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Most existing product innovation‐decision models view decision making from a very cognitive perspective in that they presume that decision to adopt a new product is preceded by steps that parallel product information procurement and evaluation. Argues that such an approach is unnecessarily limiting given that a substantial proportion of individuals do not base their decisions on attribute processing, even for relatively complex products. Critically evaluates two of the most widely cited adoption models and based on this analysis proposes a more holistic model that incorporates real world decision factors, and presents its managerial implications.

We are grateful for the privilege of editing this book and organizing the conference that it celebrates. We thank our universities, departments, and organizations for their generous support, the many people who helped organize the conference, and the reviewers acknowledged below. Most of all, we thank our presenters, participants, and authors for their interest and energy.

This paper studies how Chinese consumers respond to foreign goods in the post‐WTO era. Specifically, it examines brand sensitivity as a mediator and product cues as moderator of purchase intention. Additionally, it examines consumer preferences for different products and consumption plans for the subsequent five years. The survey sample is drawn from a population of foreign product users from 34 cities in 18 provinces in China. Results provide evidence that brand sensitivity mediates the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and purchase intention; product cues moderate the effect of ethnocentrism on purchase intention. As the first study to link consumer ethnocentrism directly to brand sensitivity and purchase intention, this research provides some managerial implications. Global marketers can offset the negative effect of ethnocentrism by emphasizing brand image of its products, taking advantage of specific product cues, or by providing more comprehensive after‐sale service to reduce the perceived risk of purchasing imports. Also, price is still a hurdle that prevents Chinese consumers from mass consumption of foreign products. Global firms should not overestimate the purchasing power of Chinese consumers. This study represents a “snapshot” of Chinese consumers’ decision making at a time when their economic system is undergoing rapid change.

Previous research indicates that women often perform more ethically on the job than do men. However, the results have been mixed, suggesting that further inquiry is needed. The purpose of this paper is to explore this important topic in a large healthcare organization. A field study sought to identify gender differences in ethical judgment, ethical intention, and organization‐based altruism in a healthcare organization, thereby providing some insight into the individual differences that influence ethical reasoning in the healthcare industry.

The investigation was based on survey data returned from a large sample of faculty and staff employed by a multiple‐campus health science center. Multivariate and univariate statistical modeling was used to evaluate the relationship between gender and ethical reasoning/conduct.

The findings suggest that women are generally more ethical than men. Being a woman was related to increased ethical judgment, being a woman and older was associated with increased ethical intention, and being a woman and a supervisor was related to higher altruism.

The results suggest that women should play a key role in the ethical role modeling of newly hired employees, as well as the development and management of organizational ethical values and codes of conduct. Healthcare organizations might also consider encouraging women to accept supervisory roles and become opinion leaders to foster organizational ethicality.

The findings add weight to the evidence that women are indeed more ethical than men in a variety of work roles, but greater insight into the complexities of these gender differences is also provided.

Purpose: This paper examines a promotional exhibit for the Broadway musical Wicked, entitled “The World of Wicked,” to better understand the ways in which art marketers continue to hail new and existing consumers. Eco’s concept of hyperreality and its relationship to remediation and cultural sustainability are brought to bear upon this phenomenon. As producers utilize new media platforms to reach the consumer, they make the experience of their shows more immediate. Set in the context of a shopping mall, the hyperreality of the exhibit is unpacked and analyzed.

Design: This is an interpretive study using direct observation, participant observation, depth interviews, narrative analysis, and artifact analysis.

Findings: By facilitating embodiment, encouraging intense emotional arousal, and providing a sense of community, “The World of Wicked” is a metonym for Wicked itself. The hyperreal context of the shopping mall facilitates the consumption of fantasy as well as material goods.

Originality and value: The findings of this paper extend theories of hyperreality, adaptation, and remediation into the context of arts. This contribution is foundational to building a larger theory of cultural sustainability.

Prior research has determined that consumers are opposed to services offshoring. The purpose of this paper is to determine the likelihood that consumers would choose a domestic vs an offshore service provider if asked to pay more, wait longer, or sacrifice service quality.

The cost, time to wait, and quality of services provided (for two different services: taxes and customer service) were varied to determine respondent likelihood to choose a domestic as opposed to an offshore service provider when asked to pay more, wait longer, or sacrifice the quality of the service in return for access to a domestic service provider. Data were collected via survey research, using an internet panel.

Results of repeated measures analysis indicated that customer loyalty to the domestic service provider significantly decreased as the cost or time to interact with a domestic service provider increased or the quality of service provided by the offshore service provider increased.

The research results signify that while customers, in general, may be opposed to services offshoring, they will “defect” or show less loyalty to the domestic service provider when asked to sacrifice time or money for that access. Respondents were asked to react to each trade-off as individual factors. Future research might combine these factors to determine interrelated tradeoffs.

The research results signify that while customers, in general, may be opposed to services offshoring, they will “defect” or show less loyalty to the domestic service provider when asked to sacrifice time or money for that access.

The paper extends research with regard to consumer reaction to service offshoring and provides insight into the trade-offs consumers might be willing to incur in return for access to domestic service providers. The paper is of value to practitioners and academic researchers.

