企业社会责任感知情境下消费者道德伪善的形成机理研究

本研究将心理学领域的道德伪善与企业社会责任相结合,将消费者企业社会责任响应中企业特征、产品特征以及消费者特征三个层次的调节变量引入概念模型,利用结构方程和多元回归方法,从经济理性和感性角度探讨了消费者道德伪善的形成机理。研究结果显示,企业社会责任信息刺激下,消费者态度和购买行为之间存在不一致性,表现出道德伪善性。企业能力和产品感知质量在消费者态度向购买行为转化过程中存在显著的正向调节效应,消费者表现出很强的经济特征;但是,面子意识在消费者态度向购买行为转化过程中不存在显著的调节效应。     

De l'usage des sciences cognitives dans l'analyse des politiques publiques

Depuis les années 1980 les approches cognitives des politiques publiques rencontrent un grand succès. Nous nous interrogeons ici sur leur contenu en le confrontant à la cognition telle que la pensent les sciences du même nom (principalement ici la psychologie cognitive) qualifiée de cognition forte. Après avoir défini trois types d'intégration des sciences cognitives aux sciences sociales (terminologique, méthodologique et théorique), nous cherchons à classer plusieurs approches de politiques publiques en fonction de notre taxinomie. Nous observons que dans la majorité des cas, les références à la cognition ne visent pas à transférer une théorie d'une discipline à l'autre. La cognition étudiée par les analyses des politiques publiques est le plus souvent une cognition faible, sauf exceptions. Nous concluons en examinant les enjeux épistémologiques soulevés par ces dernières et tâchons d'avancer quelques pistes pour expliquer ce phénomène.     

External and Internal Consistency of User Evaluations

User evaluations may be useful to improve the quality of public services if they are consistent with service characteristics (i.e., external consistency) and user satisfaction (i.e., internal consistency). This article analyses the internal and external consistency of user evaluations of water services in Nicaragua. Internal consistency is assessed through item-total correlations, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and factor analysis. External consistency is analyzed through ordered logit and regression models. Results show a considerable degree of internal consistency. However, user evaluations are only partially consistent with service performance as personal characteristics also influence individual perceptions of the overall service, water pressure, system reliability, and water quality.     

‘Lending by numbers’: credit scoring and the constitution of risk within American consumer credit

Abstract

This paper examines how statistical credit-scoring technologies, sanctioned by the state in the interests of promoting equality, became applied by lenders to the problem of controlling levels of default within American consumer credit. However, these technologies, constituting consumers as ‘risks’, are themselves seen to be problematic, subject to their own conceived sets of methodological, procedural and temporal risks. Nevertheless, as this article will show, such technologies have increasingly been applied to other areas of consumer lending, thus interpreting a wider array of operational contingencies in terms of risk. Finally, it is argued that, since the 1980s, the constitution of credit consumers as risks has been deployed to new ends through technologies of ‘profit scoring’ and new practices of ‘risk pricing’.     

Asylum Seekers Along the U.S.-Canada Border

Abstract

Given the large numbers of people fleeing their homelands, social workers are likely to encounter refugees from all over the world. Although the social work profession has a mandate to work with disenfranchised populations, limited attention has been paid to providing services to refugees. Residents of the largest refugee shelter in the U.S. were interviewed about their claims. These findings can help social workers understand the situations refugees come from as well as processes they go through in applying for legal status. With this information, it is possible to identify roles social workers can play with this vulnerable population.     

