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Article
Publication date: 16 December 2021

Yi Zhu and Mary Jiang Bresnahan

Group criticism plays an important role in intergroup relations and conflicts, but few studies have related group criticism to intercultural communication contexts. This study…

Abstract

Purpose

Group criticism plays an important role in intergroup relations and conflicts, but few studies have related group criticism to intercultural communication contexts. This study aims to explore two cultural groups’ (Chinese international students in the USA and American domestic students) collective face concern as a unique experience in intercultural communication and other psychological responses while encountering group criticism targeting their country image.

Design/methodology/approach

A laboratory experiment was conducted assessing Chinese international students (n = 115) and American domestic students’ (n = 100) responses to a research-confederate critic (whose group membership was manipulated) criticizing participants’ country image such as blaming China and the USA for air pollution or using drugs in the Olympics. analysis of covariance, correlational analysis and regression analysis were adopted to analyze the data.

Findings

Chinese international students reported higher collective face concerns and lower liking toward the critic compared with American students. When criticism specifically targeted participants’ country image, Chinese international students reported more discomfort feelings than American students; and while responding to the critic who identified as participants’ ingroup member, Chinese international students’ discomfort feelings were more susceptible to their collective face than American students in the same condition.

Originality/value

This study illustrates cultural differences in collective face concerns and psychological reactions in responding to criticism targeting a country image in intercultural communication contexts.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2020

Naeem Akhtar, Umar Iqbal Siddiqi, Wasim Ahmad, Muhammad Usman, Xianglan Chen and Tahir Islam

The present study unveils the service encounter barriers – interactional and instructional – faced by foreign consumers at food and beverage restaurants in China. It builds a…

Abstract

Purpose

The present study unveils the service encounter barriers – interactional and instructional – faced by foreign consumers at food and beverage restaurants in China. It builds a conceptual framework and examines (1) how service encounter barriers create situational abnormality, (2) how situational abnormality engenders foreign consumers' felt discomfort that influences their revisit intentions and (3) how expectations disconfirmation moderates situational abnormality.

Design/methodology/approach

Convenience sampling using the survey method was employed to collect data from 517 foreign consumers – who stay in Beijing (China) – at food and beverage restaurants. The study used IBM SPSS 25.0 and Amos Graphics 24.0 to analyze the data and interpret results.

Findings

Findings reveal that interactional and instructional barriers positively create situational abnormality, which ultimately leads to foreign consumers' felt discomfort and their negative revisit intentions. Expectations disconfirmation significantly aggravates situational abnormality as a moderator.

Research limitations/implications

This study investigates foreign consumers' behavior at food and beverage restaurants in China and cautions its generalizability. It suggests corroborating the foreign consumers' behavioral intentions in the context of other countries to generalize the findings and unleash other factors additive to comprehend their behavior in the wake of restaurant industry.

Originality/value

The extant literature has not examined the service encounter barriers faced by foreign consumers at food and beverage restaurants in China. The present study, responding to the previous calls, incorporated the service encounter barriers and their downstream effects on foreign consumers' behavioral responses. By doing so, it adds value to the domestic food and beverage restaurants and service firms in China, in particular, and paves the way to understand the interactional and instructional barriers in the global context, in general, by engaging the foreign consumers.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2018

Maryam Naebe, Bruce McGregor, Melanie Dowling and David Tester

The purpose of this paper is to identify the significant factors important for prickle discomfort properties of commercial wool knitwear and to analyse information on variability…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the significant factors important for prickle discomfort properties of commercial wool knitwear and to analyse information on variability of garments manufactured over two decades, a total of 177 purchased garments were tested.

Design/methodology/approach

The relationship between the attributes of the reversed engineered garments and garment comfort, as assessed by Wool ComfortMeter, was determined.

Findings

The results indicate that: mean fibre diameter had the most significant effect on prickle assessment; the coefficient of variation of fibre diameter interacted with fabric thickness in affecting prickle discomfort; and rib knit structures were pricklier than single jersey structures.

Originality/value

The results provide objective evidence that the consumer surveys reporting dissatisfaction with the prickle discomfort of wool are based on real consumer experiences of prickle discomfort and are not based on “prejudice” against wool garments.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2020

Naeem Akhtar, Umar Iqbal Siddiqi, Muhammad Nadeem Akhtar, Muhammad Usman and Wasim Ahmad

This study aims to offer a conceptual framework that elaborates on how tourists’ perception of contradictory features in reviews’ factuality and comprehension – within a single…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to offer a conceptual framework that elaborates on how tourists’ perception of contradictory features in reviews’ factuality and comprehension – within a single hotel review and across multiple hotel reviews – trigger attitude ambivalence and psychological discomfort, which determine their behaviors – choice deferral and hotel booking intentions. It also investigates the moderating role of anticipated conflicting reactions (ACRs) through contradictory features on consumers’ attitude ambivalence.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a Chinese setting, researchers collected data from 524 inbound tourists who were the consumers of hotels in Beijing. The study used IBM Amos 23.0 to test measurement and structural models for the proposed relationships. It also used PROCESS macro 3.4 for the moderation analysis.

