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1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 31 May 2023

Foula Z. Kopanidis

This study aims to examine the drivers of membership at the micro-level to influence club retention rates and promote positive health-related behaviours through encouraging active…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the drivers of membership at the micro-level to influence club retention rates and promote positive health-related behaviours through encouraging active member participation.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for this study (n = 197) was obtained from four martial arts groups in Melbourne, Australia. Self-administered questionnaires assessed the importance of personal benefits, risk taking, personal values and enjoyment of specific benefits.

Findings

Hierarchical analysis identified shared values, excitement (ß = −0.066, p < 0.05), sense of belonging (ß = 0.644, p < 0.05), enjoyment of activities (ß = 0.179, p < 0.05), fitness level (ß = 0.564, p < 0.05), belt status (ß = 0.466 p < 0.05) and the expectations of instructor (ß = 0.144 p < 0.05) and others (ß = 0.483 p < 0.05) as predictors in attracting and retaining club membership. Adult Australians share socio-demographic characteristics and common desires to attain specific benefits which appear to evolve, as membership is not perceived as an interim engagement but rather as a lifelong lifestyle choice.

Practical implications

By advocating positive associations between lifetime membership and active participation, social marketing campaigns can inform and contribute towards a knowledge base for sports clubs to develop targeted strategies and practices towards membership retention.

Originality/value

This study contributes to evidence-based social marketing approaches in an era of ageing demographics, where there remains a need to learn more about how to manage active memberships to promote healthy lifestyles and well-being at a national, community and individual level. The approach of exploring club membership at micro-level to inform tailored macro-level strategic health-related messages is also novel.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2023

Jiangnan Qiu, Wenjing Gu, Zhongming Ma, Yue You, Chengjie Cai and Meihui Zhang

In the extant research on online knowledge communities (OKCs), little attention has been paid to the influence of membership fluidity on the coevolution of the social and…

Abstract

Purpose

In the extant research on online knowledge communities (OKCs), little attention has been paid to the influence of membership fluidity on the coevolution of the social and knowledge systems. This article aims to fill this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework, this paper constructs a simulation model to study the coevolution of these two systems under different levels of membership fluidity.

Findings

By analyzing the evolution of these systems with the vector autoregression (VAR) method, we find that social and knowledge systems become more orderly as the coevolution progresses. Furthermore, in communities with low membership fluidity, the microlevel of the social system (i.e. users) drives the coevolution, whereas in communities with high membership fluidity, the microlevel of the knowledge system (i.e. users' views) drives the coevolution.

Originality/value

This paper extends the application of the ASA framework and enriches the literature on membership fluidity of online communities and the literature on driving factors for coevolution of the social and knowledge systems in OKCs. On a practical level, our work suggests that community administrators should adopt different strategies for different membership fluidity to efficiently promote the coevolution of the social and knowledge systems in OKCs.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Rajiv Gurung, Manesh Choubey and Runa Rai

Farmer producer organisations (FPOs) are considered as a strategy to improve the livelihoods of small farmers through economies of scale by providing collective strength to…

Abstract

Purpose

Farmer producer organisations (FPOs) are considered as a strategy to improve the livelihoods of small farmers through economies of scale by providing collective strength to farmers for improved access to production technology, value-addition services, high-quality inputs and marketing services for improving their incomes. This study investigates the impact of FPO membership on organic farming household's income in Northeast India.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses field survey data collected from all four districts of Sikkim. Primary data were obtained from a survey of 560 organic farming households, 280 of which are FPO members and the rest 280 are non-members. Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to estimate the impact of FPO membership on net returns, return on investment (ROI) and profit margin.

Findings

Results show that the FPO members had, on average, Rs. 7,254–8,133 higher annual net returns, 4.6–4.8% higher ROI and 8–8.4% higher profit margin than the non-members. The findings confirm that FPO membership has a positive and significant impact on net returns, return on investment and profit margin. Also, heterogeneity analysis indicates that FPO membership has larger positive impact on relatively bigger farmers and female-headed households.

Research limitations/implications

As the study was based on a cross-sectional survey, the findings may be subjected to some limitations.

Originality/value

This study is based on a novel data set, collected specifically to examine the economic impact of FPO membership on organic farming in India.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2023-0451

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2023

Chen Ji, Ni Zhuo and Songqing Jin

Farm income in the agricultural sector is susceptible to natural and market risks. A large body of literature has studied the effects of cooperative membership on household…

Abstract

Purpose

Farm income in the agricultural sector is susceptible to natural and market risks. A large body of literature has studied the effects of cooperative membership on household welfare, technical efficiency, productivity and production behavior, yet little has been known about the impact of cooperative membership on farm income volatility. This paper aims to fill this research gap by investigating the relationship between cooperative membership and farm income volatility of Chinese pig farmers and drawing policy implications.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the effect of cooperative membership on farm income volatility, using data from a two-round survey of pig farmers in China. The authors employ an endogenous switching regression model to address the selection bias issues associated with unobserved factors simultaneously affecting farmers' participation in agricultural cooperatives and income earning activities.

