13,367 research outputs found

    A Comparison of Attitudinal Loyalty Measurement Approaches

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    The aim of this paper is to present the empirical tests of two measures of attitudinal brand loyalty to identify if they are items of a single construct or two distinct constructs. These two measures are an individual's propensity to be brand loyal, and attitude towards the act of purchasing a specific brand. This paper also seeks to determine which of these measures would be more useful for explaining purchasing behaviour. The results confirm the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between the two measures in the business services market. This indicates that they are in fact not measures of the same concept but two separate concepts. Aggregating the scores from both measures to form a single score for attitudinal loyalty would reduce richness of explanation for marketing practitioners. in addition, the results suggest that the attitude towards the act of purchasing a brand can be used to explain or predict purchasing behaviour

    Rates of agonism among female primates: a cross-taxon perspective

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    Agonism is common in group-living animals, shaping dominance relationships and ultimately impacting individual tness. Rates of agonism vary considerably among taxa, however, and explaining this variation has been central in ecological models of female social relationships in primates. Early iterations of these models posited a link to diet, with more frequent agonism predicted in frugivorous species due to the presumed greater contestability of fruits relative to other food types. Although some more recent studies have suggested that dietary categories may be poor predictors of contest competition among primates, to date there have been no broad, cross-taxa comparisons of rates of female–female agonism in relation to diet. This study tests whether dietary variables do indeed pre- dict rates of female agonism and further investigates the role of group size (i.e., number of competitors) and substrate use (i.e., degree of arboreality) on the frequency of agonism. Data from 44 wild, unprovisioned groups, including 3 strepsirhine species, 3 platyrrhines, 5 colobines, 10 cercopithecines, and 2 hominoids were analyzed using phylogenetically controlled and uncontrolled methods. Results indicate that diet does not predict agonistic rates, with trends actually being in the opposite direction than predicted for all taxa except cercopithecines. In contrast, agonistic rates are positively associated with group size and possibly degree of terrestriality. Competitor density and perhaps the risk of ghting, thus, appear more important than general diet in predicting agonism among female primates. We discuss the implications of these results for socio-ecological hypotheses

    Cognitive appraisal of environmental stimuli induces emotion-like states in fish

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    The occurrence of emotions in non-human animals has been the focus of debate over the years. Recently, an interest in expanding this debate to non-tetrapod vertebrates and to invertebrates has emerged. Within vertebrates, the study of emotion in teleosts is particularly interesting since they represent a divergent evolutionary radiation from that of tetrapods, and thus they provide an insight into the evolution of the biological mechanisms of emotion. We report that Sea Bream exposed to stimuli that vary according to valence (positive, negative) and salience (predictable, unpredictable) exhibit different behavioural, physiological and neuromolecular states. Since according to the dimensional theory of emotion valence and salience define a two-dimensional affective space, our data can be interpreted as evidence for the occurrence of distinctive affective states in fish corresponding to each the four quadrants of the core affective space. Moreover, the fact that the same stimuli presented in a predictable vs. unpredictable way elicited different behavioural, physiological and neuromolecular states, suggests that stimulus appraisal by the individual, rather than an intrinsic characteristic of the stimulus, has triggered the observed responses. Therefore, our data supports the occurrence of emotion-like states in fish that are regulated by the individual's perception of environmental stimuli.European Commission [265957 Copewell]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/80029/2011, SFRH/BPD/72952/2010]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    The Nelson and Winter Models RevisitedPrototypes for Computer-Based Reconstruction of Schumpeterian Competition

