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In the digital era, price transparency—the practice of disclosing cost breakdowns in product manufacturing—has become present on digital platforms. Although its benefits are well-documented and consumers should theoretically desire costless and relevant information for informed decision-making, this paper proposes that consumers may resist overly transparent pricing, particularly when it pertains to premium-priced (vs regular-priced) products from countries with high equity.

Our research comprises three experimental studies utilizing both student and representative online Prolific samples, covering various products and countries with different equity levels. Initially, a pilot study identifies an interpersonal should-want conflict induced by price transparency when purchasing premium-priced products, leading to information avoidance. Subsequent studies further explore this phenomenon by examining the moderating role of country equity and the mediating role of price unfairness perceptions.

Price transparency can backfire when purchasing premium-priced products due to the want-should conflict among consumers—the desire to receive disclosure of cost breakdowns versus the inclination not to view it. This conflict results in increased resistance to receiving transparent price information and decreased brand attitudes and purchase intentions, especially for products originating from high-equity countries. Heightened perceptions of price unfairness explain these dynamics.

The study primarily relies on experimental designs with limited sample sizes. To enhance the generalizability of the findings, incorporating large-scale real market data across diverse domains and countries would be beneficial.

Grounded in the should-want conflict and information avoidance theories, this paper uniquely explores the adverse effects of price transparency on digital platforms. We extend this by demonstrating that this conflict is influenced by country equity, where the perceived value added by the association of a product with a given country name affects whether consumers experience the conflict. Our investigation of perceived price unfairness further deepens our understanding of the nuanced effects of price transparency.

Drawing on embodied cognition and construal level theory perspectives in marketing literature, the purpose of this study is to propose that closed eyes make events appear distant and increase high-level construal and abstract processing, whereas opened eyes make events appear near and increase low-level construal and concrete processing. The authors further argue that high (low) construal level induced by closed (open) eyes increases favoritism toward utilitarian (hedonic) appeals.

Drawing on embodied cognition and construal level theory, the authors conduct three studies to investigate how consumers form varying distance perceptions and attitudes toward advertising appeals depending on whether they open or close their eyes while contemplating the messages. In Study 1, the authors tested the effects of an advertisement featuring utilitarian versus hedonic appeals in a food waste reduction campaign. In Study 2, the authors tested the effects of an advertisement stressing utilitarian versus hedonic aspects of a brand of travel products. In Study 3, the authors tested the effects of an advertisement for hotel reward products depending on consumption motivations.

The studies support the hypothesis by showing that when individuals close their eyes, they form abstract processing styles (high-level construal), perceive events as more distant and increase preferences for utilitarian advertising appeals; when they open their eyes, they form concrete processing styles (low-level construal), perceive events as nearer and indicate preferences for hedonic advertising appeals.

The novel insight of this study shows how bodily sensations may affect various types of hedonic and utilitarian advertising appeals. This study contributes to the embodied cognition and construal level literature, but the contribution of this study is particularly important for marketers and advertisers in that the authors show interactions between open or closed eyes, hedonic or utilitarian product aspects and processing styles.

The purpose of this paper is to contrast two lay theories of how consumers draw affective inferences about their online bidding experiences. The active-bidder theory (smart-bidder theory) predicts that after winning a bid, highly (minimally) participative bidders would be more satisfied than minimally (highly) participative bidders.

Four experiments test two competing hypotheses, the active-bidder hypothesis and the smart-bidder hypothesis (Study 1), identify a condition that mitigates the observed effects (Study 2), identify when the mitigation is effective or ineffective (Study 3) and replicate the findings in a scenario-based study where participants are allowed to make actual bidding decisions (Studies 4A and 4B).

The findings support the smart-bidder hypothesis across three different product categories; however, this heuristic-driven effect is absent when bidders have concrete shopping goals. The effect was sufficiently robust to be observed even when the bids are made at will.

The present research does not incorporate the widely adopted procedure of second-price auction (also known as proxy bidding in the eBay setting), a system that allows the highest bidder to win the auction but pay the amount of the second-highest bid.

Online consumers should be mindful that entering the minimum number of bids not only helps consumers avoid overbidding but also elevates their joy in winning after the auction ends.

Prior research on bidding behavior on online auction sites has yet to examine how different bidding dynamics affect consumers’ post-auction satisfaction. This research sheds light on the psychological process underlying the robust phenomenon: online auction consumers rely heavily on proxy signals. Bidders appear to use the efficiency heuristic in constructing their affective judgments of their buying experiences.

