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21 – 30 of 58Gongxing Guo, Hongwei Tu and Bao Cheng
This study aims to clarify the relationship between two plausible conflicting attitudes in cross-cultural context-consumer affinity and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to clarify the relationship between two plausible conflicting attitudes in cross-cultural context-consumer affinity and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and to explore their interactive effect on product trust and willingness-to-buy.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 392 usable responses were obtained. Previously validated scales of consumer affinity, CET, product trust and willingness-to-buy were used and showed good reliability. Hierarchical multiple regression and the bootstrapping method were conducted to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study revealed that consumer affinity is positively associated with product trust, which in turn promotes consumers’ intention to buy products from the affinity country; CET moderates the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust; and CET also moderates the mediating effect of product trust on the relationship between consumer affinity and willingness-to-buy.
Research limitations/implications
First, this study helps to explain how consumer affinity boosts willingness-to-buy, and it reveals the type of consumers whose product trust is most notably influenced by their level of ethnocentrism. Second, this study examines the moderating effects of CET on the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust, which can help to identify the situations in which consumer affinity influences product trust most strongly. Third, this study examined the interactive effect of consumer affinity and CET on product trust and its subsequent effect on willingness-to-buy. The findings help to explain the CET’s critical role in the effect of consumer affinity by relating it to the literature of product trust and willingness-to-buy.
Practical implications
Given the crucial role that consumer affinity plays in improving consumers’ trust in and buying intention for a country’s products, governments, multinational enterprises and international marketers should strategically construct, maintain and magnify a positive national image to the world. This study’s results also clarify that consumer affinity does not conflict with CET; not only can they coexist but also they are positively related. The crucial implication is that CET is not always a barrier to purchasing foreign products.
Originality/value
Although research interest in consumer attitudinal conflict issues is increasing, the real relationship and interactive effects of plausible conflicting attitudes between consumer affinity and CET remain to be understood. This study bridges a gap between CET and willingness-to-buy by considering the boundary conditions of consumer attitudes toward a specific country (inherent in consumer affinity). Furthermore, this study is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first to link consumer affinity with willingness-to-buy through the mediating effect of product trust. These findings are helpful for understanding how consumer affinity positively effects willingness-to-buy.
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Bao Dai, Ahsan Ali and Hongwei Wang
Grounded on the cognition–affect–conation (C–A–C) framework, this study aims to explore how perceived information overload affects the information avoidance intention of social…
Abstract
Purpose
Grounded on the cognition–affect–conation (C–A–C) framework, this study aims to explore how perceived information overload affects the information avoidance intention of social media users through fatigue, frustration and dissatisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach/methodology/approach
A quantitative research design is adopted. The data collected from 254 respondents in China are analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
Perceived information overload directly affects fatigue, frustration and dissatisfaction among social media users, thereby affecting their information avoidance intention. In addition, frustration significantly affects social media fatigue and dissatisfaction. Consequently, social media fatigue influences dissatisfaction among users.
Originality/value
The literature review indicates that social media overload and fatigue yield negative behavioral outcomes, including discontinuance. However, rather than completely abstaining or escaping, social media users adopt moderate strategies, including information avoidance, to cope with overload and fatigue owing to their high dependence on social media. Unfortunately, merely few studies are available on the information avoidance behavior of social media users. Focusing on this line of research, the current study develops a model to investigate the antecedents of information avoidance in social media.
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Shenja van der Graaf, Le Anh Nguyen Long and Carina Veeckman
XueHua Zhang, Hongwei Zhang, Baoan Zhang and Hongbo Liu
The purpose of this paper is to present a new plan approach for optimal allocation water resources in social‐economic‐environmental complex system in order to achieve human and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a new plan approach for optimal allocation water resources in social‐economic‐environmental complex system in order to achieve human and nature coordinated development.
Design/methodology/approach
By integrating the system dynamics (SD) and multi‐objective programming (MOP), the new approach which is termed SD‐MOP model is proposed. The model is characterized by fully reflecting the initial trends of the system development, accurately explaining both of the structure and function of the system, objectively finding the sensible points of the system, and achieving the optimum solutions of the model, the according the solutions the optimal plan can be designed according practical situation.
