: Applying the supplier choice criteria framework (Lehmann and O'Shaughnessy 1982 Lehmann, D. R. and 'Shaughnessy, J. O. 1982. Decision criteria used in buying different categories of products. Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, 18: 9–14.  [Google Scholar]) to further analyze organic food suppliers, we find that reliability (adaptive criterion), distance (integrative criterion), consistent quality (performance criterion), and relationships with suppliers (economic criterion) are essential, but price is not.

Practical implications: This study suggests that to sustain competitiveness in the global food market, food suppliers not only need to ensure technological compatibility in supply-chain, but also adapt to the local food-production restriction (GMO) and organic food selection criteria preferences.

Originality/value/contribution: Supply-chain technology is strategically important and is adopted by global food retailers for competitive advantage; yet, there are dramatic differences regarding the acceptance of food production technology. This research contributes to the better understanding of how technologies exert significant and strategic weight in the food supplier selection process.     

Driving Goal-Directed and Experiential Online Shopping

Goal-directed and experiential online shopping are two general categories of consumer behavior on the Internet. Internet stores promoting online transactions may face challenges regarding how to satisfy distinct online shoppers. This study develops a dual-state of cognitive and affective reactions to online services and flow experiences to predict goal-directed and experiential online consumer behavior. This survey mailed 300 questionnaires to a random sample of volunteers with substantial online shopping experience. Of these, 150 samples were returned for data analysis. Empirical results from the survey indicate that the dual-state of online services is more appropriate for assessing goal-directed purchase intentions than for examining the willingness to purchase experientially. In contrast, the dual-state of flow experiences is better at assessing goal-directed purchase intentions and the willingness to purchase experientially. Finally, this study features implications for academics and practitioners.     

Innovativeness along the Business Cycle: The Case of Uruguay

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the dynamics of knowledge-capital accumulation along the different stages of the business cycle within the benchmark proposed by Crépon, Duguet, and Mairesse (1998 Crépon, B., Duguet, E. &; Mairesse, J. (1998). Research, innovation, and productivity: An econometric analysis at the firm level [Working Paper n° W6696]. Cambridge, MA: NBER. Retrieved from www.nber.org/papers/w6696[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) using a balanced panel of Uruguayan firms. Findings reveal that the intensity of innovation evolves procyclically, while the propensity of innovation and the degree of novelty embedded in innovations follow a countercyclical path. They also show that product innovations during economic recessions are only pursued by companies that are able to divert their sales to world markets; otherwise, they tend to innovate in processes. Results further suggest that productivity gains driven by knowledge-capital accumulation are magnified by systematically engaging in innovation activities.     

Linking Human Resource Development Practices to Counterproductive Work Behaviour: Does Employee Engagement Matter

ABSTRACT

Although there is strong evidence in the literature to support the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), little is known about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. The present study examined whether employee engagement mediates the relationship between HRD practices and CWB. Participants were 271 employees enroled in a part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at a large public university in Nigeria. After controlling for demographic characteristics, results showed that HRD practices were negatively related to CWB. The results also indicated that employee engagement plays a role in mediating the relationship between HRD practices and CWB.     

上海地区大学生网购行为调查与分析

本文研究上海地区大学生网购行为的实证问题。通过调查问卷对上海地区大学生网购行为调查,来分析了解上海地区大学生网购的现状。其次分析购物群体特征和购物行为特征,对上海地区大学生网购行为中的选择商品类型、网站偏好、支配金额意愿、上网时间、网购频率、网购安全认识及网购动机进行调查。最后运用SWOT模型分析上海地区大学生网购行为,从而对上海地区大学生合理的网购提出一些建议。     

多关系条件下多代理人行为分析与激励机制设计

针对多个代理人之间存在多种关系———竞争、合作和中立的情况,建立了信息对称和信息非对称条件下的多代理人行为选择模型,通过模型求解与模拟计算分析多关系条件下多代理人的行为选择和委托人的最优选择或激励机制。结果表明:信息对称条件下,员工薪酬与员工间的竞争程度无关,但合作关系更能激励员工努力工作;信息非对称条件下,员工间关系影响其薪酬和企业利润,合作关系下的企业总收益比其他关系下的企业收益高,员工间的合作关系会影响并提高处于其他关系下员工的努力程度。最后提出:企业面对多员工管理问题时应尽量构建合作的工作环境,以减小员工工作努力程度的不确定性、实现利益最大化。     

消费者创新性研究综述

从消费者创新性理论研究长期关注和存有争议的概念、维度、度量模型及前因和后果等方面,对消费者创新性理论的研究成果进行梳理、比较与分析,尽可能去除模糊不清的认识。     

地方政府保障房供给的合作性努力与自私性努力：一项实证研究

地方政府具体落实保障房供给政策,其行为取向是保障房有效供给的决定性因素。构建改进的多任务委托代理模型,研究激励约束机制与地方政府付出的努力,以及与保障房供给行为取向之间的关系。研究结果表明：其一,地方政府的合作性努力水平与激励强度正相关。其二,约束机制缺失时,地方政府的自私性努力水平不随外部性强度的变化而变化;存在有效约束机制时,自私性努力水平与惩罚强度负相关。因而,增加保障房有效供给,既要激励地方政府的合作性努力,也要约束地方政府的自私性努力。