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1 – 10 of 64Vegetarian and vegan dietary practices have recently moved from being marginal activities to occupying a more mainstream position. While the reasons for this have been analysed by…
Abstract
Purpose
Vegetarian and vegan dietary practices have recently moved from being marginal activities to occupying a more mainstream position. While the reasons for this have been analysed by many researchers, the extent to which the underlying motives may influence other behavioural contexts remains relatively unexplored. The present research thus analyses the degree to which vegetarians and vegans also act in an environmental and animal-conscious manner.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered survey was conducted among omnivores, conscientious omnivores, vegetarians and vegans in Austria. The research design is embedded in an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A mixed-mode sampling strategy resulted in 556 completed surveys.
Findings
The TPB correlation analysis shows that there are significant relations between dietary motives, subjective norms, attitudes, behavioural intentions and the behaviour in question. When considering all dietary groups, the results indicate that the differentiation in behaviour is impacted by dietary identity: the stricter the diet, the stronger the behaviour related to animal-wellbeing and environmental protection.
Originality/value
First, this research evaluated motivational drivers through a pairwise comparison, which resulted in strength factors instead of single motivational driver. Second and foremost, this research draws a connection between dietary categories and the wider behavioural implications related to these identities and their underlying motivational drivers.
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Tobias Stern, Rainer Haas and Oliver Meixner
The aim of this paper is to investigate consumer attitudes to, and acceptance of, affective communication in the context of pre‐knowledge regarding wood‐based food additives.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate consumer attitudes to, and acceptance of, affective communication in the context of pre‐knowledge regarding wood‐based food additives.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 263 Austrian consumers was carried out to investigate pre‐knowledge, attitude and attitude change as a result of affective communication about wood‐based food additives.
Findings
About 14 per cent of the sample had pre‐knowledge concerning wood‐based food additives. In general the attitudes towards wood‐based additives were significantly better than those towards food additives in general. The results indicate a connection between pre‐knowledge and attitude. Respondents who had knowledge about wood‐based food additives evaluated them better, especially in contrast to those who had wrong ideas about them. Furthermore, it proved possible to improve the evaluations of those respondents who did not know about wood‐based additives by providing basic information.
Practical implications
The provision of additional information would improve the marketing potential of wood‐based additives, especially in contrast to additives in general. If the topic is ignored, there is a risk that public discussion could be based on non‐knowledge‐based conceptions by some consumers. The provision of early impact information is suggested in this regard.
Originality/value
Although the use of wood as a raw material in the food industry is common, it has not been a subject of public or scientific discussion to date.
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This study aims to propose a novel way to explore the narrative structure of advertisements, a nascent area of research, through the protagonist’s emotional arc progression.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a novel way to explore the narrative structure of advertisements, a nascent area of research, through the protagonist’s emotional arc progression.
Design/methodology/approach
The multi-methods approach is used. In Study 1, the authors explore the basic universal emotional arcs through the analysis of narrative advertisements from six key economies. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors experimentally test hypotheses concerning the narrative structure and viewers’ attitudes toward the narrative using representative samples (317 and 193 ads, respectively).
Findings
The authors identify five broad emotional arcs of the protagonist in audiovisual advertisements. Different emotional arcs are found to induce different attitudes in the audience. Narratives ending in a positive mode and the narrative arcs with higher emotional shifts are more favorably evaluated by the audience.
Research limitations/implications
The present study is limited to textual stimuli tested in a US population and does not consider protagonist characteristic portrayal.
Practical implications
Understanding consumer preferences for different emotional arcs can help practitioners to develop more clutter-breaking and relevant advertisements.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the narrative structure theory in the context of advertisements using a positivist approach.
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Gaurav Kumar, Molla Ramizur Rahman, Abhinav Rajverma and Arun Kumar Misra
This study aims to analyse the systemic risk emitted by all publicly listed commercial banks in a key emerging economy, India.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the systemic risk emitted by all publicly listed commercial banks in a key emerging economy, India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of the Tobias and Brunnermeier (2016) estimator to quantify the systemic risk (ΔCoVaR) that banks contribute to the system. The methodology addresses a classification problem based on the probability that a particular bank will emit high systemic risk or moderate systemic risk. The study applies machine learning models such as logistic regression, random forest (RF), neural networks and gradient boosting machine (GBM) and addresses the issue of imbalanced data sets to investigate bank’s balance sheet features and bank’s stock features which may potentially determine the factors of systemic risk emission.
