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Article
Publication date: 6 October 2021

Hai-Anh Tran, Yuliya Strizhakova, Hongfei Liu and Ismail Golgeci

This paper aims to examine counterfactual thinking as a key mediator of the effects of failed recovery (vs. failed delivery) on negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). The…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine counterfactual thinking as a key mediator of the effects of failed recovery (vs. failed delivery) on negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). The authors further investigate the effectiveness of using recovery co-creation in minimizing customers’ counterfactual thinking.

Design/methodology/approach

This research includes textual analysis of online reviews (Study 1) and three scenario-based experiments (Studies 2, 3a and 3b). In addition to using item-response scales, the authors analyze negative online reviews and participants’ open-ended responses to capture their counterfactual thinking.

Findings

Failed recovery (vs failed delivery) increases counterfactual thinking, which, in turn, increases negative eWOM. These mediating effects of counterfactual thinking are consistent across textual analyses and experimental studies, as well as across different measures of counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual thinking also impacts customer anger in experiments; however, anger alone does not explain the effects of failed recovery on negative eWOM. Counterfactual thinking can be minimized by co-created recovery, especially when it is used proactively.

Practical implications

The findings demonstrate the detrimental effects of counterfactual thinking and offer managerial insights into co-creation as a strategy to minimize customers’ counterfactual thinking. The authors also highlight the importance and ways of tracking counterfactual thinking in digital outlets.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to counterfactual thinking and service recovery research by demonstrating the effects of failed recovery on counterfactual thinking that, in turn, impacts negative eWOM and offering a novel way to measure its expression in online narratives. The authors provide guidance on how to use co-creation in the service recovery process to minimize counterfactual thinking.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 55 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2020

Louisa Ha, Chenjie Zhang and Weiwei Jiang

Low response rates in web surveys and the use of different devices in entering web survey responses are the two main challenges to response quality of web surveys. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Low response rates in web surveys and the use of different devices in entering web survey responses are the two main challenges to response quality of web surveys. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of using interviewers to recruit participants in computer-assisted self-administered interviews (CASI) vs computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) and smartphones vs computers on participation rate and web survey response quality.

Design/methodology/approach

Two field experiments using two similar media use studies on US college students were conducted to compare response quality in different survey modes and response devices.

Findings

Response quality of computer entry was better than smartphone entry in both studies for open-ended and closed-ended question formats. Device effect was only significant on overall completion rate when interviewers were present.

Practical implications

Survey researchers are given guidance how to conduct online surveys using different devices and choice of question format to maximize survey response quality. The benefits and limitations of using an interviewer to recruit participants and smartphones as web survey response devices are discussed.

Social implications

It shows how computer-assisted self-interviews and smartphones can improve response quality and participation for underprivileged groups.

Originality/value

This is the first study to compare response quality in different question formats between CASI, e-mailed delivered online surveys and CAPI. It demonstrates the importance of human factor in creating sense of obligation to improve response quality.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

Kenneth D. Mackenzie

This is Part II of a new approach to survey studies called knobby analyses of knobless survey items. In Part II, this approach is applied to a study of the national sales…

Abstract

This is Part II of a new approach to survey studies called knobby analyses of knobless survey items. In Part II, this approach is applied to a study of the national sales organization of a large high‐technology firm called here Euphoria BioTechnology. A 17 item Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) was constructed and administered concurrently with an Organizational Diagnostic Survey (ODS). The EOS inquired about the main features and properties of the organization and the ODS, based on the theory of the organizational hologram, provided a series of knobs which were used to “explain” their variance. Knobby analyses involve moving beyond data expertise to expert data. Data expertise is employed in both the EOS and the ODS surveys. However, knobby analyses allow one to leverage the EOS results to improve the derivation of the conclusions or meanings of the results of the survey data and to reach recommendations. Furthermore, knobby analyses allow follow‐up analyses of special management problems. Four examples of these subsequent analyses are provided in order to illustrate the process of producing expert data via the knobby analyses approach. It is inconclusive whether or not knobby analyses are more expensive than expert data processes using only the EOS results. However, knobby analyses did provide more and different information than an EOS could have done alone.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Neil Cranston, Bill Mulford, Jack Keating and Alan Reid

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a national survey of government primary school principals in Australia, investigating the purposes of education, in terms of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a national survey of government primary school principals in Australia, investigating the purposes of education, in terms of the importance and level of enactment of those purposes in schools.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2009, an electronic survey was distributed to government primary school principals in Australia seeking their views on the purposes of education. The survey comprised 71 items of a closed format and three items of an open‐ended format. Respondents rated first the importance they ascribed to particular purposes of education, then second the degree to which they believed these purposes were actually enacted in their particular school. Factor analyses were conducted on the item responses. Differences between importance and enactment of purposes are discussed together with reasons for these differences.

