Social media marketing in East Asia

In dieser Masterarbeit wird eine analytische Methode präsentiert, um das Social Media Marketing (SMM) Umfeld in Ostasien und die SMM Strategien von ostasiatischen Unternehmen der IT-Branche zu untersuchen und zu vergleichen. Die SMM Aktivitäten von ausgewählten Fallstudien werden verglichen, um festzustellen, ob ein sogenanntes „ostasiatisches Modell des SMM“ existiert oder nicht. Überdies analysiert der Autor, basierend auf aktuellen Ratgebern für ökonomisch erfolgreiches SMM, wie wahrscheinlich der ökonomische Erfolg der Fallstudien bezüglich ihrer SMM Konzepte sein wird. Um die Fragen dieser Masterarbeit zu beantworten, wird ein theoretischer Rahmen herangezogen, welcher auf den zugrundeliegenden Theorien des Web 2.0 und der Marketingkommunikation beruht. Da SMM ein neues und relativ unerforschtes Forschungsgebiet darstellt, wird, basierend auf den oben genannten Theorien, ein mögliches Modell zur Analyse der SMM Aktivitäten vorgeschlagen. Im empirischen Teil dieser Arbeit werden dann die SMM Aktivitäten von mehrerer Fallstudien miteinander verglichen. Diese Fallstudien umfassen die drei größten ostasiatischen Unternehmen der IT-Branche, gemessen an deren inländischen Marktanteilen. Diese drei Unternehmen sind Samsung Electronics in Südkorea, NEC in Japan und Lenovo in der Volksrepublik China. Da jedoch noch keine objektiven Methoden zur Messung von SMM Strategien existieren, dient ein amerikanisches Unternehmen, welches in derselben Branche tätig und bekannt für seine erfolgreichen SMM Strategien ist, als Referenzfallstudie. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen, dass sich sowohl das SMM Umfeld als auch die Strategien der analysierten ostasiatischen Unternehmen in nahezu allen Belangen stark voneinander unterscheiden. Dies lässt sich hauptsächlich darauf zurückführen, dass die Unternehmen in Südkorea und Japan größtenteils importierte Social Media Plattformen für SMM Aktivitäten benutzen, während in der Volksrepublik China vorwiegend Plattformen inländischen Ursprungs verwendet werden. Die Gemeinsamkeiten aller drei ostasiatischen Unternehmen weisen in Summe zwar eine gewisse Tendenz auf, jedoch reichen diese nicht, um von einem „ostasiatischen Modell des SMM“ zu sprechen. Es stellt sich überdies heraus, dass alle untersuchten Unternehmen ihren Schwerpunkt auf die Social Media Plattform „Microblogs“ legen und die Grundregeln der Ratgeber für ökonomisch erfolgreiches SMM, wenn auch in unterschiedlichen Ausmaßen, befolgen. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, dass, im Gegensatz zur amerikanischen Referenzfallstudie, keines der ostasiatischen Unternehmen innerhalb der Social Media auf öffentliche Kritik reagiert und andere Anwender von Social Media bei seiner Produktentwicklung einbindet. Bezüglich der Reaktion auf öffentliche Kritik in Social Media schlägt der Autor eine mögliche Erklärung vor, welche auf dem kulturellen Konzept des „Gesicht verlierens“ basiert, das in den hier analysierten Ländern vorherrscht.This paper provides an analytical approach to assess and compare the East Asian social media marketing (SMM) environment and the strategies of East Asian businesses in the IT industry. SMM activities of selected case studies are compared to find out whether a so-called ‘East Asian way of SMM’ does exist or not. In addition, this paper will also analyze whether the SMM strategies of the East Asian businesses are likely to be economically successful according to the current guidelines on successful SMM. To answer these questions, the author chose a theoretical framework based on the underlying theories of Web 2.0 and marketing communications. Since SMM is a new and comparatively unexplored field of research, a possible model for analyzing SMM strategies is suggested. For the empirical data, a multiple case study approach was chosen. These case studies comprise the three biggest East Asian businesses from the IT industry in Korea, Japan and China, as measured by their domestic market shares, which are Samsung Electronics, NEC and Lenovo. However, due to the lack of objective measuring methods for SMM in some aspects, a US company of the same industry renowned for its SMM strategies served as a reference case study of this paper. The results of this paper show that the SMM environment and strategies of East Asian businesses differ in almost all aspects from each other. This is mainly due to the fact that in Korea and Japan imported social media platforms from overseas are used for SMM, whereas in China only domestic social media platforms are used. However, some similarities could be detected in the SMM channels and instruments used by the East Asian companies, which indicate a trend but are not enough to name it an ’East Asian way of SMM’. It turned out that all three case studies have a special focus on the social media channel microblogs and follow the basic rules of the guidelines on successful SMM. In addition, it was brought to light that, in contrast to the US counterpart, all East Asian companies neither show any open reaction to criticism nor openly try to integrate other users of social media in the development of its products. With regard to the reaction on criticism made public via social social media, we give a possible explanation, which is linked to the cultural concept of ‘losing face’ that is prevalent in Korea, Japan and China

