Yuanyuan Cai, Mengmeng Wang, Haiyang Huang and Quanyu Jiang
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted everyday life, leading to a cascade of negative emotional responses such as death anxiety. Against this backdrop, the purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted everyday life, leading to a cascade of negative emotional responses such as death anxiety. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the buffering effect of brand attachment on death anxiety by exploring the roles of brand concepts and brand positioning on psychological compensation for security.
Design/methodology/approach
This multi-method paper features four studies and shows how brands can offer emotional support under high-risk circumstances.
Findings
Study 1 includes two surveys which offer preliminary evidence that death anxiety can enhance consumers’ brand attachment. Study 2 reveals a causal effect wherein consumers experiencing death anxiety are more likely to attach to brands with a self-transcendence (vs self-enhancement) concept. Study 3 examines the mediating role of need for security in the relationship between death anxiety and attachment to brands with a self-transcendence concept. Further, Study 4 indicates the moderating role of brand positioning: self-transcendence brands adopting local (vs global) positioning strategies are more likely to satisfy consumers’ need for security, thereby leading to strong brand attachment.
Originality/value
The findings of this paper contribute to the brand attachment literature and to the global branding literature regarding consumers’ emotional responses in the context of COVID-19. This paper innovatively frames brand concepts and brand positioning and provides actionable guidelines to help brands satisfy consumers’ needs amid a worldwide crisis.
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Synthesizing the unique Confucian cultural values and the common characteristics of emerging markets, the purpose of this paper is to examine how face drives consumers’ attitudes…
Abstract
Purpose
Synthesizing the unique Confucian cultural values and the common characteristics of emerging markets, the purpose of this paper is to examine how face drives consumers’ attitudes toward global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) as well as the moderating roles of social aggrandizement and susceptibility to normative influence (SNI).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt the total effect moderation model to test the hypotheses using data collected from China.
Findings
The results show that face positively affects consumers’ attitudes toward GCCP through enhancing their pursuit for global myth. In addition, social aggrandizement positively moderates the influence of face on pursuit for global myth. SNI positively moderates the influence of pursuit for global myth on attitudes toward GCCP.
Practical implications
The findings of this study highlight the need to utilize local powers to promote brands globally and provide guidelines for “Think Globally, Act Locally” in Confucian societies.
Originality/value
This study represents an important step in the global branding literature regarding the advancement of culturally driven attitudes toward GCCP by taking root in the Confucian culture.
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This study investigated the potential negative effects of a sponsored team's losing performance on audiences' trust and purchase intention toward the sponsoring brand. Shedding…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the potential negative effects of a sponsored team's losing performance on audiences' trust and purchase intention toward the sponsoring brand. Shedding light on the moderating role of sponsoring brand familiarity among audiences and audience team identification regarding such negative effects, the study establishes when sports sponsorship may incur risk to a sponsoring brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experimental designs (audience as stimulus of a team's losing vs control condition) were used to indicate whether and when losing performance influences participants' trust and purchase intention toward the sponsoring brand.
Findings
The participants in the losing condition report lower brand trust and purchase intention. Brand trust mediates the relationship between losing results and decreased purchase intention. The negative effects of losing on brand trust and purchase intention only appear when the sponsoring brand has low familiarity among audiences and only for audiences with low identification.
Practical implications
The strategy of a brand with low familiarity sponsoring a team that frequently loses has risks and is not worth advocating. However, if an unknown brand has already sponsored a team that often loses, the efforts to cultivate audiences' identification with the team can reduce the potential risks.
Originality/value
The affirmed negative effects of losing performance on brand trust and purchase intention have value for firm sponsorship decisions. This study contributes to the sponsorship literature by revealing two boundary conditions (sponsoring brand familiarity and audiences' team identification) for those negative effects.
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Haiyang Gu, Kaiqi Liu, Xingyi Huang, Quansheng Chen, Yanhui Sun and Chin Ping Tan
Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) coupled with support-vector machine (SVM) was carried out to identify and discriminate between the fluorescence spectroscopies of coconut water…
Abstract
Purpose
Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) coupled with support-vector machine (SVM) was carried out to identify and discriminate between the fluorescence spectroscopies of coconut water brands.
Design/methodology/approach
PARAFAC was applied to reduce three-dimensional data of excitation emission matrix (EEM) to two-dimensional data. SVM was applied to discriminate between six commercial coconut water brands in this study. The three largest variation data from fluorescence spectroscopy were extracted using the PARAFAC method as the input data of SVM classifiers.
