Culture, cognition and e-commerce behavior

Existing research has given little attention to the relationship between culture characteristics and consumer’s internal beliefs particularly in the pre-purchase stage, and how this relationship affects consumer’s purchase decision. This paper considers the theory of cognitive dissonance and its extended model (the 3D-RAB), as a means to study the current distribution of consumer’s pre-purchase cognitive dissonance, which allows us to investigate the effects of culture characteristics on this distribution. Results revealed that individualism versus collectivism and high power distance dimensions, from Hofstede’s cultural model, influence consumer’s pre-purchase cognitive dissonance. These dimensions must be considered in the design of e-commerce website, by tailoring motivational/influences methods and techniques to reflect targeted consumers culture.

Choice-induced preference change in the free-choice paradigm: a critical methodological review

Choices not only reflect our preference, but they also affect our behavior. The phenomenon of choice-induced preference change has been of interest to cognitive dissonance researchers in social psychology, and more recently, it has attracted the attention of researchers in economics and neuroscience. Preference modulation after the mere act of making a choice has been repeatedly demonstrated over the last 50 years by an experimental paradigm called the “free-choice paradigm.” However, Chen and Risen (2010) pointed out a serious methodological flaw in this paradigm, arguing that evidence for choice-induced preference change is still insufficient. Despite the flaw, studies using the traditional free-choice paradigm continue to be published without addressing the criticism. Here, aiming to draw more attention to this issue, we briefly explain the methodological problem, and then describe simple simulation studies that illustrate how the free-choice paradigm produces a systematic pattern of preference change consistent with cognitive dissonance, even without any change in true preference. Our stimulation also shows how a different level of noise in each phase of the free-choice paradigm independently contributes to the magnitude of artificial preference change. Furthermore, we review ways of addressing the critique and provide a meta-analysis to show the effect size of choice-induced preference change after addressing the critique. Finally, we review and discuss, based on the results of the stimulation studies, how the criticism affects our interpretation of past findings generated from the free-choice paradigm. We conclude that the use of the conventional free-choice paradigm should be avoided in future research and the validity of past findings from studies using this paradigm should be empirically re-established. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)

A causal role for posterior medial prefrontal cortex in choice-induced preference change

After a person chooses between two items, preference for the chosen item will increase and preference for the unchosen item will decrease because of the choice made. In other words, we tend to justify or rationalize our past behavior by changing our attitude. This phenomenon of choice-induced preference change has been traditionally explained by cognitive dissonance theory. Choosing something that is disliked or not choosing something that is liked are both cognitively inconsistent, and in order to reduce this inconsistency, people tend to change their subsequently stated preference in accordance with their past choices. Previously, neuroimaging studies identified posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) as a key brain region involved in cognitive dissonance. However, it still remains unknown whether the pMFC plays a causal role in inducing preference change following cognitive dissonance. Here, we demonstrate that 25-min 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the pMFC significantly reduces choice-induced preference change compared to sham stimulation, or control stimulation over a different brain region, demonstrating a causal role for the pMFC.

Dissonant Voices : Philosophy, Children's Literature, and Perfectionist Education

Dissonant Voices has a twofold aspiration. First, it is a philosophical treatment of everyday pedagogical interactions between children and their elders, between teachers and pupils. More specifically it is an exploration of the possibilities to go on with dissonant voices that interrupt established practices – our attunement – in behaviour, practice and thinking. Voices that are incomprehensible or expressions that are unacceptable, morally or otherwise. The text works on a tension between two inclinations: an inclination to wave off, discourage, or change an expression that is unacceptable or unintelligible; and an inclination to be tolerant and accept the dissonant expression as doing something worthwhile, but different. The second aspiration is a philosophical engagement with children’s literature. Reading children’s literature becomes a form of philosophising, a way to explore the complexity of a range of philosophical issues. This turn to literature marks a dissatisfaction with what philosophy can accomplish through argumentation and what philosophy can do with a particular and limited set of concepts for a subject, such as ethics. It is a way to go beyond philosophising as the founding of theories that justify particular responses. The philosophy of dissonance and children’s literature becomes a way to destabilise justifications of our established practices and ways of interacting. The philosophical investigations of dissonance are meant to make manifest the possibilities and risks of engaging in interactions beyond established agreement or attunements. Thinking of the dissonant voice as an expression beyond established practices calls for improvisation. Such improvisations become a perfectionist education where both the child and the elder, the teacher and the student, search for as yet unattained forms of interaction and take responsibility for every word and action of the interaction. The investigation goes through a number of picture books and novels for children such as Harry Potter, Garmann’s Summer, and books by Shaun Tan, Astrid Lindgren and Dr. Seuss as well narratives by J.R.R. Tolkien, Henrik Ibsen, Jane Austen and Henry David Thoreau. These works of fiction are read in conversation with philosophical works of, and inspired by, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Stanley Cavell, their moral perfectionism and ordinary language philosophy.

The Philosophy of Dissonant Children : Stanley Cavell's Wittgensteinian Philosophical Therapies as an Educational Conversation

Education is often understood as a process whereby children come to conform to the norms teachers believe should govern our practices. This picture problematically presumes that educators know in advance what it means for children to go on the way that is expected of them. In this essay Viktor Johansson suggests a revision of education, through the philosophy of Stanley Cavell, that can account for both the attunement in our practices and the possible dissonance that follows when the teacher and child do not go on together. There is an anxiety generated by the threat of disharmony in our educational undertakings that may drive teachers toward philosophy in educational contexts. Here Johansson offers a philosophical treatment of this intellectual anxiety that teachers may experience when they, upon meeting dissonant children, search for epistemic justifications of their practices—a treatment whereby dissonant children can support teachers in dissolving their intellectual frustrations.

Leading as emotional management work in high risk times: the counterintuitive impulses of performativity and passion

This paper explores, through a case study of educational restructuring in Victoria, Australia, how school leaders in a public education system in Australia mediate reform discourses emphasizing managerial and market accountability and the emotional and messy work of teaching and leading. These accountability exercises were often seen by teachers and principals to be distractions; more about reporting and recording, rather than addressing substantive educational issues. They simultaneously distanced teachers and leaders from the 'real' and 'passionate' work of education while appropriating and commodifying teachers' and leaders' emotions and desires to do well. School leaders were expected to manage the emotional performances of their students, parents and colleagues as well as themselves. They also managed the emotions arising from the dissonance between teachers' professional and personal commitment to making a difference for all students based on principles of equity and the performativity requirements based on efficiency and narrowly defined and predetermined criteria of effectiveness and success that often undermined improvement for many students. In that sense performativity ('being seen to be good') and passion (for 'doing good') often produced counterintuitive impulses.

Neutrosophic information fusion applied to the options market

In this paper we basically make two propositions - firstly a non-linear process that is primarily fuelled by mass cognitive dissonance could generate systematic deviations between the theoretical and market prices of long-term options, and secondly such deviations are best reconciled in terms of neutrosophic rather than ruled-based reasoning, especially in the context of the users of automated trading systems designed to generate trading signals based on analysis of information  from conflicting sources.

Consumer complaint behaviour in sport consumption: a theoretical model

In this study, traditional consumer complaint behaviours (CCBs) are re-examined in an experiential context; specifically, the consumption of live sport. It is proposed that these behaviours are not motivated by the “traditional” antecedents, and further, that they are not enacted with the purpose of reducing dissonance. Instead, it would appear that traditional CCBs, such as private responses, direct voicing and third party action take on a more functional role in the sport consumption experience. The possibility exists that for some spectators, these CCBs, which have been traditionally classified as negative, actually contribute to overall enjoyment of, and satisfaction with, a sport consumption experience. A review of literature in the area is presented, and a theoretical model of CCB in the experiential context is offered.

Consumer complaint behaviour in sport consumption

While consumer complaint behaviour, and specifically voicing, has been extensively investigated from the perspective of goods (see Volkov et al., 2003, for a review), there have been fewer studies investigating consumer voicing with regard to services (Andreasen, 1984, 1985; Singh, 1988, 1990; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996). Further, no research can be identified in the extant literature with respect to experiential consumer voicing. This research proposes an examination of voicing behaviour of consumers in an experiential consumption setting and uses sport consumption as the context. A review of literature in the area is presented and a proposal for experiential research is offered.

In experiential consumption settings, consumers are more likely to experience emotional reactions to, and be actively involved in, the experience than in traditional consumption episodes (Addis & Holbrook, 2001; Hoffman, Kumar, & Novak, 2003; Lofman, 1991). Further, experiential consumption episodes
involve greater emotional processing, more activity, more evaluation, but less overall cognitive processing than traditional episodes (Lofman, 1991), which in turn is likely to result in different consumer behaviour in these experiential settings.

Tn this study, traditional consumer complaint behaviours are re-examined in an experiential context; specifically, consumption of live sport. It is proposed that these behaviours are not motivated by the traditional antecedents of anger and involvement and, further, that they are not enacted with the purpose of
reducing dissonance. Instead, it would appear that traditional complaint behaviour concepts such as voicing, overt aggression, and assignment of blame take on a more functional role in the sport consumption experience. The possibility exists that for some spectators these complaining behaviours that have traditionally been cJassitIed as negative, actually contribute to overall enjoyment o( and satisfaction with, a sport consumption experience.

Domestic violence in refugee families in Australia : rethinking settlement policy and practice

It has been identified that immigrant and refugee women are particularly at risk in cases of domestic violence. This article reveals the qualitative research findings from a study into the significance of traumatic history, social and economic context, cultural differences and changed gender identities on the perceptions and experiences of domestic violence in refugee families. The study was undertaken with a sample of refugee men and women from Iraq, Ethiopia, Sudan, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. Compounding contextual factors concerning structurally based inequalities, culturally emerged challenges, social dissonance, psychological stress and patriarchal foundations are revealed. Informed by an intersectional framework that recognizes gender oppression as modified by intersections with other forms of inequality, the article argues the case for community-managed projects involving multi-level empowerment-based interventions to prevent domestic violence.

Understanding informations systems outsourcing success and risks through the lens of cognitive biases

Because outsourcing of information systems (IS) is now widespread, it is generally assumed to be successful. It is also often assumed that outsourcing risks are easily managed. In this paper we adopt an “evidence based management” approach to first test these assumptions through a qualitative metaanalysis of academic studies into IS outsourcing outcomes. Our research reveals a shortage of reliable and valid evidence for outsourcing’s benefits, and for the level of risk involved. We then use data from a series of focus groups to explain the paradox of widespread adoption of a strategy with limited empirical support. These focus groups were interpreted through the lens of research on a
range of cognitive mechanisms and biases that are known to affect decision makers. We conclude that cognitive mechanisms that are likely to affect sourcing decisions include framing biases, cognitive dissonance, attribution error, and the “optimism”, “confirmation”, “disconfirmation” and “overconfidence” biases. Given the shortage of supporting evidence, and the potential for these biases to operate, we argue that researchers need to be more critical in their analysis of reports of the success and risks of IS outsourcing.

Understanding the ontological requirements for collaborative web-based experiential learning

The challenge of human-computer interaction forces educationalists to think of new ways to understand the social, historical and contextual nature of learning. Discussion and exchange of ideas enable learners to learn together. However, the granularity of the Webbased learning context is extensive; consequently, e- Courseware design faces new dilemmas. Only through targeted research will it be known with any certainty whether Web-based learning gives rise to a new type of learning dissonance [1]. It has been proposed that converged theoretical paradigms that underpin particular digitised or context-mediated learning systems are forcing learners into new ways of thinking [2]. This paper presents an overview of the plans for an experimental project designed to understand the ontological requirements for experiential instructional environments. This project is a joint research initiative involving three Universities in the Asia/Pacific region. Results will be used to inform educationalists interested in developing instructional strategies for a global community.

A model of student satisfaction : international postgraduate students from Asia

The internationalisation of higher education remains one of the major challenges faced by universities with the increasing mobility and rising expectations of a highly diversified student community worldwide. With the competitiveness of the industry, universities will need to focus on factors influencing student satisfaction to improve service quality where required. This paper draws on the theory of cognitive dissonance dealining with disconformation of expectations that results in customer satisfaction and using structural equation modelling, investigates factors that influence satisfaction of international postgraduate students from Asian countries studying in Australia and concludes with strategic implications for universities.

Computing in a social context : gender difference in participation

The thesis reviews the literature relating to girls and computing within a framework which is structured around three specific questions. First, are there differences between girls and boys in their participation in class computing activities and/or in non-class computing activities? Second, do these differences in participation in computing activities have broader implications which justify the growing concern about the under-representation of girls? Third, wahy are girls under-represented in these activities? Although the available literature is predominantly descriptive, the underlying implicit theoretical model is essentially a social learning model. Girl's differential participation is attributed to learned attitudes towards computing rathan to differences between girls and boys in general ability. These attitudes, which stress the masculine, mathematical, technological aspects of computing are developed through modelling, direct experience, intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement and generalisation from pre-existing, attitudes to related curriculum areas. In the literature it is implicitly assumed that these attitudes underlie girl's decisions to self-select out of computing activities. In this thesis predictions from a social learning model are complemented by predictions derived from expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories. These are tested in three separate studies. Study one provides data from a pretest-posttest study of 24 children in a year four class learning BASIC. It examines pre- and posttest differences between girls and boys in computing experience, knowledge and achievement as well as the factors relating to computing achievement. Study two uses a pretest-posttest control group design to study the gender differences in the impact of the introduction of Logo into years 1, 3, 5 and 7 in both a coeducational and single-sex setting using a sample of 222 children from three schools. Study three utilises a larger sample of 1176 students, drawn from three secondary schools and five primary schools, enabling an evaluation of gender differences in relation to a wide range of class computing experiences and in a broader range of school contexts. The overall results are consistent across the three studies, supporting the contention that social factors, rather than ability differences influence girls' participation and achievement in computing. The more global theoretical framework, drawing on social learning, expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories, provides a more adequate explanation of gender differences in participation than does any one of these models.