bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A sociological theory of corporate finance
Authors: Li Yuanhui , Foo Check Teck 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The paper aims to investigate the relationship between social responsibility and equity in China. In the process, the authors utilize data on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports (in particular, information disclosure) and equity capital (focusing on cost). The overarching hypothesis may be phrased simply as: is CSR reporting rewarded by the capital market in China?

Design/methodology/approach
– The data of 3,012 list corporations in China securities are used and 1,015 CSR report quality scores (Rankins CSR Ratings) are hand-gathered from HEXUN (Web site) and utilized in the process of developing the model; financial and stock market information is obtained from the Wind database and the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database.

Findings
– The authors’ results suggest that overall the quality of CSR report is strongly, negatively related with the cost of capital: the higher the quality of social responsibility information disclosure, the lower the cost of equity capital. Most intriguingly, the authors find a sharp contrast between the government-owned corporations (state-owned enterprises) and privately owned, listed corporations. The quality of CSR reporting has a much higher impact in lowering the cost of equity capital for privately owned corporations. In contrasting the results for mandatory versus voluntary CSR disclosure, the quality of CSR reporting for the latter does not have any higher impact in lowering the cost of equity.

Practical implications
– Good social responsibility behavior by corporations and their subsequent information disclosure has beneficial financial impacts. In the authors’ research, the authors showed its immediate impact to be in the lowering of the overall corporate cost of equity. In this regard, the authors would recommend that chief executive officers pay more attention to CSR practice and its disclosure. Private firms issuing CSR reports will benefit from much lower financing costs through the capital market.

Originality/value
– Due to the structure of capital markets in China, the authors are able to show that CSR reporting of privately owned, listed corporations have much more effective signaling power. On the basis of the authors’ empirical findings in relation to the quality of CSR reporting and its impact on cost of capital, the authors suggest there is greater scope for research which takes a “finance and society” perspective. Based on more extensive research, such a perspective may enable scholars to orientate finance and finance research toward a model of “socio-capitalism”.
“Passivity”: a model of grocery retail price decision-making practice
Authors: Watson Iain , Wood Steve , Fernie John 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– This paper aims to explore the applied context of grocery retail pricing practice to understand how pricing executives approach “regular price” decision-making (as opposed to promotional pricing). The study seeks to inductively develop a model of regular price decision-making in grocery retailing.Design/methodology/approach– The research uses an inductive methodology involving interviews with pricing executives working for grocery retailers that account for approximately 85 per cent of the UK, and 64 per cent of USA, grocery market retail sales. The approach is appropriate given the underdeveloped research insights into regular pricing within food retailers.Findings– It is found that regular pricing is undertaken with little sophistication, typically, on the basis of simple, inflexible rules that result in conflicting goals. A typology of three pricing roles was identified, although all share an underdeveloped understanding of the effects of price changes on customer demand and the implications of competitor reactions. These contexts, causes and conditions lead to a range of consequences; notably, a degree of pricing inertia, “customer-less” pricing and “enforced symbiosis” – coping outcomes. Taken together, a theory of “passivity” pricing is identified.Originality/value– The research presents a contribution to new knowledge in the field of retail marketing by developing theory in retail pricing. In contrast to much extant research on grocery pricing, this paper accesses the insights and opinions of the pricing executives themselves. It exposes the realities of regular price decision-making across two developed retail markets and offers managerial insights.
Focal versus background goals in consumer financial decision-making
Authors: Aspara Jaakko , Chakravarti Amitav , Hoffmann Arvid O. I. 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– This study aims to examine the interplay between focal and background goals in consumer financial decision-making and identify conditions that lead individuals to trade-off financial returns for background goals.

Design/methodology/approach
– The current research reviews the relevant literature on consumer financial decision-making and goal systems theory to develop a set of hypotheses that is tested using three experiments.

Findings
– The experiments show that individuals who have been subtly primed with self-expressive background goals, or experienced progress toward the focal goal of financial returns, accept lower financial returns for the opportunity to invest in stocks that allow for increased self-expression. Further, while subtly primed background goals exert a non-normative influence on investment decisions, explicit cues about an investment’s background goal-instrumentality create a backlash effect, and decrease individuals’ willingness to trade-off financial returns.

Research limitations/implications
– Future research could confirm the robustness of the findings of the present research by using different priming tasks and alternative ways of making the background goal explicit to individuals.

