Charles Graham, Ffion Young and Ammarah Marjan
The audience for in-app mobile advertising is comparable in size and viewing rate to that for TV but divides its attention across a highly fragmented selection of apps, each…
Abstract
Purpose
The audience for in-app mobile advertising is comparable in size and viewing rate to that for TV but divides its attention across a highly fragmented selection of apps, each competing for advertiser revenue. In market, the assumption is that this audience is deeply segmented, allowing individuals to be contextually targeted on the apps that define their interests and needs. But that assumption is not supported by the Laws of Double Jeopardy and Duplication of Viewing which closely predict usage in most mass media. The purpose of this study is to benchmark in-app audiences against these laws to better understand market structure.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected nearly 3,000 h of screen time data from a panel of Generation Z respondents and tested the predictive validity of two models against observed interactions with 23 popular apps in six categories over a week.
Findings
Results show that contrary to industry assumptions, audience for in-app advertising is not segmented. Engagement on individual apps and audience sharing rates between apps and app formats is predicted well.
Research limitations/implications
Optimising in-app advertising for short-term activation only limits its potential for brand building. These findings encourage advertisers to schedule online campaigns for brand reach as well as sales lift, by advancing current understanding of audience behaviour.
Originality/value
Many authors have called for consistency in metrics to compare on- and off-line media performance. This study bridges that gap, demonstrating how reach and frequency measures could inform digital scheduling.
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Charlotte Proudman and Ffion Lloyd
This study aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on women and children in the UK who were victims of domestic abuse.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on women and children in the UK who were victims of domestic abuse.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw from their experiences of working in the domestic abuse sector to reflect on the impact of lockdown restrictions on women and children, focussing on the impact of government restrictions that created an environment in which abusers could control the movement of victims.
Findings
The impact of the pandemic was significant as victims were locked into the abuse, unable to escape for fear of breaching lockdown rules. The lockdown affected victims of different forms of violence against women and girls in the UK including forced marriage and female genital mutilation, which highlighted the ramifications of intersectional inequalities for abuse victims.
Originality/value
This paper articulates the devastating impact of the pandemic on vulnerable women, and their fair and just access to the family courts. This paper concludes that women were failed by the government and that there was not nearly enough support from support agencies, which has left many at risk and suffering significant harm.
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Lilly Evans, Samantha Fitz-Symonds, Fiona Long, Louise Roberts, Clive Diaz and Shane Powell
Parental advocacy is an emerging area of research and policy interest in Wales and across the UK. Although there is little research in the UK context to date, international…
Abstract
Purpose
Parental advocacy is an emerging area of research and policy interest in Wales and across the UK. Although there is little research in the UK context to date, international research has indicated that parental advocacy can improve the relationship between parent and professional in the field of child protection social work. This paper aims to ascertain how the implementation of a parental advocacy programme supports parents to play a meaningful role in decision-making when children’s services are working with them and their families.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used interviews, surveys and focus groups to obtain qualitative data from 18 parents, seven parent advocates, two advocacy managers and four social workers, to explore the potential impact of parental advocacy on decision-making. The study identified challenges in implementing parental advocacy, particularly relating to awareness of the service. Participants also discussed experiences of the child protection system and how parents are supported by advocates.
Findings
Despite challenges surrounding implementation, initial findings were encouraging, and generated examples of how parental advocacy services have helped parents to understand children’s services and develop relationships of trust with social care professionals. In doing so, this study identified potential mechanisms that may be useful to support future service delivery.
Originality/value
This paper and research is novel as it explores parental advocacy within the Welsh context. Although there has been research conducted into parental advocacy, this has largely come from the USA. This research comes from the evaluation of an innovative and promising parental advocacy scheme in Wales.
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As the capital market in China is still developing, several constraints on a Chinese-listed firm’s financing strategy have a direct impact on its financial flexibility. The…
Abstract
Purpose
As the capital market in China is still developing, several constraints on a Chinese-listed firm’s financing strategy have a direct impact on its financial flexibility. The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct traditional financial flexibility index (FFI) derived from the western context, provide empirical evidence within eastern context by modified FFI and examine how the managerial efficiency of Chinese-listed firms is demonstrated with modified FFI to escort corporate life cycle hypothesis.
Design/methodology/approach
By tailored FFI to fit the contemporary operations of Chinese-listed firms, this study investigates how managerial efficiency varies across different life stages to demonstrate the moderating power in the firm performance of financially flexible firm.
Findings
It is found that financially flexible firms in the Chinese stock market generally experience good firm performance, yet the managerial efficiency could gradually be diminishing at their mature stage even firms’ financial flexibility remains consistent with the agency theory. This paper sheds light on the necessity to reexamine the components in financial flexibility based on the eastern context, and provides avenue to further understand the managerial behavior of Chinese listed firms when considering firm life cycles.
Research limitations/implications
Although it is difficult for this current study to offer the precise weights on each factor in calculating financial flexibility, the judgment matrix method is adopted to at least provide reliable estimates in accordance with Chinese business contexts with less than 10 percent errors in contrast to the actual weights.
Practical implications
This modified FFI is particularly suitable for Chinese-listed firms under certain unique financial reporting regulations by adjusting a number of weights and factors. This study may help practitioners understand the managerial conduct of publicly listed firms in China.
Originality/value
The paper constructs a modified FFI with Chinese stock market characteristics embedded, and provides insightful evidence to explain the new pecking order theory by considering the life cycle stage of Chinese-listed companies.
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Brian Garrod and Marcus Hansen
A significant autism employment gap persists in many countries. This study examines how the traditional job interview might form an obstacle to autistic people obtaining…
Abstract
Purpose
A significant autism employment gap persists in many countries. This study examines how the traditional job interview might form an obstacle to autistic people obtaining employment. It then offers a range of strategies that could make the traditional job interview more effective in allowing employers to identify and hire those who have an “autism advantage”.
Design/methodology/approach
A triangulated, qualitative approach is employed, comprising (1) five focus groups with a total of 23 students at a UK university who identity as autistic, and (2) semi-structured interviews with five of their support practitioners. Thematic analysis was then applied to identify causes, effects and possible solutions.
Findings
The analysis identified three main strategies, and two sub-strategies, for refining the traditional job interview by reducing or removing the obstacle it presents to autistic people seeking employment. These comprise abandoning the traditional interview, adapting it (divided in to adjusting and augmenting sub-strategies) and accepting it.
Originality/value
Three conclusions were developed from the analysis: first, that while the traditional interview tends to be biased against autistic people, it is not in itself a particularly acute method for selecting job candidates; second, that the application of universal design would be beneficial not only to neurodivergent people, but also to neurotypicals and employers; third, that the fear of disclosure represents a major obstacle to autistic people trusting in schemes intended to assist them.
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This paper aims to present an analysis of a “county lines” safeguarding partnership in a large city region of England. A critical analysis of current literature and practice…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present an analysis of a “county lines” safeguarding partnership in a large city region of England. A critical analysis of current literature and practice responses to “county lines” is followed by the presentation of an analytical framework that draws on three contextual and social theories of (child) harm. This framework is applied to the partnership work to ask: are the interconnected conditions of criminal exploitation of children via “county lines” understood?; do interventions target the contexts of harm?; and is social and institutional harm acknowledged and addressed?
Design/methodology/approach
The analytical framework is applied to a data set collected by the author throughout a two-year study of the “county lines” partnership. Qualitative data collected by the author and quantitative data published by the partnership are coded and thematically analysed in NVivo against the analytic framework.
Findings
Critical tensions are surfaced in the praxis of multi-agency, child welfare responses to “county lines” affected young people. Generalising these findings to the child welfare sector at large, it is proposed that the contextual dynamics of child harm via “county lines” must be understood in a broader sense, including how multi-agency child welfare practices contribute to the harm experienced by young people.
Originality/value
There are limited peer-reviewed analyses of child welfare responses to “county lines”. This paper contributes to that limited scholarship, extending the analysis by adopting a critical analytic framework to a regional county lines partnership at the juncture of future national, child welfare responses to “county lines”.