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This study aims to investigate the effect of the reference quality on the optimal production strategy of a component manufacturer (CM), which mainly concerns whether to sell its high quality self-branded products and whether to supply critical components to a competitive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) who produces low quality products.

The study considers a supply chain comprising an OEM, a CM and a third-party component manufacturer (TCM), who produces components with uncertain quality. The OEM selects a supplier between the CM and the TCM to produce products. Anticipating the OEM’s supplier selection, the CM chooses among three alternative production strategies. For each alternative strategy of the CM, the authors derive the equilibrium solutions between the OEM and the CM with or without the reference quality effect. Then, the authors obtain the effect of the reference quality on the CM by comparing the CM’s optimal strategy between the two situations.

First, the reference quality has opposite effects on the CM’s production strategy depending on the competition results. A high reference quality effect motivates the CM to solely sell the self-branded products if the OEM can always enter the final product market when purchasing from the TCM, and to sell both self-branded products and components if the OEM cannot enter the market when using the TCM’s low quality components. Second, the reference quality effect motivates the OEM to accept a higher wholesale price from the CM. Third, the reference quality effect can make the CM benefit from a more stable TCM in competition.

This paper first considers the impact of the reference quality effect on the CM’s production strategy. By considering consumers’ behavior in a co-opetitive supply chain, this paper contributes to both literature and practice.

The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry has underscored the growing significance of online movies. However, there is limited research available on the factors that influence the viewership of online films. Therefore, this study aims to use the signaling theory to investigate how signals of varying qualities affect online movie viewership, considering both signal transmission costs and prices.

This study uses a sample of 1,071 online movies released on the iQiyi from July 2020 to July 2022. It uses OLS regression and instrumental variable method to examine the impact of various quality indicators on the viewership of online movies, as well as the moderating effect of price.

After conducting a thorough analysis of this study, it can be deduced that the varying impacts on online movie viewership are attributed to disparities in signal transmission costs. Specifically, star influence and rating exhibit a positive effect on the viewership of online movies, whereas the number of raters has a detrimental impact. Furthermore, there exists an “inverted U-shaped” relationship between the number of reviews and online movie viewership. Additionally, within the consumer decision-making process, both price-cost and price-quality relationships coexist. This is evident as prices negatively affect online movie viewership but positively moderate the relationship between rating, number of reviews and online movie viewership.

The research findings of this study offer valuable insights for online film producers to effectively leverage quality signals and pricing, thereby capturing market attention and enhancing film profitability.

The literature on the drivers affecting retail investor preferences towards socially responsible investments (SRIs) has increased significantly over recent years, revealing several influencing factors. Given the wide variety and ambiguity of the available evidence, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the existing literature on this topic and develop a new unified approach to study this phenomenon.

We conducted a systematic literature review, followed by a research profile analysis and a thematic analysis, which uncovered four major emerging foci: the research outcome type, the external environment, sociodemographic characteristics and the internal dimension of retail investors.

Our analysis revealed that studies investigating investor preferences often neglected to consider the concurring influence of multiple perspectives. In fact, we observed how the literature has not yet adequately addressed the mediating and moderating effects of the various factors that determine retail investor decisions regarding SRI.

In response to these shortfalls, we propose a new integrated conceptual framework that may inspire scholars to conduct further studies to refine our understanding of investor preferences towards SRI.

This framework offers some suggestions on how to expand future research and underline some managerial and policy interventions aimed at developing the retail demand for these products.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to perform a systematic review on the drivers of SRIs, elaborating a new conceptual framework to understand the dynamics of retail investor sustainable preferences.

This research focuses on developing a dual-nozzle slurry-based extrusion 3D printer capable of fabricating intricate zirconia structures. The designed 3D printer combines material extrusion and photopolymerization technologies to improve material diversity, precision and cost-effectiveness.

The 3D printer design incorporates ultraviolet curing to instantly cure extruded zirconia slurry thereby, eliminating the need for a step-wise curing procedure. Printing parameters were optimized to achieve high-quality prints, and supports made of polyethylene terephthalate glycol were used for intricate geometries. The printability and mechanical properties were evaluated for two different zirconia slurry compositions: 70 / 30 and 80 / 20 powder-to-resin weight percentages. The printed green body was subjected to a two-phase sintering process.

The 3D printer fabricated structures with features subtending angles greater than 50 degrees and a filling density above 80% without any supports. Shrinkage analysis showed the 80 / 20 composition resulted in higher density parts, with shrinkage ratios of 25.23%, 26.23% and 27.26% along the X, Y and Z axes, respectively. The sintered objects displayed hardness (1525 HV) and flexural strength (117 MPa), with minimal porosity.

This study demonstrates the development of a cost-effective dual-nozzle 3D printer that can effectively fabricate functional parts with complex material compositions and geometries that can cater to the futuristic requirements of high-end industries.