The study of Polish consumer's online brand-related activities

The development of new online trends, particularly the Web 2.0, has caused a social engagement growth of Internet users and, as a result, further development of social networking channels and other different types of interactive platforms. The Internet encourages consumers to interact with web sites, and through them with other users. It also enables them to create content on any subject, as for instance, associated with brands and products. Consequently, generating a valuable source of information and research area for organizations. This study aims to identify the involvement of Polish Internet users with consumer's online brand related activities (COBRA). Concerning this issue, the authors investigated a total of 2253 Internet users in an exploratory study revealing the intensity of their participation in 31 activities ranging from low to high engagement. It turned out that Polish consumers are more willing to engage into activities belonging to the consuming COBRA type, rather than to the ones pertinent to the creating COBRA type. Rozwój nowych trendów w internecie, w szczególności web 2.0, spowodował wzrost społecznego zaangażowania internautów oraz rozwój kanałów społecznościowych, a tym samym różnego typu platform interaktywnych. Między innymi dzięki temu internet wciąż jest atrakcyjny dla organizacji i zachęca internautów do interakcji z witrynami, a za ich pośrednictwem z innymi użytkownikami sieci. Umożliwia im tworzenie treści o różnej tematyce, na przykład związanej z markami produktów. Zrealizowane badanie ma na celu poznanie aktywności online konsumentów dotyczącej marek w Polsce (COBRA – consumer’s online brand-related activities). W badaniu eksploracyjnym wzięło udział 2253 internautów. Posłużono się instrumentem badawczym złożonym z 31 przykładów aktywności konsumentów, które mają miejsce w internecie . Artykuł otwiera przegląd literatury na temat COBRA, następnie zaprezentowano przyjętą w badaniu metodę oraz dokonano analizy uzyskanych wyników. Opracowanie kończą wnioski wynikające z badania oraz implikacje dla pracy menedżerów marek. W artykule zawarto także sugestie odnoszące się do dalszych badań nad sieciową aktywnością konsumentów dotyczącą marek

Brand trust as a mediator between perceived risk and electronic word-of-mouth

The development of Internet and the access of consumers to social media influence their online engagement. This also reflects on how consumers write online opinions about brands and products. This survey objective was to research the influence of the perceived risk and brand trust on the consumers’ engagement with electronic word-of-mouth. The authors investigate the role of brand trust as a mediator in the relationship between perceived risk and eWOM. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyse data from 319 Polish consumers. The results indicated a negative influence of the perceived risk on consumes’ brand trust. A positive influence was detected from the perceived risk and brand trust on the consumers’ engagement with eWOM. Finally, brand trust was detected to negatively mediate the relationship between the perceived risk and eWOM

Literature review on conceptualisation of online consumer engagement

The purpose of the current study is to develop a literature review on “online consumer engagement” (OCE). Articles from 2006 to 2016 published in the market- ing journals and other related journals have been reviewed to summarise the OCE concept. Although there is not an agreed definition and conceptualisation of OCE, this study classified the concept as either behavioural or psychological within the dimensions of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural type. The objects of OCE also were grouped as engagement with a brand, online brand community, and multiple engagement objects to address the importance of interactive nature of “customer engagement” (CE), which allows customers to engage with multiple objects at the same time. Finally, this study provides the most updated review on the OCE concept in the context of online engagement

Antecedents and consequences of brand loyalty

The objective of this paper is to review, systematize, and summarize empirical research on the antecedents and consequences of brand loyalty. The literature review has identified five categories of antecedents to brand loyalty associated with consumer, brand, social, corporate and relational factors. The type of loyalty formed varies according to the combination of various antecedents, with premium loyalty being considered the most desirable. Apart from summarizing the literature on brand loyalty, this review has practical implications for marketing managers. Customer expectations at each stage of the customer decision process must be understood, and therefore combined with the various antecedents to incite premium loyalty. Managers must apply not just behavioural but also affective components in their marketing strategies to achieve optimal results

Non-destructive study of non-equilibrium states of cold, trapped atoms

Highly sensitive, non-destructive, real-time spectroscopic determination of the 2D kinetic momentum distribution of a cold-atom sample is performed with the three-beam measurement of the recoil-induced resonances. The measurements performed with an operating magneto-optical trap reveal slow velocity drifts within a stationary atomic cloud and strong anisotropy and asymmetry of the non-Maxwellian momentum distribution. The developed method can be easily extended to 3D.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Venture Capital and Business Angels and the Creation of Innovative Firms in Poland

The article also points out that conditions fostering further development of the described types of entrepreneurship and innovation financing and a dynamic environment generating innovative capacity should be created.W artykule zasygnalizowano również potrzebę kreowania uwarunkowań sprzyjających rozwojowi opisanych form finansowania przedsiębiorczości, innowacyjności i dynamicznego otoczenia generującego zdolności innowacyjne

Formation and structure of ionomer complexes from grafted polyelectrolytes

We discuss the structure and formation of Ionomer Complexes formed upon mixing a grafted block copolymer (poly(acrylic acid)-b-poly(acrylate methoxy poly(ethylene oxide)), PAA21-b-PAPEO14) with a linear polyelectrolyte (poly(N-methyl 2-vinyl pyridinium iodide), P2MVPI), called grafted block ionomer complexes (GBICs), and a chemically identical grafted copolymer (poly(acrylic acid)-co-poly(acrylate methoxy poly(ethylene oxide)), PAA28-co-PAPEO22) with a linear polyelectrolyte, called grafted ionomer complexes (GICs). Light scattering measurements show that GBICs are much bigger (~70–100 nm) and GICs are much smaller or comparable in size (6–22 nm) to regular complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms). The mechanism of GICs formation is different from the formation of regular C3Ms and GBICs, and their size depends on the length of the homopolyelectrolyte. The sizes of GBICs and GICs slightly decrease with temperature increasing from 20 to 65 °C. This effect is stronger for GBICs than for GICs, is reversible for GICs and GBIC-PAPEO14/P2MVPI228, and shows some hysteresis for GBIC-PAPEO14/P2MVPI43. Self-consistent field (SCF) calculations for assembly of a grafted block copolymer (having clearly separated charged and grafted blocks) with an oppositely charged linear polyelectrolyte of length comparable to the charged copolymer block predict formation of relatively small spherical micelles (~6 nm), with a composition close to complete charge neutralization. The formation of micellar assemblies is suppressed if charged and grafted monomers are evenly distributed along the backbone, i.e., in case of a grafted copolymer. The very large difference between the sizes found experimentally for GBICs and the sizes predicted from SCF calculations supports the view that there is some secondary association mechanism. A possible mechanism is discussed

Probe spectroscopy in an operating magneto-optical trap: the role of Raman transitions between discrete and continuum atomic states

We report on cw measurements of probe beam absorption and four-wave-mixing spectra in a $^{85}$Rb magneto-optical trap taken while the trap is in operation. The trapping beams are used as pump light. We concentrate on the central feature of the spectra at small pump-probe detuning and attribute its narrow resonant structures to the superposition of Raman transitions between light-shifted sublevels of the ground atomic state and to atomic recoil processes. These two contributions have different dependencies on trap parameters and we show that the former is inhomogeneously broadened. The strong dependence of the spectra on the probe-beam polarization indicates the existence of large optical anisotropy of the cold-atom sample, which is attributed to the recoil effects. We point out that the recoil-induced resonances can be isolated from other contributions, making pump-probe spectroscopy a highly sensitive diagnostic tool for atoms in a working MOT.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure