National Brands or Private Brands? A Regulatory Focus Perspective

Drawing on existing literature, the current research is to investigate how regulatory focus moderates the influence of two aspects of message framing, i.e., attribute framing and risky choice framing, and their interactions on customer perception measured by four components: brand attitude, attitude toward the ad, purchase intention, and willingness to pay. A conceptual model was drawn to capture four hypothetical relationships: regulatory focus and attribute framing (H1), regulatory focus and brand type (H2), brand type and attribute framing (H3), and regulatory focus, brand type and attribute framing (H4). An experiment was conducted using 430 participants and a 2 (regulatory focus: promotion versus prevention) x 2 (brand types: national versus private) x 2 (attribute framing: hedonic versus utilitarian) between-subjects factorial design was used. Two focal products were employed were shampoo and shoes. Two brands were used for shampoo: Head & Shoulders (national) and CVS (private), and two brands for shoes: Nike (national) and Starter (private). The results showed that out of 4 hypotheses, only H2 was supported for shoes and the remaining hypotheses were not supported. However, follow up contrasts for this supported hypothesis indicated that national brands are more persuasive than private brands no matter whether customers are promotion or prevention oriented, or H2a was supported, but H2b was not. The current study attempted to address an increasing heated topic “How to create a positive attitude toward private brands?” which has been discussed in brand management literature. It answered this question by proposing a conceptual model reflecting the persuasion mechanism in which customer perception is moderated by regulatory focus and testing hypothesese using 430 participants. Although many of the results of the study were consistent with those of previous studies, the current research provided critical points that were not found in the previous literature, for instance, promotion oriented customers did not have higher level of persuasion while being exposed to hedonic attributes than to utilitarian attributes. Additionally, the study provides better insights into how regulatory focus moderates the effects of attribute framing on customer perception. It also has implications for both academicians and practitioner

Market Orientation: Do Schools Care?

The primary objective of the paper is to validate the concept of market orientation adapted from related literature and apply it into the academic institution. It also examines the effects of market orientation as a 2nd order factor on student satisfaction in an academic setting. The revised scale validated through both EFA and CFA has a good fit. And the empirical results show that the degree to which students are satisfied with their choice of the school depends significantly on how market oriented the school is. Through a structured process of scale refinement and validation, the revised MO model improves substantially as opposed to the full model adapted from Matsuko et al. (2000). It produces better fit and the difference of chi square values between two models is statistically significant (Δχ2 (74) = 262.091), proving the revised scale is superior to the original one, therefore better representing MO construct in the universities. This study succeeds in applying market orientation construct in a special service domain where all intelligence related activities are incorporated to address different aspects of market orientation in the academic environment. Content validity has a better representation of the meaning of items specifically designed to accommodate the nature of the relationship between students and the school. This proposed scale consists of three distinct 1st order subscales as components of the broad 2nd order market orientation construct. Empirical results indicate three 1st order subscales covary with the 2nd order factor and the covariance is represented by statistically significant path coefficients. This higher order model produces acceptable fit indices. With regard to the structural model, the new scale is statistically and positively related with student satisfaction measure, indicating the fact that market orientation is an important factor that substantially leads to higher student satisfaction. In other words, if schools know how to apply market orientation strategy effectively, students become more satisfied with the decision they make when selecting a school for their higher education. Through the findings in measurement approach and structural approach, it is suggested that the revised scale can be used appropriately in the academic environment as an antecedent of student satisfaction

Effects of Market Orientation on University Brand Equity

Given the propensity of brand equity to act as a good information resource and performance evaluation system for market-oriented universities, the current study proposes that market orientation is positively correlated with brand equity in an academic institution where brand equity is operationalized by four dimensions: perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty. This study used open ended interviews to investigate brand equity concept in an educational environment. This method was designed to get individual observations of brand equity from the leaders of colleges and schools. Three Deans and Associate Deans were invited to participate in face-to-face open-ended discussions . Since it was the open-ended interview, the interviewees had opportunities to express their ideas about university brand equity and specific features that make brand equity in an academic setting different from that in a corporate setting. Based on extensive experiences in management, ideas of the university leaders set a solid foundation for establishing the right brand equity concept used in an academic setting. The findings of the study showed that there was a strong connection between market orientation and university brand equity. It seems reasonable to assume that these relationships should be positive because, like a business, universities attempt to implement marketing strategies in order to build a strong brand name in the marketplace, differentiating themselves from the others in a competitive environment, and attracting more students

College Students\u27 Choice Criteria of Retail Banks

The purpose of this research is to develop a scale identifying American college students’ choice criteria of retail banks. It is an exploratory study that complements extant studies on retail bank selection. The reliability of the scale was assessed using exploratory factor analysis and serves as a prelude to further empirical validation analysis. The results present four distinct factors important in the selection of retail banks, namely, convenience , competence”, “recommendation by parents and free banking - no bank charges . It concludes by discussing managerial contributions, limitations and future research directions

Regulatory Orientation, Message Framing and Influences of Fit on Customer Behaviors

