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“Regions” as brands: an empirical validation of consumer-based brand equity framework and demonstration of cross-over effect
No full textPurpose: This study aims to empirically validate the holistic consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) framework and establishment of the cross-over effect using consumer preferences for wine “regions.” Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilize a sample of 275 regular wine purchasers in Australia, who were aged above 30 years old and had consumed regional wine in the last 3 months through an online consumer panel survey. Findings: By testing competing CBBE models, the main research model was found to have the greatest predictive ability, due to its inclusion of both the rational and emotional paths and the cross-over effect between consumer brand judgment and brand feeling. This paper indicates that consumers enhance brand equity and develop a strong ongoing relationship with regional wine brands by simultaneously engaging in both mental behavior paths, where, in the meantime, rational processing has a cross-over effect on emotional processing. Originality/value: This study expands the brand management literature by answering the future research on the CBBE model identified by Hall et al. (2021). Moreover, it establishes the underexplored cross-over effect within the CBBE literature. Furthermore, it adds to the marketing and wine-marketing literature by extending the concept of the brand to other attributes in consumer choice, such as a wine region as outlined by Giacomarra et al. (2020). Thus, this study advances the existing branding knowledge in a practical sense, which enables regional wine marketers and wine retailers to undertake promotional and product development strategies accordingly
Who doesn’t like sport? A taxonomy of non-fans
No full textThe motives and behaviour of sports fans are heavily researched. Past work has distinguished “fans” and “supporters” on engagement with teams or athletes and identified “non-fans” who have little interest in sport; the latter are rarely investigated further. Sport’s ubiquity, both socially and in media, means that, unusually, disinterested people are often interacting with sport. A better understanding of non-fans could assist strategies to grow sports markets and encourage engagement. This paper describes a study, using both theory-driven and machine learning approaches, of types of self-identified non-fans of a professional sport. A nationally representative sample of 3,496 adults enabled investigation of non-fandom. Five segments of non-fans are identified, differing in terms of consumption of and passion for professional sport. There is a clear hierarchy of likelihood to consume, driven by social contacts, experiences and access to the product, and impeded by satisfying alternatives. To enable easier practical application of this work, a simplified (four question) segmentation process is also presented. This simplified process maintains a high degree of classification accuracy
Does it pay to treat employees well?: The case of informal finance
No full textWe examine the role of employee treatment in firms’ access to informal finance in the form of trade credit. We find that better employee treatment improves the amount of informal finance a firm can obtain. This effect is stronger in environments with (1) more intensive product market competition, (2) highly customized inputs, (3) lower social capital and (4) high demand for skilled labor. Furthermore, the role of employee treatment varies according to a firm's financial health and liquidity. Employee treatment becomes less important for firms having a low level of liquidity but is more pronounced for firms experiencing financial distress
The effects of digital platform expectations, information schema congruity and behavioural factors on mobility as a service (MaaS) adoption
No full textPurpose: Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a new model of bundling personal transport options from multiple providers to provide frictionless service. The model integrates information and service to enable users to search, book and pay through a single digital platform. The aim of MaaS is to minimize individual car ownership and revolutionize personal mobility habits in favour of sustainable modes. Thus, it is important to understand consumers' readiness for MaaS. This study explains the factors that influence MaaS adoption. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive review of the related literature has been conducted, leading to the development of a conceptual model for investigating the key factors that influence MaaS adoption. The model draws upon the digital platform, schema congruity and planned behaviour theories. The model is then tested using structural equation modelling and survey data collected from 331 respondents. Findings: The findings indicate that MaaS information schema congruity, the digital platform's personalizability, customizability, functional integration, network integration and governance of data together with attitude towards MaaS and subjective norm concerning MaaS influence MaaS adoption. Furthermore, MaaS digital platform expectation and MaaS information schema congruity contribute to users' attitude towards MaaS use. Originality/value: The paper highlights the design and informational attributes of MaaS platforms that influence their adoption and contributes an integrated research model that links digital platform characteristics, behavioural factors and information schema congruity. Future research can use the constructs and measures we developed in this study to build deeper understanding of what contributes to the success of digital platforms
How COVID-19 transformed the landscape of transportation research: an integrative scoping review and roadmap for future research
No full textIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, scholars mobilized their efforts to address its far-reaching societal problems. With mobility restrictions being front and center of the pandemic, a new cohort of transportation science was developed within a short period of time. Here, we examine more than 400 studies related to COVID-19 published across transportation journals during 2020 and 2021. The aim is (i) to scope this newly developed segment of transportation research, (ii) outline the diversity of pandemic-related issues across various divisions of the transportation field and (iii) provide a roadmap for the future of this line of research. Common themes are identified and existing congruence and discrepancies across findings are discussed. Results show that although conventional methods of transportation research were adopted in virtually all COVID-19 studies, no pre-pandemic study was particularly instrumental in the development of this segment of transportation literature. The COVID-19 segment appears to have developed its own independent knowledge foundation, in that, it does not systemically and frequently look back at any particular pre-pandemic reference. Potential impacts of this newly developed segment on the metrics of transportation journals are quantified and discussed
Moving Garments Meditations: Exercises for reimagining fashion through sound and touch.
