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The purpose of this paper is to investigate Generation Y consumers’ symbolic consumption on brand attitude and purchase intention toward global brands.

A conceptual model has been developed to illustrate the proposed relationships among the related variables. Data from a total of 300 usable surveys were collected from Thai Generation Y consumers. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling analyses.

The study found that Generation Y consumers’ symbolic consumption has a significant and positive effect on brand attitude and purchase intention.

Time and resources limitation did not allow to study the larger sample. Future research should include more product categories and more global brands. Sample can be extended to consumers in ASEAN countries to provide more comprehensive insights into consumer perceptions and brand behaviors toward global brands.

The findings suggest that symbolic consumption is a key motivation to increase purchase intention when developing marketing strategies for the Generation Y consumer.

This study has contributions to symbolic consumption and Generation Y literature combining several important dimensions into a structural model, and examines the relationships among these dimensions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between emotional experience and symbolic consumption on brand loyalty. The authors also examine the differences in Generation Y consumer behavior through the comparison of Generation Y consumers’ income sources.

A conceptual model was developed to represent the proposed relationships among the related variables. Data from a total of 328 usable surveys were collected from Thai Generation Y consumers. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling analyses.

The study found that emotional experience has a significant and positive effect experience symbolic consumption, symbolic consumption provided a positive effect on brand loyalty.

Time and resources limitation did not allow studying the larger sample. Future research should include more product categories. The sample can be extended to consumers in ASEAN countries to provide more comprehensive insights into consumer perceptions and brand behaviors.

The findings suggest that symbolic consumption is a key motivation to increase brand loyalty when developing marketing strategies for the Generation Y consumers.

This study identifies the components of symbolic consumption in meaning for conspicuous products and provides empirical support for the effect of emotional experience and symbolic consumption on brand loyalty in coffee shop industry.

As green marketing is a critical function of green supply chain management, it has generated a great deal of discussion in public discourse and academic research. Interestingly, there is a gap in the research on how a company can effectively invest and manage various green marketing activities. Thus this paper aims to introduce a grey multiple criteria decision-making methodology to investigate the relationships between green marketing activities and performance outcomes (environmental and business performance). This paper seeks to make the following contributions to the green supply chain management literature. First, review the literature to identify implementation activities for green marketing from green supply chain management literature. Second, develop a methodology to evaluate relationships of green marketing activities by integrating grey number and rough set method. Third, obtain various decision rules relating the various green marketing activities to the environmental and/or business performance outcomes through an illustrative application within an incomplete information system. Knowing those rules to help in the implementation, management, and evaluation of these green marketing activities is valuable to both researchers and practitioners. Included in the discussion are insights into how these rules for individual and aggregated performance (environmental, business, and joint performance) may be evaluated. Practical and research implications of this work are detailed in the final section of this paper.

To improve the accuracy of parameter prediction for small-sample data, considering the existence of error in samples, the error circle is introduced to analyze original samples.

The influence of surface roughness on fatigue life is discussed. The error circle can treat the original samples and extend the single sample, which reduces the influence of the sample error.

The S-N curve obtained by the error circle method is more reliable; the S-N curve of the Bootstrap method is more reliable than that of the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method.

The parameter distribution and characteristics are statistically obtained based on the surface roughness, surface roughness factor and intercept constant. The original sample is studied by an error circle and discussed using the Bootstrap and MLE methods to obtain corresponding S-N curves. It provides a more trustworthy basis for predicting the useful life of products.

High-silicon cast iron has excellent corrosion resistance in some specific medium. But the effects of pH value, chloride concentration and soil moisture content on corrosion behavior are still unknown. This study aims to provide reference for the application of high-silicon cast iron in different environments.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to investigate the corrosion mechanism and rate. The morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The chemical compositions of the corrosion products were detected by energy-dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.

When the solution is acidic, the corrosion of high-silicon cast iron is more serious. When the chloride concentration is 0.1 per cent, the corrosion rate of high-silicon cast iron is the largest. A passive film is formed on the surface to prevent the corrosion reaction with the increasing of chloride concentration. The corrosion rate is the largest when water content is 15 per cent, and the corrosion is the lightest when water content is 30 per cent.

This study provides support for the selection of high-silicon cast iron as grounded material.

With the rise in the opportunity to go to college, the purpose of this paper is to identify if China's rural poor are being excluded from the university system, and if so, why.

Two sets of the authors' own primary survey data were used: a group of randomly selected high school students in Shaanxi Province and a census of all freshmen entering into four universities in Sichuan, Anhui and Shaanxi. The intention was to show if the rate of the rural poor attending universities is lower than that of urban students and that of rural non‐poor; also to identify the barriers to education (if they exist) that are keeping enrollment rates low for the rural poor. The authors used ordinary least squares method to make the estimations.