Findings

Using household panel from a two-round survey of 193 pig farmers in China, this analysis highlights two key findings: (1) agricultural cooperative membership has significant and positive effect on farm income stability and (2) the impact of cooperative membership on farm income stability varies with production scale.

Originality/value

This research makes two contributions to the literature. First, this study contributes to the scant literature exploring the relationship between agricultural cooperatives and farm income stability. Second, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that explores such relationship in a livestock sector. The pig sector in China and around the developing world has been increasingly challenged by multifaceted risks (e.g. price fluctuations, epidemic diseases, environmental regulations), and understanding the role of agricultural cooperatives in farm income stability of pig farmers is of great practical and policy significance.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2023

Josephine May

The purpose of this paper is to explore the clubs and club memberships of 491 elite women in three eastern Australian states in the 1930s. It is the second part of a descriptive…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the clubs and club memberships of 491 elite women in three eastern Australian states in the 1930s. It is the second part of a descriptive analysis of these women's biographical sketches in Who's Who-type collections, now out of copyright, published in Australia in the 1930s: Victoria (1934), New South Wales (1936) and Queensland (1939).

Design/methodology/approach

Using mixed methods within a prosopographical approach, described fully in the first paper on these data, this is mainly a quantitative analysis. After the numbers of club memberships of the women are given and compared on a state-by-state basis, a taxonomy of five main types of clubs was created and the clubs and club memberships listed for each of them. The five types are: (1) social and cultural clubs; (2) sporting clubs; (3) imperial, national and patriotic clubs; (4) professional clubs; and (5) service and educational clubs. The paper then explores the similarities and variations at the state level in the women's club memberships across the five types. It should be noted that the article does not include charities to which the women contributed because they required a separate typology and analysis to be taken up elsewhere.

Findings

The paper frames women's clubs as informal educative networks where women were able to acquire the knowledge and skills in modernity for effective participation in the public sphere. The analysis shows that three-quarters of the 491 women were members of one club or more. Overall, the women listed 340 separate clubs with 1,029 memberships across the five types. The state-by-state analysis giving lists of clubs, and numbers of memberships per club in each type, enumerated variations of women's clubs at the state level. Overall, the analysis suggests that the “club habit” for such women was a substantial historical phenomenon at this time.

Originality/value

This is the first study to encompass women's club memberships across three Australian states. Quantification of women's involvement in clubs has proved difficult, however, by using a prosopographical approach, this study creates a unique quantitative picture of the club data contained in 491 elite women's biographical sketches from the 1930s.

Details

History of Education Review, vol. 52 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0819-8691

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 November 2022

Reijo Savolainen

This article aims to elaborate the context-sensitive nature of credibility assessment by examining how such judgments are made in online discussion in times of uncertainty caused…

1129

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to elaborate the context-sensitive nature of credibility assessment by examining how such judgments are made in online discussion in times of uncertainty caused by Finland's intent to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in spring 2022.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical findings draw on the qualitative content analysis of 3,324 posts submitted to a Finnish online discussion in February–March 2022. It was examined how the participants of online discussion assess the credibility of information sources referred to in debates on the NATO membership. It is assumed that the believability of the author of information is indicative of his or her expert power, for example based on the credentials of a scholar, while the credibility of information content, for example the provision of factual evidence is indicative of the source's informational power.

Findings

Political decision-makers, particularly the President of Finland were assessed as most credible information sources, due to their access to confidential knowledge and long-time experience in politics. The credibility assessments differed more strongly while judging the believability of researchers. On the one hand, their expertise was praised; on the other hand, doubts were presented about their partiality. Fellow participants of online discussion were assessed most negatively because information sources of these types are associated with low expert and informational power.

Research limitations/implications

As the study concentrated on credibility assessments made in a Finnish online discussion group, the findings cannot be extended to concern the credibility judgments occurring information in other contexts.

Originality/value

The study is among the first to characterize the role of expert and informational power in credibility assessment in times of uncertainty.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 79 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Dinesh Kumar Kushwaha, Dilbagh Panchal and Anish Kumar Sachdeva

An integrated intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) modelling-based framework for examining the performance analysis of a packaging unit (PU) in three different stages has been proposed.

32

Abstract

Purpose

An integrated intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) modelling-based framework for examining the performance analysis of a packaging unit (PU) in three different stages has been proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

For the series and parallel configuration of PU, a mathematical model based on the intuitionistic fuzzy Lambda–Tau (IFLT) approach was developed in order to calculate various reliability parameters at various spreads. For determining membership and non-membership function-based reliability parameters for the top event, AND/OR gate transitions expression was employed.

