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The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of distance learning in enhancing introverted students’ lack of communication and social interaction to improve their performance in translation class. Cain (2013) and Kuzeljevich (2017) agreed that identifying “introverted” and “extroverted” students is important for meeting their learning needs. While extroverted students have strong social skills that allow them to interact comfortably in different learning environments, introverted students tend to be more shy, quiet, and silent, thus, requiring more careful planning in classroom settings. Therefore, educators need to support introverted students in reaching their full academic and social potential.

The present case study adopted a qualitative research method to explore the role of online/distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in enhancing introverted students’ performance and communication abilities in translation classes. The researcher of the current study spent a considerable time observing and set herself as part of the group (i.e. translation students of level 6 class) to understand the phenomenon, events and the new situation of having translation students interact in online settings. Data collection was based on this observation, interviews with the participants and archival documents. To enhance the validity and credibility of this research, the researcher employed the method of triangulation.

The results (see Appendixes A, B and C) revealed the level of students interactions in translation classes and their attitudes toward online learning. Based on the observations made by the instructor, the researcher found that the involvement of the introverted students during online translation learning was remarkable, as they provided their translation outputs in the chat window of Microsoft Teams with no hesitation. Consequently, 65% of the students were providing their translation output through the chat window, which indicates that they are more introverted and preferred not to speak. Comparing this result to face-to-face translation class, the researcher found that 25% of the students provided their translation outputs through oral participation.

This study contributes to the field of translation and education. Previous studies have not sufficiently examined the role of distance learning in enhancing the performance and communication of introverted students in translation classes. The current study is also expected to provide insight into the field of technical translation in remote teaching and learning settings.

The global prominence of languages and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which supports the necessity of German proficiency for the nation’s socioeconomic evolution, necessitate a deeper understanding of German teaching in Saudi international schools. This study delves into the influence of various teaching strategies on students' German writing skills. The research particularly focuses on traditional and innovative methods and considers the factors that drive these teaching approaches.

Data were collected from 304 students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, through a questionnaire. The relationships between teaching strategies and students' German writing abilities were analyzed using regression techniques.

The results indicate that both traditional and innovative teaching strategies positively influence students' writing skills. The regression analysis shows that the independent variables (traditional teaching strategies, innovative teaching strategies and factors influencing teaching strategies) collectively account for 68.9% of the variation in students' German writing skills. Even though a variety of techniques influence students' academic performance, the study’s findings indicate that several strategies – such as self-evaluation, pair work, oral feedback, grammar instruction and translation – have a major impact on students' German writing abilities.

This research brings unique insights into the German teaching realm of Saudi international schools, emphasizing the harmony between Vision 2030 goals and effective teaching methodologies. It elucidates the considerable influence of both traditional and innovative strategies on student writing outcomes. For educators in Saudi Arabia’s international educational environment, the study’s findings underline the importance of adopting student-centric approaches in the writing process, ensuring students evolve as proficient writers. Additionally, the research underscores the significant role of variables affecting teaching strategies, spotlighting their pivotal role in shaping student outcomes.

Grounded on brand equity theory and theory of patronage behavior, this study aims to investigate the moderating effect of consumer involvement and shopping situations in the relationship between consumer-based retailer equity (CBRE) and retail patronage behavior.

The data is collected through a self-administered survey of 338 shoppers in the three biggest shopping centers in Pakistan. Moreover, the data is analyzed through multi-nominal (multiple) regression and interactions analysis.

Results revealed a significant effect of CBRE on patronage behavior and confirmed shopping purpose as a boundary condition in the CBRE-retail patronage behavior relationship. However, the study surprisingly reported that this relationship is not moderated by consumers’ involvement.

Considering our focus on CBRE-based retail patronage behavior, the authors contribute to extant marketing/retailing literature that also yields ample openings for further research. The study offers valuable implications for retailers, especially for evaluating consumers’ behaviors.

This study assists retail-brand managers in best comprehending the CBRE-based patronage behavior paves the way for managers to increase retail patronage behavior.

Regardless of the growing comprehension of consumer-based brand equity and patronage behavior in marketing, more needs to be acknowledged about the relationship between CBRE/retail patronage behavior and related variables, as thus examined in this research.

Basado en la teoría del valor de marca y la teoría del comportamiento de patrocinio, este estudio investiga el efecto moderador de la implicación del consumidor y las situaciones de compra en la relación entre el valor del minorista basado en el consumidor (CBRE) y el comportamiento de patrocinio minorista.

Los datos se recogen mediante una encuesta autoadministrada a 338 compradores en los tres mayores centros comerciales de Pakistán. Además, los datos se analizan mediante regresión multinominal (múltiple) y análisis de interacciones.

