Hong Ge, Wei Wang, Yuting Wang and Ran Tan
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly discoursing well-known brands to support their own brands. This study explores how original equipment manufacturing (OEM…
Abstract
Purpose
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly discoursing well-known brands to support their own brands. This study explores how original equipment manufacturing (OEM) brand disclosure affects willingness to buy (WTB) by examining the mediation effect of perceived brand competence (PBC) and perceived brand warmth (PBW), as well as the moderating effects of product type and consumer self-esteem (CSE).
Design/methodology/approach
This study builds on signal theory and the stereotype content model to theorize the mediating role of PBC and PBW between OEM brand disclosure and WTB. A 2×2 between-subjects experiment with 442 participants was conducted, employing ANOVA, seemingly unrelated regression and moderated mediation tests to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
OEM brand disclosure is positively related to WTB through PBC and PBW. Specifically, PBC’s mediation effect on OEM brand disclosure is stronger than that of PBW. Additionally, the mediation effect of OEM brand disclosure on WTB via PBC is moderated by product type and CSE.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing brand self-disclosure and brand spillover literature by opening the black box of how OEM brand disclosure affects WTB and reveals the underlying mechanisms of PBC and PBW. It offers valuable insights for OEMs to leverage previous OEM brands to support their own brands by improving PBC and PBW and is more beneficial for consumers with high self-esteem and experience products.
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Kwok Wah Ronnie Lui and Sarojni Choy
This paper aims to report on a study that used the practice theory lens to understand how Chinese ethnic culture influences restaurant workers' learning through engagement in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on a study that used the practice theory lens to understand how Chinese ethnic culture influences restaurant workers' learning through engagement in everyday work practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple case study approach was used. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and site observations. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify how workers learnt the sayings, doings and relatings in their workplaces.
Findings
The findings show that the ethnic culture of the participants influences and enriches their learning in practice settings such as small Chinese restaurants.
Research limitations/implications
The understandings presented here need to be verified through more research in different regions and nations. In addition, cross-cultural studies on other ethnic restaurants may contribute to deeper understandings of the influences of ethnic culture on practice-based learning.
Social implications
The research contributes to understanding the influence of ethnic culture on practice-based learning.
Originality/value
The understandings gained from the findings of this study form a useful basis for curriculum development and instructional design of training programmes for practice-based as well as work-integrated-learning components of vocational curriculum. Furthermore, awareness of the strengths of the ethnic culture is of interest to owner/managers of small Chinese restaurants to afford supportive learning environments for workers.
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Francisco Sarabia-Andreu, Francisco J. Sarabia-Sanchez, María Concepción Parra-Meroño and Pablo Moreno-Albaladejo
This study aims to examine the formal and metric properties of Gil et al.’s (2000) scale of attitudes toward organic products, which is the most popular scale to measure these…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the formal and metric properties of Gil et al.’s (2000) scale of attitudes toward organic products, which is the most popular scale to measure these attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consisted of 4,992 household shoppers living in Hong Kong, Germany, Norway, Spain and the UK. The questionnaire was distributed using a third-party consumer panel, and the fieldwork was conducted using computer-assisted Web interviewing. The approach was based on confirmatory factor analysis and measurement of invariance, as well as format analysis using a wording-syntactic and semantic descriptive method.
Findings
The scale reflects an attitude-toward-object model approach. Its use has been heavily varied (in terms of wording, item semantics and the attributes to be measured). A two-factor structure that meets the metric conditions (reliability and validity) is found. However, the analysis of invariance shows that the scale behaves differently in different countries.
Research limitations/implications
This scale offers a good starting point for measuring attitudes toward organic products. However, it requires refinement to adapt to consumer evolution and improve its metric validity. Verification of its applicability in cross-national studies is recommended.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that assesses the format and quantitative characteristics of this scale on a cross-national level. For scholars and companies with international interests, preventing the use of scales with poor properties at the transnational level can improve the design of future studies and save money through a more informed choice of attitudinal scale.
Propósito
Este estudio examina las propiedades formales y métricas de la escala de actitudes hacia los productos orgánicos de Gil et al. (2000), que es la escala más popular para medir estas actitudes.
Metodología
La muestra incluye 4.992 compradores principales en hogares de Hong Kong, Alemania, Noruega, España y el Reino Unido. El cuestionario se distribuyó utilizando un panel de consumidores, y el trabajo de campo se llevó a cabo mediante entrevistas online asistidas por ordenador. El enfoque se basó en un análisis factorial confirmatorio y en la invariancia de las medidas, así como en un análisis del formato utilizando un método descriptivo de redacción-sintáctico-semántico.
Hallazgos
La escala refleja un enfoque de actitud basada en el objeto. Su uso ha sido muy variado (en redacción, semántica de sus redacciones y los atributos que mide). Se encuentra una estructura de dos factores que cumple con las condiciones métricas (fiabilidad y validez). Sin embargo, el análisis de invariancia muestra que la escala se comporta de manera diferente en distintos países.
Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación
Esta escala ofrece un buen punto de partida para medir las actitudes hacia los productos orgánicos, pero requiere un refinamiento para adaptarse a la evolución del consumidor y para mejorar su validez métrica. Se recomienda verificar su aplicabilidad en los estudios internacionales comparados.
Originalidad/valor
Este es el primer estudio que evalúa el formato y las características cuantitativas de esta escala a nivel internacional. Para los académicos y las empresas con intereses internacionales, evitar el uso de escalas con propiedades deficientes a nivel transnacional puede mejorar el diseño de futuros estudios y ahorrar dinero a través de una elección más informada de la escala actitudinal.
Palabras clave
Actitudes, Productos orgánicos, Estudio transnacional, Análisis factorial confirmatorio, Validación de la escala
Tipo de trabajo
Artículo de investigación.
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Abbas Valadkhani, Surachai Chancharat and Charles Harvie
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between stock market returns of 13 countries based upon monthly data spanning December 1987 to April 2007.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between stock market returns of 13 countries based upon monthly data spanning December 1987 to April 2007.
Design/methodology/approach
Specifically, the principal component (PC) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods are used to examine any discernable patterns of stock market co‐movements.
Findings
Factor analysis provides evidence that stock returns in a number of Asian countries are highly correlated and, based on the resulting robust factor loadings, they form the first well‐defined common factor. The paper also finds consistent results (based on both the PC and ML methods) suggesting that the stock market returns of developed countries are also highly correlated, and constitute our second factor.
Practical implications
The paper concludes that, inter alia, geographical proximity and the level of economic development do matter when it comes to co‐movements of stock returns and that this has important implications for financial portfolio diversification if the aim is to reduce systematic risks across countries.
Originality/value
Very few previous studies have investigated the benefits from portfolio diversification by using the PC and ML methods.
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Min Zhang, Hong-Hua Ge, Xue-Juan Wang, Xin-Jing Meng, Yu-Zeng Zhao and Qiang-Qiang Liao
– The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in simulated reverse osmosis (RO) product water, and in seawater.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in simulated reverse osmosis (RO) product water, and in seawater.
Design/methodology/approach
The wire beam electrodes (WBE) and coupons made from Type Q235 carbon steel and were immersed in simulated reverse osmosis product water, and in seawater, for fifteen days. The corrosion potential distribution on the WBE at different times was measured. The corrosion rates of the carbon steel in different solutions were obtained using weight loss determinations. The different corrosion behavior of carbon steel in the two kinds of solution was analyzed.
Findings
The results showed that the average corrosion potential, micro-cathode potential and micro-anode potential of the WBE decreased with time in simulated RO product water. During this period, the maximum potential difference between micro-cathodes and micro-anodes on the WBE surface also decreased with time. The potential difference was more than 260mV at the beginning of the test and was still greater than 110mV after fifteen days of immersion. The positions of cathodes and anodes remained basically unchanged and corrosion took place on the localized anode during the experiments. The average corrosion potential, micro-cathode potential and micro-anode potential on the WBE surface also decreased with time in the simulated seawater. However, the maximum potential difference between micro-cathode and micro-anode on the WBE surface in the simulated seawater was much smaller than was the case in simulated RO product water. It was 37.8 mV at the beginning of the test and was no more than 12mV after two days immersion. The positions of cathode region and anode kept changing, leading to overall uniform corrosion. The actual corrosion rate on the corroded anode region in simulated RO product water was greater than was the case in simulated seawater.
Originality/value
The corrosion behavior differences of carbon steel between in RO product water and in seawater were revealed by using wire beam electrodes (WBE). From the micro point of view, it explained the reason why the actual corrosion rate of carbon steel in RO product water was greater than that in sea water. The results can be helpful to explore future corrosion control methods for carbon steel in RO product water.
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The purpose of this paper is to apply what can be learned from the emergence of nature tourism to understand some current and future trends of tourism.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply what can be learned from the emergence of nature tourism to understand some current and future trends of tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted the evolutionary paradigm for investigation.
Findings
The emergence of nature tourism in early medieval China can be attributed to four major factors, including transformation of value orientations, seeking longevity, interest in suburbs and population migration.
Research limitations/implications
Historical studies help understand the current and future trends. When the contributing factors for nature tourism are linked to the contemporary world, it can be found that these factors are still playing a part in shaping tourism trends or patterns in their original or alternative forms. These trends or patterns are worthy of scholarly investigations.
Originality/value
This paper offers a comprehensive understanding of the origins of nature tourism.
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Long Thang Mai and Nan Yao Wang
The purpose of this paper is to improve the flexibility and tracking errors of the controllers-based neural networks (NNs) for mobile manipulator robot (MMR) in the presence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the flexibility and tracking errors of the controllers-based neural networks (NNs) for mobile manipulator robot (MMR) in the presence of time-varying uncertainties.