Findings

For 15%–30% spread, unit’s availability for the membership function falls by 0.006442%, and it falls even more by 0.014907% with an increase in spread from 30% to 45%. In contrast, for 15%–30% spread, the availability of non-membership function-based systems reduces by 0.007491% and further diminishes. Risk analysis has presented applying an emerging approach called intuitionistic fuzzy failure mode and effect analysis (IFFMEA). For each of the stated failure causes, the output values of the intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid weighted Euclidean distance (IFHWED)-based IFFMEA have been tabulated. Failure causes like HP1, MT6, FB9, EL16, DR23, GR27, categorized under subsystems, namely hopper, motor, fluidized bed dryer, distributor, grader and bin, respectively, with corresponding IFFMEA output scores 1.0975, 1.0190, 0.8543, 1.0228, 0.9026, 1.0021, were the most critical one to contribute in the system’s failure.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of the proposed framework lies in the fact that the results obtained for both reliability and risk aspects mainly depend on the correctness of raw data provided by the experts. Also, an approximate model of PU is obtained from plant experts to carry performance analysis, and hence more attention is required in constructing the model. Under IFLT, reliability parameters of PU have been calculated at various spreads to study and analyse the failure behaviour of the unit for both membership and non-membership function in the IFS of [0.6,0.8]. For both membership- and non-membership-based results, availability of the considered system shows decreasing trend. To improve the performance of the considered system, risk assessment was carried using IFFMEA technique, ranking all the critical failure causes against IFHWED score value, on which more attention should be paid so as to avoid sudden failure of unit.

Social implications

The livelihood of millions of farmers and workers depends on sugar industries. So perpetual running of these industries is very important from this viewpoint. On the basis of findings of reliability parameters, the maintenance manager could frame a correct maintenance policy for long-run availability of the sugar mills. This long-run availability will generate revenue, which, in turn, will ensure the livelihood of the farmers.

Originality/value

Mathematical modelling of the considered unit has been done applying basic expressions of AND/OR gate. IFTOPSIS approach has been implemented for ranking result comparison obtained under IFFMEA approach. Eventually, sensitivity analysis was also presented to demonstrate the stability of ranking of failure causes of PU.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2022

Gregory Robert Beaver

This article illustrates the experiences of employee resource group (ERG) members over a two-year period with the aim of understanding the benefits and risks of membership for…

Abstract

Purpose

This article illustrates the experiences of employee resource group (ERG) members over a two-year period with the aim of understanding the benefits and risks of membership for sexual minority employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative interview data were collected from seven lesbian, gay or bisexual ERG members following an extreme case approach at two points in time separated by two years.

Findings

Three themes of outcomes related to ERG membership emerged from the data. Participants reported both benefits and risks associated with the social and career-related consequences of membership. The role that allies play in providing visibility, legitimacy and support to ERG members also emerged and shifted in importance over the two years between interviews, with ally involvement becoming more important to career outcomes over time.

Practical implications

This study illuminates potential consequences of supporting ERGs for minority employees, as well as insight into the role of allies in these groups.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by revealing several individual outcomes of a growing form of diversity management practice: ERGs.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 52 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2024

Kenneth Shiu Pong Ng, Yan Feng, Ivan Ka Wai Lai and Lois Zi-Yu Yang

This study aims to develop a conceptual model to understand how customer knowledge management (CKM) affects fitness club membership renewal through the mediation of relationship…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a conceptual model to understand how customer knowledge management (CKM) affects fitness club membership renewal through the mediation of relationship quality.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected outside of fitness clubs using a systematic sampling method. A total of 224 valid responses were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the relationship between the constructs of the research model.

Findings

The results indicate that both knowledge from customers and knowledge for customers have a positive influence on customer satisfaction and customer trust. Among them, knowledge for customers has a stronger influence on customer satisfaction while knowledge from customers has a greater influence on customer trust. Additionally, three dimensions of relationship quality (customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer commitment) positively influence membership renewal intention with customer commitment exhibiting the greatest influence on it.

Originality/value

This study combines the theories of CKM and relationship quality management to explain why members will renew their service contracts. By using fitness clubs as an example, this research extends the authors' understanding of how knowledge from and for customers can influence customers' attitudes and behavioural intentions towards service companies.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2023

Xiaojing Zhang and Yulin Zhang

This study highlights the impact of mental accounts on a user's decision-making regarding payment schemes and aims to determine the pricing strategy for the first-enjoy-after-pay…

Abstract

Purpose

This study highlights the impact of mental accounts on a user's decision-making regarding payment schemes and aims to determine the pricing strategy for the first-enjoy-after-pay service offered by the two-sided media platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study establishes a game-theoretic model and utilizes backward induction to derive the equilibrium price by maximizing the monopolist's profit.

Findings

The findings indicate that the conditions for a two-sided media platform to offer the first-enjoy-after-pay service depend on the trade-off between pleasure attenuation and pain buffering and the effect of time discounts. Moreover, the authors found that the time discount is a critical factor in determining pricing strategies under various payment schemes offered by the platform.

Research limitations/implications

This work adopts a uniform pricing strategy for users who opt for either immediate or post-payment schemes. Nevertheless, it is important to note that this approach has limitations in terms of offering discriminatory pricing for those who choose both payment schemes.

Practical implications

This analytical work provides valuable insights for two-sided media platforms to optimize their payment scheme strategies and pricing considering the influence of a user's mental account.

Originality/value

In a two-sided media platform, the authors provide applicable conditions for the platform to offer first-enjoy-after-pay service considering the effect of mental accounts. Further, the authors show the optimal pricing strategy under different payment schemes provided by the platform.

Details

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

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000