Examining Commuters’ Cognitive Responses to Minibus Taxi Advertising

Abstract

Limited scholarly studies have been conducted on transit advertising in general, but even more so in South Africa. The purpose of the current study was to examine commuters’ cognitive responses to minibus taxi advertising by measuring their: (1) noting of minibus taxi advertising; and (2) recall of elements in minibus taxi advertisements. A survey was administered by trained fieldworkers to a quota-based sample of 398 regular minibus taxi commuters at a major taxi rank in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, South Africa. The results revealed that minibus taxi advertising has the potential to attract commuters’ attention, since the vast majority of the respondents regularly note advertisements on passing minibus taxis. The findings also revealed that some sub-groups in the sample demonstrated different cognitive responses. It was furthermore found that the commuting respondents typically recalled visual cues, colours and branding elements of minibus taxi advertising. The unique contribution of the study is that it is one of the first to examine the effectiveness of minibus taxi advertising media on a cognitive level. Thus, from an industry perspective, the study can guide marketers, advertisers and managers in grasping minibus taxi advertising in order to make more effective use of this unique out-of-home (OOH) advertising media platform for their advertising purposes.     

Buying stolen goods: the ambiguity in trading consumer-to-consumer

This study investigates the buying of stolen goods in Denmark. The study consists of a self-report survey based on a representative sample of the general Danish population (n = 2311) and six focus group interviews consisting of both informants experienced with buying stolen goods and of those with no experience (n = 37). The survey showed that 4.8% had bought stolen goods, while 15.7% were uncertain whether they had bought stolen goods. Young people, males, and unemployed were more likely to purchase stolen goods. No clear correlation between income and buying stolen goods was found. Focus groups suggest the buyers of stolen goods did not buy stolen goods because they could not afford legitimate products. We recommend targeting consumers not interested in buying stolen goods with information about how to avoid such activity.     

The network structure of malware development,deployment and distribution

The Internet is a global infrastructure, connecting individuals, regardless of their proximity to one another. But, the ability to connect on such a large scale has also been leveraged to coordinate illicit activities. This has led to the emergence of online illicit networks that have enabled broader participation in cybercrime. Online stolen data markets have been of particular interest to researchers, though the networks involved in the development, deployment and distribution of malicious software are far less explored, despite being intricately tied to the growing issue of cyber security. The current study identifies community structures within a larger network of hackers, malware writers and market actors and examines the underlying characteristics of these networks. Results suggest that the network is composed of modular communities formed largely of weak, non-redundant ties that follow the ubiquitous structure of complex networks. Implications, limitations and directions for future research conclude this paper.     

Naming without shaming: The publication of sanctions in the Dutch financial market

Enforcement agencies increasingly disclose or “name and shame” corporate offenders. This article uses responsive regulation as a framework for an empirical study of the impact of non‐anonymous publication of sanctions in the Dutch financial market. These publications are characterized as “naming without shaming”, because they are used for technical guidance rather than with the intention to shame. The findings show that naming offenders functions as a general deterrent in the market for financial intermediaries, but considerably less so in the capital market. In both markets, the publication of sanctions weakened the impact of enforcement. In the capital market, the publications neutralized the seriousness of offenses and contributed to the image of the regulator as powerless. In the market for financial intermediaries, naming offenders was perceived as stigmatizing shaming and led to defiance, rather than compliance. The case study suggests, however, that the publication of sanctions may provide an opportunity for guidance, provided they contain a moral message, rather than technical instruction.     

Turnout in Germany in the course of time: Life cycle and cohort effects on electoral turnout from 1953 to 2049

The steadily rising share of older voters could lead to them gaining an ever increasing level of political representation compared to younger voters not only because of the imbalance of numbers between the young and the old, but also because turnout rates among the old have always been above-average. The latter argument only applies if the so-called life cycle effect is assumed to be dominant. However, diverse socialisation backgrounds, captured by the cohort effect, also have to be taken into account. It is also unclear what the interplay of these two effects of time implies for future aggregate turnout. Focusing on the German case, we base our analyses on the Repräsentative Wahlstatistik (Representative Electoral Statistic, RES) and population forecasts to estimate consequences of the demographic shifts for all federal elections from 1953 until today, as well as for future elections. First, we calculate life cycle, cohort and period effects on turnout for previous elections by using cohort analysis; second, we apply these net effects to the future age distribution under certain assumptions concerning life cycle and cohort effects. Our results show that the recent decline in turnout is in particular due to negative period effects and (in West Germany) to a minor extent also due to consequences of cohort replacement, whereas changes in the age structure have had a positive effect on turnout since 1990 in both parts of Germany. Additionally, our forecasts suggest that turnout rates will decline and that the over-representation of the old will continue until around 2030 and diminish afterwards in a 'greying' population.     