Los resultados revelaron un efecto significativo del CBRE en el comportamiento de patrocinio y confirmaron el propósito de compra como una condición límite en la relación CBRE-comportamiento de patrocinio minorista. Sin embargo, el estudio informó sorprendentemente de que esta relación no está moderada por la implicación de los consumidores.

Teniendo en cuenta que nos centramos en el comportamiento de patrocinio minorista basado en el CBRE, contribuimos a la literatura existente sobre marketing/minoristas que también ofrece amplias posibilidades para futuras investigaciones. El estudio ofrece valiosas implicaciones para los minoristas, especialmente para evaluar los comportamientos de los consumidores.

El presente estudio ayuda a los gestores de marcas minoristas a comprender mejor el comportamiento de patrocinio basado en la CBRE y allana el camino para que los gestores aumenten el comportamiento de patrocinio minorista.

A pesar de la creciente comprensión de la equidad de marca basada en el consumidor y el comportamiento de patrocinio en marketing, es necesario reconocer más sobre la relación entre el comportamiento de patrocinio basado en la CBRE y las variables relacionadas, como se examinó en esta investigación.

本研究以品牌资产理论和顾客行为理论为基础, 探讨了消费者参与和购物情境在基于消费者的零售商资产（CBRE）与零售顾客行为之间关系中的调节作用。

数据是通过对巴基斯坦三大购物中心的 338 名购物者进行自填式调查收集的。此外, 还通过多项式（多元）回归和交互分析对数据进行了分析。

结果表明, CBRE 对顾客光顾行为有显著影响, 并证实购物目的是 CBRE 与零售顾客光顾行为关系的边界条件。然而, 令人惊讶的是, 研究报告称这种关系并没有受到消费者参与度的调节。

考虑到我们对基于 CBRE 的零售顾客行为的关注, 我们为现有的市场营销/零售文献做出了贡献, 同时也为进一步研究提供了广阔的空间。本研究为零售商提供了宝贵的启示, 尤其是在评估消费者行为方面。

本研究有助于零售品牌管理者更好地理解基于 CBRE 的顾客行为, 为管理者提高零售顾客行为铺平了道路。

尽管市场营销中对基于消费者的品牌资产和顾客行为的理解不断加深, 但仍需进一步认识 CBRE/零售顾客行为与相关变量之间的关系, 正如本研究中所探讨的那样。

Emojis are quickly becoming a popular new language in social media and marketing. The capability to express emotions and make message understanding easier is one of the primary reasons for using emojis. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and involvement on customer engagement due to emojis used in digital marketing communications among Generation Z (Gen Z) in South Africa.

Following the descriptive research approach, quantitative research was used in this study. A questionnaire (self-administered) was utilized to test the effectiveness of using emojis among 1,000 young consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The findings of the study yielded positive relationships between the variables, namely between trust and involvement; involvement and the perceived ease of use; involvement and perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness; trust and customer engagement; perceived usefulness and customer engagement; involvement and customer engagement; customer engagement and intention to purchase; trust and intention to purchase; and perceived usefulness and intention to purchase.

This study can help organizations in emerging markets use emojis in their digital marketing communications to engage customers and stimulate intention to purchase among young people, especially the Gen Z cohort, who seek organizations and brands that understand and connect with them.

By investigating the effects of emojis in digital marketing communications, this study contributes to the customer-centric process and the literature on emoji usage while also involving a credible digital language when communicating with members of Gen Z. By extending TAM, the findings of this study contribute to the TAM literature by demonstrating that emoji usage in digital marketing communications positively influences various attitudinal associations among Gen Z consumers.

This study aims to investigate the associations among decent work (DW), capabilities and the flourishing of employees in a South African context.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample (N = 436) of early childhood development practitioners from two South African provinces. A demographic questionnaire, the Decent Work Scale, the Capability Set for Work Questionnaire and the Flourishing-at-Work Scale were administered.

Latent class analysis showed four capability sets: robust, relational, knowledge/skills and weak capability sets. Employees with a robust capability set were more inclined to report DW than those with knowledge/skills and weak capability sets. Employees with a weak capability set were significantly less inclined to report organisational values that complement family and social values than the other three capability sets. Employees with a robust capability set reported significantly higher emotional well-being (EWB), psychological well-being (PWB) and social well-being (SWB) levels than those with relational, knowledge/skills and weak capability sets. DW was significantly related to EWB, PWB and SWB.

