MORAL ANTECEDENTS OF ATTITUDE FOR THE PURCHASE OF COUNTERFEIT LUXURY PRODUCTS: MEDIATING EFFECT OF PRICE SENSITIVITY

In the recent past demand for counterfeiting has enhanced worldwide and has become serious problem for business and trade of every country. Increasing demand of counterfeit products needs in-depth investigation for stoppage of this crime. The effects of counterfeit purchases are not restricted to branded products but, they also enhance consumer safety risk, reduction in revenues and damage to image of branded products. The aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of price sensitivity between moral influences and purchase intention of consumer for purchase of counterfeit luxury products. Population for this investigation comprised of non-deceptive purchasers of counterfeit products of district Dera Ismail Khan. For the said purpose one hundred questionnaires were circulated through simple random sampling and out of which 95 completed questionnaires were received and utilized for statistical analysis. The findings of the present study yielded mediation of price sensitivity between the relationship of moral influences and purchase intention. Key Words: Counterfeit Luxury Products, Purchase intention, Moral Influences &nbsp

Impact of Information Literacy Skills of Librarians on Research Productivity of Faculty Members of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

This study has investigated the impact of Information Literacy Skills of Librarians to enhance the research productivity of Faculty Members of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. The main goal of the study was to measure the levels of Information Literacy of faculty members and professional librarians of the university, to investigate the programs offered by library staff of the university, and to explore the role of Librarians’ Information Literacy skills for research productivity of faculty members in the university. To achieve the objectives of the study, the Sequential Explanatory design of Mix method approach was employed and questionnaire was distributed to every participant of the population of faculty members, and interviews were taken from the professional librarians by researchers to get an in-depth understanding related to the study. There are 07 major faculties in the university and 39 departments working under the umbrella of these 07 faculties and 579 teaching faculty members are working in these departments with various designations of Lecturers, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, and Professors in the university, and there are 05 professional LIS degree holders staff in the main library of the university working there. The required sample size was 231 and all questionnaires were received from the faculty members. The response rate is 100%. Data were analyzed through SPSS 20 version. Findings of the study revealed that LIS professionals and faculty members have moderate levels of Information Literacy skills and they can improve their competencies in Information Literacy by adopting some training courses and seminars. The library staff conducts orientation sessions at the start of every year and the library has sufficient resources for faculty members and library staff is cooperative with the faculty members but the library staff does not conduct any trainings and workshops to improve the IL skills of faculty members

Making Ideologies through Media Discourse: A Multimodal Critical Analysis of Comedy Talk Shows' Logos

The present study makes a multimodal discourse analysis of comedy talk shows' logos of Pakistani TV channels from the perspective of their ideology and meaning of image. To analyze multimodal discourses using social semiotics as a way gives a direction to analyze the multi-layered meaning in a discourse. For this purpose, 4 famous TV programmes' logos were selected. Faiclough' (1995) 3D model has been applied to make multimodal critical analysis of comedy talk shows' logosThe study highlights the ways through which ideologies and power relations are expressed. Results of the study indicate that these logos construct multimodal discourse through particular language and image, and ideally exercise their power and the mainstream ideology of TV channels in Pakistan.</p

