Decision最新文献

While previous studies have examined the influence of store atmospherics and social factors independently, limited research has investigated their synergistic impacts across cultures. In particular, the interactions between ambient scents, companionship influences, and cross-cultural shopping customs remain underexplored. Therefore, this study investigates how ambient scents influence retail shopping behaviors with a companion across cultures. Data were collected via surveys administered to customers in Polish and Indian shopping malls (N = 579), examining the impact of detected fragrances on time spent, money spent, purchase decisions, cognitive responses, and attitudes. Shopping with a companion in a scented environment has a more positive influence on time spent, money spent and impulse purchases in India than in Poland. There is no difference between these two cultures regarding cognitive responses to a scented retail environment, but there are significant differences for attitudinal responses and repurchase intentions. We found a positive association between the consumer rating of the shopping environment in terms of the ambient scent and the amount of money spent in India, but not in Poland. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for optimizing atmospheric design according to cultural customs around shopping companionships.

The complexity of the decision-making problems being analysed has led to the development of multiple multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. One of the more recent methods belonging to this group is the evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) method. To date, it has found extensive use in solving real-world decision-making problems and has seen many extensions to input data types other than real numbers. One of these is the EDAS method for group decision-making in a fuzzy environment. This method aggregates individual evaluations of decision-makers into a group evaluation using the arithmetic mean. This may result in equal group ratings despite the variety of individual ratings, making it difficult or even impossible to rank alternatives because the EDAS algorithm will be blocked. The paper proposes a new fuzzy extension of EDAS called the PFEDAS method for group decision-making. The main difference between the proposed method and the original one is that at the initial stage the individual decision matrices are not aggregated into a group matrix but are transformed into matrices of alternatives. As a result, the new PFEDAS method is based on the initial data instead of their averaged values which allows a more accurate comparison of alternatives. Using a numerical example, the PFEDAS method is compared with other similar methods known from the literature.

The Indian textile industry, a significant contributor to economic growth, is interconnected with trade, gender and environment. However, it generates significant waste, particularly for women, who bear a disproportionate burden of environmental degradation, given their positioning within the textile manufacturing chain. Trade policies that promote sustainable practices and gender equality can mitigate environmental risks and provide economic opportunities for women. Initiatives like fair trade and eco-labels can ensure women’s labour is valued and environmental standards are upheld. Policies that promote women’s access to resources, such as land and credit, can contribute to more sustainable and equitable economic development outcomes. India is promoting sustainable trade practices to minimize environmental impacts, including stringent environmental regulations, eco-friendly products and circular technologies. This thematic review of literature study analyzes existing studies on the Indian textile sector, focusing on female workforce, employment types and the relationship among gender, trade and environment. The main finding is the ambiguous linkage among trade and the socio-economic condition of female employees in the Indian textile sector, given its environmental underpinnings.

Functional foods and drinks benefit human health beyond adequate nutritional effects. The rising popularity of functional beverages (FBs) is associated, among others, with their convenience and capacity to meet consumer needs. This research study aimed to explore the predictors of consumers’ intentions toward functional beverages FBs and develop guidelines for how producers and retailers could develop adequate strategies regarding the products. The online questionnaire survey examined consumers’ willingness to purchase (WTP) FBs in three categories: (i) yogurts, kefirs; (ii) isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic drinks; (iii) smoothie drinks, and fruit/vegetable cocktails. The questionnaire considered consumers’ values, attitudes, and intentions toward FBs. A four-stage hierarchical multiple regression was undertaken. Predictors of WTP products from the selected groups differed. Women were more willing to buy fruit and vegetable-based FBs than men. Reward from using functional foods was the strongest predictor of consumers’ WTP dairy FBs and sports drinks. We suggest conducting an experimental study in the future, which should allow us to best determine cause-and-effect relationships between values and attitudes and WTP FBs. Food habits are essential determinants of consumer intentions toward FBs; hence, we suggest promoting healthy nutrition habits within public–private partnerships. Retailers that offer health foods and employ societal retailing may disclose this information in sustainability reporting. The originality of this study resides in designing a model for assessing consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward FBs belonging to three selected categories. Previous studies were usually focused on the functional food market in Asian countries. We examined consumers’ WTP FBs in a European country.

The Internet has become an integral part of almost every individual’s life. People look forward to the Internet for almost every possible requirement, whether shopping, business, knowledge, entertainment, social interaction, sports, or anything else. One of the most pertinent aspects of the internet is tracking and recording activities that occur online. This tracking allows advertisers to show ads based on individuals’ online behavior. Online behavioral targeting is termed online behavioral advertising (OBA). Existing studies have identified the predictors of customers' behavioral intentions toward OBA attempts based on perceived costs and perceived benefits. This study examines the moderating effect of consumer awareness on OBA acceptance or rejection. The researchers applied a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach with SPSS AMOS to test the model fit, construct reliability and validity, and proposed research hypotheses with field data gathered with the help of a structured questionnaire. The researchers found OBA relevance and OBA credibility to be the significant factors that affect customer acceptance of OBA. Privacy concerns and creepiness were identified as the factors affecting OBA avoidance. The study also established that subjective persuasion knowledge positively moderates the relationship between OBA relevance and OBA acceptance.