This study contributes to the literature regarding DW, capabilities and flourishing of employees in a non-western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic and non-POSH context. The study highlights the need for well-being policies that focus on DW and the capabilities of people in disadvantaged positions. These together would strengthen their agency for converting capabilities into well-being.

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new class of information workers, the “information have-less” has risen. This class of workers alleviates the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) revolution on poverty and unemployment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of this class of workers in Egypt and assess the size and potential growth of this category of workers.

The study clarifies the conceptual framework of the new division of labor, in the information age. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Information and Decision Support Center websites provided secondary data for this study. These data are used to assess the size of “the information have less” in Egypt.

The division of work and class, in the 21st century, depends on the level of skills possessed to work with ICTs. So, class and labor nowadays could be divided into self-programmable labor (Innovators). Information have-less labor class, adding value to the economy by learning skills and presenting repetitive work. Generic labor class, who cannot work with ICTs, and work in jobs, that do not need computers or other ICTs. The study has shown that the “information have-less” labor class is present in Egypt since the beginning of the 21st century, in all its categories; entrepreneurism, the service sector and the manufacturing sector. There are approximately 50% of this labor class in the service sector and only 13% of the information have-less works in manufacturing sector despite the great opportunities that Egypt has to expand manufacturing to absorb more employment. The inclusion of information technology (IT), in all domains, has not decreased employment in Western countries but has reallocated information have-less employment toward the service sector, and there would probably be the same effect in Egypt.

The study highlights the need for Egyptian policymakers to encourage the manufacturing and service sectors to provide huge working opportunities. The Egyptian government has to change the educational policies, at all stages, to include digital learning skills so IT can be incorporated in a wide range of economic activities. Further research includes: conducting a survey to measure the contribution of the entrepreneurial part of the information have-less employment in Egypt. In addition, a model may be developed, by the researcher to examine the reallocation of employees in Egypt.

Studying employment, in Egypt, using the conceptual framework of the information age is rarely being done.

The business landscapes in Asia and Africa are predominantly characterized by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) facing significant resource constraints. Understanding the capability dynamics of these enterprises in such contexts carries significant implications for theory and practice. This paper aims to addresses a crucial question of whether increasing customer involvement capability consistently yields the necessary rent for enterprises operating under resource constraints in emerging markets in Asia and Africa. By investigating this question, the paper offers SMEs a more nuanced approach to capability development, enabling them to achieve better returns on their investments.

To ensure the robustness of the findings, data were collected from SME service firms operating in two emerging economies: India (Asia) and Ghana (Africa). Data were collected in two waves to allow for catering to specific environmental conditions not accounted for in the study. Two-stage data analysis was then conducted to test the hypothesized relationships across the two countries.

The findings reveal that customer involvement capability does not always lead to an increase in firm-level competitiveness, and the effect follows an inverted U-shaped pattern. However, the nature of this relationship varies under different market conditions in both contexts. Specifically, in periods of low customer demand and intense competition, the relationship is linear and positive. On the other hand, in periods of high demand and competition, the relationship becomes inverted U-shaped, returning to a direct relationship with firm-level competitiveness.

This paper provides a resolution to the critical issue of whether customer involvement capability consistently delivers firm performance benefits, particularly for resource-constrained SMEs in emerging markets. By explaining how SMEs in emerging markets can fully capitalize on their capability development to optimize their resources, this paper makes a distinctive contribution. Moreover, it sheds light on the importance of aligning involvement capabilities with prevailing market conditions for SMEs to reap the maximum benefits.

This study aims to analyze how the interplay between hard and soft elements of total quality management (TQM) produces the conditions for sustaining success in the quest for quality.

A qualitative analysis (Gioia method) was carried out on an original dataset collected through both direct and indirect methods (i.e. archival sources, interviews and observations) to generate a new interpretive framework.

The interpretative framework identifies four categories of elements: trigger elements create the starting conditions for a quality virtuous cycle; benchmarking tools set the standards of performance; improvement tools enable exploration of the space of possible alternative practices and finally, catalytic forces allow the institutionalization of effective techniques discovered in this search process into new standards.

The findings the authors present in this paper are derived by a single case study, limiting the generalizability of our results in other settings.

This study has three implications: first, the design of trigger elements is critical for the success of any TQM initiative; second, the interplay of improvement and benchmarking tools at several levels should be coherent and third, to exploit the potential of TQM, efforts should be devoted to the dissemination of new effective practices by means of catalyzing elements.

The model provides a more specific understanding of the nature and purpose of the hard and soft elements of TQM and the dynamic interaction between the two classes of elements over time.

The purpose of this paper is to explore international market development for mature products and practices used in a novel business context.

Taking a qualitative approach, the case study method was chosen to investigate how firms develop markets in relation to a new international business context. Critical international decisions are analysed using a managerial perspective.

