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Purpose: Although the existing internal marketing (IM) scales include various scale items to measure employee motivation, they fall short of incorporating the needs and expectations of service sector employees. Hence, the purpose of this study is to present a practical instrument designed to measure the IM construct in the higher education sector. Design/methodology/approach: Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in this empirical study. A qualitative method was used to develop the scale items to measure the IM construct and a quantitative method was used to test the scale developed in the higher education sector. The study sample included n = 240 academic staff from a large university. Both exploratory (EFA) and the confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were used to confirm the dimensionality of the IM scale developed. Findings: The study results showed that all items in the measurement scale were loaded on a single dimension that represents the IM construct in the higher education sector. The psychometric properties of the developed scale (IM-11) met and exceeded the expected criteria cited in the literature. Research limitations/implications: The IM-11 scale presented in this study offers a practical tool for higher education administrators in their efforts to measure the needs and expectations of their employees. Moreover, this knowledge should provide a framework for the administration to develop strategies for employee motivation, job satisfaction and performance and assume additional responsibilities in their efforts to serving their external customers better. Sample size, cultural factors and the complex nature of university academic staff limit one's ability to generalize these results to broader populations. Originality/value: In line with the information provided in the literature on IM, this study developed a simple and practical instrument to measure the IM construct for an academic unit within a university.

Business ethics has become a very important concern in global business and understanding the effects of various factors on ethical judgments continues to attract research and practitioner attention. Using the Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES, Reidenbach and Robin 1988) with its five generally accepted philosophical constructs, and vignettes developed by Cohen et al. (1996), current study investigates the relationship between cultural values, personality, religiosity and the ethical sensitivity of business students. We focus on a rapidly emerging country, Turkey, whose economic environment is similar to that of the most Western nations but with a significantly different background and cultural values. Data (n = 184) for the study is collected from a major university in the southeastern Turkey. Although some significant relationships are identified between ethical sensitivity and cultural values and personality, our study findings confirm that MES dimensions had the highest influence on ethical sensitivity levels of business students.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of child and crime, named juvenile delinquency, has been mentioned together very often. The idea that some arrangements should be made to ensure rights of juveniles in the international community has given rise to the emergence of the understanding, of juveniles' protection from crime. There is no study explaining the source or giving the underlying rationale for the emergence of crime. Today, there is a reality that there are many factors that affect the emergence of it. In addition, it is not possible to completely prevent crime. However, it is possible to reduce crime to a manageable level. Thus, the fear of crime, which is one of the adverse effects of crime, may be reduced, and individuals' life quality can be enhanced. In this context, it is vital to prevent or minimize juvenile delinquency as much as possible because it is a well-established fact that most children who are drifted into crime at a young age, form a criminal career at later ages. In this article, Turkey's juvenile delinquency map is drawn, and the factors that cause juvenile delinquency are analyzed from a criminological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer ethnocentrism (CE) has been a popular research topic in international marketing. However, limited CE research is available from the emerging markets. Heightened concerns about globalization and increased political support for restricting international trade around the world increases the importance of updated empirical findings on consumer ethnocentric behavior. Hence, the purpose of this empirical study is to examine consumer ethnocentrism and consumer willingness to buy foreign products in two emerging markets: Turkey and Colombia. Data was collected using online surveys from subjects in Turkey and Colombia. Results show that CE inversely influenced consumers' willingness to buy foreign products in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social responsibility aspect of the luxury product concept has recently started to receive more attention from researchers and practitioners. However, the luxury product perceptions measurement in the literature often does not incorporate the sustainable environment friendly dimensions of the luxury goods consumption. Therefore in this study, we attempt to investigate the role of sustainable environment benefits in consumers' value perceptions of the luxury products. Data for the study was collected from n = 218 female consumers who were shopping in high-end luxury apparel retailers located in exclusive shopping centers in Turkey. Study results show four dimensions (exclusiveness, normative beliefs, self-directed pleasure, and social/prestige) of luxury goods perceptions of female Turkish consumers. Practical and research implications of the study findings are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings on performance benchmarking of cellular network operators in Turkey. Benchmarking is based on measurements of standard key performance indicators (KPIs) in one of the metropolitan cities of Turkey, Ankara. Performance benchmarking is formulated by incorporating customer perception by conducting surveys on how