Findings
By applying SD‐MOP integrated model, the designed planning proposal can be guaranteed operable, available, and optimal level.
Practical implications
SD‐MOP integrated model is a very useful support tool in optimal decision making.
Originality/value
The new planning approach of SD‐MOP integrated model can be used in regional resources planning, especially in formulating sustainable development strategies. In addition, the model can be used to estimate the trends of the system development when the planning program has been implemented.
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T.C. Wong, Mohamed Yacine Haddoud, Y.K. Kwok and Hongwei He
The purpose of this paper is to propose a research model to identify the key determinants and examine their impact towards online pro-brand and anti-brand community citizenship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a research model to identify the key determinants and examine their impact towards online pro-brand and anti-brand community citizenship behaviours (CCBs).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey based on the research model is used to collect empirical data from 260 and 200 members of online pro-brand communities (OBCs) and online anti-brand communities (OABCs), respectively. A two-stage approach employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and artificial neural network (ANN) is first applied to uncover new observations.
Findings
Moral identity and positive brand emotion (BE) are the two most influential factors driving both online pro-brand and anti-brand CCBs. A higher level of internalisation might be required to exhibit online anti-brand CCB as opposed to online pro-brand CCB. This contradicts the current understanding that anti-brand behaviours are less morally restricted given the virtuality and anonymity of online communities. OABC members may need to better justify themselves internally to overcome positive BE when exercising anti-brand action. Also, brand identification, brand dis-identification and BE would be used to identify two types of OABC members.
Research limitations/implications
The effect of motives other than pro-social remains unclear on online pro-brand and anti-brand CCBs.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to develop two new dimensions which provide a more complete definition of CCB. Also, some new observations are uncovered by comparing the effect of different key determinants on online pro-brand CCB against that of online anti-brand CCB. The research model can be used to define and improve member (or brand) engagement which would enhance the management of OBCs and OABCs.
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Jue Li, Minghui Yu and Hongwei Wang
On shield tunnel construction (STC) site, human error is widely recognized as essential to accident. It is necessary to explain which factors lead to human error and how these…
Abstract
Purpose
On shield tunnel construction (STC) site, human error is widely recognized as essential to accident. It is necessary to explain which factors lead to human error and how these factors can influence human performance. Human reliability analysis supports such necessity through modeling the performance shaping factors (PSFs). The purpose of this paper is to establish and validate a PSF taxonomy for the STC context.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken in this study mainly consists of three steps. First, a description of the STC context is proposed through the analysis of the STC context. Second, the literature which stretch across the PSF methodologies, cognitive psychology and human factors of STC and other construction industries are reviewed to develop an initial set of PSFs. Finally, a final PSF set is modified and validated based on STC task analysis and STC accidents cases.
Findings
The PSF taxonomy constituted by 4 main components, 4 hierarchies and 85 PSFs is established for human behavior modeling and simulation under the STC context. Furthermore, by comparing and evaluating the performance of STC PSF and existing PSF studies, the proposed PSF taxonomy meets the requirement for qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Practical implications
The PSF taxonomy can provide a basis and support for human behavior modeling and simulation under the STC context. Integrating PSFs into a behavior simulation model provides a more realistic and integrated assessment of human error by manifesting the influence of each PSFs on the cognitive processes. The simulation results can suggest concrete points for the improvement of STC safety management.
Originality/value
This paper develops a taxonomy of PSFs that addresses the various unique influences of the STC context on human behaviors. The harsh underground working conditions and diverse resources of system information are identified as key characteristics of the STC context. Furthermore, the PSF taxonomy can be integrated into a human cognitive behavior model to predict the worker’s behavior on STC site in future work.
