Search results

This article examines two common marketing terms: product positioning and product differentiation. Many authors use these terms interchangeably, yet most marketing texts treat product positioning and product differentiation as two separate concepts. This article attempts to identify the underlying concepts of both product differentiation and product positioning. Product differentiation is shown to be a special case of product positioning; therefore, it is suggested that marketers may want to abandon the concept of product differentiation in favor of product positioning.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of pediatricians' obesity and gender on children's perceptions of physicians. In particular, to examine the extent and direction of obesity and gender on children's perceptions of likability, expertise, and trustworthiness.

The study utilizes an experimental design. The actual sample is 138 children between six and 12 years of age.

The results indicate that physicians' gender did not influence children's perception of pediatricians' personal characteristics. However, physicians' obesity did influence children's perceptions. Specifically, obese pediatricians were judged less likable and less expert than non‐obese pediatricians.

The research informs two important gaps in the literature. First, personal characteristics influence perceptions of credibility, and children perceive obese persons negatively, just as adults do. Second, the paper lays out a rigorous experimental design that adapts scales and materials for use with child‐subjects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the recent global economic downturn. Particularly, the study explores the utilization of the concept of Brownian motion in financial risk management in organizations in the USA.

The three assumptions, namely, independence, stationarity, and normal distribution that underlie the concept of Brownian motion are examined.

It is concluded that the widely used risk management strategies predicated on Brownian motion fail to provide a rational understanding of financial turmoil. Consequently, prescriptive insights are offered to aid the industry in developing an apposite mechanism for risk management.

This paper offers new and improved risk management strategies that need to be undertaken to augment our understanding and prediction of financial scenarios.

The paper is useful for managers in all financial organizations, which employ computer models using Brownian motions. Specifically, this study contends that static models are unsuitable and dynamic models are more useful for risk assessment.

The paper reveals the weaknesses of the key assumptions of the risk management models used in financial organizations, namely, normal distribution of stock market price fluctuations, statistical stationarity, and efficient market assumption. Valuable guidelines are provided for financial managers who either do not have the inclination or time to sift through the voluminous literature related to the risk management models and computer software designed on these models.

This research examines the effects of obesity, gender, and specialty on the social influence of physicians. Recent research in other areas of social science indicates that the effects of gender are declining, but the effects of the obesity physical appearance dimension linger. For physicians, just the opposite seems to be the case. More significant gender effects than obesity effects were found. Some specialties also interact with gender and obesity. Moreover, the research describes an innovative use of morphing to manipulate and isolate the obesity stimulus.