Dominik Michalski, Stefanie Liebig, Eva Thomae, Susanne Singer, Andreas Hinz and Florian Then Berg
Anxiety, depression and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are commonly reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and are of great interest for therapeutic…
Abstract
Anxiety, depression and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are commonly reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and are of great interest for therapeutic approaches. Based on regional differences a quantitative assessment of these factors in comparison to the general population, and the consideration of demographic cofactors, would be useful when designing specific interventions. We adopted such an approach in a German cohort of MS patients. Anxiety, depression (HADS) and HRQoL (SF-36) were measured in 49 consecutive outpatients with MS and compared to age- and gender-adjusted control groups (n=1330 for HADS; n=5087 for SF-36) extracted from German National Health Surveys. Patients with MS showed significantly increased levels of anxiety and depression as well as decreased HRQoL with the exception of mental health; the effect sizes ranged from 0.39 (depression) to 1.06 (physical functioning). As could be expected, MS patients with relapsing-remitting clinical course had better physical functioning than patients with secondary progressive MS. There were strong relations between anxiety and depression (r=0.54; P<0.01), and between neurological impairment (EDSS) and physical functioning (r=-0.80; P<0.001) as well as depression (r=0.48; P<0.05). This investigation of MS patients confirms the prevalence and impact of anxiety, depression and most of the HRQoL dimensions in MS patients and provides evidence for the usefulness of a quantitative comparison to a region-specific general population as a starting point for therapeutic approaches.
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Petra Veser, Kathy Taylor and Susanne Singer
The purpose of the paper is to examine whether reported food habits (vegan, vegetarian, or carnivore diet) are associated with right-wing authoritarianism, prejudices against…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to examine whether reported food habits (vegan, vegetarian, or carnivore diet) are associated with right-wing authoritarianism, prejudices against minorities and acceptance of social dominance.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 1,381 individuals completed validated questionnaires on dietary habits and attitudes. Associations were analysed using analyses of covariance on attitudes, adjusted for age with gender and diet as factors.
Findings
Of the respondents, 35 per cent reported eating mixed food (including meat and fish), 31 per cent vegetarian food (excluding meat and fish) and 34 per cent vegan food (excluding animal products entirely). Authoritarianism was more frequent in carnivores compared to vegetarians and vegans; this difference was more distinctive in men (mean 2.4 vs 1.9 vs 1.7) than in women (2.2 vs 1.9 vs 1.8). Women with a mixed diet were more inclined to social dominance than vegetarians and vegans (1.8 vs 1.6 vs 1.6). Men with a mixed diet had a stronger tendency to dominance (2.0 vs 1.7 vs 1.5) and prejudices (2.5 vs 2.3 vs 2.1); this difference was less distinct among women (2.2 vs 2.1 vs 2.1).
Originality/value
This research is of academic value and of value to policy makers and practitioners in the food supply chain. The results show that individuals with vegetarian or vegan diets less frequently report having prejudices against minorities, supporting social dominance and accepting authoritarian structures than individuals with a mixed diet.
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Jan Philipp Graesch, Susanne Hensel-Börner and Jörg Henseler
The enabling technologies that emerged from information technology (IT) have had a considerable influence upon the development of marketing tools, and marketing has become…
Abstract
Purpose
The enabling technologies that emerged from information technology (IT) have had a considerable influence upon the development of marketing tools, and marketing has become digitalized by adopting these technologies over time. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impacts of these enabling technologies on marketing tools in the past and present and to demonstrate their potential future. Furthermore, it provides guidance about the digital transformation occurring in marketing and the need to align of marketing and IT.
Design/methodology/approach
This study demonstrates the impact of enabling technologies on the subsequent marketing tools developed through a content analysis of information systems and marketing conference proceedings. It offers a fresh look at marketing's digital transformation over the last 40 years. Moreover, it initially applies the findings to a general digital transformation model from another field to verify its presence in marketing.