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    The report deals with the reconstruction and further development of the models of industrial dynamics developed by Nelson and Winter and summarised in their famous 1982-book. The basic idea underlying the Nelson and Winter models is that a verbal account of Schumpeterian competition can naturally be transformed into a description of a computational process in which firms not only make short-term production decisions and investment decisions but also performs a search for new technologies. The latter search is successful in a probabilistic manner, and its successes and failures determine an evolutionary process of the industry. Although the simulation models of Nelson and Winter have played a central role the ‘take-off’ of evolutionary economics, they have never been fully documented and their differences have never been explored. The resulting problems are obvious for students who start from Nelson’s and Winter’s most famous accounts, but even for researchers with a full collection of the underlying research papers, the situation is quite confusing. The report tries to make things easier by presenting overviews of the structure of Nelson and Winter models as well as fully implemented versions of their simulation models – especially NELWIN78 based on ch. 13 of the 1982-book and NELWIN77 based on ch. 12. The report furthermore presents a computer-based environment (implemented in MAPLE V Rev2) for revision of the models and for analysis of the overwhelming number of data resulting from simulation runs.Evolutionary economic modelling, simulation of industrial dynamics, Schumpeterian competit

    Behavioural determinants of Foreign Direct Investment

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    The paper presents a behavioural economics approach to foreign direct investment. Starting from the behavioural finance literature, it uses content analysis based on interviews and questionnaires covering 12% of the Portuguese firms with investments abroad. The study presents evidence of several behavioural rules (e.g., herding, cascading, anchoring, overconfidence, mental accounting) in firms’ location decisions that originate a new set of determinants of FDI flows and complement the neo classical paradigm. Moreover, it confirms the Heiner model (1983, 1985, 1989) by showing that the higher is the uncertainty faced by decision makers the more frequent is the use of behavioural rules. The central role of uncertainty helps explaining why FDI flows occur more frequently among developed countries.Behavioural, Foreign Direct Investment, Uncertainty

    BEHAVIOURAL DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

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    The paper presents a behavioural economics approach to foreign direct investment. Starting from behavioural finance theory, it uses content analysis from interviews made to Portuguese managers with investments abroad. The study presents evidence of herding, anchoring, overconfidence, mental accounting and other behaviour rules in firms’ location decisions that originate a set of determinants of FDI flows and complement the neoclassical paradigm. Moreover, it confirms the Heiner model (1983, 1985, 1989) by showing that the higher the uncertainty faced by decision makers the more frequent will be the use of behavioural rules. The central role of uncertainty helps explain why FDI flows occur more frequently among developed countries.Foreign Direct Investment, Behavioural economics, Uncertainty.

    Childhood predictors of criminal offending: results from a 19-year longitudinal epidemiological study of boys

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    Objective: To examine the relative contribution of hyperactivity, conduct, and emotional problems in predicting criminal offending. Method: In all, 173 boys aged 6 to 8 years (assessed for hyperactivity, conduct, and emotional problems) were followed up 19 years later by examining criminal offense histories. Results: Significant main effects for total and violent convictions were found, the strongest being for violent criminal offenses. Conduct problems predicted general offending (irrespective of the type of conviction), whereas emotional problems were the single best predictor of violent convictions. Hyperactivity was not a significant predictor in the models. Conclusion: The findings provide insight into the developmental mechanisms that mediate criminal behavior by showing that childhood emotional problems independently contribute to the risk of violent offending in later

    Into the Light: Diurnality has Evolved Multiple Times in Geckos

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    Geckos are the only major lizard group consisting mostly of nocturnal species. Nocturnality is presumed to have evolved early in gecko evolution and geckos possess numerous adaptations to functioning in low light and at low temperatures. However, not all gecko species are nocturnal and most diurnal geckos have their own distinct adaptations to living in warmer, sunlit environments. We reconstructed the evolution of gecko activity patterns using a newly generated time-calibrated phylogeny. Our results provide the first phylogenetic analysis of temporal activity patterns in geckos and confirm an ancient origin of nocturnality at the root of the gecko tree. We identify multiple transitions to diurnality at a variety of evolutionary time scales and transitions back to nocturnality occur in several predominantly diurnal clades. The scenario presented here will be useful in reinterpreting existing hypotheses of how geckos have adapted to varying thermal and light environments. These results can also inform future research of gecko ecology, physiology, morphology and vision as it relates to changes in temporal activity patterns
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