Design/methodology/approach
The conventional backstepping force/motion control is developed by the wavelet fuzzy CMAC neural networks (WFCNNs) (for mobile-manipulator robot). The proposed WFCNNs are applied in the tracking-position-backstepping controller to deal with the uncertain dynamics of the controlled system. In addition, an adaptive robust compensator is proposed to eliminate the inevitable approximation errors, uncertain disturbances, and relax the requirement for prior knowledge of the controlled system. Besides, the position tracking controller, an adaptive robust constraint-force is also considered. The online-learning algorithms of the control parameters (WFCNNs, robust term and constraint-force controller) are obtained by using the Lyapunov stability theorem.
Findings
The design of the proposed method is determined by the Lyapunov theorem such that the stability and robustness of the control-system are guaranteed.
Originality/value
The WFCNNs are more the generalized networks that can overcome the constant out-weight problem of the conventional fuzzy cerebellar model articulation controller (FCMAC), or can converge faster, give smaller approximation errors and size of networks in comparison with FNNs/NNs. In addition, an intelligent-control system by inheriting the advantage of the conventional backstepping-control-system is proposed to achieve the high-position tracking for the MMR control system in the presence of uncertainties variation.
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Internet of Things (IoT) interconnects many heterogeneous devices to each other, collecting and processing large volumes of data for decision making without human intervention…
Abstract
Purpose
Internet of Things (IoT) interconnects many heterogeneous devices to each other, collecting and processing large volumes of data for decision making without human intervention. However, the information security concern it brings has attracted quite a lot of attention, and, at this stage, the smart step would be to analyze the security issues of IoT platform and get to the state of readiness before embarking upon this attractive technology. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
IoT risk assessment through the application of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), a favorite multi-criteria decision making technique, is proposed. The IoT risks are prioritized and ranked at different layers, before which a well-defined IoT risk taxonomy is defined comprising of 25 risks across six layers of the IoT model for developing control and mitigation plans for information security of IoT.
Findings
People and processes layer, network layer and applications layer are the top three critical layers with risks like the lack of awareness, malware injection, malicious code injection, denial of service and inefficient policies for IoT practice get the highest priority and rank. Pareto analysis of the overall risk factors revealed that the top ten factors contribute to 80 percent of the risks perceived by information security experts.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses only on certain predefined constructs or layers of the IoT model traced from legacy studies. It is essential to re-look these constructs on a timely basis to prolong the results’ validity. The study’s empirical scope is confined only to the risk perception of select IoT experts and does not encompass a broader segment of the IoT ecosystem. Therefore, the risks assessment may not be sweeping to a bigger audience.
Practical implications
The study implications are two-fold: one it consolidates the earlier siloed works to intensify the need for risk assessment in the IoT domain, and second the study brings yet another contextual avenue of extending the application AHP and Pareto principle combination. The paper also draws specific critical organizational interventions about IoT risks. A comprehensive approach to prioritizing and ranking IoT risks are present in this research paper.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study to the benchmarking of IoT risk assessment is two-fold. One, a comprehensive risk assessment taxonomy is proposed, and two, the risks are prioritized and ranked to give a convincing reference for the organizations while making information security plans for IoT technology.
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This paper aims to review the behavioral phishing literature to understand why anti-phishing recommendations are not very effective and to propose ways of making the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the behavioral phishing literature to understand why anti-phishing recommendations are not very effective and to propose ways of making the recommendations more effective. The paper also examines how the concept of stages from health communication and psychology can be used to make recommendations against phishing more effective.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review study focused on the behavioral phishing literature that has relied on human subjects. Studies were excluded for reasons that included lacking practical recommendations and human subjects.
Findings
The study finds that phishing research does not consider where victims are residing in qualitatively different stages. Consequently, the recommendations do not often match the specific needs of different victims. This study proposes a prototype for developing stage theories of phishing victims and identifies three stages of phishing victims from analyzing the previous phishing research.
Research limitations/implications
This study relied on published research on phishing victims. Future research can overcome this problem by interviewing phishing victims. Further, the authors’ recommendation that phishing researchers categorize phishing victims into stages and develop targeted messages is not based on direct empirical evidence. Nonetheless, evidence from cancer research and health psychology suggests that targeted messaging is efficacious and cost-effective. Thus, the impact of targeted messaging in phishing could be quite large.
Practical implications
The study recommends categorizing individuals into stages, based on their security knowledge and online behaviors, and other similar characteristics they may possess. A stage approach will consider that individuals who at one time clicked on a phishing link because they lacked the requisite security knowledge, after receiving security training, may click on a link because they are overconfident.
Originality/value
The paper explains why proposing anti-phishing recommendations, based on a “one-size fits all” approach has not been very effective (e.g. because it simplifies why people engage in different behaviors). The proposals introduce a new approach to designing and deploying anti-phishing recommendations based on the concept of stages.