This paper aims to test the proposition that integrated marketing communications (IMC) practice is lagging in the trucking industry. It stems from the more general proposition extant in the literature that business to business (B2B) IMC practice lags business to consumer IMC practice.

In total, 109 trucking managers attending the American Trucking Association Annual Management Conference are asked which communications tools they use and for which strategic purposes. The new product adoption model (NPAM) provides a means of measuring efficient IMC practice.

Joint space perceptual maps generated by correspondence analysis reveal the association between trucking managers’ IMC mixes and the stages of the NPAM. Inspection shows that trucking managers deploy a relatively large number of traditional and digital tools to support all stages of the NPAM, indicating a sophisticated level of IMC knowledge and practice, contrary to the proposition that IMC practice is lagging in the trucking industry.

This contrary result suggests that IMC practice proceeds at different rates across B2B industries and must be examined on a per-industry basis. In combination with Garber and Dotson’s (2002) trucking IMC study, this study provides a second data point from which the evolution of IMC practice in the trucking industry can be tracked into the future. Additionally, this paper demonstrates the efficacy of the NPAM as a means of measuring the efficiency of IMC mixes, as well as for monitoring and training. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a flavour of the LILAC Conference held in Manchester, UK, in March 2013.

The paper provides an overview of the themes, content, keynote speakers and selected parallel sessions of the LILAC conference.

The conference held a series of parallel sessions covering six key themes: information literacy and employability; information literacy and the digital future; transliteracy; future-proofing the information literacy practitioner; collaboration and partnerships; active learning and creative pedagogical approaches

The conference provided an insight into emerging trends for information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to study the static buckling and free vibration of continuously graded ceramic-metal beams by employing a refined higher-order shear deformation, which is also the primary goal of this paper.

The proposed model is able to catch both the microstructural and shear deformation impacts without employing any shear correction factors, due to the realistic distribution of transverse shear stresses. The material properties are supposed to vary across the thickness direction in a graded form and are estimated by a power-law model. The equations of motion and related boundary conditions are extracted using Hamilton’s principle and then resolved by analytical solutions for calculating the critical buckling loads and natural frequencies.

The obtained results are checked and compared with those of other theories that exist in the literature. At last, a parametric study is provided to exhibit the influence of different parameters such as the power-law index, beam geometrical parameters, modulus ratio and axial load on the dynamic and buckling characteristics of FG beams.

Searching in the literature and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are limited works that consider the coupled effect between the vibration and the axial load of FG beams based on new four-variable refined beam theory. In comparison with a beam model, the number of unknown variables resulting is only four in the general cases, as against five in the case of other shear deformation theories. The actual model represents a real distribution of transverse shear effects besides a parabolic arrangement of the transverse shear strains over the thickness of the beam, so it is needless to use of any shear correction factors.

This paper aims to investigate the perception of Egyptian patients about the use of personal health records (PHRs).

A quantitative research methodology was adopted in the form of a survey.

Over one-third of the selected sample was found to use PHRs. The study found that the use of PHRs by Egyptian patients was moderate. All PHRs users confirmed that they were very interested in the doctors’ notes and the laboratory reports recorded in their records. A very large number of PHR users confirmed that their use of these records was at least fairly easy for them and all of them confirmed that the use of these records was at least fairly useful. Above two-third of PHR users answered at least “somewhat yes” that their PHRs were accurate and over half of them answered at least “somewhat yes” that their PHRs were complete. The highest percentage of PHR users agreed that the use of PHRs would enhance their trust in their doctors and nurses. Close to half of PHR users expressed some concern about sharing their records. Violation of privacy in the use of these medical records, followed by the complexity of using them, as well as lack of awareness about them, was also significant to PHR users.

Understanding Egyptian patients perceptions of using PHRs may significantly aid in eliminating barriers and accelerating the adoption and use of these records to improve patient care.

The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and modulus of elasticity (ME) values of mortar and stone from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures provide an experimental basis for the design of liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks.

The CTE and ME of mortar and limestone were measured by resistance strain gauge testing technology at cryogenic temperatures.

The test results showed that CTE values of mortar and stone decreased with the decrease of temperature and CTE values of mortar was greater than that of stone from 0 °C to −165 °C. The ME values of mortar increased significantly at cryogenic temperatures, and less change in stone.

The material at cryogenic temperatures may continue to work in the elastic phase due to the continuous increase of elastic modulus. Therefore, the study of material in the elastic stage may be more important than in the ultimate bearing capacity stage, and it is necessary to carry out further study surrounding the deformation properties of materials at cryogenic temperatures. The CTE and ME values of mortar and stone from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures provide an experimental basis for the design of LNG storage tanks.