The importance of importance : its impact on decision-making in mall retail categories during an economic downturn

The study examines how, during an economic downturn, the perceived importance of the value offering of retail store categories, as identified by a major international mall operator based in Australia, influences the relationship between consumers’ shopping attitudes and likelihood of purchasing in those categories. The findings show variance in the importance pertaining to retail store categories between those that have and those that have not altered their shopping behaviour. Different mediating effects were found in the major, mini-major, leisure, apparel, and mobile phone categories, suggestive of each group having differing levels of self-interest in the value offerings of each category, thus, symptomatic of dissimilar decision-making strategies for each group. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed.

Maternal report of young children's eating styles. Validation of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire in three ethnically diverse Australian samples

The aim of this study was to validate the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) in three ethnically and culturally diverse samples of mothers in Australia. Confirmatory factor analysis utilising structural equation modelling examined whether the established 8-factor model of the CEBQ was supported in our three populations: (i) a community sample of first-time mothers allocated to the control group of the NOURISH trial (mean child age = 24 months [SD = 1]; N = 244); (ii) a sample of immigrant Indian mothers of children aged 1–5 years (mean age = 34 months [SD = 14]; N = 203), and (iii) a sample of immigrant Chinese mothers of children aged 1–4 years (mean age = 36 months [SD = 14]; N = 216). The original 8-factor model provided an acceptable fit to the data in the NOURISH sample with minor post hoc re-specifications (two error covariances on Satiety Responsiveness and an item-factor covariance to account for a cross-loading of an item (Fussiness) on Satiety Responsiveness). The re-specified model showed reasonable fit in both the Indian and Chinese samples. Cronbach’s α estimates ranged from .73 to .91 in the Australian sample and .61–.88 in the immigrant samples. This study supports the appropriateness of the CEBQ in the multicultural Australian context.

The changing motivations of students’ use of lecture podcasts across a semester: An extended theory of planned behaviour approach

We extended the previous work of Moss, O’Connor and White, to include a measure of group norms within the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), to examine the influences on students’ decisions to use lecture podcasts as part of their learning. Participants (N = 90) completed the extended TPB predictors before semester began (Time 1) and mid-semester (Time 2) and reported on their podcast use at mid-semester (Time 2) and end of semester (Time 3). We found that attitudes and perceived social pressures were important in informing intentions at both time points. At Time 1, perceptions of control over performing the behaviour and, at Time 2, perceptions of whether podcast use was normative among fellow students (group norms) also predicted intended podcast use. Intentions to use podcasting predicted self-reported use at both Time 2 and Time 3. These results provide important applied information for educators to encourage student use of novel on-line educational tools.

An extensible framework for analysing resource behaviour using event logs

Business processes depend on human resources and managers must regularly evaluate the performance of their employees based on a number of measures, some of which are subjective in nature. As modern organisations use information systems to automate their business processes and record information about processes’ executions in event logs, it now becomes possible to get objective information about resource behaviours by analysing data recorded in event logs. We present an extensible framework for extracting knowledge from event logs about the behaviour of a human resource and for analysing the dynamics of this behaviour over time. The framework is fully automated and implements a predefined set of behavioural indicators for human resources. It also provides a means for organisations to define their own behavioural indicators, using the conventional Structured Query Language, and a means to analyse the dynamics of these indicators. The framework's applicability is demonstrated using an event log from a German bank.

A toothless chihuahua? : the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, neoliberalism and supermarket power in Australia

During the Senate Inquiry into 'milk price wars' in 2011, Senator Nick Xenophon accused the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of being 'less effective than a toothless Chihuahua'. This follows the ACCC's lack of action regarding the reported abuse of market power of Australia's supermarket duopoly, where an extensive inquiry into the competitiveness of retail prices in 2008 found grocery retailing to be 'workably competitive' despite numerous claims to the contrary. How can farmers' submissions to the inquiry that cite market abuse be reconciled with the ACCC's finding that all is well in the food supply chain? Following an in-depth examination of 53 farmer submissions to the inquiry, we conclude that the findings of the ACCC are commensurate with the neoliberal economisation of the political sphere, where commercial entities 'legitimately' govern beyond their corporate boundaries, often using disciplinary measures that were once exclusive to governments. We argue that such clear structural inequalities between farmers and major corporations is reason to re-regulate markets and reinsert a stronger role for government to 'level the playing field'.

