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The aim of this case study was to investigate the extent of word‐of‐mouth influence amongst international students at a New Zealand tertiary institution and to review the literature for a valid and reliable conceptualisation and measurement of word‐of‐mouth.

Literature suggests that opinion‐leading and seeking scales form a valid and reliable conceptualisation and measurement of word‐of‐mouth. Using these scales, a comparison was made between international students and two groups employing the t‐test, domestic students and decision‐makers for online learning management systems. Analysis of variance was employed to investigate differences in word‐of‐mouth between students of different nationalities.

Indian students were more likely to give advice, but less likely to seek it, than Chinese students. Also, contrary to expectations, word‐of‐mouth influence was not higher for international than domestic students.

Future research should investigate the relationship between word‐of‐mouth and actual consumption decisions made by students. In addition, a random sample should be conducted with a wider sample frame of institutions so that findings can be generalised.

This study forms a foundation for future research investigating whether and how to harness the potential of word‐of‐mouth amongst different nationalities. For example, internet social networking tools could harness Indian students’ higher propensity to give advice and Chinese students’ higher propensity to seek it.

The development and refinement of opinion leadership scales over time is reviewed to suggest valid and reliable scales which can be adapted to specific contexts.

This study investigates personality facets and demographics as predictors of the following fashion adoption categories: fashion innovation, fashion opinion leadership, and fashion opinion seeking. Everett Rogers’ ideal types and the Five Factor Model are the theoretical frameworks applied in the study. Data are collected via a mailed questionnaire returned by 285 participants in the United States. Regression results demonstrated that income is a significant positive predictor for fashion innovativeness.

Additional findings showed that gender as well as the personality facets of actions and achievement striving are significant predictors for fashion opinion leading. Age, gender, education, and the personality facet of deliberation are significant predictors for fashion opinion seeking. In the present study, there is no overlap among the variables found to be significant predictors of fashion innovation, fashion opinion leading, and fashion opinion seeking. The results imply that neither personality nor demographics are the common characteristics between any two of the three adoption categories. Implications for future research on fashion adoption categories are discussed.

The democratic political product is complex and untangible. An underlying assumption of a democratic system is the involvement of voters, or consumers, but with contemporary political apathy this aspect is relatively unacknowledged. This paper aims to explore the role of the consumer in political branding.

Two contrasting case studies compare the balance between the corporate brand of the political party and the brand image of two different kinds of local politician. Aaker's “Brand Equity Ten” is adapted to provide a suitable conceptual framework for the case study comparison.

Investigating the interaction between the community and politicians drew out important implications for the political brand. The paper concludes that managing the political brand entails a recognition of the inherent duality that resides in the political product. In an environment of reduced differentiation of political offerings to the electoral marketplace it is important for politicians and the political party to make early decisions about which aspect of this brand duality best serves individual careers and the party. Key to this decision is the opinion‐leading role of politically aware consumers.

This research shows that an individual politician's brand can compete with or enhance the corporate political party brand, which implies that political branding must take into account the communication role of the highly involved consumer.

This paper examines the under‐researched area of consumer contribution to political branding. The role of highly involved political consumers in constituency politics is clearly shown to affect the politician's brand equity. This leads to a re‐conceptualisation of the politician's brand vis‐à‐vis the political party brand.

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level details of embedded systems. Attendants started this course with a brief introduction to robotics; learned to draw, design and create a personalized 3D structure for their mobile robotic platform and developed skills in embedded systems. They were familiarize with the practices used in robotics, learning to connect all sensors and actuator, developing a typical application on differential kinematic using Arduino, exploring ROS features under Raspberry Pi environment and Arduino – Raspberry Pi communication. Different paradigms and some real applications and programming were addressed on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course, participants were introduced to programming languages (including Python and C++), advanced programming concepts such as ROS, basic API development, system concepts such as I2C and UART serial interfaces, PWM motor control and sensor fusion to improve robotic navigation and localization. This paper describes not just the concept, layout and methodology used on RobotCraft 2017 but also presents the participants knowledge background and their overall opinions, leading to focus on lessons learned and suggestions for future editions.

The purpose of this study is to explore customer engagement (CE) in Facebook brand communities. It clusters Facebook brand fans to establish whether an existing typology holds in a diverse sample, and examines the differences in CE between the clusters. The predictive capabilities of CE on an important brand outcome, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), are determined.

In total, 493 respondents participated in an online survey. A two-step cluster analysis was conducted to determine the fan types. ANOVA was used to assess the differences in CE between the clusters. Multiple regression determined the predictive capabilities of CE on eWOM.

This research confirms the Facebook fan typology on a more diverse sample. Significant differences exist between the fan types on CE (captivation and gratification) and CE significantly predicts eWOM.

Future research could include motivations behind brand fan behavior. Using other CE measures may bring a different view. Theoretical perspectives other than social identity theory (SIT) may elicit other insights.

Insights into brand fan segments’ behavior and engagement allow brand managers to develop targeted marketing interactions. Gratification engagement is a stronger driver of eWOM, suggesting that brands should focus on marketing actions that will encourage gratification.

This research expands on Facebook brand fan typologies and explores CE as a multi-dimensional construct, rather than as a mere “like” action. Additionally, it determines the predictive capabilities of CE dimensions on eWOM. The findings suggest that SIT could be useful when examining CE in brand communities.

Discusses a new methodology for launching or expanding the commercialization of new under‐utilized technologies. The approach discussed involves the active participation of international industrial opinion leaders in the commercial development process, and the role they can play in: assessing the value and uniqueness of a technology, on a regional or global basis; determining those applications and end uses that address significant market needs and possess the greatest business potential for initial or expanded commercialization; and providing access to industry leading, prospective end‐users and joint development partners to accelerate commercialization of the technology in domestic and/or international markets. Includes several case histories for Accelerated Commercialization – the methodology practised by SICO International Technologies, Inc. – involving highly diverse industries and technologies. Also includes a brief history of the evolution of the process of idea generation into the described methodology for technology commercialization.

Public dislike of taxes led to tax revolt and tax reform. Despite the connection between tax attitudes and tax policy, relatively little is known about public attitudes toward taxes over time, and how public opinion either shapes or is shaped by changes in tax policy. We examine the link between opinion and changes in tax policy in Florida, where the public’s view of sales and property taxes was surveyed consistently from 1979-1997, a time when both taxes changed significantly. This combination of tax reform and survey data allows us to observe the pattern of public opinion before, during, and after changes in tax policy, and to draw inferences about whether public opinion leads or lags state action, while examining common explanations for individual differences in opinion. Among other things, our results indicate that the portrait of an anti-tax populace is overdrawn and that the pattern of opinion differs for each tax.

The author addresses the world of Instagram influencers but offers a very different perspective by focusing on the gendering of claims to authenticity on social media. The author observes how high-profile male and female Czech influencers are required to navigate an authenticity bind (Duffy & Hund, 2019) through two key strategies: the opinion-leader strategy and the community-building strategy. Men rely predominantly on the opinion-leader strategy while women position themselves as community builders. By focusing on the communicative strategies of the influencers, the author offers an analysis of authenticity as performative process, rather than a static concept, that gets negotiated in everyday interactions between influencers and their followers.