Practical implications
– To achieve greater attraction among individual investors, it helps to frame a financial product or stock in communications materials in a way that sends subtle signals with which investors can identify. Such signals could include stressing the product/company’s home country (addressing individuals’ patriotism) or a particular product domain (addressing individual investors’ desire for interesting/exciting current/future products).

Originality/value
– While previous research suggests that investment choices may be influenced by self-expressive motivations, to date, it remains unclear whether and when individual investors are actually willing to trade-off the focal goal of maximizing financial returns for the opportunity to satisfy alternative background goals.
Improving pharmacy store performance: the merits of over-the-counter drugs
Authors: Wieringa Jaap Edo , Reber Katrin Christiane , Leeflang Peter 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– This study aims to increase understanding of the factors that affect retail pharmacy performance. This paper investigates how various product-, store-, customer- and competitor characteristics affect over-the-counter (OTC) drug sales and thus store performance.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper specifies and estimates a hierarchical model comprising scanner-based information, as well as individual-level data from a customer survey.

Findings
– Results indicate that the drivers of retail pharmacy performance in OTC categories are different from those identified in traditional retailing research.

Originality/value
– This is the first study that determines which factors impact the sales of OTC drugs in pharmacies.
Unmanageable multiplicity: consumer transformation towards moral self coherence
Authors: Carrington Michal J , Neville Ben , Canniford Robin 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– This study aims to explore: consumer experiences of intense moral dilemma arising from identity multiplicity conflict, expressed in the marketplace, which demand stark moral choices and consumer response to intensely felt moral tension where their sense of coherent moral self is at stake.Design/methodology/approach– The authors gathered ethnographic data from amongst ethical consumers, and theorised the data through theory of life projects and life themes to explain how multiplicity can become an unmanageable problem in the midst of moral dilemma.Findings– The authors reveal that in contrast to notions of liberating or manageable multiplicity conflict, some consumers experience intense moral anxiety that is unmanageable. The authors find that this unmanageable moral tension can provoke consumers to transform self and consumption choices to construct a coherent moral self. The authors identify this transformation as the meta life project.Research limitations/implications– This work contributes to knowledge of multiplicity, consumer life themes and life projects, moral dilemma and ethical consumption by showing that some experiences of moral anxiety arising from multiplicity conflict are unmanageable, and these consumers seek moral self re-unification through the meta life project.Practical implications– This study provides practical guidance to companies, marketers, public organisations and activist groups seeking to understand and harness consumers’ moral codes to promote ethical consumption practices.Originality/value– The authors extend current theory of multiplicity into the moral domain to illustrate limitations of framing consumer experiences of multiplicity conflict as being either liberating or manageable when consumers’ sense of moral self is at stake. This article is of interest to academic, marketing practitioner and public policy audiences.
Idol attachment and human brand loyalty
Authors: Huang Yu-An , Lin Chad , Phau Ian 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– This paper aims to examine the importance and concept of idol attachment, model its antecedents and moderators and assess its influence on human brand loyalty.Design/methodology/approach– This paper includes two studies. In Study 1, survey questionnaires were distributed by mall intercept to quasi-random samples across Australia and Taiwan for completion and return. The return yielded 1,135 and 736 usable questionnaires, respectively, from which the data were analysed using LISREL structural equation modelling software. In Study 2, an experiment was used to examine whether idol attractiveness is likely to positively moderate the relationship between vanity traits and attachment.Findings– The results suggest that achievement vanity, variety seeking and peer norms have a positive impact on the phenomenon of idol attachment, which in turn positively affects human brand loyalty. Contradicting previous studies, the physical appearance of vanity was not found to be associated with idol attachment. However, the results of the experiment show that idol attractiveness has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between vanity traits and human brand attachment.Research limitations/implications– The findings suggest that idol attachment is more complex than previously understood. The constructs chosen in this research represent an initial step but other variables such as liking, involvement, affective commitment and brand love are not taken into account. Future research models should therefore include such variables.Practical implications– The findings contain many practical lessons for planners of marketing strategy for the music industry in an international context.Originality/value– Two existing theories of psychology are integrated with the concept of idol attachment to explain human brand loyalty in an international context.
Origins of marketing thought in Britain
Authors: Jones Brian , Tadajewski Mark 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to document contributions to the early study and teaching of marketing at one of the first universities in Britain to do so and, in that way, to contribute to the literature about the history of marketing thought. Given that the first university business program in Britain was started in 1902, at about the same time as the earliest business programs in America, the more specific purpose of this paper was to explore whether or not the same influences were shared by pioneer marketing educators on both sides of the Atlantic.Design/methodology/approach– An historical method is used including a biographical approach. Primary source materials included unpublished correspondence (letterbooks), lecture notes, seminar minute-books, course syllabi and exams, minutes of senate and faculty meetings, university calendars and other unpublished documents in the William James Ashley Papers at the University of Birmingham.Findings– The contributions of William James Ashley and the Commerce Program at the University of Birmingham to the early twentieth-century study and teaching of marketing are documented. Drawing from influences similar to those on pioneer American marketing scholars, Ashley used an historical, inductive, descriptive approach to study and teach marketing as part of what he called “business economics”. Beginning in 1902, Ashley taught his students about a relatively wide range of marketing strategy decisions focusing mostly on channels of distribution and the functions performed by channel intermediaries. His teaching and the research of his students share much with the early twentieth-century commodity, institutional and functional approaches that dominated American marketing thought.Research limitations/implications– William James Ashley was only one scholar and the Commerce Program at the University of Birmingham was only one, although widely acknowledged as the first, of a few early twentieth-century British university programs in business. This justifies future research into the possible contributions to marketing knowledge made by other programs such as those at the University of Manchester (1903), University of Liverpool (1910) and University of London (1919).Originality/value– This paper adds an important chapter to the history of marketing thought which has been dominated by American pioneer scholars, courses, literature and ideas.
Buy four get 30% off: how consumers respond to missing a quantity discount
Authors: Huang Wen-Hsien , Yang Chun-Ming 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine how consumers evaluate and respond after failing to receive the promotional price for a quantity discount because the minimum purchase requirement (MinPR) is out of reach. Although quantity discounts are effective in terms of increasing sales volume, the outcome of using them is not always positive.