Findings
This paper identifies four eras within the digital marketing evolution and reveals insights into a potential fifth era. This chronological structure verifies the impact of IT on marketing tools and accordingly the digital transformation within marketing. IT has made digital marketing tools possible in all four digital transformation levers: automation, customer interaction, connectivity and data.
Practical implications
The sequencing of enabling technologies and subsequent marketing tools demonstrates the need to align marketing and IT to design new marketing tools that can be applied to customer interactions and be used to foster marketing control.
Originality/value
This study is the first to apply the digital transformation levers, namely, automation, customer interaction, connectivity and data, to the marketing discipline and contribute new insights by demonstrating the chronological development of digital transformation in marketing.
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Susanne Colenberg, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Natalia Romero Herrera and David Keyson
The purpose of this article is to aid conceptualization of social well-being at work by identifying its components in a contemporary office context, so adequate measures can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to aid conceptualization of social well-being at work by identifying its components in a contemporary office context, so adequate measures can be developed to monitor social well-being and to assess the impact of interventions in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used existing interview data from recent post-occupancy evaluations of two large activity-based flexible offices in the Dutch public sector. Data-driven concept mapping of 182 different employees' statements on social aspects of well-being was used to find communalities in their perceptions.
Findings
From the data 14 key concepts emerged referring to employees' social needs, reactions to (anti-)social behaviour of others and perceived social affordances of the work environment. Contrary to established theory, social well-being appeared to be a context-bound phenomenon, including components of both short-term hedonic and long-term eudaimonic well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The findings serve as an inductive source for the further development of adequate measures of social well-being at work. Limitations concern the specific (cultural) setting of the cases and the use of existing data.
Practical implications
Preliminary suggestions for fostering social well-being include change management, participatory design, being alert of the identified risks of activity-based offices and supporting privacy regulation, identity marking and a sense of community, as well as a diversity of informal face-to-face interactions balanced with quiet spaces.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the conceptualization of social well-being in contemporary offices by discussing established social well-being theory and analysing real-world data, using a method novel to management research.
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Simone Lykke Tranholm Mouritzen, Valeria Penttinen and Susanne Pedersen
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize virtual influencer marketing, outlining the opportunities and dangers associated with using virtual influencers in social media…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize virtual influencer marketing, outlining the opportunities and dangers associated with using virtual influencers in social media marketing communications.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the literature addressing influencer marketing and interactions between consumers and technologies, this paper introduces the landscape of virtual influencer marketing.
Findings
This paper distinguishes virtual influencers from real-life influencers and related digital characters. It further defines four unique elements attributed to virtual influencers: customization, flexibility, ownership and automation. Finally, it introduces a taxonomy for virtual influencers.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptualization of virtual influencer marketing contributes to advancing the understanding of the (virtual) influencer marketing landscape.
Practical implications
This paper suggests that brands need to carefully evaluate the different characteristics of virtual influencers, when deciding to leverage them in social media marketing communications. It also provides guidelines for working with virtual influencers in marketing campaigns targeted at consumers.
Social implications
This paper discusses ethical and social implications for brands and consumers that interact with virtual influencers in the encounter between reality and virtuality.
Originality/value
This paper makes three contributions. First, it conceptualizes virtual influencer marketing by defining and critically evaluating the key characteristics attributed to virtual influencers. Second, it offers a 2 × 2 taxonomy of virtual influencers, grounded in research on anthropomorphism and reality–virtuality. Third, this paper reflects on the opportunities and dangers associated with virtual influencer marketing, outlining avenues for future research.
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Considers the economic aspects of foodconsumption patterns by looking at the relationshipbetween value structures and personality profilesas a means for assessing consumers′ basic…
Abstract
Considers the economic aspects of food consumption patterns by looking at the relationship between value structures and personality profiles as a means for assessing consumers′ basic need orientations, and at eating behaviour as a compensatory strategy when other‐than‐physiological needs are frustrated. Seeks to demonstrate that the concept of values is a promising tool for ascertaining the conditions under which consumer behaviour phenomena might occur. Introduces the concepts of values and compensatory eating behaviour in order to demonstrate their relevance for consumer behaviour research, and describes how these concepts can be measured. Presents some first results from an empirical study, conducted in West Germany, and concludes with some remarks on the implications of its findings.