The success of international ventures depends on managerial learning and effectiveness. In this paper, the authors argue that decisions about international market development can add significantly to the understanding of how business firms enter and develop markets in novel business contexts. Two case studies show different approaches for meeting challenges in distant markets. Four propositions are developed.

A theoretical contribution of this study is the importance of factors that explain international market development decisions in novel business contexts. The balance between incomplete knowledge and making resource commitments is of central concern to international managers. Some of this is tacit knowledge that a firm achieves and learns during the process of market development and other knowledge can only become available after an actual market entry. A second theoretical contribution of this study is the significance of contextual market knowledge in a novel business context.

The purpose of this study is to critically review consumer knowledge in marketing and propose a future research agenda. Despite the many works that have examined this variable, given its strong influence on behaviour, it has generally been studied in association with other constructs, and no studies have focused on it in a specific way. Its definition, measurement and approaches to its role and usefulness are superficial and underdeveloped. After structuring and analysing the existing literature, the authors establish, (I) which aspects are of little use to the discipline, and (II) which research lines have the most potential and should be developed and studied in greater depth, to advance and complete the existing consumer knowledge framework.

A search was undertaken for documents in the main databases in which the term “consumer knowledge” appears in a marketing or consumer context, and a critical and reflexive approach was taken to analyse the main contributions and to structure them by content blocks.

Five main content blocks were identified. A set of research gaps were detected, mainly related to the lax conceptualisation of the topic, measurement problems and the scarcity of more useful works connected with business management, and several research lines are proposed that complement the existing framework to make it more complete and operational.

This paper offers a critical review and proposes a research agenda for one of the most used but little studied variables in the field of marketing, which may help academics and professionals in the discipline to continue developing useful theories and models.

El objetivo de este trabajo es revisar críticamente el conocimiento del consumidor en marketing y proponer una agenda de investigación futura. A pesar de los numerosos trabajos que han examinado esta variable, dada su fuerte influencia en el comportamiento, generalmente se ha estudiado en asociación con otros constructos, y ningún estudio se ha centrado en ella de manera específica. Su definición, medición y aproximaciones sobre su papel y utilidad son superficiales y poco desarrollados. Después de estructurar y analizar la literatura existente, establecemos (I) qué aspectos tienen poco uso para la disciplina y (II) qué líneas de investigación tienen más potencial y deben ser desarrolladas y estudiadas con mayor profundidad; para avanzar y completar el marco existente sobre conocimiento del consumidor.

Se realizó una búsqueda de documentos en las principales bases de datos en las que aparece el término “conocimiento del consumidor” en un contexto de marketing o consumo, y se adoptó un enfoque crítico y reflexivo para analizar las principales contribuciones y estructurarlas por bloques de contenido.

Se identificaron cinco bloques principales de contenido. Se detectó un conjunto de huecos de investigación, principalmente relacionados con la laxa conceptualización del tema, problemas de medición y la escasez de trabajos más útiles conectados con la gestión empresarial; y se proponen varias líneas de investigación que complementan el marco existente para hacerlo más completo y operativo.

Este documento ofrece una revisión crítica y propone una agenda de investigación para una de las variables más utilizadas pero poco estudiadas en el campo del marketing, lo que puede ayudar a académicos y profesionales en la disciplina a continuar desarrollando teorías y modelos útiles.

本文旨在对市场营销中的消费者知识进行批判性审视, 并提出未来的研究议程。虽然已有许多研究检验了该变量, 但由于其对行为产生强大影响, 通常会与其他结构变量一起研究, 而没有以特定方式专注于该变量。对其定义、测量以及其作用和用途的方法仍旧存在研究空白。通过对现有文献进行结构化分析后, 确定了以下两个方面：（I）哪些方面对该学科意义不大, （II）哪些研究方向最具研究潜力, 并且应该进一步深入发展和研究, 以推进和完善现有的消费者知识框架。

通过主要数据库检索市场营销或消费者背景下涉及“消费者知识”一词的文献, 采取批判性和反思性方法来分析其主要贡献, 并通过内容块对其进行结构化。

识别了五个主要内容块, 并发现存在一定程度的研究空白, 主要涉及该主题的概念松散化、测量问题以及与商业管理相关的有效研究的稀缺性。此外, 本文提出了几个研究线索, 这些线索为现有框架补充了信息, 使其更加完整且具备更强的操作性。

本文对市场营销领域中广泛使用但研究较少的变量进行了批判性评述, 并提出了相关研究议程。这一工作有助于学术界和专业人士继续发展实用的理论和模型。