No full textBACKGROUND: The role of embodied knowledge and sensory creative practice in fashion is an emerging and highly relevant area of academic enquiry. The fashion industry functions through a visual dominance framework concealing the means of production and desensitizing individuals from the realities of fast fashion supply chains. In contrast, this creative work encourages critical provocations on fashion as an expanded sensory practice by incorporating yoga and meditation as tools to feel through these critical issues. CONTRIBUTION: The creative practice conference organised in conjunction with RMIT University and ArtEZ University of the Arts is the first to present peer reviewed and curated fashion practice research. This work consists of an AI-guided performance integrating novel ways of embodying and feeling fashion industry’s critical issues. This creative work offers new knowledge at the intersection of aesthetic sustainability, practices of care in fashion and creative practice and social justice. This intersection also provides the benefit of the expansion of critical and creative academic methodologies to tackle critical fashion issues with innovation and sensibility. SIGNIFICANCE: This performance was presented at The Dialogical Bodies conference at the Swedish School of Textiles in Boräs (April 2024). Conference submission was peer reviewed by top scholars in the field and presented amongst 40 fashion researchers and practitioners including Central Saint Martins, Parsons and Aalto. The conference proceedings were edited by leading fashion scholars: Ricarda Bigolin (RMIT), Daniëlle Brugemann (ArtEZ) and Clemens Thornquist (Swedish School of Textiles). Invitation to submit a paper or the special issue of the online journal APRIA on ‘Dialogical Bodies’ after peer-reviewed process. This creative work has also been awarded the School of Fashion and Textiles seed funding and has a successful ethics application.</p
Artificial Intelligence in nursing: trustworthy or reliable?
No full textBackground: Trustworthiness in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation is a priority for governments, researchers and clinicians; however, clinicians have highlighted trust and confidence as barriers to their acceptance of AI within a clinical application. While there is a call to design and develop AI that is considered trustworthy, AI still lacks the emotional capability to facilitate the reciprocal nature of trust. Aim: This paper aims to highlight and discuss the enigma of seeking or expecting trust attributes from a machine and, secondly, reframe the interpretation of trustworthiness for AI through evaluating its reliability and validity as consistent with the use of other clinical instruments. Results: AI interventions should be described in terms of competence, reliability and validity as expected of other clinical tools where quality and safety are a priority. Nurses should be presented with treatment recommendations that describe the validity and confidence of prediction with the final decision for care made by nurses. Future research should be framed to better understand how AI is used to deliver care. Finally, there is a responsibility for developers and researchers to influence the conversation about AI and its power towards improving outcomes. Conclusion: The sole focus on demonstrating trust rather than the business-as-usual requirement for reliability and validity attributes during implementation phases may result in negative experiences for nurses and clinical users. Implications for practice: This research will have significant implications for the way in which future nursing is practised. As AI-based systems become a part of routine practice, nurses will be faced with an increasing number of interventions that require complex trust systems to operate. For any AI researchers and developers, understanding the complexity of trust and creditability in the use of AI in nursing will be crucial for successful implementation. This research will contribute and assist in understanding nurses’ role in this change.</p
Shrinkage induced crack control of concrete integrating synthetic textile and natural cellulosic fibres: Comparative review analysis