important KPIs are from the user's point of view. KPIs are measured, with standard test equipment, by drive test method on specified routes. According to the performance benchmarking results, the GSM and UMTS network operators achieving the best performance were determined in Ankara. Speech qualities of network operators, as the most popular service, were also evaluated by several statistical methods including pdf/cdf analysis and chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. The network operator providing the highest speech quality in Ankara was determined with the methods applied. Overall, the results and approaches on benchmarking of cellular networks in Turkey are reported for the first time in this paper. The approaches proposed in this paper could be adapted to wide-scale benchmarking of services in cellular networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of the presently reported study, covering the Homa Lagoon, Izmir Bay, Turkey, we collected a total of 2690 fish specimens belonging to 15 families and representing 29 species: Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758); Atherina hepsetus Linnaeus, 1758; Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810; Belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761); Blennius ocellaris Linnaeus, 1758; Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792); Aphanius fasciatus (Valenciennes, 1821); Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758); Gobius niger Linnaeus, 1758; Pomatoschistus marmoratus (Risso, 1810); Pomatoschistus minutus (Pallas, 1770); Zosterisessor ophiocephalus (Pallas, 1814); Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758); Chelon labrasus (Risso, 1827); Liza aurata (Risso, 1810); Liza ramada (Risso, 1827); Liza saliens (Risso, 1810); Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758; Mullus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758; Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus, 1758; Syngnathus acus Linnaeus, 1758; Syngnathus typhle Linnaeus, 1758; Diplodus annularis (Linnaeus, 1758); Diplodus vulgaris (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817); Lithognathus mormyrus (Linnaeus, 1758); Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758); Sparus aurata Linnaeus, 1758; Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758); Solea solea (Linnaeus, 1758). The fish were weighed, and measured and their length-weight relations were determined. Samples were collected during 2009-2010 using four different types of fishing gear (beach seine, fyke nets, barrier trap, and trammel nets; mesh size: 25, 28, and 30 mm) that allowed both adult and juvenile specimens to be captured. Significant length-weight relations were found for all species. The exponent b varied between 2.753 for Pomatoschistus marmoratus and 3.650 for Aphanius fasciatus (mean value = 3.115). The length-weight parameters of the same species may be different in the population because of feeding, reproduction activities and fishing etc. Therefore, we need to know length-weight relations of fish, which are captured in a given place in a certain period of time. Length-weight relations for 5 out of the 29 fish species are presented for the first time from Homa Lagoon in the Turkish Aegean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The effects of salespeople’s customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior on their performance have been frequently studied in the marketing literature. However, most of the studies were conducted in the developed world. Given the role that different cultural environments may play, the assumed relationships among the constructs need to be studied in different cultural contexts to explain performance. The objective of this study is to examine pharmaceutical salespersons’ customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior on their performance in a different cultural environment. Using personal interviews, data were collected from Turkish pharmaceutical salespeople to examine the hypothesized relationships. Results indicate that customer orientation was significant in respect to sales performance, satisfaction, and adaptive selling behavior. Furthermore, adaptive selling behavior was significantly related to sales performance and customer orientation but not to satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of dental care satisfaction of the US and Turkish consumers. Adopting existing scales in the literature, study conceptualized that customer health sensitivity, involvement, and perceived dental problems would influence their satisfaction with dental care services. Study findings indicate that patient satisfaction is influenced mainly through the path of dental care involvement of personal health sensitivity. Contrary to our expectations, our results did not indicate any significant relationship between perceived dental problems and customer satisfaction with dental care. Managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate product-country images, lifestyles and ethnocentric behaviors of Turkish consumers and provide suggestions to the marketers about the implications of the study results. Data for the study were collected through personal interviews in the fifth largest Turkish City of Konya. Study findings indicate that Turkish consumers had significantly different perceptions of product attributes for the products coming from countries of different levels of socio-economic and technological development. Results lend support to earlier studies conducted in western countries and also indicate the robustness of the ethnocentrism scale (CETSCALE), which was developed in the USA to measure consumer attitudes in an advanced developing country. Also, results of the study revealed that there were several lifestyle dimensions apparent among the Turkish consumers, which were closely correlated with their ethnocentric biases. This study contributes to the growing body of the literature related to cross-cultural comparisons of country-of-origin influence by incorporating consumer ethnocentric biases as well as consumer lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates product-country images (PCI), lifestyles and ethnocentric behaviors of Turkish consumers. PCI of Turkish consumers; Analysis and results.