Supermarkets and agro-industrial foods : the strategic manufacturing of consumer trust

There is increasing evidence of a weakened platform of consumer trust in mass produced food products. The resistance shown by consumers to the agro-industrial paradigm is evident in an emergent phase of reflexive consumerism, public reactions to an overly-concentrated retail sector and the rise of alternative food networks such as farmers' markets and organic box schemes. Supermarkets are responding strategically by aiming to manufacture new trust relations with consumers. This paper identifies three key strategies of trust manufacturing: (i) reputational enhancement though the institution of “behind the scenes,” business-to-business private standards; (ii) direct quality claims via private standard certification badges on food products, and ; (iii) discursive claimsmaking through symbolic representations of “authenticity” and “tradition.” Drawing upon the food governance literature and a “visual sociology” of supermarkets and supermarket produce, we highlight how trust is both commoditized and increasingly embedded into the marketing of mass-produced foods.

Exploring differences in driving behaviour across age and years of education of taxi drivers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Despite statistics indicating that the African region has the highest road traffic fatality rate globally, there is limited scientific literature identifying the determinants of driving behaviour. In this study, we explore differences in self-reported driving behaviour across age groups and years of education in a population of 213 drivers from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We hypothesize that younger, less educated drivers will report engaging in more unsafe driving behaviours compared to older, more educated drivers. Contrary to expectations, we found the opposite effect, whereby older, more educated drivers reported engaging in more unsafe driving behaviours than younger, less educated drivers. We explain these findings by describing key characteristics of the sample and cultural ideologies of the region. The findings of this study offer some practical guidance for intervention to address the burden of road traffic injury and death in the African region.

Agility in consumer retail: sense-response alignment through the eyes of customers

In hyper competition, firms that are agile: sensing and responding better to customer requirements tend to be more successful and achieve supernormal profits. In spite of the widely accepted importance of customer agility, research is limited on this construct. The limited research also has predominantly focussed on the firm’s perspective of agility. However, we propose that the customers are better positioned to determine how well a firm is responding to their requirements (aka a firm’s customer agility). Taking the customers’ stand point, we address the issue of sense and respond alignment in two perspectives-matching and mediating. Based on data collected from customers in a field study, we tested hypothesis pertaining to the two methods of alignment using polynomial regression and response surface methodology. The results provide a good explanation for the role of both forms of alignment on customer satisfaction. Implication for research and practice are discussed.

Antecedents of consumer brand loyalty in the Australian wine industry

The wine industry has become fiercely competitive worldwide and as a result, consumers are increasingly exposed to a wider range of wines in retail outlets. This expanding consumer choice means that there is a need for Australian wineries to develop and build consumer loyalty toward their brands. This paper aims to empirically examine the factors influencing consumer loyalty to wine brands. Using data from Australian wine consumers, the authors empirically test a model of antecedents of wine brand loyalty. The model considers wine brand trust, wine brand satisfaction, wine knowledge, and wine experience. Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling. The findings of this study show that wine knowledge and wine experience affect wine brand loyalty indirectly through wine brand trust and wine brand satisfaction. In addition, it is demonstrated that consumer satisfaction with a wine brand is the strongest driver of wine brand loyalty. The result of this study has value for Australian wineries, wine retailers, and wine marketers.

Assessing the immediate and short-term impact of flooding on residential property participant behaviour

The past decade has seen an increase in the number of significant natural disasters that have caused considerable loss of life as well as damage to all property markets in the affected areas. In many cases, these natural disasters have not only caused significant property damage, but in numerous cases, have resulted in the total destruction of the property in the location. With these disasters attracting considerable media attention, the public are more aware of where these affected property markets are, as well as the overall damage to properties that have been damaged or destroyed. This heightened level of awareness has to have an impact on the participants in the property market, whether a developer, vendor seller or investor. To assess this issue, a residential property market that has been affected by a significant natural disaster over the past 2 years has been analysed to determine the overall impact of the disaster on buyer, renter and vendor behaviour, as well as prices in these residential markets. This paper is based on data from the Brisbane flood in January 2011. This natural disaster resulted in loss of life and partial and total devastation of considerable residential property sectors. Data for the research have been based on the residential sales and rental listings for each week of the study period to determine the level of activity in the specific property sectors, and these are also compared to the median house prices for the various suburbs for the same period based on suburbs being either flood affected or flood free. As there are 48 suburbs included in the study, it has been possible to group these suburbs on a socio-economic basis to determine possible differences due to location and value. Data were accessed from realestate.com.au, a free real estate site that provides details of current rental and sales listings on a suburb basis, RP Data a commercial property sales database and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The paper found that sales listings fell immediately after the flood in the affected areas, but there was no corresponding fall or increase in sales listings in the flood-free suburbs. There was a significant decrease in the number of rental listings follow the flood as affected parties sought alternate accommodation. The greatest fall in rental listings was in areas close to the flood-affected suburbs indicating the desire to be close to the flooded property during the repair period.