This study investigates the managerial intent—whether opportunistic or signaling—behind real earnings management (REM) actions taken to meet the loss avoidance threshold by examining their impact on future performance, whether negative or positive. The focus is on the impact of REM through overproduction, as well as selling, general, and administrative expenses (SGAX), both in aggregate and individually, on return on assets (ROA) and cash flow from operations (CFO). Additionally, the study delves into the impact of three components of SGAX, namely marketing expenses (MRKX), welfare and training expenses (WTX), and other general and administrative expenses (OGAX)—separately. To estimate REM proxies, this research utilizes Srivastava’s (2019) models, which account for variation in a firm’s competitive strategy. It applies panel regression analysis on observations from a sample frame consisting of 1444 non-financial enterprises spanning from 2005 to 2019. The findings reveal that firms motivated to meet the loss avoidance threshold and exhibiting REM, particularly through SGAX, experience a negative ROA in later years. The study observes similar implications for MRKX and OGAX. Furthermore, firms engaging in REM through OGAX witnessed unfavorable CFO implications. The study does not observe any impact of REM through overproduction and WTX on future performance. The robustness tests corroborate these findings, and additionally indicate that SGAX and WTX-focused REM negatively impact CFO, while overproduction-focused REM adversely impacts ROA. The results suggest that manager exercise REM opportunistically to avoid losses, highlighting the need for regulatory intervention to address the threshold mentality among Indian firms.

Although downloads of mobile apps worldwide have increased constantly over the years, they necessarily require continued use for marketers and brands to tap into this immensely profitable industry. We used cognitive dissonance theory and integrated it with the investment model in the context of mobile applications to explore whether continued app use necessarily involves dissonance-reducing mechanisms, given that users, mainly those younger in age, assume that there should be an app for everything. This study explores the ontological complexity of mobile apps with the help of qualitative research design to understand individuals’ cognitive and behavioural patterns in the use and post-use phases of the decision-making process. Using thematic analysis the study explored varied cognitive and emotional aspects of dissonance arousal in mobile app use and post-use instances and provides interesting insights that benefit firms in ensuring their effective use.

Drawing upon institutional theory, we investigate how companies react to coercive pressures which impose anti-corruption disclosure practices. We adopt the concept of change in the institutionalized field and investigate the impact of the natural experiment of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) implementation on a company’s choice for disclosing its anti-corruption policy. We examine the relationship between firm linkages with the external environment, proxied by board independence and ownership dispersion, and anti-corruption disclosure. We use a sample of 72 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange over the period of 2015–2019 that were subject to the NFRD legislation. The evidence from the Tobit model shows that the linkages with the external environment differentiate company reactions to the implementation of the mandatory reporting legislation. In particular, greater company linkages via interdependent directors and ownership dispersion increase the scope of the anti-corruption disclosure in the post-NFRD period. Our study offers policy implications suggesting that corporate scrutiny and exposure to external constituencies may improve implementation of legislation into company practice and enhance anti-corruption disclosure.

Mental accounting refers to a set of cognitive processes in which people code, categorize and evaluate money depending on where it came from and what they are going to spend it on, and this influences the way they make decisions. The concept of mental accounting violates the principles of standard economic theories, which consider money to be fungible or interchangeable. When people mentally account, they prefer to keep accounts separate and not to move money from one mental account to another. The current study aimed to investigate how people mentally account by designing a tax compliance laboratory experiment and using a variety of scenarios. In the first scenario, which involved different tax rate variations, participants were asked to pay tax on their earned and capital incomes. The results showed that participants formed separate mental accounts and treated their earned and capital incomes differently. Specifically, when faced with high tax rates of 60%, tax evasion was significantly higher for earned (labour) incomes compared to capital incomes. This willingness to cheat in order to protect labour income, suggests that individuals value their earned income more compared to income received from a given endowment (capital income). Interestingly, in subsequent scenarios involving different audit probabilities and fine rates, no mental accounting effects were found. In conclusion, this study provides initial experimental insights into the effects of mental accounting on taxpayer’s compliance, but further research is needed to explain nuanced findings and investigate tax decisions for different reference points and other sources of income.

Political goals are often sought by groups, whether they be political parties, trade associations, interest groups, or of any other sort. The formalities of modern political systems rely on individual voting, but group identities shape both individual behavior and the workings of government. To build a metaphor from the natural sciences, fluids (groups) are composed of molecules (individuals), but the fluid has properties of its own that affect its motion (actions) and interactions with other fluids (groups). This paper develops a model based on fluid dynamics relationships to explain group interactions based on observable group characteristics. It complements many strands of literature by explaining the circumstances in which existing models are valid, and in which they are incomplete. In so doing, it does not refute any existing models, but links them together and addresses their shortcomings.