Store brands play an important role in retail strategy, but little recent research has examined the factors assumed to influence the selection of store brands in emerging markets of developing nations. This exploratory study investigates Turkish consumers' perceptions and preferences of store brands of dairy products. Using personal interviews, data for the study are collected from consumers shopping in different supermarkets in the capital city of Turkey. The most striking finding of this study was that Turkish consumers have strong preferences toward national brands across all factors of purchase reasons investigated. Findings indicate that national brands were perceived as high in quality, distributed widely, healthy, fresh, and offering more product choices, whereas store brands were perceived as low-priced alternatives. Also, habitual buying and brand image played important roles in their purchase decisions. The results of the study show that there are two distinct store brand preference segments among Turkish consumers, which were nicknamed "Product Attribute Sensitive" and "Price Sensitive," and these segments differed in terms of demographics and socioeconomic profiles as well as the reasons for purchase. Managerial and research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We aimed to determine the indicators for poor long-term outcome in older adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)., Methodology: Patients with CAP requiring hospitalization were included in this retrospective study. The long-term mortality was defined as all-cause 1-year mortality following hospital admission., Results: A total of 145 patients with CAP were recorded. The median age was 70 (18-103), of whom 94 (65%) were ≥ 65 years old and 86 (59.5%) were male. Long-term mortality rates following CAP requiring hospitalization were substantially high in both the younger (n = 16, 31.4%) and older adults (n=43, 45.7%). In univariate analysis, the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) (p = 0.007), mechanical ventilation (p > 0.001), mental status changes (p = 0.018) as well as the modified Charlson Comorbidity Index (p=0.001), presence of malignancy (p < 0.001) and hospital readmission (p < 0.001) were associated with long-term mortality in the older group. Our results revealed that the need for mechanical ventilation (OR = 47.61 CI = 5.38-500.0, p = 0.001) and hospital readmission (OR = 15.87 CI = 5.26-47.61, p < 0.001) were major independent predictors of 1-year mortality., Conclusions: Clinicians should consider the lethal possibilities of CAP even after hospital discharge. The need for mechanical ventilation and hospital readmission may predict long-term mortality. Therefore, the patients who have these predictors should be closely monitored., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2021 Serkan Surme, Ilker Inanc Balkan, Osman Faruk Bayramlar, Ritvan Kara Ali, Bilgul Mete, Fehmi Tabak, Nese Saltoglu.)

Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet activation. An increased MPV is associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and long-term mortality. The aim of this study was to compare MPV in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Also, we investigated the value of MPV on in-hospital mortality and long-term prognosis of patients with STEMI and NSTEMI. We studied 429 patients with AMI (70.4% male, 61.9 ± 12.4 years; 279 patients with STEMI, 150 patients with NSTEMI). MPV and platelet count were similar in both groups. Elevated MPV increased the risk of death by 3.1-fold (p < 0.001) in STEMI group during the hospitalization. However, increased MPV was not associated with in-hospital mortality in NSTEMI group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of MPV was 0.868 (95% CI, 0.830-0.907) for predicting two-year mortality. A cut-off point of 11.1 fL showed a sensitivity of 81% and a specifity of 77% for prediction of two-year mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed two-year mortality rate of 12.5% in patients with MPV >11.1 fL versus 9.9% in patients with MPV <11.1 fL (p < 0.001). Cox regression analysis showed MPV to be an independent predictor of two-year mortality (Hazard ratio 1.7; 95% CI 1.5-1.9; p < 0.001). An increased MPV is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality in patients with STEMI. However, elevated levels of MPV did not predict in hospital mortality in NSTEMI group. The increase in MPV values was independently correlated with two-year mortality in all study patients.