Findings

The findings overwhelmingly point to tensions between what they, the principals, believe ought to be the purposes of education and what the strategies to achieve those purposes might be, and the realities of what is actually happening. It could be argued that the results indicate a major shift away from public purposes of education to those more aligned with private purposes. Many of the barriers to achieving a greater focus in schools on public purposes are seen to be related to external (to the school) issues, such as government policy decisions, differential funding and resourcing across school sectors and emerging community and societal factors.

Research limitations/implications

This research complements other aspects of this project into the purposes of education in Australia. There are some limitations to the reported findings in so far as only government principals participated in the survey. Non‐government school principals were invited but declined to participate.

Originality/value

This is the only piece of research of its kind in Australia and provides unique insights – those of principals – into what schools are focusing on and what the leaders think they ought to be focusing on. There are clearly policy and practice implications of the research.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 48 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Brad Barber and Bronwen Lichtenstein

U.S. health policy promotes HIV testing and linkage to care (test-and-treat) with an emphasis on high risk groups such as convicted offenders. We sought to identify whether or not…

Abstract

Purpose

U.S. health policy promotes HIV testing and linkage to care (test-and-treat) with an emphasis on high risk groups such as convicted offenders. We sought to identify whether or not laws for mandatory HIV disclosure to sexual partners are a barrier to HIV testing among offenders under community supervision.

Methodology/approach

A total of 197 probationers and parolees were surveyed in a closed/item-open-ended item methodology on two reporting days in Alabama. Three main questions were asked: (1) What do offenders know about HIV? (2) What do they know about the law? (3) Do they support mandatory disclosure and HIV testing? Data for the quantitative items were analyzed with SPSS and matched with open-ended responses for explanatory purposes.

Findings

Testing and criminalization of non-disclosure were fully supported as key elements of HIV prevention. This support was framed by conceptions of HIV as a killer disease, of people with HIV as potential murderers, and by low self-awareness of HIV risk.

Social implications

While the study involved only a single group of convicted offenders in a southern state, the results suggest that disclosure laws legitimize HIV stigma and undermine test-and-treat strategies among communities at risk.

Originality/value

The research is the first of its kind to investigate possible links between HIV criminalization and barriers to HIV prevention and care among convicted offenders.

Details

Education, Social Factors, and Health Beliefs in Health and Health Care Services
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-367-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2012

Ingwer Borg and Cornelia Zuell

Items that ask the respondent for a comment in his/her own words are becoming increasingly popular in online employee surveys, but research on such comments is scarce. The purpose…

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Abstract

Purpose

Items that ask the respondent for a comment in his/her own words are becoming increasingly popular in online employee surveys, but research on such comments is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to analyze, theoretically and empirically, what kind of comments are generated in employee surveys by respondents who differ in terms of job satisfaction and commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

The data studied here are from an online employee survey conducted in 2004 in a multinational IT organization with a German headquarter. Some 24,000 employees generated about 75,000 comments focusing on 15 topic fields. The comments were additionally coded on their tone, using a computerized dictionary approach especially developed for this purpose. Frequencies, wordiness, and the tone of different types of comments are measured. The statistical relationship of comments to job satisfaction and to organizational commitment is analyzed.

Findings

Some 40 per cent of the respondents provide comments. Most comments have a negative tone. Negative comments are wordier than positive ones. The likelihood of writing comments is inversely related to the respondents’ job satisfaction and to their organizational commitment. Dissatisfied employees and employees with low commitment also write more negative and wordier comments.

Practical implications

The study sets benchmarks on what to expect when using open‐ended comment fields in employee surveys. A methodology for analyzing huge text files with respect to their tone is presented.

