State-Dependence Effects in Surveys

In recent years academic research has focused on understanding and modeling the survey response process. This paper examines an understudied systematic response tendency in surveys: the extent to which observed responses are subject to state dependence, i.e., response carryover from one item to another independent of specific item content. We develop a statistical model that simultaneously accounts for state dependence, item content, and scale usage heterogeneity. The paper explores how state dependence varies by response category, item characteristics, item sequence, respondent characteristics, and whether it becomes stronger as the survey progresses. Two empirical applications provide evidence of substantial and significant state dependence. We find that the degree of state dependence depends on item characteristics and item sequence, and it varies across individuals and countries. The article demonstrates that ignoring state dependence may affect reliability and predictive validity, and it provides recommendations for survey researchers

Guidelines for choosing between multi-item and single-item scales for construct measurement: A predictive validity perspective

Establishing predictive validity of measures is a major concern in marketing research. This paper investigates the conditions favoring the use of single items versus multi-item scales in ter

Channel Habits and the Development of Successful Customer-Firm Relationships in Services

Technology advances have profoundly changed the way customers and service organizations interact, leading to a multitude of service channels. This study investigates consumer habits toward service channels in order to understand the influence of these channel habits on perceptions and intentions (perceived switching costs and attitudinal loyalty) and on consumer behavior (service usage and cross-buy). We empirically test the framework in the financial services industry, and the results reveal that physical store habit increases perceived switching costs and that acquired habits toward the physical store and self-service kiosks have a positive influence on attitudinal loyalty. Perceived switching costs positively affect service usage, and attitudinal loyalty positively influences cross-buy. In addition, habits in each channel lead to an increase in the number of services acquired (cross-buy), but online and self-service kiosks channel habits negatively impact service usage, as the lack of physical presence may increase customer uncertainty. Because habits are built on the frequency and stability of channel usage, firms can manage habits by encouraging frequent interactions under stable contexts. In addition, firms should stimulate customer habits toward the physical store as it is central to the promotion of loyalty and for increasing service usage

Development, Implementation, and Assessment of an Online Doctoral Student Orientation

An examination of the recent literature revealed there are no established standards for orienting online doctoral students. To address this problem, the relevant literature was examined and suggested that doctoral students can be effectively oriented to their academic environment when provided with the requisite programmatic and institutional information, and factors that support socialization and self-efficacy. A literature-based orientation was developed to examine its impact on students’ first semester success in terms of rates of retention and grade point averages (GPA). This was accomplished using a developmental study approach that included three primary phases: 1) development of a literature-based orientation; 2) implementation of a synchronous online orientation; and 3) evaluation of the impact of the orientation on students’ programmatic knowledge and their perceptions of the factors of self-efficacy and socialization. A survey instrument was developed to evaluate the impact of the orientation on participants and administered to the fall 2017 online doctoral cohort in the criminal justice doctoral (DCJ) program at Nova Southeastern University. Survey results showed that student levels of knowledge increased significantly and those students placed a great deal of value on the socialization factors related to academic relationships with other students and faculty. Students entered the doctoral program with relative high levels of self-efficacy although their confidence level dropped slightly when asked about their ability to persist when encountering personal, financial, or familial difficulties. Included in the evaluation phase were comparisons of archival GPA and retention data from the 2014 DCJ cohort, who did not have the option of participating in a synchronous orientation compared with the 2017 cohort who did participate in the orientation. Additional comparisons were made within the 2017 cohort between those that participated in the orientation and those that did not. The results of the quantitative analyses revealed an 8% increase in retention rates for the 2017 cohort students that participated over the 2014 cohort. The 2017 cohort students that participated in the orientation showed a slight decrease (7%) in overall GPA when compared to the 2014 cohort. Further comparisons made within the 2017 cohort showed that students who participated in the orientation had better rates of retention and GPAs than the students who did not participate. The findings of study provided the following recommendations regarding the minimum standards to include in an orientation including the programmatic factors associated with curriculum requirements, deadline to obtain degree, and location of important program documents such as academic calendars, handbooks/catalogs, and dissertation guidelines. Institutional components included the registration process, academic advisor information, learning management system introduction, research library introduction, financial aid and military veteran specific information. Additionally, the factors that supported socialization and self-efficacy were recommended to be included in a set of orientation standards. Those factors should support student-to-faculty-to-student academic relationships and students who encounter personal, financial, or familial barriers respectively

New Survey Methods

Surveys are widely used by scholars, companies, and public policymakers to generate invaluable insights. Despite the popularity of surveys, there are several biases that can affect the validity of self-reported data. In his inaugural address, Martijn de Jong discusses how new survey methods can help to extract valid information from surveys. Several examples are presented that showcase the relevance of better research design and careful statistical modeling of the response process. In addition, De Jong addresses some commonly held perceptions about the ability to make causal inferences with survey data

Integrated Internet Marketing Communications for the Global Market: An Empirical Examination

Strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and performance of Internet (online) marketing communications (IOMC) by companies when they attempt to target, reach, and communicate with the global market (i.e., both domestic and foreign markets) in order to promote and sell products to the members of that market was the broad phenomenon examined. The specific focus was on the use of a globally integrated marketing communications (GIMC) approach with IOMC and the creation of the global Internet integrated marketing communications (GI-IMC) concept. Relevant theories and theoretical models were identified and leveraged to serve as the theoretical foundation for the general theoretical framework, the research program framework, and/or the hypothesized conceptual model created and/or empirically examined at least partially. They included: industrial organization theory, the resource-based view, and the strategic fit paradigm (environment-strategy coalignment). In addition, various relevant research streams and concepts were described and examined in detail. They included: IOMC, international Internet marketing, integrated marketing communications, GIMC, and Internet integrated marketing communications. The Market Orientation construct was the lone independent variable or construct included in the initial four-construct model empirically examined. There were three stages of data collection: (1) pre-test, (2) pilot test, and (3) main test. A convenience sample of 73 academics or industry practitioners was utilized for the pre-test in order to make modifications to the survey instrument for subsequent rounds of data collection. Samples of qualified industry practitioners were then obtained for the pilot test (n=70) and main test (n=400) from online respondent panels provided by third-party vendors. Results included the creation of two new theoretical constructs (i.e., Global Internet Integrated Marketing Communications and Global Internet Marketing Communications Performance) and the formulation and preliminary validation of their measurement scales (though the hypothesized measurement model lacked discriminant validity, which prevented testing of the hypothesized structural model). In addition, a statistically significant positive relationship was found to exist between the Global Internet Integrated Marketing Communications construct and the Global Internet Marketing Communications Performance construct in a final two-construct model proposed and examined through post-hoc analysis. Implications of this research for researchers and practitioners are provided, as are future research directions

Development and early-stage validation of a questionnaire measuring patient acceptance of electronic patient reported outcome measures.

Electronic patient-reported outcome measures (e-PROMs) have been introduced to improve the collection of patient feedback and to facilitate data linkage with research databases. However, before implementing e-PROMs, it is important to understand patient’s feelings about and acceptance of these technologies. Until today, there has been no adequate questionnaire to understand patient acceptance of e-PROMs. So, this study aimed to study patient acceptance of e-PROMs through developing and validating a new questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and additional factors including computer anxiety and patient characteristic factors. Not only did this study apply a quantitative method to understand the factors behind patient acceptance, the development and the psychometric testing of the new questionnaire was conducted using a variety of methodological approaches. This includes: (1) developing the initial version of the questionnaire based on the available literature, (2) an expert panel review (n=5) and cognitive interviews (n=10) to measure face and content validity, and (3) conducting field-testing (n=231) to measure construct validity and internal consistency reliability. The field-testing included testing the conceptual model with cancer survivors at an outpatient oncology clinic in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Based on these study findings, the developed questionnaire shows good validity and reliability. Moreover, the conceptual model results show that patient attitudes (a TPB construct), computer anxiety and gender were significantly (P<0.05) associated with behavioural intention to use e-PROMs. The most influential factor is patients’ attitude to computers, followed by computer anxiety then male gender. Overall, these model constructs explained around 87% of the variance in acceptance. The findings of this study strongly suggest that clinicians need to encourage their male patients to use e-PROMs and help them to reduce their computer anxiety

An investigation into the aspects of innovation within the downstream domain of the pharmaceutical supply chain

An investigation into the aspects of innovation within the downstream domain of the pharmaceutical supply chain This research evaluates the implementation of innovative programmes within the downstream domain of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (PSC). Pharmacies are considered as key links between healthcare services and patients because they are responsible for dispensing and managing pharmaceuticals in order to prolong life. Considering the healthcare organisations‘ crucial role and that they face the challenge of minimising the cost of healthcare services while enhancing service quality, healthcare organisations tend to try improvement approaches and innovative interventions to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. Specifically, they tend to focus on improving their Supply Chain Management (SCM) in order to reduce waste, in particular with regards to their medicine expenditure, and to provide improved services. However, implementing innovation within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (PSC) is not yet adequate; at present there appears to be a lack of experience and knowledge of how such initiatives should be undertaken. Research that examines potential innovative contributions might therefore make a defined contribution to the sector. This research, therefore, aims to assess the current medicine delivery process and identify the issues responsible for weak process performances and the factors that influence pharmacies‘ innovativeness within two diverse European contexts, the UK and Greece. An exploratory research design, embracing a mixed-methods approach, was used to analyse the issues associated with PSC inefficiency and assess to what extent innovation could be adopted by hospital and community pharmacies to improve the delivery process of pharmaceutical products. The qualitative data was gathered through 30 interviews with key professionals working within the downstream domain of the PSC in the two selected geographical areas. A total of 21 in-depth interviews in the UK and 9 in Greece were conducted to examine the elements preventing the effective and efficient delivery of medicines. Simultaneously, an online survey was developed to collect the quantitative data. The final sample (N=130) consisted of specialists working within the down stream domain of the PSC in Greece and the UK. The quantitative data analysis aimed to identify the factors that support or prevent innovation within this specific and complex environment. The analysis and combination of these two sets of data enabled the researcher to gain a comprehensive understanding and recommend innovative solutions that are suitable to the system under investigation, leading to continuous improvement. This research contriputes to academic literature as it adds more theoritical insights to innovative delively processes, especially those that have been characterised as highly complex. The results led to the generation of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Framework (IPSCF) that provides guidelines to healthcare organisations about how the identified problems can be overcome by implementing suitable innovative techniques. The implementation of Lean and Reverse Logistics practices, which are supported by integrated Information Technology (IT) systems, are suggested as a means for healthcare organisations to enhance their delivery system in terms of quality (products and service quality), visibility (knowledge and information sharing), speed (respond to customers and suppliers needs) and cost (minimisation of cost and waste) and therefore generate a competitive edge. The study‘s recommendations have important implications for pharmacies, as they provide guidance regards suitable innovative programmes that can be adopted. The outputs of this research are specifically relevant to the pharmacy sectors of the UK and Greece, but may have also relevance for European healthcare organisations