No full textShrinkage cracks pose significant challenges to the long-term durability of concrete structures, and it can be effectively address by incorporating various types of fibres. Synthetic textile fibres show a significant 10–50 % shrinkage reduction, while natural cellulosic fibres achieve a comparable 5–30 % reduction. This improvement is attributed to the bridging and anchorage effects between fibres and the cement matrix, enhancing overall concrete performance. However, the factors such as fibre length, diameter, volume fraction and characteristics have significant effect on shrinkage performance. This paper aims to present a comprehensive analysis of these critical mechanisms and factors that impact the shrinkage behaviour in both synthetic textile and natural cellulosic fibre-reinforced concrete. The inclusion of fibres creates a three-dimensional fibre matrix within the concrete that provide an internal effect to restrain the absorb water and it reduce the shrinkage of the concrete. Moreover, the presence of fibres introduces a secondary reinforcing mechanism to release tension during the drying process, thereby preventing crack propagation. The highly porous nature of the cellulose structure enhances the porosity of the concrete, creating cross-linked pathways for water evaporation. However, pre wetted cellulose fibre mitigates drying shrinkage by providing internal curing of the concrete. Furthermore, various physical, chemical, and combined surface modification methods have been used to improve the properties of natural fibres.</p
Effects of mild acid pre-treatment on the co-pyrolysis behaviour of biosolids and wheat straw
No full textCo-pyrolysis of biosolids (BS) and wheat straw (WS), as well as their treated variants, was performed in a fluidised bed reactor at 500 ℃. Under mild acid pre-treatment conditions (3% H2SO4 and 25 ℃), demineralisation was the dominating effect of pre-treatment on BS, while it was hemicellulose hydrolysis for WS. Consequently, the co-pyrolysis of raw biosolids (RBS) or treated biosolids (TBS) with raw wheat straw (RWS) or treated wheat straw (TWS) had varying effects on product distribution and product compositions. The co-pyrolysis of RBS+RWS gave the lowest bio-oil yield (36.3 wt%) and highest gas yield (23.1 wt%). In contrast, the highest bio-oil yield (45.8 wt%) and lowest gas yield (14.4 wt%) occurred during the co-pyrolysis of TBS+TWS. The degree of synergy in product distribution was strongest in TBS+RWS followed by RBS+RWS and was weakest in TBS+TWS, demonstrating the catalytic effect of inherent minerals on organic matter devolatilisation and char cracking reactions during co-pyrolysis. Biosolids pre-treatment alone performed competitively with BS co-pyrolysis alone with respect to enhancement in biochar properties producing biochar having 15–18 MJ/kg calorific value, 43–51 wt% carbon content, 0.7–1.0 fuel ratio, ⁓30% organic matter retention, and 27–41 wt% ash content. However, combining BS co-pyrolysis and pre-treatment gave the lowest reduction in biochar total heavy metal concentration. Furthermore, bio-oil compositions were influenced by pre-treatment and/or co-pyrolysis, increasing the yield (area%) of phenols to 25.4%, furans to 24.8%, anhydrosugars to 7.8%, and aromatic hydrocarbons to 20.6%. Lastly, pre-treatment alone weakened gas production while co-pyrolysis combined with pre-treatment impacted the pyrolysis gas profile, switching between light hydrocarbons and carbon oxides (CO and CO2). Overall, co-pyrolysis and pre-treatment can each be a standalone strategy for enhancing BS pyrolysis; however, their combination produced greater synergy for generating high value products.</p
Regulating tech-sex and managing image-based sexual abuse: an Australian perspective
No full textA range of technologies now exist to facilitate sexual desire, pleasure and intimacy. Colloquially known as tech-sex, the growth in the use of such technologies has created a range of new opportunities for sexual expression and connection. Alongside these benefits are harms arising out of their non-consensual use. Drawing on a case study examining management of image-based sexual abuse as part of Australia’s recently reformed online safety laws, we argue for a regulatory approach that is both facilitative in showing due respect for adult sexual agency and protective in mitigating harm caused to affected individuals. Operating along a facilitative-protective regulatory axis, such an approach offers the potential to be suitably responsive to both the opportunities and challenges faced by adult individuals who engage with such technologies.</p