Findings
The discrimination results of the six commercial coconut water brands were achieved by three SVM methods (Ga-SVM, PSO-SVM and Grid-SVM). The best classification accuracies were 100.00%, 96.43% and 94.64% for the training set, test set and CV accuracy.
Originality/value
The above results indicate that fluorescence spectroscopy combined with PARAFAC and SVM methods proved to be a simple and rapid detection method for coconut water and perhaps other beverages.
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Jia Wang, Haiyang Sun, Ding Chen, Yongjun Huang, Tao Dong, Hai Li, Lingnan Shen and Ziyu Yang
The paper aims to accurately measure the key motion parameters, such as velocity, azimuth and pitch angle, of the small flying object with a non-uniform curve trajectory. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to accurately measure the key motion parameters, such as velocity, azimuth and pitch angle, of the small flying object with a non-uniform curve trajectory. It proposes a measurement method and its calculation model of non-uniform curve trajectory using a photoelectric sensor array.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the basic composition of the measurement system and mechanism of photoelectric sensor array are described, respectively. Second, a non-uniform curve mathematical measurement model is constructed differently from the traditional linear trajectory, taking into account the influence of gravity and air resistance. Third, the measurement error of the system is analyzed through numerical simulation. Finally, the accuracy and feasibility of the approach are verified by live-ammunition experiments.
Findings
The results show that the systematic error of the hitting point coordinates can be reduced by 9% compared to the traditional linear measurement model. Consequently, this method can meet the higher measurement requirement for the key motion parameters of the small flying object under the non-uniform curve trajectory. Research limitations/implications (if applicable)- although the approach itself is generalizable, the method is unable to detect the motion parameters of multiple small flying objects.
Research limitations/implications
Although the approach itself is generalizable, the method is unable to detect the motion parameters of the multiple small flying objects.
Practical implications
It is evident that the proposed non-uniform curve measurement model is more precise in quantifying the essential characteristics of the small flying object, particularly in consideration of the environmental conditions.
Social implications
The precise measurement of the key motion parameters of the small flying object can facilitate the enhancement of the protective performance of protective materials.
Originality/value
A novel approach to measurement is proposed, which differs from the conventional uniform trajectory model. To this end, the space construction of the photoelectric sensor array is optimized. The number of the sensors is revised.
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Zhaoyang Sun, Haiyang Zhou, Tianchen Yang, Kun Wang and Yubo Hou
The shape of a product plays a crucial role in shaping consumer behavior. Despite the voluminous research on factors influencing consumers’ shape preferences, there remains a…
Abstract
Purpose
The shape of a product plays a crucial role in shaping consumer behavior. Despite the voluminous research on factors influencing consumers’ shape preferences, there remains a limited understanding of how the busy mindset, a mentality increasingly emphasized by marketing campaigns, works. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between a busy mindset and the preference for angular-shaped versus circular-shaped products and brand logos.
Design/methodology/approach
This research consists of seven experimental studies using various shape stimuli, distinct manipulations of busy mindset, different assessments of shape preference and samples drawn from multiple countries.
Findings
The findings reveal that a busy mindset leads to a preference for angular shapes over circular ones by amplifying the need for uniqueness. In addition, these effects are attenuated when products are scarce.
Originality/value
This research represents one of the pioneering efforts to study the role of a busy mindset on consumers’ aesthetic preferences. Beyond yielding insights for practitioners into visual marketing, this research contributes to the theories on the busy mindset and shape preference.
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Bin Zhao, Haoquan Tan, Chi Zhou and Haiyang Feng
Information technology-enabled gig platforms connect freelancers with consumers to provide short-term services or asset sharing. The growth of gig economy, however, has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Information technology-enabled gig platforms connect freelancers with consumers to provide short-term services or asset sharing. The growth of gig economy, however, has been accompanied by controversy, and, recently, food delivery platforms have been criticized for using data-driven techniques to set strict delivery time limits, resulting in negative externality. This study aims to provide managerial implications on the decisions of delivery time and subsidy for food delivery platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop an analytical framework to investigate the optimal delivery time and subsidy provided to delivery drivers to maximize the gig platform's profit and compare the results with those of a socially optimal outcome.
Findings
The study reveals that it is optimal for the platform to shorten the delivery time and raise the subsidy when the food price becomes higher; nevertheless, the platform should shorten the delivery time and lower the subsidy in response to a higher delivery fee. Increases in the food price or delivery fee have non-monotonic effects on the number of fulfilled orders and the platform's profit. In addition, the authors solve the socially optimal outcome and find that a socially optimal delivery time is longer than the platform's preferred length when the delivery fee is high and the negative externality is strong.
Originality/value
The food delivery platform's optimal decision on delivery time is derived after taking negative externality into account, which is rarely considered in the prior literature but is a practically important problem.
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Yayue Pan, Haiyang He, Jie Xu and Alan Feinerman
Recently, the constrained surface projection stereolithography (SL) technology is gaining wider attention and has been widely used in the 3D printing industry. In constrained…
Abstract
Purpose
Recently, the constrained surface projection stereolithography (SL) technology is gaining wider attention and has been widely used in the 3D printing industry. In constrained surface projection SL systems, the separation of a newly cured layer from the constrained surface is a historical technical barrier. It greatly limits printable size, process reliability and print speed. Moreover, over-large separation force leads to adhesion failures in manufacturing processes, causing broken constrained surface and part defects. Against this background, this paper investigates the formation of separation forces and various factors that affect the separation process in constrained surface projection SL systems.
Design/methodology/approach
A bottom-up projection SL testbed, integrated with an in-situ separation force measurement unit, is developed for experimental study. Separation forces under various manufacturing process settings and constrained surface conditions are measured in situ. Additionally, physical models are constructed by considering the liquid resin filling process. Experiments are conducted to investigate influences of manufacturing process settings, constrained surface condition and print geometry on separation forces.
Findings
Separation forces increase linearly with the separation speed. The deformation and the oxygen inhibition layer near the constrained surface greatly reduce separation forces. The printing area, area/perimeter ratio and the degree of porousness of print geometries have a combined effect on determining separation forces.
Originality/value
This paper studied factors that influence separation force in constrained surface SL processes. Constrained surface conditions including oxygen inhibition layer thickness, deformation and oxygen permeation capability were investigated, and their influences on separation forces were revealed. Moreover, geometric factors of printing layers that are significant on determining separation forces have been identified and quantified. This study on separation forces provides a solid base for future work on adaptive control of constrained surface projection SL processes.
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Li Cui, Haiyang Jiang, Hepu Deng and Tao Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the diffusion of food safety information through social media affects customers’ purchase intentions in China. This leads to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the diffusion of food safety information through social media affects customers’ purchase intentions in China. This leads to the identification of the critical factors that impact the purchase intention of individual consumer through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.
Design/methodology/approach
A research model is proposed based on a comprehensive review of the related studies. Such a model is then tested and validated using structural equation modeling based on the survey of 199 individuals who have experience in purchasing food products online while having social media accounts.
Findings
The study reveals that friend recommendation and perceived risk directly affect consumers’ purchase intentions and opinion leader recommendation, quality of information, credibility of information and demand for information indirectly affect consumers’ purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.
Originality/value
This study is the first of this kind in China for exploring the critical factors that affect consumers’ purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media. The findings of the study are significant for the government and food enterprises to make a full use of the advantages of social media to improve the communication of food safety information in ensuring the safety of the food supply in China.
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Michele Bianchi and Marcelo Vieta
This paper promotes a critical approach to co-operative studies by contributing new theoretical insights. The aim is to propose a new view on the co-operative firm as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper promotes a critical approach to co-operative studies by contributing new theoretical insights. The aim is to propose a new view on the co-operative firm as a socioeconomic phenomenon embedded into the local contexts in which it is situated. Sociological and economic analyses have mainly explored the relationship between co-operative members and the organization, the economic performance of co-operatives or compared co-operatives with other firm types. Less attention has been given to the co-operative–territory relation, which can reveal insights into members' collective actions, a co-operative's origins from specific social groups or how they establish relationships with certain community stakeholders over others.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins with a literature review of academic studies that situate co-operatives in relation to community, with a focus on how social capital theory has been deployed to understand this relation. It then proposes a theoretical examination of two fundamental authors in the field of social capital theory: Robert Putnam and Pierre Bourdieu. Drawing on findings from the literature review and considerations derived from the theoretical dialog between Putnam and Bourdieu, the paper proposes a revised social capital-based framework for analyzing key relations and expected outcomes of the co-operative–territory relation.
Findings
Reconsidering the role of social capital theory for co-operative studies, this article unfolds a dual reflection. First, it underlines the necessity for research that more closely considers co-operatives' territorial relationships. Second, it critically interrogates and pushes forward social capital theory as a framework for examining the social relations that embed co-operatives and their capacity to activate territorial economies.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the necessity for a further examination of the co-operative–territory relationship. It presents an innovative framework for improving sociological understanding of co-operatives as organizations embedded into their local socioeconomic contexts.