TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The Eclectic Paradigm of Salesperson Compensation: a New Framework for Investigating the Role of Salary versus Commission

Numerous researchers, employing theories from either psychology or economics, have investigated the circumstances under which firms are likely to adopt salary-based versus commission-based compensation plans. This study integrates the most common theoretical bases of salesperson compensation literature into a broad framework labeled the Eclectic Paradigm of Salesperson Compensation (EPSC). The EPSC proposes that there is a positive association between a firm's salary orientation and resource commitment, and a firm's salary orientation and firm control. There should be a negative association between salary orientation and dissemination risk, and salary orientation and salesperson motivation/performance. Twenty-three hypotheses originating from the EPSC were tested using a pretest sample of 48 real estate salespersons and a test sample of 311 real estate salespersons. The data were analyzed using common factor analysis, logistic regression, multivariate analysis of variance, and median tests. Of the 23 hypotheses, 10 were supported, 7 were partially supported, and 6 were not supported. The results suggest that the eclectic paradigm of salesperson compensation is a promising initial step toward developing a comprehensive model for understanding the determinants of salary versus commission

Channel surfing, brand loyalty and risk propensity: A segmentation approach to modelling consumer switching behaviours in the USA

This study explores North Americans\u27 propensity for change in the context of consumer switching behaviours: Channel surfing, brand loyalty and political loyalty. A proposed framework based on an adoption/diffusion explanation suggests that there is an inverse relationship between age and risk propensity, a positive relationship between males and risk propensity, and a positive relationship between risk propensity and the three switching behaviours mentioned above. A structural equation test of the adoption/diffusion model indicates that the framework is an acceptable basis for understanding the dynamics of demographics, risk and switching behaviours. A subsequent cluster analysis suggested that consumers may be categorized into four segments which we label Hotdoggers, Clamdiggers, Ho-Daddies and Gremlins. A surprising finding was that young women appear to exhibit greater risk propensity and less brand loyalty than young males, though males tend to channel surf more. Several implications for marketers are discussed. © 1996 Advertising Association

The Role of Gender as an Antecedent to Opportunism: Are Women Less Opportunistic?

A construct in marketing literature is “Opportunism,” which has been defined as “self-interest seeking with guile.” A sample of 311 real estate agents were evaluated as to differences between men and women in opportunism, using a scale along the lines of John (1984). While men were found to be more opportunistic, there was little explained variance

Comparing bidding and pricing between in-person and online auctions

Examines the phenomenon of online auctions. Begins by developing a theoretical base for understanding how online and in-person auctions should differ in terms of consumer risk. Online auctions with seller reserve prices are compared to in-person auctions without seller reserve prices using data from 60 paired sales of collectible figurines. Online auctions are found to exceed in-person auctions in both mean initial bid prices and mean final sales prices. © 2000, MCB UP Limite

An Investigation into the Roles of Gender and Experience as Antecedents to Salesperson Opportunism

This study finds that female salespersons exhibit lower levels of opportunism than male salespersons. While the gender gap appears to close with experience, the role of gender and experience interaction as it relates to opportunism was inconclusive