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The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify the salient effects of apparel evaluativ1e cues in order to enrich our understanding of consumer preferences and behaviour in two different socio-cultural contexts – Canada from the west and China of the east.

Online and paper questionnaires were used to collect data from Canada and China. Based on the prior research, 14 hypotheses were developed, and SPSS statistical analyses were used for this study.

According to the findings, Canadian and Chinese participants used price as an indicator of product quality and/or monetary sacrifice. Overall, the consumers from both countries were more concerned about the garment fit and style than brand name and country of origin. It is imperative for fashion practitioners to prioritise their resources and focus more on product research/design and prototype development. Fit, comfort and fabric were strongly correlated except in the “fit and comfort” of the Canadian sample. In addition, durability, ease of care and wardrobe coordination play a relatively less significant clothing evaluative role than many other product cues.

There are relatively few research studies have focussed on apparel consumer behaviour, and the salient impact of product-evaluative cues – particularly from a cross-national perspective. This study covers a wide array of important evaluative cues, and provides meaningful insights to both fashion academicians and practitioners. This is one of the few studies provide an in-depth and comprehensive report on the role and effects of apparel product cues.

The aim of this paper is to analyse simplified traditional fashion clothing supply chain models between the UK and China to identify the key issues in quality and communication management.

Qualitative research utilising key informant interviews was used. A total of nine full interviews were undertaken from three simplified supply chains. A content analysis approach was used to analyse the data based on recurring themes. The focus was on the management of quality and communication including design development, sample development and approval, fabric/trims order and approval, bulk production management and shipping/warehouse management.

The research suggested that for fashion supply chain organisation and management between the UK and China attention should be focused on improvement of three common aspects capable of inhibiting performance: deficiencies in design specification, language barriers, and cultural/human barriers.

This study aims to focus on understanding how the characteristics of the bed and breakfast (B&B) host responses to online reviews impact the subsequent business performance of review volume, including volume, timeliness and length of responses.

The study constructs a theoretical framework to model for the relationships among characteristics of the B&B host responses, heterogeneity of B&B houses and subsequent reviews. The model is then examined by an econometric model using data from Ctrip.com.

Prompt and lengthy responses to online reviews increase the number of subsequent reviews, and the effects are larger for higher level houses. The main theoretical contribution is to build a model explaining how multiple attributes of the host responses can affect business performance and how these effects are moderated by the class levels of B&B houses, which are empirically tested by real data.

This study highlights managerial implications of host responses for online B&B business practices. For the higher-quality B&B houses, based on price and reviews, lengthy and timely responses are necessary, as tourists expect increased customer service from these hosts.

The research provides insights in understanding the mechanism of B&B host responses on subsequent reviews. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the moderating effect of price and volume of online reviews on responses.

共享民宿房主对在线评论的反应如何影响后续评论：房屋等级的调节效应

本研究旨着重探讨民宿房主对网上评论的回应特性如何影响评论量的后续经营绩效, 包括回复数量、及时性和回复的长度。

方法 -- 本研究首先构建理论框架, 对民宿房主的在线回应特征、民宿房屋的异质性特征与后续评论之间的关系进行建模。该模型通过一个计量经济学模型对从携程网收集的数据进行了检验.

研究结果 -- 本研究的结果显示, 对在线旅游评论提供及时和冗长的回复, 可能会增加未来的预订数量, 从而增加后续的评论,并且这个影响随着房屋等级的提高而增加。本文的主要理论贡献是建立一个模型来解释房屋主人在线回应的多重属性如何影响他们的经营绩效, 以及这些影响是如何被房屋等级所调节的,并通过真实数据对理论进行了验证。

研究意义 -- 该研究有助于将研究重点从在线评论和口碑转移到管理层的回应效应。我们的研究结果印证了之前的研究关于评论量可以影响口碑信息说服力及其他口碑相关特征（如管理层回应）影响的结论。

管理启示 -- 本研究的结果, 向民宿房主提供了具体的管理启示, 为网上民宿商业管理提供参考。对于价格更高、在线声誉较高的B&B房屋, 应提供更多及时的回应, 因为游客期望得到更友好的客户服务。

原创性 -- 这项研究提供了关于民宿房主在线回应对后续评论量影响机制的探索。并将是首次尝试验证价格和在线评论量对在线回复影响的调节作用。

Entendiendo cómo las respuestas de los dueños de establecimientos de B&B a las opiniones de los turistas en línea promoverán las opiniones subsiguientes: Los efectos moderadores del nivel de clase de los establecimientos de B&B

Resumen

Propósito -- Este estudio se centra en comprender cómo las características de las respuestas de los anfitriones de alojamientos B&B influyen en el rendimiento empresarial de volumen de reseñas; esto incluye el número de respuestas, la puntualidad de la respuesta y la duración de la misma.

Metodología -- En primer lugar, el estudio construye un marco teórico para establecer un modelo de relación entre las características de las respuestas de los anfitriones de alojamientos, heterogéneos de alojamientos B&B y las revisiones posteriores. A continuación, el modelo es examinado por un modelo econométrico a partir de los datos recogidos en ctrip.com.

Resultados -- Se ha demostrado que las respuestas rápidas y extensas a las reseñas en línea pueden aumentar potencialmente el número de reseñas posteriores, y tuvieron un mayor impacto en las viviendas de gran altura. La principal contribución teórica de este trabajo es construir un modelo para explicar cómo los múltiples factores de la respuesta de los anfitriones pueden afectar a su rendimiento empresarial y cómo estos efectos son moderados por las nivel de los alojamientos B&B, través de los datos reales de la prueba empírica.

Implicaciones prácticas -- Proporciona una referencia para la práctica empresarial de los alojamientos B&B en línea, al informar sobre las implicaciones específicas de gestión para los anfitriones de alojamientos B&B. En el caso de las casas de alojamientos B&B de mayor nivel, con precios más altos y más reseñas en línea, se deberían dar más respuestas oportunas, ya que los turistas esperan de los anfitriones un servicio de atención al cliente más amable.

Originalidad -- La investigación permite comprender el mecanismo de las respuestas de los anfitriones de alojamientos B&B en las reseñas posteriores. Sería el primer intento de demostrar el efecto moderador del precio y el volumen de las reseñas en línea sobre el impacto de las respuestas.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how green brand positioning facilitated by utilitarian environmental benefits and nature connectedness may influence green brand image, as mediated by green perceived value (GPV) and brand innovativeness and how brand type moderates these relationships.

Data were collected using an online survey method, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the research hypotheses with a sample of 826 Chinese respondents.

The results demonstrate that utilitarian environmental benefits directly enhance green brand image. Both utilitarian environmental benefits and nature connectedness indirectly influence green brand image through GPV and brand innovativeness. Subsequently, green brand innovativeness positively affects GPV. The moderating effects of brand type on the relationships in the model are also established.

Organisations should enhance green value and brand innovativeness when adopting green brand positioning tools to strengthen green brand image and implement diverse green branding strategies between brands of physical goods and services.

Although previous studies have investigated how perceived benefits affect the development of brand image, the issue has not been examined based on the human associative memory framework from a green branding perspective. No empirical study has simultaneously included both green brand innovativeness and GPV in this formation process. Additionally, the moderating role of brand type in the model has not been explored previously.

This study aims to empirically investigate how green transparency and green competence enhancement can promote consumer behavioral outcomes (i.e. green brand loyalty and resistance to negative information regarding green brands) through green brand attachment (i.e., self–green brand connection and green brand prominence). It further explores these hypothesized relationships across brands of physical products and services.

Data were collected using an online survey from 826 Chinese consumers. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed conceptual model.

Our results demonstrate that green transparency and green competence enhancement positively affect consumer green brand attachment (i.e. self–green brand connection and green brand prominence) which subsequently influence consumers’ loyalty toward green brands and their resistance to negative information. Finally, the development of green brand attachment across brands of products and services is found to be different.

Extending the conceptual model to other cultural contexts is suggested. Using the experimental design to examine other boundary conditions is recommended.

This study provides recommendations for marketers, especially brand managers, to facilitate green brand communications to strengthen consumer–brand relationships.

This study extends past research by examining two types of green brand attachment via a cognitive schema lens. Also, it shows the internal cognitive process by which green brand communications potentially promote consumer behavioral outcomes through green brand attachment. Lastly, it highlights differences in the development of green brand loyalty and consumer resistance to negative information across brands of products and services.

