Approaches to consumer trust in banking sector, with special regard to young customers

Trust is an element of crucial importance in bank marketing and is becoming a differentiating factor due to the effects of the financial and economic crisis. Trust is a strategic factor in creating a balanced and persistent operation for both individual banks and the banking sector on the whole. This paper aims to explore some of those attributes that are relevant for consumer trust in the respect of banks. Having reviewed the relevant scientific references in the field, through a focus group research of three interviews the ten biggest actors in the Hungarian banking sector were aligned by certain criteria by means of the brand party technique, and the topics of brand-knowledge, satisfaction, dependence and bank-change were also explored. Based on the research findings, there is no serious crisis, but consumer trust has been weakened in the younger age group. Some further findings show that there may be correlation between consumer trust and the assumed size of the banks; old customers might feel neglected as opposed to new ones; customers seem to be satisfied by the e-banking services; there may be a strengthening subjective feeling of dependence on banks when applying for loans; strong consumer subjectivity may prevail in judging the ownership structure of the banks; and finally, the phenomenon of passive bank-change might be frequent. Further elaboration and extension of the present research project may lead to appropriate generalizations.consumer trust, trust research, bank marketing

Liquidity Constraints and Consumer Impatience

In recent years significant changes have been observed in household saving and consumption behavior in several transition countries including Hungary. In the second half of the 1990s the financial saving rate fell markedly and household borrowing surged. These developments are not unique to Hungary, they correspond to the experience of other emerging countries, and they can be attributed above all to financial liberalization and modernization and the improving permanent income prospects of households, with prospective EU accession playing an important role in the improving income perception. We believe that declining saving rates and increasing indebtedness in accession countries will be important issues in the following years, even after joining the EU – as the example of less developed EU members shows. The phenomena of declining saving rates and increasing indebtedness are, of course, not unique to EU accession countries, they were observed in other emerging countries, too – e.g. in Latin America -, but these developments have special aspects in Eastern and Central Europe. One special aspect is prospective EU accession, which is perceived to be close and certain enough to contribute to the rise in future income expectations. Another special aspect is the reaction of other sectors of the economy to deteriorating net household position. Emerging market experience shows that declining household savings were offset by increasing corporate savings in some countries and by a rise in public savings in others (often along with a temporary deterioration of the current account). As Eastern and Central European countries wish to join the EMU as soon as possible, they will do their best to meet the Maastricht criteria, which involves limits on the budget deficit and public debt. This implies an additional incentive for the public sector to be the one that does the major adjustment to the decline in household saving rates in most accession countries. In this regard, we think that our paper is not only relevant for Hungary, but it has implication for other Eastern and Central European countries as well. The paper is organized as follows: Chapter 1 summarizes recent research on Hungarian household savings based both on macro indicators and survey data, while Chapter 2 gives a brief description of the evolution of Hungarian aggregate indicators for financial wealth, assets and liabilities. Chapter 3 analyzes data obtained from a special survey conducted in September 2000. The survey questions were supplied by the authors and were constructed to gain insight into prevailing liquidity constraints, consumer impatience, households’ attitude towards indebtedness, and to separate „financially relevant” households, i.e. households with financial assets and/or liabilities, because these are the groups that are most relevant for economic policymakers. The paper also contains estimations of the propensity to borrow. Based on the survey questions, special indicators, such as income tension, consumer impatience are constructed and used – among others - as explanatory variables in the regressions. The standard framework for analysis of household saving and consumption behavior is the life-cycle hypothesis. We do not aim to give a review of the life-cycle theory here, see Deaton (1992) or Browning and Lusardi (1996) for excellent surveys. Most empirical tests of the life-cycle hypothesis examine excess sensitivity and the significance of precautionary savings. Our paper has different aims, but it still relates to the life-cycle theory in several respects when we discuss the reasons for saving, consumer impatience, and the propensity to borrow.

Latina Humor in the Works of Sandra Cisneros

Abstract: The paper discusses three works written by Sandra Cisneros, namely Woman Hollering Creek, The House on Mango Street and Caramelo, from the point of view of women’s humor. With the help of these works, it is argued that Cisneros uses Latina humor in order to highlight intersectional problems concerning her identity and to reveal important facts and features about/of Latino/a existence. The point is made that Cisneros uses comedy and humor to redeem the pain and suffering through laughter instead of utilizing the tragic mode of artistic expression, hence she is able to secure survival and solutions to problems instead of a tragic wallowing in negativity (which interpretive way could also have validity concerning the occurrences which are narrated).      Keywords: Latina humor, Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek, The House on Mango Street, Caramel

