Leo Y.M. Sin, Stella L.M. So, Oliver H.M. Yau and Kenneth Kwong
Women’s current high levels of education and participation in the labor force have focused attention on their changing lifestyles and consumption patterns, which create a…
Abstract
Women’s current high levels of education and participation in the labor force have focused attention on their changing lifestyles and consumption patterns, which create a challenge to marketers who are desperate to explore this new market opportunity. This study investigates the significance of the emerging roles of Chinese women in Hong Kong to marketers and also helps to identify some common roles held by Hong Kong females, who are influenced by Chinese and western cultures. Through personal interviews, data were collected in the form of a structured questionnaire from a sample which consisted of 1,000 Chinese females randomly selected in Hong Kong – one of the most important cities in Southern China. This study successfully segmented Hong Kong’s females into three different groups based on six female role orientation dimensions: individualists, traditionalists, and pro‐docietalists. These three groups were found to be statistically significant in demographic characteristics, such as age, educational level, martial status, and number of children, as well as in consumption values associated with purchase decisions. Implications were drawn for marketing practitioners and directions for future research were provided.
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Josephine Pui-Hing Wong, Alan Tai-Wai Li, Maurice Kwong-Lai Poon and Kenneth Po-Lun Fung
Canadian HIV/AIDS researchers, service providers and policy-makers are faced with new challenges of providing effective and inclusive care that meets the needs of the changing…
Abstract
Purpose
Canadian HIV/AIDS researchers, service providers and policy-makers are faced with new challenges of providing effective and inclusive care that meets the needs of the changing populations infected with and affected by HIV. Since 2005 immigrants and refugees from ethno-racial minority communities have comprised close to 20 percent of all new HIV infections in Canada. Anecdotes shared by PLWHAs and service providers indicated that mental health challenges faced by newcomer PLWHAs was a priority concern for HIV prevention, treatment and care. This paper reports on the results of an exploratory study, which examined the complex factors that influence the mental health of immigrants and refugees living with HIV/AIDS (IR-PLWHAs).
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study is informed by a critical social science paradigm, which acknowledges that the everyday reality is shaped by interlocking systems of social processes and unequal power relations. The paper used a qualitative interpretative design and focus groups to explore the intersecting effects of living with HIV/AIDS, migration and settlement, and HIV stigma and discrimination on the mental health of IR-PLWHAs.
Findings
The paper found that in addition to social and economic marginalization, IR-PLWHAs experienced multiple stressors associated with their HIV status: neurocognitive and physical impairments, HIV stigma and discrimination, and fear of deportation. The paper also found that the experiences of stigma and discrimination among IR-PLWHAs were complex and contextual, closely linked to their social positions defined by the intersecting dimensions of race, class, gender, citizenship, sexualities, body norms, and HIV status. The paper concludes that effective HIV prevention, treatment and care, and mental health promotion in newcomer and ethno-racial minority communities must consider the bio-psycho-social connections of different stressors and the interlocking systems of oppression faced by IR-PLWHAs.
Research limitations/implications
This study was exploratory in nature with a small number of participants who were recruited through AIDS organizations in Toronto. Consequently, the recruitment strategy may reach only those who were connected to the AIDS organizations. The paper believes that IR-PLWHAs who were not connected to the AIDS organizations might experience even more social exclusion and marginalization. These factors may limit the transferability of this study.
Originality/value
This is the first study that explores the bio-psycho-social connections and intersecting determinants of mental health among immigrants and refugees living with HIV and AIDS in Canada. The results of this study contribute to cross-sector dialogue among practitioners and researchers in the HIV/AIDS, mental health, and immigration and settlement services sectors.
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The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This…
Abstract
The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This will sometimes happen after a long period of indecision or when things are extremely difficult, as they have long been for the country, in most homes and among ordinary individuals. Watching one's life savings dwindle away, the nest‐egg laid down for security in an uncertain world, is a frightening process. This has happened to the nation, once the richest in the world, and ot its elderly people, most of them taught the habit of saving in early youth. We are also taught that what has been is past changing; the clock cannot be put back, and the largesse—much of it going to unprincipled spongers—distributed by a spendthrift Government as token relief is no answer, not even to present difficulties. The response can only come by a change of heart in those whose brutal selfishness have caused it all; and this may be a long time in coming. In the meantime, it is a useful exercise to consider our assets, to recognize those which must be protected at all costs and upon which, when sanity returns, the future depends.
Leo Yat Ming Sin and Suk‐ching Ho
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the…
Abstract
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.
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Abdul Aziz Khan Niazi, Tehmina Fiaz Qazi, Irfan Ali and Rashid Ahmad
In current vista of corporate governance (CG), whistleblowing (WB) has become critical for practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders. This study aims to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
In current vista of corporate governance (CG), whistleblowing (WB) has become critical for practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders. This study aims to identify, prioritize and analyze the interrelationships of determinants of effective WB on the basis of opinion of a medium-sized panel of experts.
Design/methodology/approach
It is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the field setting. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the respondents. This study follows an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach.
Findings
This study found that the factor “specific law for WB” has maximum driving power but minimum dependence and occupies bottom level (the most critical level) in the ISM model. The Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement analysis revealed that there is no autonomous and dependent factor in the model. There are eight linking factors and only one independent factor.