“The times have changed,the dope has changed”: Women's cooking roles and gender performances in shake methamphetamine markets*

Drug markets are typically portrayed as male dominated, with men occupying the higher positions and women fulfilling the lower positions. Yet, the results of recent work highlight how women's participation and experiences in drug economies varies by the structure and organization of the specific market. We focus on the shake‐and‐bake (“shake”) methamphetamine (meth) market, which seems to have emerged mainly in response to legal attempts to curtail methamphetamine production. We explore how women adapt to structural changes and how they perform gender to navigate a market in which the focus is on personal consumption instead of on monetary gain. By relying on semistructured interviews with 40 women who cooked meth, we identify the gendered strategies they adopt and how these coincide with their position in the drug market. Cooking roles took three forms (partner, lead, and team), and each role was characterized by distinct patterns of gender performance and autonomy (emphasized femininity, matriarchal control, and gender neutral). We show that certain market conditions allow for increased participation among women in meth manufacturing. Yet, even within favorable conditions, variability remains in women's positions and gender performances. The findings highlight the role of organizational and legal context in shaping both the roles women adopt in drug markets and the ways they perform gender.     

Size and scope of the tobacco trade on the darkweb

Globally, tobacco is responsible for the death of approximately 6 million individuals per year. In reaction, governments have enacted tobacco control policies that cope with the harmful effects of the drug. However, these policies have also created geographic price disparities and increased the effort needed to purchase legal tobacco products. The result was the creation of a new illicit tobacco market. While tobacco smuggling continues through conventional avenues, a new generation of traffickers have turned to a different source for the illicit distribution of tobacco – the internet, specifically the darkweb. The purpose of this paper is to describe the size and scope of illicit trafficking of tobacco on cryptomarkets, and the diverse types of tobacco-related products available on the cryptomarkets. Our analysis will provide guidance for policymakers, researchers, and all interested in the illicit trade of tobacco.     

Breaking up a partnership to build a competitive market in Denmark’s ambulance service: how can studies of contract reversals learn from the sociology of markets?

ABSTRACT

paper analyses a case of contract reversal in the market for ambulance services. The paper suggests that the sociology of markets-literature provides insights into market institutions of importance to relations between government and contractors that will benefit contracting out theory. Building on document analysis and interviews with 19 key stakeholders, it is demonstrated how a regional government in Denmark tried to wrestle the service provision from a long-time private provider and create a competitive market, only to discover that the implementation of the new contract was beset by obstacles largely stemming from informal norms in the market and attempts of the existing provider to hamper market entry for challenger firms. The result was a contract reversal: from private provision to government-provided service delivery. The paper contributes to the contracting out literature by providing a more elaborate understanding of the institutional conditions under which contract reversals can take place.     

Votes and Outcomes: Rethinking the Politics-Like-Markets Metaphor

Legislative and political bodies seldom work like markets. This paper revisits the politics-like-market analogies considering the role of logrolling in political representation. These considerations will hopefully facilitate the assessment of the normative implications of the commodification of political consensus. While certainly corroding some of the aspirational and expressive qualities of the political system, logrolling would ensure a greater opportunity for cardinal preferences to be captured in political decision-making.     

Public‐private partnerships in international trade: a lobbying effort from passive to aggressive in the USA?

Public‐private initiatives have been the domain of many governments as they try to shape international trade for their countries. The research presented in this paper indicates that US international businesses are not satisfied with the passive role that has been assumed by the US government and current public‐private partnerships. The evidence suggests that US companies desire a more aggressive role for the federal government in the not too distant future. Public‐private partnerships will be less informational and play an active part in stimulating international trade throughout the world. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications