The National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft: An Examination of the Impact of Brand Associations Attached to the Russian Hockey Players

This research was conducted to investigate whether negative brand associations attached to Russian hockey players impact their draft rankings during the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. A quantitative analysis based on various regression model specifications was used to test whether Russian players were drafted relatively equally to their counterparts in the NHL Entry Draft. The data consisted of the NHL draft picks between 1993 and 2013 and their performance statistics and physical characteristics. The results suggested that Russian players were drafted relatively equal to their counterparts from other countries. Meanwhile, Russian players who played in the CHL before the draft are actually drafted better than Canadians who played in the same league. Hence, the negative brand associations attached to Russians were unlikely to impact their draft rankings. This study redefined the so-called “Russian Factor” from a notion that allegedly damages Russian players’ rankings to one that enhances their rankings.

Brand Associations of Minor Hockey Tournaments: Understanding the Rep Hockey Parents' Perspective

Tournaments and other hockey-related activities have been calculated to be a significant driver of tourist dollars for many regions across Canada. The competition to attract teams to participate in tournaments, which benefit the tournament organizers and the communities in which they reside, is significant. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to assess the brand associations that representative (rep) minor hockey parents from Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe Region perceive as relevant when considering ideal tournaments for their child to participate in. Brand associations have been classified as the attributes, benefits, or attitudes one uses to develop a perception of a product or service. To investigate the current study, 30 interviews were conducted using a laddering interview technique. Findings indicate that there are seven attributes and nine benefits that impact a tournament’s brand association including: competition, tournament operations, accommodations, bonding, fun, parity, and time management. The interrelationship between the identified attributes and benefits is discussed while recommendations and directions for future research are presented.

Blocking Top-down awareness of Kanizsa Figures: An ERP Investigation into Bottom-up Processing of Illusory Contours

Neural models of the processing of illusory contour (ICs) diverge from one another in terms of their emphasis on bottom-up versus top-down constituents. The current study uses a dichoptic fusion paradigm to block top-down awareness of ICs in order to examine possible bottom-up effects. Group results indicate that the N170 ERP component is particularly sensitive to ICs at central occipital sites when top-down awareness of the stimulus is permitted. Furthermore, single-subject statistics reveal that the IC N170 ERP effect is highly variable across individuals in terms of timing and topographical spread. The results suggest that the ubiquitous N170 effect to ICs found in the literature depends, at least in part, on participants’ awareness of the stimulus. Therefore a strong bottom-up model of IC processing at the time of the N170 is unlikely.

Alleviating Negative Spillover of a Brand-Harm Crisis: Sensegiving vs. Sensehiding in a Competitor’s Denial Response Strategy

A brand-harm crisis not only affects the scandalized brand, but may also influence competing brands. Thus, marketers of competing brands need to develop response strategies for reducing negative spillover effects. This research takes a competitor’s perspective and introduces two types of response strategies used to convey a sense of denial: sensegiving and sensehiding. It also investigates how the effects of response strategies are contingent upon brand relatedness and individual thinking styles. The results from three experimental studies show that using a sensegiving strategy reduces negative spillover effects more than using a sensehiding strategy. Additionally, the studies suggest that the observed difference in the effects of response strategy tends to be greater when the level of brand relatedness is high than when it is low. However, individual thinking styles (holistic vs. analytic) seem to have little impact on consumers’ responses to the two denial strategies. This research contributes to the brand-harm crisis literature and provides novel insights into a competitor’s response to potential negative spillover effects.

Buyer information and brand Choice behavior in markets with asymmetries

This thesis Entitled Buyer information and brand choice behaviour in markets with asymmetries.The period of transition set in by globalization and liberalization has ensued a onsiderable degree of homogeneity with western societies with respect to quantity and quality of goods and services.The study is aimed at finding out how the buyers adapt to the prevalent complex and dynamic market configuration by taking an archetypical situation of information gathering and brand- choice decision of select household consumer durables.The study was based on a set of 301 sample respondents who were either first time purchasers or repeat purchasers for household use, of the items under study in the sample area comprising of rural, urban and semi-urban areas. Data were collected using interview schedule and analysis of the same was done with standard statistical computer programs.Buyer confidence as perceived by buyers with respect to information acquisition and brand-choice represents the felt competence to effectively function in the market.In general, lower levels of education, income and occupation showed lower levels of search. The oldest were also low searchers. The repeat purchasers of the product searched less than the first purchasers. The most important source of information was word of mouth or information from others followed by television advertisements. The least important source of information was billboards, displays and similar forms of advertisements.The second factor is characterized by items representing ‘social attributes’ like, use by many others, use by peers, recommendation by significant others and reputation of the brand. The third factor represents ‘susceptibility to incentives and promotions’.

Public and student awareness science: recreational science as a catalyst

When discussing the traditional and new missions of higher education (1996 Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century) Jacques Delors stated that "Excessive attraction to social sciences has broken equilibrium of available graduates for workforce, thus causing doubts of graduates and employers on the quality of knowledge provided by higher education". Likewise, when discussing the progress of science and technology, the 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education concluded that "Another challenge concerts the latest advancements of Science, the sine qua non of sustainable development"; and that “with Information Technology, the unavoidable invasion of virtual reality has increased the distance between industrial and developing countries". Recreational Science has a long tradition all over the Educational World; it aims to show the basic aspects of Science, aims to entertain, and aims to induce thinking. Until a few years ago, this field of knowledge consisted of a few books, a few kits and other classical (yet innovative) ways to popularize the knowledge of Nature and the laws governing it. In Spain, the interest for recreational science has increased in the last years. First, new recreational books are being published and found in bookstores. Second the number of Science-related museums and exhibits is increasing. And third, new television shows are produced and new short science-based, superficial sketches are found in variety programs. However, actual programs in Spanish television dealing seriously with Science are scarce. Recreational Science, especially that related to physical phenomena like light or motion, is generally found at Science Museums because special equipment is required. On the contrary, Science related mathematics, quizzes and puzzles use to gather into books, e.g. the extensive collections by Martin Gardner. However, lately Science podcasts have entered the field of science communication. Not only traditional science journals and television channels are providing audio and video podcasts, but new websites deal exclusively with science podcasts, in particular on Recreational Science. In this communication we discuss the above mentioned trends and show our experience in the last two years in participating at Science Fairs and university-sponsored events to attract students to science and technology careers. We show a combination of real examples (e.g., mathemagic), imagination, use of information technology, and use of social networks. We present as well an experience on designing a computational, interactive tool to promote chemistry among high school, prospective students using computers ("Dancing with Bionanomolecules"). Like the concepts related to Web 2.0, it has been already proposed that a new framework for communication of science is emerging, i.e., Science Communication 2.0, where people and institutions develop new innovative ways to explain science topics to diverse publics – and where Recreational Science is likely to play a leading role

Morphological awareness intervention : does severity play a role in spelling-reading improvement?

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Las comunidades virtuales como una herramienta para la perdurabilidad empresarial

Las compañías desde su creación, están en la constante búsqueda de la perdurabilidad en el tiempo; es decir buscan el desarrollo sostenible de su negocio y para esto se encuentran con el reto no solo de mantener el personal idóneo y motivado, sino de hacer seguimiento y gestión a sus finanzas, adquirir nuevas tecnologías y generar nuevos productos o negocios, acordes a las necesidades de sus clientes. La implementación de nuevas tecnologías como la Web 2.0, han facilitado a las organizaciones esta tarea; gracias a la retroalimentación y mejora permanente de los productos, que se obtiene a través de la interacción con los clientes, en las plataformas virtuales donde se tiene la posibilidad de: Comercializar, mercadear y publicitar un producto, además de crear prototipos, conocer intereses, necesidades y gustos, que retroalimentan de manera positiva o negativa a la compañía en procesos de preventa y postventa. A través de este estudio exploratorio, se pretende sensibilizar a los directivos de las diferentes organizaciones, frente a la importancia del uso e implementación de nuevas tecnologías como Second Life, una herramienta practica, económica y eficiente para obtener mayor reconocimiento de la marca y lograr competitividad en el mercado global. Teniendo claridad que parte del éxito que se consiga con la implementación de esta herramienta, está determinado por el cambio en la estructura de la compañía y el modelo mental del CEO o líder.

New Brand PowerPoint template for teaching - how to use it

This short video show you how to download the template and use it with PowerPoint to create new presentations and apply it to existing presentations.

New Brand PowerPoint template - good practice advice

This short video introduces the new teaching templates and provides advice about good slide design

New Brand PowerPoint templates for teaching

The templates plus a couple of videos showing how to use them

Keeping Powerpoint On-Brand

These PowerPoint files (Office 2003 .ppt and Office 2010 .pptx) include brand-conformant colour swatches that can be applied to text and shapes in your own slides and posters. It also includes a scalable version of the University logo.

HTC brand reinforcement – �an attempt to create a global brand leader

Research Skills Presentation

SB.TV's successful yet unconventional establishment of a Brand based solely on Social Network Success may present a problem in long-term survival

Research Proposal in SB.TV case study. New dimension to brand model for Web 2.0 success