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X-Men is a movie franchise spanning 11 films centered on monsters and mutants (Braidotti, 1996), that is, the superheroes that appeared in the Marvel comics (Lauren Shuler Donner…
Abstract
X-Men is a movie franchise spanning 11 films centered on monsters and mutants (Braidotti, 1996), that is, the superheroes that appeared in the Marvel comics (Lauren Shuler Donner, 2000–2017). The franchise includes a rich compendium of male and female characters. Characters from both gender categories are gifted with powers and enjoy a remarkable focus from the plot. However, there are fewer female characters than male, and the former's powers are mainly related to the mind, rather than physical strength. If it is possible to immediately criticise the above-mentioned male focus, or the unequal distribution of powers, at the same time it is impossible to deny that both gender categories – male and female – reintroduce the gender binary that structures everyday reality in our current society (Butler, 2015). Such binary is a structural part of the cisgender and heteronormative system, inside which human beings carry out their existence. For these reasons, X-Men was interpreted by many transgender movements as a possible monstrous reclamation because it confers visibility to those bodies which are outside the norm (Preciado, 2020b) and it includes them in the context of a possible recognition as part of the cultural imaginary. This analysis, therefore, glimpses a possible liberation from the epistemological and material violence of the cisgender norm. This chapter will focus on the way in which the X-Men saga isn't faithful to a revolutionarily monstrous possibility, but rather carries out, through an apparatus of capture (Deleuze & Guattari, 2009), the reenactment of cis- and heteronormativity. In fact, those mutant and monstrous bodies represented here can be part of a highly popular franchise because they are part of the cisgender and heterosexual norm (Wittig, 1992) and because they put their monstrosity not outside the devices of power (Foucault, 2015), but at their service.
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Susanne Scheibe and Hannes Zacher
Researchers in the field of occupational stress and well-being are increasingly interested in the role of emotion regulation in the work context. Emotion regulation has also been…
Abstract
Researchers in the field of occupational stress and well-being are increasingly interested in the role of emotion regulation in the work context. Emotion regulation has also been widely investigated in the area of lifespan developmental psychology, with findings indicating that the ability to modify one’s emotions represents a domain in which age-related growth is possible. In this chapter, we integrate the literatures on aging, emotion regulation, and occupational stress and well-being. To this end, we review key theories and empirical findings in each of these areas, summarize existing research on age, emotion regulation, and stress and well-being at work, and develop a conceptual model on how aging affects emotion regulation and the stress process in work settings to guide future research. According to the model, age will affect (1) what kinds of affective work events are encountered and how often, (2) the appraisal of and initial emotional response to affective work events (emotion generation), and (3) the management of emotions and coping with affective work events (emotion regulation). The model has implications for researchers and practitioners who want to understand and facilitate successful emotion regulation and stress reduction in the workplace among different age groups.
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Patrick Lo, Robert Sutherland, Wei-En Hsu and Russ Girsberger
Nancy J. Adler and Joyce S. Osland
Whereas most societal commentators continue to review the historical patterns of men’s leadership in search of models for 21st-century success, few have begun to recognize, let…
Abstract
Whereas most societal commentators continue to review the historical patterns of men’s leadership in search of models for 21st-century success, few have begun to recognize, let alone appreciate, the equivalent patterns of women’s leadership and the future contributions that women could potentially make as leaders. What could and are women bringing to society as global leaders? Why at this moment in history is there such a marked increase in the number of women leaders? Are we entering an era in which both male and female leaders will shape history, both symbolically and in reality? And if so, will we discover that women, on average, lead in different ways than men, or will we learn that role (global leader) explains more than gender? This chapter reveals the accelerating trends of women joining men in senior leadership positions, establishes the relationship of women leaders to our overall understanding of global leadership, and sets forth an agenda to accomplish much needed research and understanding.