Design/methodology/approach
– Two 2 × 2 experiments are carried out to test the research hypotheses in the context of apparel shopping.

Findings
– The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that offering quantity discounts with a high MinPR (e.g. “4 for 30 per cent off”) can result in greater willingness to buy (WTB) a single product at the full price than offering promotions with a low MinPR (e.g. “2 for 30 per cent off”) in the wake of a missed quantity discount. In other words, the purchase quantity has a positive effect on the consumers’ WTB even when they are not able to take advantage of the discount. However, this relationship weakens when the selection of discounted items is limited (i.e. the scope of the promotion is narrow). The results of Experiment 2 reveal that when the missed quantity discount is based on dollars rather than on the number of pieces (e.g. “Buy $100, get 30 per cent off” vs “Buy four pieces, get 30 per cent off”), the effect of purchase quantity on WTB is enhanced. Finally, perceived closeness of purchase outcome to the MinPR mediates the effect of purchase quantity on WTB.

Research limitations/implications
– To maximize internal validity, hypothetical scenarios were used as stimuli rather than an actual consumption experience, and the setting involved only a single product category (clothing). Future work including other types of merchandise and a more natural setting is needed to generalize our findings.

Practical implications
– The purchase quantity or MinPR serves as a reference point that influences consumers’ purchase decisions, even those who do not buy enough to qualify for the price reduction. Our findings suggest that retailers should specify a relatively high MinPR for quantity discounts. In addition, proper selection of the promotional scope and discount base will significantly improve consumers’ behavioral reactions when they are not able to take advantage of a quantity discount.