The comparative behaviour of two combat boots under impact

Background Improvised explosive devices have become the characteristic weapon of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While little can be done to mitigate against the effects of blast in free-field explosions, scaled blast simulations have shown that the combat boot can attenuate the effects on the vehicle occupants of anti-vehicular mine blasts. Although the combat boot offers some protection to the lower limb, its behaviour at the energies seen in anti-vehicular mine blast has not been documented previously. Methods The sole of eight same-size combat boots from two brands currently used by UK troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan were impacted at energies of up to 518 J, using a spring-assisted drop rig. Results The results showed that the Meindl Desert Fox combat boot consistently experienced a lower peak force at lower impact energies and a longer time-to-peak force at higher impact energies when compared with the Lowa Desert Fox combat boot. Discussion This reduction in the peak force and extended rise time, resulting in a lower energy transfer rate, is a potentially positive mitigating effect in terms of the trauma experienced by the lower limb. Conclusion Currently, combat boots are tested under impact at the energies seen during heel strike in running. Through the identification of significantly different behaviours at high loading, this study has shown that there is rationale in adding the performance of combat boots under impact at energies above those set out in international standards to the list of criteria for the selection of a combat boot.

Investigation on mechanical behaviour of AM60 magnesium alloys

Purpose: In this work, tension, impact, bend and fatigue tests were conducted in an AM60 magnesium alloy. The effects of environmental temperature and loading rates on impact and tension behavior of the alloy were also investigated. Design/methodology/approach: The tests were conducted using an Instron universal testing machine. The loading speed was changed from 1 mm/min to 300 mm/min to gain a better understanding of the effect of strain rate. To understand the failure behavior of this alloy at different environmental temperatures, Charpy impact test was conducted in a range of temperatures (-40~35°C). Plane strain fracture toughness (KIC) was evaluated using compact tension (CT) specimen. To gain a better understanding of the failure mechanisms, all fracture surfaces were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, fatigue behavior of this alloy was estimated using tension test under tension-tension condition at 30 Hz. The stress amplitude was selected in the range of 20~50 MPa to obtain the S-N curve. Findings: The tensile test indicated that the mechanical properties were not sensitive to the strain rates applied (3.3x10-4~0.1) and the plastic deformation was dominated by twining mediated slip. The impact energy is not sensitive to the environmental temperature. The plane strain fracture toughness and fatigue limit were evaluated and the average values were 7.6 MPa.m1/2 and 25 MPa, respectively. Practical implications: Tested materials AM60 Mg alloy can be applied among others in automotive industry aerospace, communication and computer industry. Originality/value: Many investigations have been conducted to develop new Mg alloys with improved stiffness and ductility. On the other hand, relatively less attention has been paid to the failure mechanisms of Mg alloys, such as brittle fracture and fatigue, subjected to different environmental or loading conditions. In this work, tension, impact, bend and fatigue tests were conducted in an AM60 magnesium alloy.

Variation in risk seeking behaviour following large losses : a natural experiment

This study explores people's risk taking behaviour after having suffered large real-world losses following a natural disaster. Using the margins of the 2011 Australian floods (Brisbane) as a natural experimental setting, we find that homeowners who were victims of the floods and face large losses in property values are 50% more likely to opt for a risky gamble -- a scratch card giving a small chance of a large gain ($500,000) -- than for a sure amount of comparable value ($10). This finding is consistent with prospect theory predictions regarding the adoption of a risk-seeking attitude after a loss.

Analysis of genetically modified red-fleshed apples reveals effects on growth and consumer attributes

Consumers of whole foods, such as fruits, demand consistent high quality and seek varieties with enhanced health properties, convenience or novel taste. We have raised the polyphenolic content of apple by genetic engineering of the anthocyanin pathway using the apple transcription factor MYB10. These apples have very high concentrations of foliar, flower and fruit anthocyanins, especially in the fruit peel. Independent lines were examined for impacts on tree growth, photosynthesis and fruit characteristics. Fruit were analysed for changes in metabolite and transcript levels. Fruit were also used in taste trials to study the consumer perception of such a novel apple. No negative taste attributes were associated with the elevated anthocyanins. Modification with this one gene provides near isogenic material and allows us to examine the effects on an established cultivar, with a view to enhancing consumer appeal independently of other fruit qualities. © 2012 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.