Findings

The findings reveal a positive association between contradictory features in reviews and the resulting ambivalence that affects consumers’ discomfort and leads to the decision to defer the choice of hotel. Conversely, consumers’ discomfort has a positive impact on the hotel booking intentions. ACRs have positive moderating effects on the associations between contradictory features and consumers’ attitude ambivalence.

Originality/value

By investigating the contradictory features in hotel reviews, this study extends the body of research on dual information processing (i.e. the heuristic–systematic model) and the literature on service management, psychological behaviors, travel intermediaries and hotel firms. Future research directions are recommended for tourism and hospitality researchers.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2013

Praveen Aggarwal, Chang Soo Kim and Taihoon Cha

This study aims to examine cultural differences between Easterners and Westerners in processing preference‐inconsistent information. The focal question that the study addresses is…

1167

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine cultural differences between Easterners and Westerners in processing preference‐inconsistent information. The focal question that the study addresses is as follows: When faced with negative information about their preferred alternative, do Easterners and Westerners respond differently? If yes, how do these differences impact purchase intentions?

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 102 students from a major Korean university and 96 students from a major Canadian university participated in the study. The experiment involved reading fictitious but realistic product reviews about a new car model and responding to survey questions.

Findings

The authors find that, compared to Eastern consumers, Western consumers are affected differently by preference‐inconsistent information. They experience a greater level of cognitive discomfort, exhibit a stronger motivation to reduce that discomfort, and attempt to resolve the conflict between their original preference and inconsistent information. These factors lead to a significant reduction in their purchase intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The use of student subjects may limit the generalizability of the study's findings.

Practical implications

Marketers can benefit by knowing that negative information about a product (as, say, in an online review) does not have a uniform effect across cultures. Consumers in Eastern cultures are more capable of handling negative information without reversing their product preferences. Western consumers, on the other hand, will strive to resolve the conflict between their preference (positive affect) and the negative product review (negative affect) by either changing their preference or discounting the review. Mostly, the damaging effects of a negative review are likely to be greater in Western cultures.

Originality/value

This study is the first attempt at examining the effect of cultural differences on processing preference‐inconsistent information. As organizations become more global, understanding culture‐based differences in information processing can help marketers create a more nuanced marketing strategy.

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1995

Avinash M. Waikar and Martha E. Bradshaw

Discusses musculoskeletal stress as a result of sedentary work,which has been and still is a problem in workplaces. Simple, quickexercises may be a low‐cost solution to this…

2208

Abstract

Discusses musculoskeletal stress as a result of sedentary work, which has been and still is a problem in workplaces. Simple, quick exercises may be a low‐cost solution to this problem. Provides an account of an investigation, the aim of which was to determine employees′ preference about and the status of such exercise programmes in local businesses. A questionnaire was administered to 203 employees engaged in sedentary work in 21 south‐east Louisiana businesses. The results show that many office, managerial and technical employees suffer musculoskeletal discomfort and pain and that they are interested in relieving this discomfort by participating in an exercise programme. Very few of their companies, however, provide formal exercise programmes. Regarding establishing an exercise programme, respondents indicated preference for exercises targeted on specific parts of the body and do not desire to be prompted by computer software.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 16 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Julian Givi and Jeff Galak

The gift-giving literature has documented several cases in which givers and recipients do not see eye-to-eye in gift-giving decisions. To help integrate this considerable segment…

Abstract

Purpose

The gift-giving literature has documented several cases in which givers and recipients do not see eye-to-eye in gift-giving decisions. To help integrate this considerable segment of the gifting literature, this paper aims to develop a social norms-based framework for understanding and predicting giver-recipient asymmetries in gift selection.

Design/methodology/approach

Five experimental studies test the hypotheses. Participants in these studies evaluate gifts used in previous research, choose between gifts as either gift-givers or gift-recipients, and/or indicate their level of discomfort with choosing different kinds of gifts. The gifts vary in ways that allow the authors to test the social norms-based framework.

Findings

Gift-giving asymmetries tend to occur when one of the gifts under consideration is less descriptively, but not less injunctively, normative than the other. This theme holds for both asymmetries recorded in the gift-giving literature and novel ones. Indeed, the authors document new asymmetries in cases where the framework would expect asymmetries to occur and, providing critical support for the framework, the absence of asymmetries in cases where the framework would not expect asymmetries to emerge. Moreover, the authors explain these asymmetries, and lack thereof, using a mechanism that is novel to the literature on gift-giving mismatches: feelings of discomfort.

Research limitations/implications

This research has multiple theoretical implications for the literatures studying gift-giving and social norms. A limitation of this work is that it left some (secondary) predictions of its model untested. Future research could test some of these predictions.