Existing literature on consumer behavior has argued that an individual’s regulatory orientation interacts with message framing. If there is a match between regulatory orientation (promotion versus prevention) and message framing, this results in positive attitudes toward a given advertisement. Conversely, if there is a mismatch, the effect is opposite, i.e., attitudes toward that advertisement are less positive and less favorable. This research extends the term of compatibility by examining how regulatory focus moderates the impact of two aspects of message framing (attribute framing and risky choice framing) on customer perceptions. It also examines whether regulatory fit is created when there are interactions between individuals’ regulatory orientation and message framing and how the fit changes customer perceptions about a message. Specifically, this dissertation provides answers to the following questions: (1) does regulatory fit take place when regulatory focus is compatible with two aspects of message framing (attribute and risky choice)?; (2) does regulatory fit take place when one aspect of message framing (attribute) is compatible with the other (risky choice)?; and (3) how do customer perceptions change if customers experience regulatory fit? The results show that the effects of utilitarian attributes and national brands are dominating and that both promotion- and prevention-oriented customers have higher perceptions of these attributes and brands. The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, this study should enhance our understanding of regulatory focus theory. Practically, the results should provide marketers with more insights into the correlation between message framing and regulatory orientation and the effect of fit on message persuasion, enabling them to develop more effective marketing strategies

STEM education and outcomes in Vietnam: Views from the social gap and gender issues

United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 4 Quality Education has highlighted major challenges for all nations to ensure inclusive and equitable quality access to education, facilities for children, and young adults. The SDG4 is even more important for developing nations as receiving proper education or vocational training, especially in science and technology, means a foundational step in improving other aspects of their citizens’ lives. However, the extant scientific literature about STEM education still lacks focus on developing countries, even more so in the rural area. Using a dataset of 4967 observations of junior high school students from a rural area in a transition economy, the article employs the Bayesian approach to identify the interaction between gender, socioeconomic status, and students’ STEM academic achievements. The results report gender has little association with STEM academic achievements; however, female students (αa_Sex[2] = 2.83) appear to have achieved better results than their male counterparts (αa_Sex[1] = 2.68). Families with better economic status, parents with a high level of education (βb(EduMot) = 0.07), or non-manual jobs (αa_SexPJ[4] = 3.25) are found to be correlated with better study results. On the contrary, students with zero (βb(OnlyChi) = -0.14) or more than two siblings (βb(NumberofChi) = -0.01) are correlated with lower study results compared to those with only one sibling. These results imply the importance of providing women with opportunities for better education. Policymakers should also consider maintaining family size so the parents can provide their resources to each child equally

The Effect of Awareness on the Behavior of Advertisement on Social Network Basis for Cosmetic Products Line

The study examines the factors affecting the perception and interaction behavior with advertising cosmetic products. The authors used SPSS and Smart PLS software to conduct statistics and analyze survey results. The results of data analysis show that there are 5 factors that directly affect the perception of avoidance: Health concerns; Doubts about advertising intermediaries; Privacy concerns; Information value; Obstructing cognitive goals. The factor that directly affects Avoidant Behavior is Perception of avoidance, there are 5 factors that indirectly affect Avoidant Behavior: Health concerns; Doubts about advertising intermediaries; Privacy concerns; Information value; Obstructing cognitive goals. At the same time, the research also shows that negative experiences do not affect the impact process from Avoidant Perception to Avoidant Behavior. This study has important practical elements for businesses, managers and even social network users in reducing users' awareness and avoidance of advertising

Policy Response, Social Media and Science Journalism for the Sustainability of the Public Health System Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Vietnam Lessons

Vietnam, with a geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, was the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. While the country was expected to have a high risk of transmission, as of April 4, 2020—in comparison to attempts to contain the disease around the world—responses from Vietnam are being seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis

Comparison of the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli of silver nanoparticle produced by chemical synthesis with biosynthesis

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has been carried out using different methods, mainly by biological and chemical methods; however, comparing antibacterial activity of Ag NPs synthesized by these methods has not been conducted before. In this study, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized by methods using reducing agent NaBH4/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and fungal strain Trichoderma asperellum (T.asperellum). The formation of silver nanoparticles was observed visually by color change and identified by Ultraviolet-visible (UV – vis) spectroscopy. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image illustrated almost nanoparticles with spherical shape and average diameter of 4.1 ± 0.2 nm and 2.1 ± 0.2 nm of samples produced from chemical reduction and biosynthesis respectively. Both samples after 180 days storing have been separated lightly, but the agglomeration and absorbance peak shifting were not observed which proved the high stability of synthesized Ag NPs. Antimicrobial activity against human bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli) showed that the inhibition zone produced by “biosynthesis” and “chemical reduction” Ag NPs were 3.17 cm and 2.42 cm respectively. With nanoparticles size smaller than 2 mm, antibacterial activity of “biosynthesis” Ag NPs against E. coli was 31 % higher than “chemical reduction” Ag NPs, although the concentration of Ag NPs produced by biosynthesis was about 10-fold less

When Intervention Becomes Imperative: A Case Report of Spontaneous Vulvar Edema During Pregnancy

Spontaneous idiopathic vulvar edema during the second trimester is a rare condition. The approach to managing this condition involves relieving symptoms, identifying underlying causes, and implementing appropriate treatment. Managing such cases during pregnancy is challenging because of concerns for potential adverse fetal outcomes. Conservative management expects the condition to be relieved spontaneously postpartum, whereas invasive treatment offers a more rapid resolution. Treatment choices are controversial because each method has its pros and cons and influences the delivery process to a certain extent. Surgical drainage becomes a viable option when patients are not responsive to medications. We report a case of spontaneous massive vulvar edema in a 22-year-old primigravida in her 23rd week of pregnancy. After ruling out other notable causes of vulvar edema, we decided to intervene using an invasive procedure because she complained of progressive symptoms and discomfort. Subsequently, the edema subsided postprocedure, and the patient experienced successful labor with no complications. This report aims to alert clinicians that drainage attempts should be considered in pregnant patients with worsening symptoms