Use of recommended medications after myocardial infarction in Austria

Guidelines recommend long-term use of beta-blockers (BB), statins, and angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor-blockers (ACEI/ARB) after myocardial infarction (MI), but data on their use after discharge are scarce. From Austrian sickness funds claims, we identified all acute MI patients who were discharged within 30 days and who survived ≥120 days after MI in 2004. We ascertained outpatient use of ACEI/ARBs, BBs, statins, and aspirin from all filled prescriptions between discharge and 120 days post MI. Comorbidities were ascertained from use of indicator drugs during the preceding year. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the independent determinants of study drug use. We evaluated 4,105 MI patients, whose mean age was 68.8 (±13.2) years; 59.5% were men. Within 120 days after MI, 67% filled prescriptions for ACE/ARBs, 74% for BBs, and 67% for statin. While 41% received all these classes and 34% two, 25% of patients received only one or none of these drugs. Older age and presence of severe mental illness were associated with lower use of all drug classes. Diabetics had greater ACEI/ARB use. Fewer BBs were used in patients with obstructive lung disease. Statin use was lower in patients using treatment for congestive heart failure (all P < 0.001). We conclude that recommended medications were underused in Austrian MI survivors. Quality indicators should be established and interventions be implemented to ensure maximum secondary prevention after MI

Cash Logistics in Austria and the Euro Area

Five years of euro banknotes and coins also means five years of experience with crossborder cash logistics. A total of 11.3 billion euro banknotes valued at EUR 628.2 billion are currently in circulation. Handling this enormous amount of cash involves numerous tasks for the national central banks (NCBs) of euro area countries. For example, NCBs must put banknotes and coins into circulation, monitor cash in circulation and its quality, manage the cash cycle and ensure the public’s trust in the currency. These tasks are coordinated by the ECB and implemented at the national level. Within the Eurosystem, the OeNB has established itself as a competence center for cash logistics. In particular, the OeNB’s organization of the cash cycle based on close cooperation between the central bank and commercial banks in a public-private partnership model has earned worldwide recognition. In 2006, a total of 1.2 billion banknotes and 1.7 billion coins were handled (i.e. checked for fitness and prepared for circulation) in Austria. These quantities clearly illustrate the scope of the underlying efforts and at the same time highlight the need for an efficient organizational structure. The highest priority in this context is to ensure the public’s trust in the currency. For this purpose, it is important to continue developing cash as a product in the future, to invest in the security of cash as a means of payment, and to ensure a high-quality cash supply at the European level.cash, cash logistics, banknote and coin production, cash in circulation, cash hub.

Improvement of a figure copying deficit during sub-sensory galvanic vestibular stimulation.

We describe the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on an individual who, following right hemisphere stroke, is unable to copy figures accurately. His copies contain most of the constituent elements, but are poorly integrated and drawn in a seemingly haphazard manner. To test whether GVS could help overcome these difficulties, we administered the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure copy task while manipulating both the presence and laterality of the galvanic signal. The signal was applied at a level that was too low to elicit sensation which ensured that the individual was unaware of either when or on what side he was being stimulated. Relative to a sham condition, two consecutive blocks of GVS increased both the accuracy with which the main configural elements of the figure were reconstructed, and there was some, albeit less consistent evidence, that these were drawn in a more wholistic as opposed to piecemeal manner. Improvement was not reliant on the polarity of the stimulating electrodes. These results suggest that GVS can help overcome difficulties in the perception and/or reconstruction of hierarchical visual form, and thereby uncover a new link between vestibular information processing and visual task performance