This paper aims to present an optimization algorithm combined with the impedance control strategy to optimize the robotic dual peg-in-hole assembly task, and to reduce the assembly time and smooth the contact forces during assembly process with a small number of experiments.

Support vector regression is used to predict the fitness of genes in evolutionary algorithm, which can reduce the number of real-world experiments. The control parameters of the impedance control strategy are defined as genes, and the assembly time is defined as the fitness of genes to evaluate the performance of the selected parameters.

The learning-based evolutionary algorithm is proposed to optimize the dual peg-in-hole assembly process only requiring little prior knowledge instead of modeling for the complex contact states. A virtual simulation and real-world experiments are implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

The proposed algorithm is quite useful for the real-world industrial applications, especially the scenarios only allowing a small number of trials.

The paper provides a new solution for applying optimization techniques in real-world tasks. The learning component can solve the data efficiency of the model-free optimization algorithms.

This study aims to solve the problem of high output voltage fluctuation and low efficiency caused by the misalignment of the magnetic coupling structure in the wireless charging system for electric vehicles. To address these issues, this paper proposes a dual LCC-S wireless power transfer (WPT) system based on the double-D double-layer quadrature (DDDQ) coil, which can realize the anti-misalignment constant voltage output of the system.

First, this paper establishes the equivalent circuit of a WPT system based on dual LCC-S compensation topology and analyzes its constant-voltage output characteristics and the relationship between system transmission efficiency and coupling coefficient. 1. Quadruple D (Ahmad et al., 2019) and double-D quadrature pad (DDQP) (Chen et al., 2019) coils have good anti-misalignment in the transverse and longitudinal directions, but the magnetic induction intensity in the center of the coils is weak, making it difficult for the receiving coil to effectively couple to the magnetic field energy. 2. Based on the double-D quadrature (DDQ) structure coil that can eliminate the mutual inductance between coupling coils and cross-coupling, Gong et al. (2022a) proposed a parameter optimized LCC-LC series-parallel hybrid topology circuit, which ensures that the output current fluctuation is controlled within 5% only when the system is misaligned within the 50% range along the X direction, achieving constant current output with anti-misalignment. The magnetic coupling structure’s finite element simulation model is established to analyze the change in magnetic induction intensity and the system’s anti-misalignment characteristics when the coil offsets along the x and y axes. Finally, an experimental prototype is developed to verify the constant voltage output performance and anti-misalignment performance of the system, and the proposed anti-misalignment system is compared with the systems in existing literature, highlighting the advantages of this design.

The experimental results show that the system can achieve a constant voltage output of 48V under a time-varying load, and the output voltage fluctuates within ±5% of the set value within the range of ±60 mm lateral misalignment and ±72 mm longitudinal misalignment.

Based on the dual LCC-S WPT system, the mutual inductance between the same side coils is reduced by adding decoupling coils, and the anti-misalignment characteristics and output power of the system are improved in a certain range. It is aimed at improving the stability of the system output and transmission efficiency.

This study aims to investigate the role of multidimensional social capital and consumer subjective well-being in online brand communities (OBCs). The aim was to provide practical guidance to global brand marketers for cultivating and strengthening OBC operations, optimizing consumer-brand-community relationships and creating value in the digital age.

A total of 576 valid questionnaires were collected through an online survey, and the model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

In OBCs, the cognitive dimension of social capital (i.e. shared language and shared vision) strongly affects the relational dimension of social capital (i.e. social trust and reciprocity). Both these dimensions also positively influence consumer community subjective well-being, which, in turn, enhances consumer brand subjective well-being. Thus, community subjective well-being has a mediating role in the aforementioned relationship, and brand community is an antecedent to brand subjective well-being.

Future studies should investigate other dimensions of social capital and well-being, as well as moderator variables, social environments and types of culture.

This study constructed a conceptual framework that focused on the effect of multidimensional social capital in OBCs to elucidate antecedents of brand subjective well-being from the perspectives of social networks and relationships. Moreover, it examined how brands strategically expand their clientele base with regard to target customers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence Chinese consumers’ purchase of organic products, with a focus on organic tea.

A structured questionnaire was used to survey 202 shoppers in Guangdong Province, China. The data were analyzed using multivariate regression.

The study suggests two significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions: perceiving organic tea as a healthier alternative to non-organic tea; perceiving the purchase of organic tea as a status symbol. Younger respondents and respondents with higher educational attainment reported greater organic tea purchase intentions. Non-significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions were respondents’ knowledge of organic tea through media exposure, their gender and income.

The findings help further research on consumer preferences regarding organic foods providing key insights for researchers and marketers as they strive to make informed decisions in the emerging organic food retail environment. Specifically, Chinese consumers perceiving organic tea as a healthy option and as a status symbol are more likely to state organic tea purchase intentions. These results point to the need for extended research on key antecedents of Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions of organic products.

Little was known about the motivations of Chinese consumers for purchasing organic food products, as the psychological and demographic factors that are associated with organic food purchase behavior in China were not well researched. Specifically, there is still a notable gap in the understanding of how consumers in China make organic tea purchase decisions. With organic foods occupying a progressively larger portion of Chinese diets and budgets, this research fills in some of the knowledge gap by examining how the social norms of status symbols influence Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions of organic tea.

This paper aims to examine the effect of product market competition on firms’ unethical behavior (FUB) in the Chinese insurance industry and to further explore the boundary conditions of the main effects. On the basis of China’s commercial foundation, the study constructs a conceptual framework of FUB by drawing from the perspective of horizontal competition.

Data were collected from 52 property insurance firms at the branch level observed over the six-year period, 2011-2016. Within this framework, market power and market concentration were used to describe product market competition at firm and industry levels, respectively. The moderating effect of market munificence was analyzed to reveal the theoretical boundaries of the main effect. By drawing upon cost–benefit analysis and social network theory, the study used negative binomial model and Poisson model to quantitatively examine the relationship.

The relationship between product market competition and FUB is curvilinear. Especially at the firm level, market power exhibits a U-shape relationship with FUB; at the industry level, market concentration exhibits a U-shape relationship with FUB. In addition, market munificence positively moderates the impact of firm’s market power on FUB, whereas, market munificence negatively moderates the impact of industrial market concentration on FUB.

This paper explored a new type of unethical behavior that concerns consumers or the third party by emphasizing horizontal competitive contexts; it also provides a better understanding of the FUB–financial performance relationship from the perspective of competition. The moderating effects suggest that when the cause of FUB is different (market power vs market concentration), firms may make opposite ethical choice. However, the sample is from a single industry; it will be fruitful to further verify these findings in other industries such as the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the definition of FUB is confined to explicit forms such as participation or collusion but there is no way to measure the implicit forms of FUB.

First, the governance of FUB should not only focus on the firms themselves, but also take into account the industrial market structure. Second, proper use of governance measures for FUB can increase firms’ benefits from “compliance with the law”, enticing firms to decrease FUB. The third, firms with weak market positions, facing fierce competition, should not be involved in FUB for short-term benefit; indeed, a low-cost strategy can be adopted as the dominant competitive strategy. While, in cases of highly concentrated market structure, firms should strive to avoid involvement in FUB through collusion with other rivals.

As it is a very common phenomenon that firms in competitive relationships may adopt FUB toward third parties or consumers, this trend has become a hot topic in the economic and social development in China. The study’s conclusions reveal that a more proactive and ambitious ethical decision is desirable for all kinds of firms; moreover, firms should make a rational choice between “short-term interest” and “long-term survival”. When firms identify the compliance of business ethics as an opportunity to differentiate themselves and perceive the benefits of decreasing FUB as outweighing the costs, the level of FUB will be inhibited, and social welfare will increase.

The primary contribution of this research resides in identifying product market competition as a previously unexplored predictor of FUB, thus revealing the dark side of product market competition. In addition, nonlinear relationships between product market competition and FUB indicate that situations of competition exert an important influence on FUB both at the firm and industry level. This paper’s conclusion provides a more meticulous theoretical explanation for FUB. This research demonstrates that the traditional ethical framework is not sufficient to explain FUB in a horizontal competitive context. Indeed, resource constraints and competitive pressures should also be considered.