Matriculation rate of the poor into college was found to be substantially lower than the students from non‐poor families. Clearly, barriers exist that are excluding the rural poor; however, the authors demonstrate that the real barriers are not at the point of college admissions, but before students have even matriculated into high school.

This is the first empirical work which studies the barriers that keep the poor out of university.

With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the rise of Deng Xiaoping, China began a new era of economic and political reform. In 1978 the open door policy was initiated. In October of 1984, Deng Xiaoping set in motion an ambitious program of financial and industrial reform aimed at eventually restructuring China's economy into a vaguely defined market system. This “second revolution” has run into difficulties because the Chinese officials lacked experience controlling a supply and demand economy and because of the opposition from conservative factions within the Chinese bureaucracy.

Social development is the ultimate goal of every nation, and climate change is a major stumbling block. Climate Risk Index has documented several climate change events with their devastations in terms of lives lost and economic cost. This study aims to link the climate change and renewable energy with the social progress of extreme climate affected countries.

This research used the top 50 most climate-affected countries of the decade and estimated the impact of climate risk on social progress with moderation effects of renewable energy and technology. Several competing panel data models such as quantile regression, bootstrap quantile regression and feasible generalized least square are used to generate robust estimates.

The results confirm that climate hazards obstruct socioeconomic progress, but renewable energy and technology can help to mitigate the repercussion. Moreover, improved institutions enhance the social progress of nations.

Government should improve the institutional quality that enhances their performance in terms of Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption to increase social progress. In addition, society should use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels to avoid environmental degradation and health hazards. Innovation and technology also play an important role in social progress and living standards, so there should be free hand to private business research and development, encouraging research institutes and universities to come forward for innovation and research.

The ultimate goal of all human struggle is to have progress that facilitates human beings to uplift their living standard. One of the best measures that can tell us about a nation’s progress is Social Progress Index (SPI), and one of many factors that can abruptly change it is the climate; so this study is an attempt to link the relationship among these variables and also discuss the situation where the impact of climate can be reduced.

Although social progress is an important concept of today’s economics discussion, relatively few studies are using the SPI to measure social well-being. Similarly, there is consensus about the impact of climate on people, government and crops but relatively less study about its overall impact on social progress, so this study attempts to fill the gap about the relationship between social progress and climate change.

The main contribution of this study is the solution for the impact of climate risk. Climate risk is not in human control, and we cannot eliminate it, but we can reduce the negative impacts of climate change. Moderator impact of renewable energy decreases the negative impact of climate change, so there is a need to use more renewable energy to mitigate the bad consequences of climate on social progress. Another moderator is technology; using technology will also mitigate the negative consequences of the climate, so there is a need to facilitate technological advancement.

With the analysis of the causes of corruption, this study aims to investigate specific anti-corruption measures that can be implemented to reform the political system and the social climate of China.

This study examines 97 severe corruption cases of high-ranking officials in China, which occurred between 2012 and 2015. As this insinuates that both institutional and social corruption are major problems in China, the analysis delves into multiple facts of corruption, including different types, four primary underlying causes, and suggestions regarding the implementation of three significant governmental shifts that focus on investigation, prevention tactics and legal regulations.

China’s corruption is not only individual-based but also it has developed into institutional corruption and social corruption. Besides human nature and instinct, the causes of corruption can be organised into four categories, namely, social customs, social transitions, institutional designs and institutional operations. For the removed high-ranking officials, the formation of interest chains was an important underlying cause behind their corruption.

This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because this study provides a well-rounded approach to a complex issue by highlighting the significance of democracy and the rule of law as ways to regulate human behaviour to combat future corruption.

Previous studies have mainly focused on public opinions regarding genetically modified (GM) technology and GM food. The purpose of this paper is to assess scientists’ attitudes on whether China needs to develop its national agricultural GM technology and their willingness to buy GM food.

A stratified sampling method was used to select and interview 806 scientists from six major agricultural universities and 20 research institutes under two national academies in China in 2013. Based on these data, the authors use both descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis to examine scientists’ attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and food, using GM soybean oil as an example of GM foods.

The survey results show that nearly three-quarters of scientists agree that China needs to develop its agricultural GM technology, but their attitudes differ largely. Only 29 percent of scientists are willing to buy GM soybean oil, similar to urban consumers (25 percent) in China. The knowledge of biology is extensive for some scientists but varies significant among scientists and correlates positively with their attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and GM soybean oil. Younger and male scientists with higher professional titles, and those involved in GM research are more in favor of China’s GM technology compared to other scientists. Female scientists, scientists with lower professional titles, those that have never engaged in GM research or are from non-agricultural scientific disciplines are less willing to buy GM soybean oil. Interestingly, their low willingness to buy GM soybean oil is inconsistent with the fact that it is the most common edible oil in China.

This study is the first to examine scientists’ attitudes toward GM technology and food in China. The results of this study contribute to understanding the current debates on GM technology and the relevance of research, based on the willingness to buy GM food, for decision making regarding the commercialization of GM technology.