Research limitations/implications
The study found that the factor “specific law for WB” has maximum driving power but minimum dependence and occupies bottom level (the most critical level) in the ISM model. The Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement analysis revealed that there is no autonomous and no clear-cut dependent factor in the model. There are eight linking factors out of which five have high dependence as well, and there is only one independent factor.
Practical implications
This study has ensued in identification of significant challenging issues in WB and in development of interrelationships to gain insights into priority of these issues. This study uses limited primary data in context of Pakistan; therefore, generalizability of the findings is limited.
Originality/value
This study presents a novel theoretical and conceptual model focused on effective WB. The value of the study on effective WB is highly relevant for today’s complex organizations but incipient in literature. The insights provided by the study have vital importance for corporations to embark on the regime of reforms in CG.
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Those who move among the people with their eyes open will not doubt that the number of non‐smokers is increasing, but mostly among older adults. Sales of cigarettes, despite the…
Abstract
Those who move among the people with their eyes open will not doubt that the number of non‐smokers is increasing, but mostly among older adults. Sales of cigarettes, despite the ban on advertising and the grim warning printed on packets, do not reflect this however, which can only mean that those who still smoke are the heavy smokers. This is a bad sign; as is the fact that youngsters, including a high percentage of those at school, openly flaunt the habit. The offence of using tobacco or any other smoking mixture or snuff while handling food or in any food room in which there is open food (Reg. 10(e)), remains one of the common causes of prosecutions under the Food Hygiene Regulations; it has not diminished over the years. The commonest offenders are men and especially those in the butchery trade, fishmongers and stall‐holders, but, here again, to those who move around, the habit seems fairely widespread. Parts of cigarettes continue to be a common finding especially in bread and flour confectionery, but also in fresh meat, indicating that an offence has been committed, and only a few of the offenders end up in court. Our purpose in returning to the subject of smoking, however, is not to relate it to food hygiene but to discuss measures of control being suggested by the Government now that advertising bans and printed health warnings have patently failed to achieve their object.
Raghav Upadhyai, Neha Upadhyai, Arvind Kumar Jain, Hiranmoy Roy and Vimal Pant
Health care service is a widely researched area. Several established models and instruments measuring health care service quality (HCSQ) are available in the published academic…
Abstract
Purpose
Health care service is a widely researched area. Several established models and instruments measuring health care service quality (HCSQ) are available in the published academic literature. The objective of this article is to summarize this vast pool of available knowledge under the themes of HCSQ, its determinants and measurement strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Sixty-three available published studies in peer reviewed journal combed in EBSCO and Google Scholar database have been examined and presented in exemplary literature review.
Findings
The findings have been segregated under the themes of HCSQ, its dimensions and determinants. It can be deduced from the findings that in spite of health care being a professional service, the user defined service quality takes center stage.
Originality/value
Rather than the seeker of care, the authors call for further research by taking a dyadic view of professional exchanges and including providers' perspectives of care in service quality evaluations as well.
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Alan Tai-Wai Li, Josephine Pui-Hing Wong, Roy Cain and Kenneth Po-Lun Fung
Racialized minority and newcomer communities are over-represented in positive HIV cases in Canada. Stigma has been identified as one of the barriers to HIV prevention, testing…
Abstract
Purpose
Racialized minority and newcomer communities are over-represented in positive HIV cases in Canada. Stigma has been identified as one of the barriers to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment. Faith, media, and social justice sectors have historically served a vital role in promoting health issues in these communities. However, they have been relatively inactive in addressing HIV-related issues. The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of an exploratory study that engaged faith, media, and social justice leaders in the African-Caribbean, Asian, and Latino communities in Toronto.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a qualitative interpretive design and focus groups to explore the challenges and opportunities in addressing HIV stigma. A total of 23 people living with HIV and 22 community leaders took part in seven focus groups. Intersectionality was used as an analytical lens to examine the social processes that perpetuate HIV stigma.
Findings
This paper focuses on the perspectives of community leaders. Five themes were identified: misconception of HIV as a gay disease; moralistic religious discourses perpetuate HIV stigma; invisibility of HIV reinforces community denial; need to promote awareness and compassion for people with HIV; and the power of collective community efforts within and across different sectors.
Originality/value
Although affected communities are faced with many challenges related to HIV stigma, effective change may be possible through concerted efforts championed by people living with HIV and community leaders. One important strategy identified by the participants is to build strategic alliances among the HIV, media, faith, social justice, and other sectors. Such alliances can develop public education and HIV champion activities to promote public awareness and positive emotional connections with HIV issues, challenge HIV stigma and related systems of oppression, and engage young people in HIV championship.
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This paper attempts to provide an understanding of gift‐giving for a more systematic assessment of relationship building to succeed in an Asian realm. This study proposes to…
Abstract
This paper attempts to provide an understanding of gift‐giving for a more systematic assessment of relationship building to succeed in an Asian realm. This study proposes to examine the underlying linkage between the intensity of gift‐giving and constructing relationships. The goal is to provide both researchers and businesses an insight into how to successfully manage profitable relationships in a culture‐rich environment that is growing ever more demanding and complicated. Gift‐giving is seen as an act of reciprocity, and often misconstrued as bribery by Westerners, yet it appears to be an important constituent of the Asian culture and can be seen as a form of relationship investment, that if cultivated well, can uplift interactions between businesses.