Practical implications

Billions of dollars are spent on gifts each year, making gift-giving a research topic of great practical importance. In addition, the research offers suggestions to consumers giving gifts, consumers receiving gifts, as well as marketers.

Originality/value

The research is original in that it creates a novel framework that predicts both the presence and absence of gift-giving asymmetries, introduces a psychological mechanism to the literature on giver-recipient gift choice asymmetries, and unifies many of the mismatches previously documented in this literature.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 September 2014

Suniti Sharma and Althier Lazar

A major challenge in teacher education in the United States is how to address the academic and linguistic needs of the growing numbers of emergent bilingual students. A second…

Abstract

A major challenge in teacher education in the United States is how to address the academic and linguistic needs of the growing numbers of emergent bilingual students. A second challenge is how to prepare predominantly White monolingual preservice teachers with little exposure to speakers of languages other than English to educate culturally and linguistically diverse students. With these two challenges in mind, this study examines how a course on literacy, language, and culture grounded in pedagogies of discomfort shifts preservice teachers’ deficit orientations toward emergent bilingual students’ language and literacy resources. Using Ofelia García’s (2009) definition for emergent bilingualism, this mixed-method study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 with 73 preservice teacher participants enrolled at an urban mid-Atlantic university. Quantitative data consisted of pre and post surveys while qualitative data comprised written responses to open-ended statements, self-analyses, and participant interviews. Findings evidence preservice teachers’ endorsement of monolingualism before coursework; however, pedagogies of discomfort during coursework provoke critical reflection leading to significant shifts in preservice teachers’ dispositions toward teaching language diversity in the classroom with implications for teaching emergent bilingual students.

Details

Research on Preparing Preservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-265-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 September 2022

Şahnaz Ekşioğlu and Tülin Ural

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to test the effect of consumers’ readiness level to use new technology on their intention to use mobile payment applications based on…

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to test the effect of consumers’ readiness level to use new technology on their intention to use mobile payment applications based on the technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM). In detail, it examines how the dimensions of TR as ‘optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity’ affect consumers’ intention to utilise mobile payment applications. Moreover, the effect of the technology-accepting behaviour measured by two major factors as ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘perceived ease of use’ on the intention to use mobile payment applications is also examined.

Need for the study: The existence of a mobile system alone is not enough to attract consumers with no user experience to these applications. The user-centred attribute in the usage of these applications, which involves the influence of technology readiness (TR), has been largely ignored especially in developing countries. By focussing on this area, it is expected to fill the gap that has not been sufficiently handled in the developing country settings and, particularly in Turkey.

Methodology: The study population consists of the consumers who live in İstanbul who is aged 18 and over and use mobile payment technology at least once. After collecting data, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to validate the measurement model. Afterward, the structural model was tested by the Maximum Likelihood-MI estimation method, and the bootstrap samples were stated as 5,000.

Findings: When the results of the study are examined, it is seen that optimism has a significant influence on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use dimensions of the technology acceptance model, while innovativeness is significant only on the perceived ease of use. This study results also show that discomfort and insecurity don’t significantly influence the perception of usefulness and easy-to-use mobile payment applications as perceived by individuals. Perceived ease of use is to positively affect the perceived usefulness. Additionally, the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness are strong predictors of intention to use mobile payment applications.

Practical implications: Findings of this study demonstrate the validity of the technology readiness and acceptance model for explaining the intention of using mobile payment applications in Turkey. To improve consumers’ intent in the usage of m-payment apps, their level of technological readiness towards technology should be determined and the factors that affect the formation of insecurity and discomfort attitudes of individuals should be emphasised.

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Akinwale Okunola, Abiola Abosede Akanmu and Anthony Olukayode Yusuf

Low back disorders are more predominant among construction trade workers than their counterparts in other industry sectors. Floor layers are among the top artisans that are…

Abstract

Purpose

Low back disorders are more predominant among construction trade workers than their counterparts in other industry sectors. Floor layers are among the top artisans that are severely affected by low back disorders. Exoskeletons are increasingly being perceived as ergonomic solutions. This study aims to compare the efficacy of passive and active back-support exoskeletons by measuring range of motion, perceived discomfort, usability, perceived rate of exertion and cognitive load during a simulated flooring task experiment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study eight participants were engaged in a repetitive timber flooring task performed with passive and active back-support exoskeletons. Subjective and objective data were collected to assess the risks associated with using both exoskeletons. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Scheirer-Ray-Hare test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were adopted to compare the exoskeleton conditions.

Findings

The results show no significant differences in the range of motion (except for a lifting cycle), perceived level of discomfort and perceived level of exertion between the two exoskeletons. Significant difference in overall cognitive load was observed. The usability results show that the active back-support exoskeleton made task execution easier with less restriction on movement.

Research limitations/implications

The flooring task is simulated in a laboratory environment with only eight male participants.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the scarce body of knowledge on the usage comparison of passive and active exoskeletons for construction work.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 9000