Plant genes as sources to improve pathogen resistance of cultivated plants

Diseases cause large problem in agriculture that the growers usually try to overcome by chemical control. Unfortunately, the amount of applied chemicals increases in every year all over the world. Since the chemicals have numerous negative side-effects, the alternative techniques are welcome in crop production. Plenty of studies demonstrated that resistance genes regulate plant defense response to pathogen attack and infection. Beside the induced expression of resistance genes the disease responsiveness may also depend on plant susceptibility genes, presence in host of which is required for success of invasion. Breeding plant varieties integrating resistance genes or inhibiting the function of susceptibility genes significantly increase the disease resistance. In this manner the amount of pesticides applied for pathogen control can be reduced and crop production may turn into a much more environmentally friendly process

"Értelem és érzelem" A lakossági ügyfelek gazdasági magatartása és a bankokkal kapcsolatos attitűdjei ("Sense and sensibility" Retail customer behaviours and attitudes towards banks)

A globális pénzügyi és világgazdasági válság sok szempontból újszerű versenyhelyzetet teremtett a lakossági banki piacon az ügyfelek megtartása és az új ügyfelek megszerzése terén. A gazdasági és társadalmi környezetben bekövetkezett változásokhoz való alkalmazkodás sikeressége érdekében fontos a banki ügyfelek gazdasági viselkedésmódjának alaposabb és mélyrehatóbb megértése. Tanulmányunkban bemutatjuk azokat a főbb, releváns pszichológiai, szociológiai és gazdasági tényezőket, amelyek az ügyfelek bankokkal kapcsolatos magatartását és attitűdjeit befolyásolják. A vonatkozó elméleteket és kutatásokat egy konceptuális keretben foglaljuk össze; ennek az alappilléreit a bizalom, a pénzzel kapcsolatos attitűdök és az emocionális komponensek alkotják. _______ The global fi nancial and economic crisis created new competition in the market for retail banking, and in the areas of existing customer retention and new customers’ acquisition. The corresponding economic and social change called for new adaptive strategies on behalf of banks to better understand the economic behaviour of their customers. This paper focuses on certain relevant psychological, sociological and economic factors that tend to characterize customer behaviours and attitudes towards banks. With particular emphasis on highlighting the potential implications of relevant theories for the purposes of banks, our conceptual model incorporates elements of trust, monetary attitudes and underlying emotional components

Corporate Income Tax Avoidance in the European Arena – Evidence and Remedies

According to the OECD, 4% to 10% of the global corporate income tax revenue, i.e. USD 100 to 240 billion annually, is lost due to corporate income tax avoidance (OECD, 2015). Although the existence of the issue is well-accepted by the tax policy makers of the developed world, it is extremely difficult to agree on an international tax policy standard which could reduce the vulnerability of the sovereign tax regimes. In this article, we summarize the historical background of corporate income tax avoidance, and provide evidence of its existence in the EU member states. In addition, we also examine a new international income tax model proposed by the European Commission and analyse the expected effects of the proposal onthe risk associated with tax avoidance in Europe

Ethical compass: The need for Corporate Digital Responsibility in the use of Artificial Intelligence in financial services

Service research and business ethics literature intersect concerning the question of artificial intelligence (AI) service robot accountability. In financial services, there is a broad spectrum of potential ethical issues, from data usage to customer vulnerabilities. This article scrutinizes the impact of morality and where accountability resides in the use of AI service robots in financial services. To address this challenge, we discuss the role of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) for firms and illustrate how to implement a conceptual framework on the ethical implications of AI service robot applications, drawing on normative ethical theory. The framework elaborates on how the locus of morality (from human to AI agency) and moral intensity combine within context-specific AI service robot applications, and how this might influence associated accountability. We provide examples of AI robots' use for different purposes, differentiating between four 'accountability clusters': (1) professional norms, (2) business responsibility, (3) inter-institutional normativity, and (4) supra-territorial regulations cluster. We also discuss the CDR implications in different clusters. Ethical implications of using AI service robots and associated accountability challenges are relevant for a network of actors-from customers and designers to firms and the government. Implementation of the framework incorporates a range of internal and external stake-holders that firms need to consider. We also provide a CDR roadmap to incorporate a time perspective and to inform implementation efforts

A sárospataki turizmusfejlesztés illeszkedése a 2021-27. évi térségfejlesztési programhoz

2021 májusában társadalmi vitára bocsátották a borvidék területfejlesztési koncepcióját és programját. Jelen tanulmány ezen dokumentumok turizmussal összefüggő megállapításai bemutatása mellett, a sárospataki közösségi turizmusfejlesztés szempontjából releváns vonatkozásokat, a formálódó fejlesztési lehetőségeket tekinti át. A 12 stratégiai prioritást és operatív intézkedést elemezve, szinte minden intézkedési cél és tartalma akár közvetetten, akár közvetlenül, de kapcsolódik a város turizmusa közösségi alapú fejlesztéséhez, de önállóan a 8. stratégiai és operatív prioritásként került intézkedések szintjén részletezésre. A 2021-27-es programozási időszakban megnyíló támogatási lehetőségek kiaknázása tovább erősítheti a város térségi szerepét mind a kultúra, mind a turizmus terén