Textile marketing: a status report

This exploratory study investigated the status of textile marketing in the United States by (a) examining the textile industry's use of effective marketing techniques, and (b) identifying common problems and needed improvements in textile marketing. The procedure followed these steps: (a) effective marketing techniques were identified, (b) interviews were conducted with nine textile executives and four individuals representing the United States textile industry at large, and (c) the respondents' statements about textile marketing practices were analysed for evidence of effective marketing techniques, common textile marketing problems and needed inprovements in textile marketing. The results indicated that only five of the thirteen respondents described textile firms that were using effective marketing techniques, but some textile firms were using effective marketing techniques and this should be an incentive for other textile firms. Several common problems and needed improvements in textile marketing were also identified. Because of the small sample size, the open-ended questions, and the subjective analysis of the respondents' statements, this study must be regarded as exploratory. However, representative statements from the respondents are presented and these statements are informative about textile marketing practices.     

Fabric speciality stores: travel behaviour of female customers

This consumer travel behaviour study examined (i) the distance female customers travel from their home to the fabric speciality store they most often shop in, and (ii) the effects of selected factors on the travel behaviour of these customers. The procedure was to select 10 fabric speciality stores at random in the Phoenix (Arizona) metropolitan area and have 25 female customers complete the questionnaire at each store. The 250 questionnaires were analysed by examining the distances the respondents travelled in various situations and by chi-square tests to determine the relationships among the variables. The results indicated that the majority of respondents travelled 3 miles or less (oneway) from their home to the fabric speciality store they most often shopped in; however, the actual number of miles travelled in this situation was found to be dependent on the respondents' level of education. It was also found that many respondents were willing to travel farther than the distance from their home to the fabric speciality store they most often shopped in to (i) purchase a specific fabric; or (ii) seek a greater variety of fabrics and related items, lower fabric prices and helpful/knowledgeable salespeople.     

FABRIC SPECIALITY STORES: CONSUMER DISSATISFACTION WITH SELECTED IN-STORE ATTRIBUTES

This consumer dissatisfaction study focused on selected in-store attributes of the fabric speciality store. The procedure was to select fifteen fabric speciality stores at random in the Phoenix area and distribute thirty questionnaires to customers at each store. The 264 returns were analysed by examining the respondents' comments about the fabric speciality store most often shopped in, the respondents' ratings of the statements concerning the average fabric speciality store's attributes and the complaints the respondents made to fabric speciality stores. The fabric speciality store attributes found to be both important and dissatisfying included: salesperson's helpfulness, variety of fabrics, quality of fabrics, salesperson's product knowledge and fabric price.     

Introducing Recursive Partitioning for Financial Classification: The Case of Financial Distress

The purpose of this study is to present a new classification procedure, Recursive Partitioning Algorithm (RPA), for financial analysis and to compare it with discriminant analysis within the context of firm financial distress. RPA is a computerized, nonparametric technique based on pattern recognition which has attributes of both the classical univariate classification approach and multivariate procedures. RPA is found to outperform discriminant analysis in most original sample and holdout comparisons. We also observe that additional information can be derived by assessing both RPA and discriminant analysis results.     

Fabric speciality stores: customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction with information-source attributes

The purpose of this research was to determine customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction with information-source attributes supplied by fabric speciality stores. After constructing a theoretical framework of information-source attributes and a questionnaire, a survey of fabric speciality store customers was conducted in eight Midwestern cities in the U.S. The results indicated that salespeople, store layout/displays and fabric-bolt labels caused more dissatisfaction than store advertising, special services and free printed literature. It was also found that variables, such as the respondent's age, were related to the respondent's degree of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with fabric speciality store informations-source attributes.     

The Impact of Salience on Investor Behavior: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We test whether the display of information causally affects investor behavior in a high-stakes trading environment. Using investor-level brokerage data from China and a natural experiment, we estimate the impact of a shock that increased the salience of a stock's purchase price but did not change the investor's information set. We employ a difference-in-differences approach and find that the salience shock causally increased the disposition effect by 17%. We use microdata to document substantial heterogeneity across investors in the treatment effect. A previously documented trading pattern, the “rank effect,” explains heterogeneity in the change in the disposition effect.     

The effectiveness of selected barrier fabrics in minimizing the light-induced colour change of textile objects in storage

A relatively inexpensive method for the temporary or permanent storage of textile objects is to place them inside fabric covers (e.g. rolled storage and garment-bag storage), under fabric covers (e.g. flat storage), or behind fabric curtains (e.g. hanger storage behind a curtain). These barrier fabrics can minimize the harmful effects of light on textile objects in storage. This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of muslin, duck, and Gore-Tex^TM barrier fabrics in minimizing the light-induced colour change of textile objects in storage. The results indicated that muslin, duck, and Gore-Tex^TM barrier fabrics significantly differ in their effectiveness in minimizing the light-induced colour change of textile objects in storage. Several recommendations are provided for future investigations on this topic.     

An investigation of the sources,moderators, and psychological symptoms of stress among audit seniors*

Abstract. One purpose of this study is to identify major sources of stress for audit seniors. Fifty-nine different job-related stressors are identified and investigated. Statistical evidence of increased dysfunctional psychological symptoms associated with increases in the presence of certain stressors is provided. In addition, four stress models that incorporate job stressors, personality types, coping behaviors, and psychological symptoms are investigated. Two mediating-effects models were found to portray suitably the relationships among these items. Résumé. Les auteurs ont entre autres pour but de déterminer les principales sources de stress chez les chefs de mission. Cinquante-neuf éléments inducteurs de stress différents liés au travail sont identifiés et analysés. L'analyse statistique démontre que les symptômes psychologiques dysfonctionnels augmentent avec la présence accrue de certains inducteurs de stress. Les auteurs analysent en outre quatre modèles de stress faisant intervenir des inducteurs de stress dans le travail, des types de personnalité, des comportements face aux difficultés et des symptômes psychologiques. Ils en viennent à la conclusion que deux modèles d'effets médiateurs illustrent de façon appropriée les relations entre ces éléments.     

Using Neural Data to Test a Theory of Investor Behavior: An Application to Realization Utility

We conduct a study in which subjects trade stocks in an experimental market while we measure their brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. All of the subjects trade in a suboptimal way. We use the neural data to test a “realization utility” explanation for their behavior. We find that activity in two areas of the brain that are important for economic decision‐making exhibit activity consistent with the predictions of realization utility. These results provide support for the realization utility model. More generally, they demonstrate that neural data can be helpful in testing models of investor behavior.