Findings
The study reports that across various performance matrices, the authors find that two specifications are preferred: RF and GBM. The study identifies lag of the estimator of systemic risk, stock beta, stock volatility and return on equity as important features to explain emission of systemic risk.
Practical implications
The findings will help banks and regulators with the key features that can be used to formulate the policy decisions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature by suggesting classification algorithms that can be used to model the probability of systemic risk emission in a classification problem setting. Further, the study identifies the features responsible for the likelihood of systemic risk.
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Mingliang Li and Justin L. Tobias
We describe a new Bayesian estimation algorithm for fitting a binary treatment, ordered outcome selection model in a potential outcomes framework. We show how recent advances in…
Abstract
We describe a new Bayesian estimation algorithm for fitting a binary treatment, ordered outcome selection model in a potential outcomes framework. We show how recent advances in simulation methods, namely data augmentation, the Gibbs sampler and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm can be used to fit this model efficiently, and also introduce a reparameterization to help accelerate the convergence of our posterior simulator. Conventional “treatment effects” such as the Average Treatment Effect (ATE), the effect of treatment on the treated (TT) and the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) are adapted for this specific model, and Bayesian strategies for calculating these treatment effects are introduced. Finally, we review how one can potentially learn (or at least bound) the non-identified cross-regime correlation parameter and use this learning to calculate (or bound) parameters of interest beyond mean treatment effects.
D. Spector, H.S. Preiser† and D. Khoushy
During a two‐week voyage of the S.S. Israel from Haifa to New York, experiments were conducted with a platinum‐clad trailing anode system for cathodic protection. Preparation for…
Abstract
During a two‐week voyage of the S.S. Israel from Haifa to New York, experiments were conducted with a platinum‐clad trailing anode system for cathodic protection. Preparation for the voyage and day‐to‐day working of the experiments are described as are the successful efforts made to overcome the mechanical difficulties that arose. Concrete results that emerge indicate a growing and glowing future for such installations on large ships.
Transient climate sensitivity relates total climate forcings from anthropogenic and other sources to surface temperature. Global transient climate sensitivity is well studied, as…
Abstract
Transient climate sensitivity relates total climate forcings from anthropogenic and other sources to surface temperature. Global transient climate sensitivity is well studied, as are the related concepts of equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) and transient climate response (TCR), but spatially disaggregated local climate sensitivity (LCS) is less so. An energy balance model (EBM) and an easily implemented semiparametric statistical approach are proposed to estimate LCS using the historical record and to assess its contribution to global transient climate sensitivity. Results suggest that areas dominated by ocean tend to import energy, they are relatively more sensitive to forcings, but they warm more slowly than areas dominated by land. Economic implications are discussed.
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Frederik Kunze, Tobias Basse, Miguel Rodriguez Gonzalez and Günter Vornholz
In the current low-interest market environment, more and more asset managers have started to consider to invest in property markets. To implement adequate and forward-looking risk…
Abstract
Purpose
In the current low-interest market environment, more and more asset managers have started to consider to invest in property markets. To implement adequate and forward-looking risk management procedures, this market should be analyzed in more detail. Therefore, this study aims to examine the housing market data from the UK. More specifically, sentiment data and house prices are examined, using techniques of time-series econometrics suggested by Toda and Yamamoto (1995). The monthly data used in this study is the RICS Housing Market Survey and the Nationwide House Price Index – covering the period from January 2000 to December 2018. Furthermore, the authors also analyze the stability of the implemented Granger causality tests. In sum, the authors found clear empirical evidence for unidirectional Granger causality from sentiment indicator to the house prices index. Consequently, the sentiment indicator can help to forecast property prices in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
By investigating sentiment data for house prices using techniques of time-series econometrics (more specifically the procedure suggested by Toda and Yamamoto, 1995), the research question whether sentiment indicators can be helpful to predict property prices in the UK is analyzed empirically.
Findings
The empirical results show that the RICS Housing Market Survey can help to predict the house prices in the UK.
Practical implications
Given these findings, the information provided by property market sentiment indicators certainly should be used in a forward-looking early warning system for house prices in the UK.
Originality/value
To authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that uses the procedure suggested by Toda and Yamaoto to search for suitable early warning indicators for investors in UK real estate assets.
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