The consumer scam: an agency-theoretic approach

Despite the extensive body of literature that aims to explain the phenomenon of consumer scams, the structure of information in scam relationships remains relatively understudied. The purpose of this article is to develop an agency-theoretical approach to the study of information in perpetrator-victim interactions. Drawing a distinction between failures of observation and failures of judgement in the pre-contract phase, we introduce a typology and a set of propositions that explain the severity of adverse selection problems in three classes of scam relationships. Our analysis provides a novel, systematic explanation of the structure of information that facilitates scam victimisation, while also enabling critical scrutiny of a core assumption in agency theory regarding contract design. We highlight the role of scam perpetrators as agents who have access to private information and exercise considerable control over the terms and design of scam relationships. Focusing on the consumer scam context, we question a theoretical assumption, largely taken for granted in the agency literature, that contact design is necessarily in the purview of the uninformed principal

The Wrightcad: A Configural Flight Display

Despite the introduction of “glass” interfaces into the cockpit, there has been little change in how information is configured within flight displays. This is particularly true for general aviation. The WrightCAD design is introduced as a novel way to integrate information into a configural primary flight display. The goal of the WrightCAD design is to take advantage of the opportunity for innovation offered by the introduction of the “glass” cockpit while minimizing negative transfer that might result from a radical change in how information is presented to pilots

The Wrightcad: A Configural Flight Display

Despite the introduction of “glass” interfaces into the cockpit, there has been little change in how information is configured within flight displays. This is particularly true for general aviation. The WrightCAD design is introduced as a novel way to integrate information into a configural primary flight display. The goal of the WrightCAD design is to take advantage of the opportunity for innovation offered by the introduction of the “glass” cockpit while minimizing negative transfer that might result from a radical change in how information is presented to pilots

Employment Interview Outcomes and Speech Style Effects

This study examines the effects of powerful versus powerless speech styles on employment interview outcomes, extending and refining research by Wiley and Eskilson. Undergraduate and professional respondents listened to one of eight audiotaped interviews manipulated by speech style, interviewer gender, and interviewee gender and evaluated the interviewees’ dynamism, social attractiveness, competence, and employability on Likert-type scales. Results indicate that a powerful speech style results in positive attributions of competence and employability and that professional respondents evaluated the speech styles differently than did undergraduates. Implications for the employment interview are discussed, and directions for future research are also identified