Control of rodent and human spatial navigation by room and apparatus cues

A growing body of literature indicates that rats prefer to navigate in the direction of a goal in the environment (directional responding) rather than to the precise location of the goal (place navigation). This paper provides a brief review of this literature with an emphasis on recent findings in the Morris water task. Four experiments designed to extend this work to humans in a computerized, virtual Morris water task are also described. Special emphasis is devoted to how directional responding and place navigation are influenced by room and apparatus cues, and how these cues control distinct components of navigation to a goal.Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that humans, like rats, perform directional responses when cues from the apparatus are present, while Experiment 3 demonstrates that place navigation predominates when apparatus cues are eliminated. In Experiment 4, an eyetracking system measured gaze location in the virtual environment dynamically as participants navigated from a start point to the goal.Participants primarily looked at room cues during the early segment of each trial, but primarily focused on the apparatus as the trial progressed, suggesting distinct, sequential stimulus functions. Implications for computational modeling of navigation in the Morris water task and related tasks are discussed

Vestibular loss causes hippocampal atrophy and impaired spatial memory in humans

Brandt T, Schautzer F, Hamilton DA, et al. Vestibular loss causes hippocampal atrophy and impaired spatial memory in humans. BRAIN. 2005;128(11):2732-2741.The human hippocampal formation plays a crucial role in various aspects of memory processing. Most literature on the human hippocampus stresses its non-spatial memory functions, but older work in rodents and some other species emphasized the role of the hippocampus in spatial learning and memory as well. A few human studies also point to a direct relation between hippocampal size, navigation and spatial memory. Conversely, the importance of the vestibular system for navigation and spatial memory was until now convincingly demonstrated only in animals. Using magnetic resonance imaging volumetry, we found that patients (n = 10) with acquired chronic bilateral vestibular loss (BVL) develop a significant selective atrophy of the hippocampus (16.9% decrease relative to controls). When tested with a virtual variant (on a PC) of the Morris water task these patients exhibited significant spatial memory and navigation deficits that closely matched the pattern of hippocampal atrophy. These spatial memory deficits were not associated with general memory deficits. The current data on BVL patients and bilateral hippocampal atrophy revive the idea that a major-and probably phylogenetically ancient-function of the archicortical hippocampal tissue is still evident in spatial aspects of memory processing for navigation. Furthermore, these data demonstrate for the first time in humans that spatial navigation critically depends on preserved vestibular function, even when the subjects are stationary, e.g. without any actual vestibular or somatosensory stimulation

Vestibular loss causes hippocampal atrophy and impaired spatial memory in humans, Brain 128

The human hippocampal formation plays a crucial role in various aspects of memory processing. Most literature on the human hippocampus stresses its non-spatial memory functions, but older work in rodents and some other species emphasized the role of the hippocampus in spatial learning and memory as well. A few human studies also point to a direct relation between hippocampal size, navigation and spatial memory. Conversely, the importance of the vestibular system for navigation and spatial memory was until now convincingly demonstrated only in animals. Using magnetic resonance imaging volumetry, we found that patients (n = 10) with acquired chronic bilateral vestibular loss (BVL) develop a significant selective atrophy of the hippocampus (16.9% decrease relative to controls). When tested with a virtual variant (on a PC) of the Morris water task these patients exhibited significant spatial memory and navigation deficits that closely matched the pattern of hippocampal atrophy. These spatial memory deficits were not associated with general memory deficits. The current data on BVL patients and bilateral hippocampal atrophy revive the idea that a major-and probably phylogenetically ancient-function of the archicortical hippocampal tissue is still evident in spatial aspects of memory processing for navigation. Furthermore, these data demonstrate for the first time in humans that spatial navigation critically depends on preserved vestibular function, even when the subjects are stationary, e.g. without any actual vestibular or somatosensory stimulation. Keywords: hippocampus; bilateral vestibular failure; spatial memory; navigation Abbreviations: BVL = bilateral vestibular loss; VMWT = virtual Morris water task; GM = grey matter; WM = white matte