Local combats global: simulação de personalidade de marca para marcas de té

Brand Personality is the simulacrum of human traits used to describe the personality of brands. In the arena of marketing, firms are struggling hard to impinge their brand image as a person in the minds of its customers. The idea behind is that when a customer perceives its favorite brand as a personality, it will develop certain associations and belongingness for that brand. Customers more affinity to personality of brand leads towards more loyalty and ultimately fruitful for the generic firm who introduced the brand and brand personality for its product. The study empirically assesses the impact of brand personality in the mind of customers for two famous tea brands of Pakistan. Both brands have nearly equal share in the market but one is local and other is global. The data was collected from the territory of Islamabad, Pakistan by taking the sample of 436 in total. By employing the area sampling, data was equally divided into two equal halves of 218 samples respectively. First half of the respondents were the user of local tea brand while the second half of the respondents were the user of global tea brand. Aaker scale of brand personality was employed to measure the personality of tea brands. An independent sample t test was utilized to check the customers differentiation. It was observed that customers perceived the both brands as more rugged and sincere. These characteristics are important and relevant for any tea brand to be successful in the&nbsp;market. That why, both brands are sharing almost equal share in the market. However, global tea brand is perceived more sophisticated, competent and with full of excitement as compared to local brand. At the moment, the disparity of these personality characteristics are not affecting the market share of local brand but it is urged that for long lasting and sustainability competition, the local brand should also focus on the dimensions of brand personality of sophistication, competence and excitement.La personalidad de la marca es el simulacro de los rasgos humanos utilizados para describir la personalidad de las marcas. En el ámbito del marketing, las empresas están luchando mucho para afectar su imagen de marca como persona en la mente de sus clientes. La idea detrás es que cuando un cliente perciba su marca favorita como una personalidad, desarrollará ciertas asociaciones y pertenencias para esa marca. La afinidad de los clientes con la personalidad de la marca conduce a una mayor lealtad y, en última instancia, fructífera para la empresa genérica que introdujo la marca y la personalidad de la marca para su producto. El estudio evalúa empíricamente el impacto de la personalidad de la marca en la mente de los clientes de dos famosas marcas de té de Pakistán. Ambas marcas tienen una participación casi igual en el mercado, pero una es local y la otra es global. Los datos se obtuvieron del territorio de Islamabad, Pakistán, tomando la muestra de 436 en total. Al emplear el muestreo de área, los datos se dividieron por igual en dos mitades iguales de 218 muestras respectivamente. La primera mitad de los encuestados eran usuarios de la marca local de té, mientras que la segunda mitad de los encuestados eran usuarios de la marca global de té. Se utilizó la escala Aaker de la personalidad de la marca para medir la personalidad de las marcas de té. Se utilizó una prueba t de muestra independiente para verificar la diferenciación de los clientes. Se&nbsp;observó que los clientes percibían las dos marcas como más resistentes y sinceras. Estas características son importantes y relevantes para que cualquier marca de té tenga éxito en el mercado. Por eso, ambas marcas comparten una participación casi igual en el mercado. Sin embargo, la marca global de té se percibe más sofisticada, competente y llena de emoción en comparación con la marca local. Por el momento, la disparidad de estas características de personalidad no está afectando la cuota de mercado de la marca local, pero se recomienda que para una competencia duradera y sostenible, la marca local también debe centrarse en las dimensiones de la personalidad de la marca de sofisticación, competencia y entusiasmo.Personalidade da marca é o simulacro das características humanas usadas para descrever a personalidade das marcas. Na arena do marketing, as empresas estão se esforçando bastante para impingir sua imagem de marca como uma pessoa nas mentes de seus clientes. A idéia por trás disso é que, quando um cliente percebe sua marca favorita como uma personalidade, ele desenvolve certas associações e pertencimento a essa marca. Os clientes, mais afinidade com a personalidade da marca, levam a mais lealdade e, finalmente, frutíferos para a empresa genérica que introduziu a marca e a personalidade da marca em seu produto. O estudo avalia empiricamente o impacto da personalidade da marca na mente dos clientes para duas famosas marcas de chá do Paquistão. Ambas as marcas têm participação quase igual no mercado, mas uma é local e a outra é global. Os dados foram coletados no território de Islamabad, Paquistão, levando a amostra de 436 no total. Empregando a amostragem de área, os dados foram igualmente divididos em duas metades iguais de 218 amostras, respectivamente. A primeira metade dos entrevistados era usuário da marca local de chá, enquanto a segunda metade dos respondentes era usuário da marca global de chá. Uma escala de personalidade da marca Aaker foi empregada para medir a personalidade das marcas de chá. Um teste t de amostra independente foi utilizado para verificar a diferenciação dos clientes. Observou-se que os clientes percebiam as duas marcas como mais robustas e sinceras. Essas características são importantes e relevantes para que qualquer marca de chá seja bem-sucedida no mercado. Por isso, ambas as marcas estão compartilhando uma participação quase igual no mercado. No entanto, a marca global de chá é percebida como mais sofisticada, competente e cheia de emoção em comparação com a marca local. No momento, a disparidade dessas características de personalidade não afeta a participação de mercado da marca local, mas é recomendável que, para uma competição duradoura e de sustentabilidade, a marca local também se concentre nas dimensões da personalidade da marca, como sofisticação, competência e entusiasmo

Inequality, Trade and Development: Evidence from Developing Countries

This study analyzes the impact of trade on cross-country inequality using a panel data set from 65 developing counties over a long period 1970-2008. This study differs from the existing literature on distributional impact of trade by explicitly noting the importance of development stage in shaping the link. The analysis shows that the effect of trade on inequality depends upon the level of development of a trade integrating economy. Economies that have a high level of economic development acquire a favorable effect of trade while underdeveloped economies suffer from international economic integration. In sum, trade accentuates not ameliorate inequality in countries with low level of economic development