Cue utilization in the product authentication process: a framework and research agenda for product counterfeit prevention

Scholars suggest that consumers rely on heuristics to evaluate products. They employ both extrinsic and intrinsic cues to evaluate product quality and utilize the same cues to differentiate between counterfeit and genuine products. This has far-reaching public health, economic, product authentication, and even criminal justice policy implications due to the emerging ideas of criminalizing the purchase of counterfeit goods. In order to predict the viability and the possible effects of such a policy, a thorough understanding of consumer attitudes toward counterfeits, purchase motivation, and behavior, as well as of their ability to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit goods, is imperative. Building on cue utilization theory, this article develops a framework for understanding how consumers develop and utilize heuristics for product authentication in the context of intellectual property infringements and outlines a research agenda. Additionally, it helps to inform the development of prevention and enforcement efforts, in consumer education and enforcement agent training, as well as a basis for policy decisions.     

Conceptualizing Usage in Voting Behavior for Political Marketing: An Application of Consumer Behavior

Political marketing has borrowed and adapted many terms from mainstream marketing, such as image management (segmentation, targeting, and positioning) and consumer (voter). In marketing, the terms “user” and “usage” have been established, yet their application to political marketing is less clear. This paper analyzes the feasibility and usefulness of usage in the political context. Drawing from the literature on usage, a model is developed and applied to four voting environments: Britain, Australia, Russia, and Belarus. One critical factor that emerges is the concept of choice, whereby the voter may chose to indicate their preference for one party yet be forced to use a different party as chosen by collective choice. Another issue is the potential for habitual voting behavior to limit decision making. It is concluded that usage needs to be contextualized specifically for political marketing.     

Comparing the Politics of Hydraulic Fracturing in New York,Colorado, and Texas

The purpose of this article is to analyze perceptions and activities of policy actors, who are actively involved in or knowledgeable about the politics of hydraulic fracturing in New York, Colorado, and Texas. The analysis is guided by research questions drawn from the Advocacy Coalition Framework that focus on policy actors’ policy positions, problem perceptions, political capacity, activities, and interactions. In doing so, we examine the differences between those policy actors who are opposed to hydraulic fracturing relative to those who support hydraulic fracturing across the three states using data from online surveys administered in 2013 and 2014. The results show polarization between opponents and proponents in their policy positions on hydraulic fracturing, which are associated with problem perceptions. Proponents and opponents of hydraulic fracturing also have different capacities, activities, and interactions. The results are similar across states but not without nuanced differences, including greater polarization in New York, higher levels of government support for proponents of hydraulic fracturing in Texas, and more frequent coalition building in Colorado.     

The advocacy coalition framework in Japan: Contributions to policy process studies and the challenges involved

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF), a unified framework for understanding the policy process, has been applied in various countries and regions; however, there are few contributions from Japan, despite seemingly favorable conditions for applying it. An exploration of what hinders ACF applications in Japan is worthwhile for developing the ACF as a framework for comparative policy process studies across various social and political settings. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review previous Japanese ACF studies. Our review found that Japanese ACF studies are fewer in number, have less coverage of policy fields, and have less methodological diversity and transparency than international trends. While most of the Japanese ACF studies supported the basic hypotheses of the ACF, we found a need to refine some hypotheses and research methods of the ACF studies. We also discuss the background factors in the inactivity of ACF studies in Japan and suggest solutions for it.     

Online penny auctions and the protection of the consumer under EU law

This paper examines online penny auctions, which currently attract consumer traffic but pose consumer risks also. It discusses pressing questions such as whether they are scams, entertainment shopping or gambling. It shows that though they cannot readily be considered as scams, they are suspiciously risky for consumers. Moreover, contrary to what penny auctioneers suggest, they do not allow for consumer shopping. They also share several characteristics with gambling and therefore, the possibility of legally classifying them as such is worth exploring. If they are not gambling, consumer protection legislation is fully applicable to them and can satisfactorily protect penny consumers. If penny auctions are legally classified as gambling however, protection will greatly be enhanced; they will (additionally) be subjected to strict and detailed gambling laws at least in the UK, where a mature gambling regulatory regime exists. Certain disadvantages of labeling penny auctions as gambling can relatively easily be remedied through suitably adjusting gambling laws. The paper concludes by suggesting possible approaches of legal regulation of this new online phenomenon.