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As hybrid organizations become increasingly common, the authors observe that some hybrid forms are becoming institutionalized and legitimated. The authors explore the implications of the institutionalization of hybridity, addressing both the internal tensions that plague many hybrids and the external tensions stemming from evaluator assessments and stakeholder uncertainty. The authors propose that institutionalization can dampen internal tensions associated with hybridity and also facilitate legitimation and acceptance by external audiences. The authors present identity as a useful theoretical lens through which to examine these questions, as identities are born from, but also have the potential to modify, existing institutional arrangements. The authors present directions for future research at the juncture of identity, hybridity, and institutionalization, suggesting potential avenues of inquiry in this productive stream of research.

The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore is a success story today despite the fact that its prospects for survival were dim when it became independent in August 1965.

This paper describes the changes in Singapore’s policy context from 1959 to 2016, analyses the five factors responsible for its success and concludes with advice for policy makers interested in implementing Singapore-style reforms to solve similar problems in their countries.

Singapore’s success can be attributed to these five factors: the pragmatic leadership of the late Lee Kuan Yew and his successors; an effective public bureaucracy; effective control of corruption; reliance on the “best and brightest” citizens through investment in education and competitive compensation; and learning from other countries.

This paper will be useful to those scholars and policy makers interested in learning from Singapore’s success in solving its problems.

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a lovemark measure that can be used to identify how brands of wireless-enabled computing devices are classified based on customers’ respect and love toward them.

On evidence drawn from 1,016 consumers of wireless-enabled computing devices (e.g. netbooks and tablets) in Greece, partial least squares method is used to test the validity of the proposed hierarchical model.

Results show that a lovemark measure can be conceptualized as a third-order reflective construct having respect and love as its second-order dimensions. In turn, respect reflects on brand performance, trust and reputation, and love reflects on brand commitment, intimacy and passion. The proposed measure presents a very good external validity as it can explain big portions of variance in consumer responses including repurchase intentions, positive WOM and willingness to pay a price premium. Finally, the proposed measure is used to classify eight well-known devices as products, fads, brands and lovemarks and identify the love styles associated with brand relationships.

This paper provides empirical evidence for measuring and identifying lovemarks using a hierarchical model, which can be further used to develop a more effective strategy for managing the functional and emotional aspects of brands to strengthen consumer-brand relationships.

El objetivo de este estudio es el desarrollo metodológico y validación empírica de una escala para clasificar las marcas de productos tecnológicos en base a las dos dimensiones que caracterizan a las marcas Lovemark: el respecto y amor.

Con una base de datos recogidos de una muestra de 1.106 consumidores de productos tecnológicos (e.g., tablets y portátiles pequeños) en Grecia, se usa PLS para testar la validez del modelo jerárquico propuesto.

Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que el concepto Lovemark puede ser conceptualizado como un constructo reflectivo de tres dimensiones siendo el respeto y el amor hacia la marca las dimensiones de segundo orden. A su vez, el respeto hacia la marca refleja el desempeño, la confianza y reputación de la marca mientras que el amor queda reflejado en conceptos tales como el compromiso, la intimidad y la pasión. La medida propuesta presenta una aceptable validez externa pues es capaz de explicar mayor porcentaje de la varianza de las intenciones de compra, la comunicación boca-oreja positiva y la disposición a pagar un mayor precio por la marca. Finalmente, se demuestra la utilidad de la medida propuesta para clasificar ocho marcas conocidas según los niveles de amor y respeto que los consumidores manifiestan hacia las mismas así como identificar los estilos de amor asociados a la relación que los consumidores mantienen con estas marcas.

Este trabajo ofrece evidencias empíricas para medir e identificar las Lovemark usando un modelo jeráquico que puede ser utilizado posteriormente para desarrollar una estrategia más efectiva en la gestión de los aspectos funcionales y emocionales de las marcas como medio para fortalecer las relaciones marca-consumidor.

This research aims to address ethnocentric consumers’ willingness to boycott dual origin brands, in the particular case of national brands linked to a very specific regional origin, through analysing the paradox of (unfavourable) regional ethnocentrism versus (favourable) consumer–brand relationship (i.e. brand identification, trust and love) on consumers’ decision to buy or boycott those brands in that circumstances. Building on social identity and cognitive dissonance theories, this study aims to examine the Spanish consumer relationship with national brands originated in Catalonia considering the current conflicting circumstances in the region.

The authors collected data by means of personal questionnaires, distributed among 277 Spanish consumers of Catalan brands of Cava. The data is analysed by using structural equation modelling and linear structural relations.

After controlling for brand familiarity, the results of this study reveal that ethnocentrism negatively distorts consumers’ confidence in dual origin brands and highlight the role of identification and trust as brand love antecedents. It also reveals that ethnocentrism has a more profound impact on boycotting decision than brand love.

This study is one of the few to capture the puzzlement created by the paradoxical nature of the brand’s duality of origin. Furthermore, it contributes to the marketing literature by examining the impact of ethnocentrism on two relationship variables (i.e. identification and trust) and exploring their joint impact on consumers’ decision to buy or boycott. The findings of this study can be helpful for companies facing boycotting behaviour triggered by ethnocentric consumer reaction towards dual origin brands.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo abordar la disponibilidad de los consumidores etnocéntricos para boicotear las marcas de origen dual -en el caso particular de marcas nacionales vinculadas a un origen regional muy específico-, mediante el análisis de la paradoja del (desfavorable) etnocentrismo regional versus la relación (favorable) entre el consumidor y la marca (es decir, la identificación, la confianza y el amor a la marca) en la decisión de los consumidores de comprar o boicotear dichas marcas en esas circunstancias. Partiendo de las teorías de la identidad social y la disonancia cognitiva, este estudio examina la relación del consumidor español con las marcas nacionales originales de Cataluña, considerando las circunstancias conflictivas actuales en la región.

Los datos se recogieron mediante cuestionarios personales, distribuidos entre 277 consumidores españoles de marcas catalanas de Cava. Los datos se analizaron utilizando modelación de ecuaciones estructurales y relaciones estructurales lineales.

Después de controlar la familiaridad con la marca, nuestros resultados revelan que el etnocentrismo distorsiona negativamente la confianza de los consumidores en las marcas de origen dual y destaca el papel de la identificación y la confianza como antecedentes del amor por la marca. También revela que el etnocentrismo tiene un impacto más profundo en la decisión de boicotear que el amor por la marca.

Este estudio es uno de los pocos que captura la confusión creada por la naturaleza paradójica de la dualidad del origen de la marca. Además, contribuye a la literatura de marketing al examinar el impacto del etnocentrismo en dos variables relacionales (la identificación y la confianza) y explorar su impacto conjunto en la decisión de los consumidores de comprar o boicotear. Nuestros hallazgos pueden ser útiles para las empresas que se enfrentan al comportamiento de boicot provocado por la reacción etnocéntrica de los consumidores hacia las marcas de origen dual.

This study aims to evaluate the network robustness of major Asian airlines and to explore which airport types have the greatest impact on robustness. We also analyze airports’ specific brokerage roles and their impacts on the robustness of the entire air route network. We select 10 major Asian full-service airlines that operate the main passenger terminals at the top-ranked hub airports in Asia. Data is collected from the Official Airline Guide passenger route dataset for 2017. The results of the network robustness analysis show that Air China and China Eastern Airlines have relatively high network robustness. In contrast, airlines with broader international coverage, such as Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines have higher network vulnerability. The measure of betweenness centrality has a greater impact on the robustness of air route networks than other centrality measures have. Furthermore, the brokerage role analysis shows that Chinese airports are more influential within China and Asia but are less influential globally when compared to other major hub airports in Asia. Incheon International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and Narita International Airport play strong “liaison” roles. Among the brokerage roles, the liaison role has a greater impact on the robustness of air route networks.

This study aims to evaluate the network robustness of major Asian airlines and to explore which airport types have the greatest impact on robustness. We also analyze airports’ specific brokerage roles and their impacts on the robustness of the entire air route network. We select 10 major Asian full-service airlines that operate the main passenger terminals at the top-ranked hub airports in Asia. Data is collected from the Official Airline Guide passenger route dataset for 2017. The results of the network robustness analysis show that Air China and China Eastern Airlines have relatively high network robustness. In contrast, airlines with broader international coverage, such as Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines have higher network vulnerability. The measure of betweenness centrality has a greater impact on the robustness of air route networks than other centrality measures have. Furthermore, the brokerage role analysis shows that Chinese airports are more influential within China and Asia but are less influential globally when compared to other major hub airports in Asia. Incheon International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and Narita International Airport play strong “liaison” roles. Among the brokerage roles, the liaison role has a greater impact on the robustness of air route networks.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how much visual attention is given to banner ads embedded in Web page content dependent on whether the user’s task is goal- or not goal-oriented, as well as the interplay between attention, banner location, banner click and banner recognition.

The authors used a within-subjects design where 100 participants performed two tasks – reading a news and finding where to click next – on a Web page containing three banner ads embedded into the website content. The authors gathered behavioral and eye-tracking data.

Consumers disregard banner ads when they are performing a focused task (reading news). Visual attention paid to the banners while reading – but not while free browsing – and banner location do not impact ad clicking. In addition, it is not necessary to pay full attention to a banner ad to be able to recognize it afterward.

The strategy of embedding banners in the main content of a Web page leads to higher visual attention when consumers are browsing a Web page compared to a focused task (e.g. reading). It also increases ad recognition over time compared to benchmark levels for ads placed in traditional positions.

Previous studies mainly assessed effectiveness of banners located at the top or lateral of a Web page. The authors used eye tracking as an objective measure of visual attention to banner ads embedded in Web page content and behavioral metrics to assess ad interest and measured ad recognition over time.

Investigar cuánta atención visual se presta a los banners publicitarios incrustados en el contenido de una página Web en función de si la tarea del usuario está orientada a un objetivo o no, así como la interacción entre la atención, la ubicación del banner, el clic en el banner y el reconocimiento del banner.

Se utilizó un diseño entre sujetos en el que 100 participantes realizaban dos tareas – leer una noticia y encontrar dónde hacer clic a continuación – en una página Web que contenía tres banners publicitarios incrustados en el contenido del sitio Web. Se recogieron datos conductuales y de seguimiento ocular.

Los consumidores no prestan atención a los banners publicitarios cuando están realizando una tarea concentrada (leer noticias). La atención visual prestada a los banners durante la lectura – pero no durante la navegación libre – y la ubicación de los banners no influyen en el hecho de hacer clic en los anuncios. Además, no es necesario prestar toda la atención a un banner publicitario para poder reconocerlo después.

Los estudios anteriores evaluaban principalmente la eficacia de los banners situados en la parte superior o lateral de una página Web. Nosotros utilizamos el seguimiento ocular como medida objetiva de la atención visual a los banners incrustados en el contenido de la página Web y métricas de comportamiento para evaluar el interés por el anuncio, y medimos el reconocimiento del anuncio a lo largo del tiempo.

La estrategia de incrustar banners en el contenido principal de una página Web aumenta la atención visual de los consumidores cuando navegan por una página Web en comparación con una tarea específica (por ejemplo, leer). También aumenta el reconocimiento del anuncio a lo largo del tiempo en comparación con los niveles de referencia de los anuncios colocados en posiciones tradicionales.

研究用户对嵌入在网页内容中的横幅广告的视觉注意程度, 取决于用户的任务是否以目标为导向, 以及注意、横幅位置、横幅点击和横幅识别之间的相互作用。

我们采用了主体内设计, 100名参与者在一个含有三个嵌入网站内容的横幅广告的网页上执行两项任务–阅读新闻和寻找下一步的点击位置。我们收集了行为和眼球追踪数据。

消费者在执行重点任务（阅读新闻）时忽略了横幅广告。阅读时对横幅广告的视觉关注–而不是自由浏览时–以及横幅广告的位置并不影响广告点击。此外, 不一定要完全注意横幅广告才能在事后认出它。

以前的研究主要评估位于网页顶部或侧面的横幅广告的效果。我们用眼动仪作为对嵌入网页内容的横幅广告的视觉注意力的客观测量, 用行为指标来评估广告的兴趣, 并测量了广告在一段时间内的识别度。

在网页的主要内容中嵌入横幅广告的策略导致消费者在浏览网页时, 与重点任务（如阅读）相比, 视觉注意力更高。与放置在传统位置的广告的基准水平相比, 它也会随着时间的推移增加广告识别度。

Satisfaction and loyalty as vital and strategic concepts in the marketing literature are highly important to companies and marketers. The review of the existing literature reveals a gap of the role of emotional constructs that can begin in a regular and rational sequence of satisfaction and ultimately lead to the formation of consumer loyalty. Hence, this study aims to answer the question of whether emotional constructs such as emotional attachment and love play a mediating role in the process of transitioning from satisfaction to loyalty in the correct sequence.