Originality/value
– The primary contribution of this article to the marketing literature is that it provides empirical results that shed some light on the situational influences that missing a quantity discount has on the consumer’s WTB a single product at the regular price, and what the mechanisms for the purchase quantity effect might be.
Firm size, ownership, training duration and training evaluation practices
Authors: Asadullah Muhammad Ali , Peretti Jean Marie , Ghulam Ali Arain , Bourgain Marina 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper was to test the mediating role of training duration in relationship between firm characteristics and training evaluation practices. In this paper, the authors also investigated if this mediating effect differs with respect to the size of the firm.Design/methodology/approach– The authors collected data from 260 professionals of 90 call centers.Findings– The authors found that training duration mediates the relationship between firm size and training evaluation. The authors also found that indirect effect of firm size on training evaluation through training duration differs across different levels of firm size but not across different levels of ownership.Research limitations/implications– This is a cross-sectional study that emphasized on training evaluation practices only.Practical implications– The study has implication for both evaluation researchers and practitioners in terms of designing training evaluation policies and practices.Originality/value– This is the first study in its nature that explains the intervening role of training duration in relationship of firm characteristics and training evaluation practices.
Well-being and innovativeness: motivational trigger points for mutual enhancement
Authors: Honkaniemi Laura , Lehtonen Mikko H. , Hasu Mervi 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– This paper focuses on employees’ motivation to participate in innovation at the workplace. The best arguments to persuade employees to renew their work were searched. According to the expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), a plausible link must be perceived for a motivational state to arise. The paper investigated the perceptions that employees, team-leaders and directors have about the relationships between innovativeness and well-being.Design/methodology/approach– The data consisted of thematic interviews with 14 persons from knowledge- and labour-intensive organisations in the public service sector. Data included material from directors, team-leaders and front-line workers. The theoretical model of Huhtala and Parzefall (2007) was applied to analyse perceptions about links between well-being and innovativeness.Findings– Results indicated that all eight possible links between well-being and innovativeness were perceived as plausible. The most common views were that high innovativeness connects to high well-being and vice versa. Additionally, low well-being was seen to decrease innovativeness. All organisational levels of knowledge- and labour-intensive organisations shared these views. More specifically, the interviewees shared the view that participating in innovation activities gives the employee opportunities to influence one’s work, which in turn leads to well-being. Another commonly shared perception was that if employees were encouraged and praised for their efforts, innovativeness would increase. These provide plausible arguments for leaders to persuade employees to participate.Practical implications– Practical advice about effective arguments for motivating employees is given: tell them that innovativeness is desired for, time and space is allocated for innovations, the amount of change will be managed, and the innovation activities present an opportunity to have voice.Originality/value– This paper shows potential motivational trigger points for enhancing the interaction between well-being and innovation.
Climate action plan adoptions in the US states
Authors: Yi Hongtao , Feiock Richard C 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine state adoption of climate action plans (CAPs) and investigates the factors driving the adoption of these climate policies in the states.

Design/methodology/approach
– The framework that is formulated to explain the state climate actions involves four dimensions: climate risks, climate politics, climate economic and climate policy diffusions. These hypotheses are tested with event history analysis on a panel data set on 48 US continental states from 1994 to 2008.

Findings
– This paper found empirical evidence to support climate politics, economics and policy diffusion explanations. It also found that climate risks are not taken into account in states’ climate actions. A comparison is conducted to compare the differences in state and local climate policymaking.

Originality/value
– The paper investigates the motivations of state governments in adopting CAPs, and makes comparisons with local climate strategies. It contributes to academic understanding of the multilevel governance of climate protection in the USA.
Towards higher maintenance effectiveness
Authors: Sinha Pritibhushan 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to propose a few steps to enhance maintenance effectiveness in practice.

Design/methodology/approach
– The author reviews the strengths and limitations of different approaches to maintenance management (MM). Some relevant practical observations of reliability engineering are discussed. Based on these, and drawing on the research on MM in relevant literature, the author suggests a few steps, suitable for implementation, for effective MM.

Findings
– Review of available approaches to MM and some factors of reliability engineering points to some ways to improve maintenance effectiveness in the practical sense.

Practical implications
– Implementation of the steps, as suggested in the paper, should enhance the effectiveness of MM leading to higher machine uptimes with less of maintenance costs. In such steps, the ease of implementation in practical situations has been given due importance.

Originality/value
– In the steps, called as an “Actionable Program for Maintenance,” that the author suggests, he has highlighted some issues, and has made some suggestions, which are new.
A methodology for modeling and monitoring of centrifugal casting process
Authors: Das Anupam , Mondal S. C. , Thakkar J. J. , Maiti J. 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to build a monitoring scheme in order to detect and subsequently eliminate abnormal behavior of the concerned casting process so as to produce worm wheels with good quality characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach
– In this a study, a process monitoring strategy has been devised for a centrifugal casting process using data-based multivariate statistical technique, namely, partial least squares regression (PLSR).

Findings
– Based on a case study, the PLSR model constructed for this study seems to mimic the actual process quite well which is evident from the various performance criteria (predicted and analysis of variance results).

Practical implications
– The practical implication of the study involves development of a software application with a back-end database which would be interfaced with a computer program based on PLSR algorithm for estimation of model parameters and the control limit for the monitoring chart. It would help in easy and real-time detection of faults.

Originality/value
– This study concerns the application of a PLSR-based monitoring strategy to a centrifugal casting process engaged in the production of worm wheel.