Transforming Consumer Experience: When Timing Matters

How advertising can influence or change consumers\u27 product experience has been a topic of great interest to marketers. The majority of research has suggested that advertising received prior to an experience can exert the most influence. In 1999, however, Braun introduced the concept of reconstructive memory, and demonstrated that advertising received after an experience can alter how consumers remember their experience. The issue of which order of framing of an experience through advertising is most influential on consumer memory has not yet been investigated. A constructive memory framework that can take into account both forward- and backward-framing effects and an experiment that tests hypotheses regarding the presentation order of advertising and experience is presented. The implications for the study of transformational advertising are discussed

Assessing the Long-Term Impact of a Consistent Advertising Campaign on Consumer Memory

How effective is an advertising campaign that has consistently used the same theme since consumers\u27 early childhood? To answer that question one has to consider the effect the campaign has had on consumers\u27 memory. This research begins by discussing the structure of memory and schematic processes that occur when similar or related information is presented over time. Evidence is reviewed which suggests that early exposure would be critical in the brand schema\u27s development. An experiment that tests the strength of the brand schema in a competitive environment and a survey that explores the importance of time of initial exposure to present-day affect and attitudes toward the brand are presented. The implications of the results for advertising research and practice are then discussed

Pion and Kaon Distribution Amplitudes from lattice QCD: towards the continuum limit

We present the current status of a non-perturbative lattice calculation of the moments of the pion and kaon distribution amplitudes by the RQCD collaboration. Our investigation is carried out using $N_f=2+1$ dynamical, non-perturbatively O(a)-improved Wilson fermions on the CLS ensembles with 5 different lattice spacings and pion masses down to the physical pion mass. A combined continuum and chiral extrapolation to the physical point is performed along two independent quark mass trajectories simultaneously. We employ momentum smearing in order to decrease the contamination by excited states and increase statistical precision.Comment: Proceedings of the 36th Annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - LATTICE201

The Discovery of a Spatially-Resolved Supernova Remnant in M31 with Chandra

Chandra observations of M31 allow the first spatially resolved X-ray image of a supernova remnant (SNR) in an external spiral galaxy. CXOM31 J004327.7+411829 is a slightly elongated ring-shaped object with a diameter of ~11'' (42 pc). In addition, the X-ray image hints that the chemical composition of the SNR is spatial dependent. The X-ray spectrum of the SNR can be well fitted with a Raymond-Smith model or a non-equilibrium ionization model. Depending on the spectral model, the 0.3-7 keV luminosity is between 3.2x10^36 erg/s and 4.5x10^37 erg/s. The age of the SNR is estimated to be 3210-22300 years and the number density of ambient gas is ~0.003-0.3 cm^-3. This suggests that the local interstellar medium around the SNR is low.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

Using Childhood Memory to Gain Insight into Brand Meaning

In this article, the authors introduce the concept that people\u27s earliest and defining product memories can be used as a projective tool to help managers more fully understand consumers\u27 relationships to their products. The authors use a study on three generations of automobile consumers to illustrate how these memories symbolize the consumer-brand relationship and how they can be used to gain insights into brand meaning. The findings indicate that people\u27s earliest and defining experiences have an important influence on current and future preferences in predictable ways across the consumer life cycle. These memory experiences are symbolic to the consumer and represent a new lens for viewing brand meaning, which complements the toolbox of extant research methods. The authors provide details about this technique for managers who are searching for methods that recognize that consumers coproduce brand meanings

The Impact of Program Context on Motivational System Activation and Subsequent Effects on Processing a Fear Appeal

This manuscript reports three experiments investigating the impact of television programming context on the processing of a fear-appeal message. This is done using a dual-motivation system theory conceptualizing emotion as arising from activation of the appetitive and/or aversive motivational systems. Results show that, as predicted, sad programming activates viewers\u27 aversive motivational systems, whereas comedic programming activates their appetitive motivational systems. Furthermore, by activating these systems through programming context, we were able to predict both retrospective self-report and real-time physiological reactions to a persuasive message employing a fear-appeal strategy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as are suggestions for future experiments using the dual-motivation approach

Modeling the Pseudodeductible in Insurance Claims Decisions

In many different managerial contexts, consumers “leave money on the table” by, for example, their failure to claim rebates, use available coupons, and so on. This project focuses on a related problem faced by homeowners who may be reluctant to file insurance claims despite the fact their losses are covered. We model this consumer decision by introducing the concept of the “pseudodeductible,” a latent threshold above the policy deductible that governs the homeowner’s claim behavior. In addition, we show how the observed number of claims can be modeled as the output of three stochastic processes that are separately, and in conjunction, managerially relevant: the rate at which losses occur, the size of each loss, and the choice of the individual to file or not file a claim. By allowing for the possibility of pseudodeductibles, one can sort out (and make accurate inferences about) these three processes. We test this model using a proprietary data set provided by State Farm, the largest underwriter of personal lines insurance in the United States. Using mixtures of Dirichlet processes to capture heterogeneity and the interplay among the three processes, we uncover several relevant “stories” that underlie the frequency and severity of claims. For instance, some customers have a small number of losses, but all are filed as claims, whereas others may experience many more losses, but are more selective about which claims they file. These stories explain several observed phenomena regarding the claims decisions that insurance customers make, and have broad implications for customer lifetime value and market segmentation

Effects of cold winters and roost site stability on population development of non-native Asian ring-necked parakeets (Alexandrinus manillensis) in temperate Central Europe – Results of a 16-year census

Asian ring-necked parakeets (Alexandrinus manillensis, formerly Psittacula krameri, hereafter RNP) first bred in Germany in 1969. Since then, RNP numbers increased in all three major German subpopulations (Rhineland, Rhine-Main, Rhine-Neckar) over the period 2003–2018. In the Rhine-Neckar region, the population increased to more than fivefold within only 15 years. Interestingly, there was no significant breeding range expansion of  RNP in the period 2010–2018. In 2018, the total number of RNP in Germany amounted to >16,200 birds. Differences in RNP censuses between years were evident. Surprisingly, cold winters (extreme value, −13.7 °C) and cold weather conditions in the breeding season (coldest month average, −1.36 °C) were not able to explain between-year variation. This finding suggests that in general winter mortality is low – with exceptions for winters 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, and a population-relevant loss of broods is low in our study population. Surprisingly, the social behaviour in terms of spatio-temporal stability of roost sites could well explain positive and negative population trends. Years of spatially stable and regularly used roost sites seem to correlate with increasing population sizes. In contrast, known shifts of RNP among different roost sites or the formations of new roost sites by split are related to population stagnation or a decrease in numbers. Climate change may lead to further range expansion as cities not suitable yet for RNP may become so in the near future.

Light-cone distribution amplitudes of the baryon octet

We present results of the first ab initio lattice QCD calculation of the normalization constants and first moments of the leading twist distribution amplitudes of the full baryon octet, corresponding to the small transverse distance limit of the associated S-wave light-cone wave functions. The P-wave (higher twist) normalization constants are evaluated as well. The calculation is done using $N_f=2+1$ flavors of dynamical (clover) fermions on lattices of different volumes and pion masses down to 222 MeV. Significant SU(3) flavor symmetry violation effects in the shape of the distribution amplitudes are observed.Comment: Update to the version published in JHE