Originality/value

This is the first paper that investigates a realistically large data set of comments. It also shows how to use computer methods to relate frequencies, wordiness, and tone of comments to standard variables such as job satisfaction or commitment.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2006

Margaret C. Lohman

The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing the engagement of public school teachers in informal learning activities.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing the engagement of public school teachers in informal learning activities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a survey research design.

Findings

Analysis of the data found that teachers rely to a greater degree on interactive than on independent informal learning activities. Three environmental factors inhibit teachers from engaging in informal learning activities: lack of time, lack of proximity to colleagues' work areas, and insufficient funds. In addition, seven personal characteristics enhance teachers' motivation to engage in informal learning: initiative, self‐efficacy, love of learning, interest in the profession, commitment to professional development, a nurturing personality, and an outgoing personality.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of this study was the survey's response rate of 27.7 percent.

Practical implications

The findings from this study give rise to three implications for facilitating informal workplace learning. First, work areas need to be strategically designed so that employees are located near colleagues in the same technical or professional area. Second, a greater amount of unencumbered time must be built into a professional's work day. Third, access to computer technology and the internet should be provided so that professionals can communicate with others and gather information when the need to do so arises.

Originality/value

An important contribution of the present study to new knowledge of workplace learning is the construction of a survey instrument for assessing informal workplace learning. A second contribution is greater understanding of the personal and environmental factors that influence informal workplace learning.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Dan Albertson and Boryung Ju

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceived self-efficacy of users within an interactive video retrieval context. The motivation for this research includes that…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceived self-efficacy of users within an interactive video retrieval context. The motivation for this research includes that understanding self-efficacy will provide insight on how potential users target resources and in turn promote and sustain use of retrieval tools and systems.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method was employed. In total, 270 participants rated levels of perceived self-efficacy for successfully fulfilling different video needs if using a particular system. Perceived self-efficacy was explored quantitatively, both overall and across different potentially influential factors, such as topic type, topic familiarity, system experience, and system context. In addition, open-ended responses on the survey were categorized through content-analysis and subsequently analyzed using weighted frequencies.

Findings

Findings demonstrated significant associations between participants’ perceived self-efficacy and different topical factors, including familiarity and topic type, and also system factors, such as exposure (or experience) and system context.

Research limitations/implications

User confidence is one belief or attitude about technology acceptance, with self-efficacy intersecting multiple factors related to initial and sustained use of technologies. Findings give researchers a look at users’ preconceptions of interactive video retrieval situations, which, in turn, suggest positive implications for future research and design.

Originality/value

Video retrieval comprises considerations that are unique from other contexts due to the structure and physical makeup of video. However, until now, self-efficacy has not been directly examined in relation to video or according to several of the specific retrieval factors as explored in the current study, which is thus warranted.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 72 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Chenicheri Sid Nair, Jinrui Li and Li Kun Cai

– This paper aims to explore academics’ perspectives on the quality of appraisal evidence at a Chinese university.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore academics’ perspectives on the quality of appraisal evidence at a Chinese university.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey with both closed items and open-ended questions was distributed among all academics at the university (n = 1,538). A total of 512 responded to the questionnaire. The closed items were initially analysed using EXCEL and SPSS; the open-ended questions were thematically analysed.

Findings

The academics believed that the quality of student survey and peer observation of teaching were affected by subjectivity and the lack of understanding of appraisal. Academics also suggested that appraisals should be contextualised and the approach standardised. The study suggests the need for training that informs and engages relevant stakeholders to ensure the rigour of appraisal.

Originality/value

The study raises the issue of quality assurance regarding appraisal data from the perspective of academics. It is based on the collaborative effort of academics in Australia, China and New Zealand, with the support of the management staff at the case study university. The study informs both appraisers and academics of quality assurance issues in appraisal. It also contributes to the literature, in that it initiates dialogues between communities of practices through collective questioning on the quality and mechanisms of appraisal in tertiary education.

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1992

Catherine M. Sleezer and Richard A. Swanson

Explains the advantages of using a culture survey as part of anorganization′s change effort and examines the use of culture surveys ininformation gathering and communication…

Abstract

Explains the advantages of using a culture survey as part of an organization′s change effort and examines the use of culture surveys in information gathering and communication. Culture surveys, used properly, become invaluable in guiding change. Used improperly, however, they can be counterproductive. Describes the principles for designing, implementing and analysing the data resulting from a culture survey, along with a case study describing the successful application of these principles in one organization.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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