Inequality, Financial Development and Government: Evidence from Low-Income Developing Countries

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of financial and economic development on cross-country income inequality using a panel data set from 50 low-income developing counties over a long period 1970-2008. The results show that financial development helps in reducing inequalities, however a non-monotonic relationship between financial development and inequality does not hold. The study finds a non-monotonic relationship between inequality and level of economic development, thus this study supports Kuznets inverted-U hypothesis. The government emerges as a major player in reducing income inequalities as its role is significant in all models. Policy makers should primarily focus on achieving the higher levels of economic development to reduce increasing inequalities. Since financial development, reduces inequalities irrespective of its level, policy makers need to focus more on improvements in financial reforms

Inequality, Trade and Development: Evidence from Developing Countries

This study analyzes the impact of trade on cross-country inequality using a panel data set from 65 developing counties over a long period 1970-2008. This study differs from the existing literature on distributional impact of trade by explicitly noting the importance of development stage in shaping the link. The analysis shows that the effect of trade on inequality depends upon the level of development of a trade integrating economy. Economies that have a high level of economic development acquire a favorable effect of trade while underdeveloped economies suffer from international economic integration. In sum, trade accentuates not ameliorate inequality in countries with low level of economic development

Inequality, Financial Development and Government: Evidence from Low-Income Developing Countries

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of financial and economic development on cross-country income inequality using a panel data set from 50 low-income developing counties over a long period 1970-2008. The results show that financial development helps in reducing inequalities, however a non-monotonic relationship between financial development and inequality does not hold. The study finds a non-monotonic relationship between inequality and level of economic development, thus this study supports Kuznets inverted-U hypothesis. The government emerges as a major player in reducing income inequalities as its role is significant in all models. Policy makers should primarily focus on achieving the higher levels of economic development to reduce increasing inequalities. Since financial development, reduces inequalities irrespective of its level, policy makers need to focus more on improvements in financial reforms

Human Resource Development (HRD) Concept from Narrow Organization (HRM) Based to Wide Socioeconomic Perspective

Human Resource Development (hereafter HRD) is an important topic of present time. Management professionals consider it, as the sub discipline of HRM and view it, in organizational context. So from HRM scholars’ viewpoint HRD in narrow concept consisting of activities of training, education and skill building, though all these terms themselves have broader meanings and deeper than their usual perceptions and in the broader concept besides these activities. HRM also comprises activities like empowerment, awareness raising, team building, community mobilization and development, organization development, entrepreneurship development, sensitization and conscientisation, human resources planning and policies. But many researchers have, broadened the scope and integrated the concept of HRD by looking it from socioeconomic angle and giving it another dimension such as physical, intellectual, psychological, social, political, moral and spiritual development. From Socioeconomic experts HRD has become multidimensional rather than being simply confined within the limits of training and development and this multidimensional HRD is integrated HRD. This study is dedicated to discover both aspects of HRD. Keywords: Human Resource Development, Training, Education, Skill, Empowerment, Team Building

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION OF SUPPORT STAFF IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

The purpose of current study was to investigate about the job performance and job satisfaction of support staff working in academic libraries of Lahore. Supporting staff is performing many imperative duties in academic libraries and their role in libraries is very important. The objective of current study was to investigate the job performance through job satisfaction, to test relationship between job performance and job satisfaction and to investigate the moderating effect of hurdles in work between job satisfaction and job performance. Quantitative approach was adopted and survey method was used to achieve the objective of the study. Questionnaire with Urdu translation was prepared to collect the data. Data was collected by visiting personally, through email and google form was also developed to collect the data. Higher Education Commission recognized academic universities of Lahore offering higher education programs was the population of current research. Participant of this study was supporting staff including “data entry operators, library assistants, library clerks, junior assistants, computer operators and shelvers etc.” those were performing their duties in government, semi-government and private sector universities main libraries of Lahore. Data was analyzed by using SPPS 22 version. The findings of this study revealed that supporting staff performing the duties in many major areas of library, like, Circulation, Technical, Cataloguing, Serial Management etc. The results showed positive impact of job satisfaction on job performance, but relationship between job satisfaction and performance found weak. The moderator like, low connectivity, down of computer, domestic issue, office environment effects the job performance of support staff