In current vista of corporate governance (CG), whistleblowing (WB) has become critical for practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders. This study aims to identify, prioritize and analyze the interrelationships of determinants of effective WB on the basis of opinion of a medium-sized panel of experts.

It is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the field setting. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the respondents. This study follows an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach.

This study found that the factor “specific law for WB” has maximum driving power but minimum dependence and occupies bottom level (the most critical level) in the ISM model. The Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement analysis revealed that there is no autonomous and dependent factor in the model. There are eight linking factors and only one independent factor.

The study found that the factor “specific law for WB” has maximum driving power but minimum dependence and occupies bottom level (the most critical level) in the ISM model. The Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement analysis revealed that there is no autonomous and no clear-cut dependent factor in the model. There are eight linking factors out of which five have high dependence as well, and there is only one independent factor.

This study has ensued in identification of significant challenging issues in WB and in development of interrelationships to gain insights into priority of these issues. This study uses limited primary data in context of Pakistan; therefore, generalizability of the findings is limited.

This study presents a novel theoretical and conceptual model focused on effective WB. The value of the study on effective WB is highly relevant for today’s complex organizations but incipient in literature. The insights provided by the study have vital importance for corporations to embark on the regime of reforms in CG.

Despite the well-established impact of consumer ethnocentrism (CET) on purchase intentions, extant literature offers limited evidence on actual purchase behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap by investigating the factors underlying variations in CET behaviour using reported brand purchases. Product category, product cost and visibility, brand and country of origin (COO) of purchased products are investigated for their impact on the differences in the behavioural effects of CET.

This study uses survey data collected in the USA from a sample of 468 consumers. Self-reported brand purchases are used and involve ten product categories, 432 brands, and 22 countries of origin. Logistic regressions for repeated measures are used to test the hypotheses formulated.

The results confirm that product category is an important determinant of the behavioural effects of CET. CET also has a significant impact on purchases of the most expensive product categories rather than frequently purchased convenient items. Contrary to existing empirical evidence, cultural similarity does not mitigate the negative effects of CET and product visibility does not strengthen the behavioural effect of CET.

The study results should enhance managers’ understanding of the determinants of ethnocentric behaviour. The results caution managers about the value of self-reported measures and indicate that product features other than COO may be more effective in mitigating the negative effects of CET.

This study contributes to extant literature on CET and COO by investigating, for the first time, the problem of inconsistent predictions of purchase behaviour in the context of foreign vs domestic brands. For this purpose, the study adopted a novel methodological approach to investigate actual brand purchases.

This paper aims to examine the influence of ethical judgement on decision-making behaviour related to ethical issues of Islamic banking practitioners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The study adopted a confirmatory approach in which validated/established “normative ethical standards” are taken into the consideration as theoretical underpinning. In total, 262 samples are collected from Islamic banking practitioners in the UAE and data analysis is conducted using structural equation modelling.

The empirical findings indicate that the decision-making behaviour related to ethical issues of Islamic banking practitioners in UAE does not adhere to any set of normative ethical standards and respondents are pragmatic in nature when it comes to the decision-making behaviour related to ethical matters.

The study elucidates to what extent Islamic banking practitioners have encountered themselves with situations that demand the proper attention to the ethical aspects, which affecting decision-making behaviour related to ethical issues. According to the findings, those situations considerably demand the attention of ethical judgement in the decision-making behaviour of Islamic banking practitioners. Hence, it is recommended for Islamic banks in UAE to contain or intensify the training on the importance of ethics, Islamic thought and worldview to enhance corporate decision-making and banking profitability within the purview of Islamic principles.

While ample emphasis has been given to the juristic (fiqh) aspects of Sharīʿah-compliant in Islamic banking and finance, relatively little has been attempted to explore its ethical dimensions (akhlaq) in the compliance parameters. Further, Sharīʿah-compliant has been product-centric rather than people-centric. While there is numerous literature documented that links ethics and Islamic banking and finance, ethical framework and practice in Islamic finance institutions, studies focusing on the “people” and their “ethical decision-making behaviour” in Islamic financial institutions found missing in the literature. These gaps serve as justification for undertaking this research.

This study aims to test the efficacy of the awareness of a transformative health service communication intervention targeted to African refugees in Australia, designed to increase their intentions to participate in blood donation and reduce any identified barriers.

Following the intervention launch, a survey was administered to African refugees. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling.

Intervention awareness increases refugees’ blood donation knowledge and intentions. Although it has no direct effect on refugees’ medical mistrust or perceived discrimination, intervention awareness indirectly reduces medical mistrust. The findings, thus, suggest that the intervention was transformative: it directly and indirectly reduced barriers to refugee participation in blood donation services.

Limitations include a relatively small sample size, single-country context and measures that address blood donation intentions versus behaviours.

Addressing health service inequities through intervention awareness, via the mere exposure effect, can facilitate refugees’ health service participation and inclusion.

This study contributes to transformative service research and responds to calls to improve individual and community well-being by testing a transformative intervention targeted towards vulnerable consumers. Not all targeted refugees donated blood, but being encouraged to participate in this health service within the host society can foster their greater inclusion.