A total of 300 valid questionnaires on smartphone and apparel brands were collected from respondents and analyzed using the partial least squares method.

The results showed that brand love is the strongest antecedent of brand loyalty and is the only variable that directly influences brand loyalty in comparison to satisfaction and emotional brand attachment. Moreover, the examination of indirect effects revealed that our assumption based on that the emotional structures such as emotional attachment and brand love play a mediating role in the process of transitioning from satisfaction to loyalty in a correct sequence is supported.

Generalizability needs to be established with a wider range of consumer groups. The survey was conducted in Iran, and future research should assess the same product categories in other cultural settings as well as consider other product categories to assess the external validity of these results. The insights on consumers’ brand relationships help brand managers devise effective brand management strategies.

The managerial implications can guide managers toward enhancing the consumers’ loyalty to the brand through a better understanding of the consumer loyalty process to a brand as well as better relational marketing practices.

The study validates the mediating role of emotional brand attachment and brand love in the relationship between brand satisfaction and brand loyalty, is one of the first to develop a conceptual model that examines the role of emotional structures in the process of transition from satisfaction to loyalty, is one of few studies to develop the role of emotional structures in the form of a relational chain of brands in the process of transition from satisfaction to loyalty.

This study aims to investigate, for the first time in the literature, the stochastic properties of the US aggregate health-care price inflation rate series, using the data on health-care inflation rates for a panel of 17 major US urban areas for the period 1966-2006.

This goal is undertaken by applying the first- and second-generation panel unit root tests and the panel stationary test developed recently by Carrion-i-Silvestre et al. (2005) that allows for endogenously determined multiple structural breaks and is flexible enough to control for the presence of cross-sectional dependence.

The empirical findings indicate that after controlling for the presence of cross-sectional dependence, finite sample bias, and asymptotic normality, the US aggregate health-care price inflation rate series can be characterized as a non-stationary process and not as a regime-wise stationary innovation process.

The research findings apply to understanding of health-care sector price escalation in US urban areas. These findings have timely implications for the understanding of the data structure and, therefore, constructs of economic models of urban health-care price inflation rates. The results confirming the presence of a unit root indicating a high degree of inflationary persistence in the health sector suggests need for further studies on health-care inflation rate persistence using the alternative measures of persistence. This study’s conclusions do not apply to non-urban areas.

The mean and variance of US urban health-care inflation rate are not constant. Therefore, insurers and policy rate setters need good understanding of the interplay of the various factors driving the explosive health-care insurance rates over the large US metropolitan landscape. The study findings have implications for health-care insurance premium rate setting, health-care inflation econometric modeling and forecasting.

Payers (private and public employers) of health-care insurance rates in US urban areas should evaluate the value of benefits received in relation to the skyrocketing rise of health-care insurance premiums.

This is the first empirical research focusing on the shape of urban health-care inflation rates in the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to postulate that the technique of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is currently underutilised in visitor management studies reported in the peer-reviewed marine wildlife tourism (MWT) research literature. Further, this paper provides insight into how IPA could inform future research and management of tourism experiences at marine wildlife destinations.

This paper synthesises learning gained from the natural area tourism and recreation literature that report the application of IPA in MWT and insights from a recent study at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, Western Australia.

Although currently underutilized in MWT research, IPA is a relatively straightforward, easy to interpret, and, if correctly applied, a powerful tool that managers and researchers can employ to investigate and enhance visitor satisfaction in the short-term and for longer-term sustainability of the industry through visitor-informed tourism management.

Having identified the opportunity to enhance visitor experiences, site management and target species welfare through increased IPA research, this review provides a plain language introduction to the application of IPA and direct access to comprehensible academic discourses and exemplars for the technique. Moreover, in light of increasing tourism demand, IPA can assist in determining management options for the future.