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Kaiqiang Wang, Shejuan Xie, Hongwei Yuan, Cuixiang Pei, Zhenmao Chen and Weixin Li
In this paper, numerical modelling and dynamical response analysis were performed for the HL-2M vacuum vessel (VV) and shielding plates (SPs) during a plasma disruption by using…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, numerical modelling and dynamical response analysis were performed for the HL-2M vacuum vessel (VV) and shielding plates (SPs) during a plasma disruption by using an updated ANSYS parametric design language (APDL) code developed by the authors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the SPs on the dynamical response of VV owing to a transient electromagnetic (EM) force and to optimize the design of SPs in view of the minimization of the structural dynamic response.
Design/methodology/approach
The Lagrangian approach, i.e. the moving coordinate scheme developed by the authors, was updated to tackle the EM-mechanical coupling effect in the dynamic response analysis of the VV-SPs system due to the transient EM force during plasma disruptions. To optimize the structural design of HL-2M SPs, the influence of the key parameters of SPs, i.e., the side length, thickness and material properties, was clarified on the basis of the numerical results and an optimized design of SPs was obtained.
Findings
The updated APDL code of the Lagrangian approach is efficient for the transient dynamical response analysis of the VV-SPs system owing to the EM force. The SP of a smaller side length, larger thickness tungsten material better mitigates the dynamical response of the VV-SPs system.
Originality/value
The Lagrangian approach was updated for the EM–mechanical coupling dynamical response analysis of the VV-SPs system, and the influence of the SP parameters on the dynamical response of the VV-SPs system of HL-2M Tokamak was clarified.
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Hongyue Zhao, Chuang Shi, Hongwei Guo and Rongqiang Liu
In order to make the aperture of spatial deployable antenna larger, this paper proposed the study on a spatial annular tensegrity structure with 100 m large scale, which could be…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to make the aperture of spatial deployable antenna larger, this paper proposed the study on a spatial annular tensegrity structure with 100 m large scale, which could be one of the ideal solutions to improve the dimension of the antenna. This study is aiming to figure out the dynamic characteristic of ultra-large annular tensegrity and address the problem of insufficient rigidity with local modes that many ring truss-type deployable antenna structures have faced.
Design/methodology/approach
This work is carried out based on the nonlinear dynamic modelling when fully considering the effect of bending and torsion deformation of beams, as well as the pretension of cables. Additionally, the structural stability analysis based on the proposed stability criterion is also presented to evaluate the tensegrity configuration with different distribution of cable groups.
Findings
This research results verify that the modified structure with radial ribs could eliminate the effect of the local vibration mode on stiffness and is suitable to meet the requirements of the annular tensegrity structure. Additionally, the calculation results demonstrate that the structural configuration of annular tensegrity with 36 groups of cables which share the nodes with radial ribs is more appropriate to enhance the stiffness and structural stability.
Originality/value
A new large annular tensegrity structure with radial ribs and tensioned cables is proposed. Based on the proposed structural configuration, the positive definiteness of the tangent stiffness matrix is carried out as the criterion of stability and the composition of the analytical expression of the tangent stiffness matrix is analyzed. Four levels of tensegrity structure stability have been carried out and the influence of the structural parameters on the stability and the rigidity has been analyzed. A scaled-down prototype is developed to verify the feasibility of the design of the hoop-column-rib configuration by the deployment and dynamic experiment.
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Hongwei Zhang, Jihong Zhao, Ling Ren and Ruohui Zhao
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of juvenile attitudes toward the police (JATP) in Chinese social settings. More specifically, this study borrows from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of juvenile attitudes toward the police (JATP) in Chinese social settings. More specifically, this study borrows from the wisdom of social bond theory and relevant literature developed in the USA to explain juvenile ratings of the police on specific job functions.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from a multi-stage cluster sample of 2,704 high school students in a city with a population of 3.8 million located in the southwest region of China. The analysis includes variables derived from social bond theory as well as traditional models commonly employed in US studies, such as demographic background and contact with the police.
Findings
The findings suggest that both social bonds and traditional models have their respective utility to explain the variation in juvenile evaluations of the police.
Originality/value
This study expands the scope of the investigation on JATP in China, a distinctively different cultural environment from the USA. More specifically, it explores the utility of the respective explanatory power of the social bond model and traditional models in relation to juveniles’ ratings of the police in China.
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