Search

The article focuses on the implementation of positive behavioral support (PBS) and applied behavior analysis (ABA) in Japan, emphasizing support for families of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Topics covered include individual family support, community-level application of PBS and ABA, and the delivery of workshops for family and professional collaborations, while addressing cultural context and challenges in Japan.

This research explores the effects of the DART model of value co‐creation on customer retention. To do so, the current research examines the moderating role of types of customer (i.e., corporate vs. retail) and the mediating effect of customer engagement. Two studies were conducted through structured surveys among 362 bank customers (Study 1) and 316 hotel customers (Study 2). Partial least‐squares‐based structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results of Study 1 show that each element of the DART model significantly influences customer retention. The effects of dialog, risk assessment, and transparency on customer retention are found to be higher (lower) for corporate (retail) customers, while the effect of access on customer retention is higher (lower) for retail (corporate) customers. Study 2 further identified customer engagement as a mediator explaining the underlying mechanism in the links between each element of the DART model and customer retention. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed and tested an evidence-based mobile application designed to support families in using functional assessment-based intervention strategies with their young children with disabilities and challenging behaviors in home settings. Five families participated in the study. We utilized a multiple-probe across participants design to examine the effects of the FBSApp on parents' use of intervention strategies and childrens' use of challenging behaviors and replacement behaviors. We adapted our procedures to include individualized coaching to provide meaningful and effective support after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A functional relation was not identified between access to FBSApp and caregiver use of strategies; however, the addition of coaching did lead to increased strategy use for two of four caregivers. A functional relation was identified between the use of the FBSApp plus coaching and CB. Families reported the app and coaching procedures favorably. We found that responsive, family-centered research CAN be conducted in spite of significant history events, and that mobile apps and virtual meeting platforms can be an accessible and efficient method for supporting families. The use of single case design allowed for flexible, yet methodologically sound procedures. More work is needed examining effective and efficient virtual supports for families., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Cervical pedicle screw (CPS) placement surgery remains technically demanding due to the complicated anatomy with neurovascular structures. State-of-the-art surgical navigation or robotic systems still suffer from the problem of hand-eye coordination and soft tissue deformation. In this study, we aim at tracking the intraoperative soft tissue deformation and constructing a virtual-physical fusion surgical scene, and integrating them into the robotic system for CPS placement surgery. Methods: Firstly, we propose a real-time deformation computation method based on the prior shape model and intraoperative partial information acquired from ultrasound images. According to the generated posterior shape, the structure representation of deformed target tissue gets updated continuously. Secondly, a hand tremble compensation method is proposed to improve the accuracy and robustness of the virtual-physical calibration procedure, and a mixed reality based surgical scene is further constructed for CPS placement surgery. Thirdly, we integrate the soft tissue deformation method and virtual-physical fusion method into our previously proposed surgical robotic system, and the surgical workflow for CPS placement surgery is introduced. Results: We conducted phantom and animal experiments to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed system. Our system yielded a mean surface distance error of 1.52 $\pm$ 0.43 mm for soft tissue deformation computing, and an average distance deviation of 1.04 $\pm$ 0.27 mm for CPS placement. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that our system involves tremendous clinical application potential. Significance: Our proposed system promotes the efficiency and safety of the CPS placement surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this pilot study was to demonstrate the impact of a fundamental-motor-skill (FMS) intervention on the motor skills of 3- to 7-year-old children with autism-like characteristics in an early intervention classroom. A secondary purpose was to qualitatively assess the impact of the program as described by the classroom's special education teacher. All children in the classroom (N = 5) took part in an FMS intervention for two 6-wk blocks (fall 2013 and winter 2014). Motor-skill proficiency and social skills were assessed at 3 times: baseline, after Block 1 of the intervention, and after Block 2 of the intervention. In addition, an interview was conducted with the classroom teacher after Assessment 3 to draw further insights into the relative success and impact of the program. Results were analyzed through a visual analysis and presented individually. They indicated improvements in the participants' individual FMS and social-skill scores, possible improvements in declarative knowledge, and an increase in the special education teacher's readiness to teach FMS; further research with larger, controlled samples is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Suleyman Demirel University Institute of Social Sciences is the property of Suleyman Demirel University, Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study empirically identifies the varying effects of customer participation (CP) in service industry on a relationship's developmental stages. Because CP simultaneously affects and is affected by a relationship in service settings, its influence on the relationship's developmental stage requires examination. This study aims to fill the gap between phenomenon and theory that existed in previous CP studies by comparing and analysing the effects of four CP sub-factors (information seeking, information sharing, personal interaction and responsible behaviour) on encounter satisfaction during the developmental stage of a relationship between customer and service provider. Additionally, this study provides service companies with strategic implications for utilizing CP. This study considers the relationship dynamics to which prior CP studies paid little attention. Thoroughly verifying these CP sub-factors provides a foothold for a new perspective on the inconsistent results of CP studies. According to research result, the influence of information-seeking behaviour on encounter satisfaction decreases as a relationship grows. In contrast, information sharing and personal interaction increase. Lastly, responsible behaviour made no significant difference. This study enables service marketing managers to understand CP during the developmental stage of a customer relationship and establish needed and appropriate management guidelines for customer-related interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to examine the mediating effects of self-congruity between destination brand personality, to revisit intention and heed the moderating effects of gender between self-congruity. Therefore, data were collected through a survey from 226 Chinese outbound tourists in Glasgow city, United Kingdom and was analyzed to provide evidence. Based on the results, the analysis of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using the Smart PLS 3.0 program indicated that self-congruity was mediated partially through destination brand personality and revisit intention. In tourism destination, Aaker five dimension of brand personality model was particularly adapted into practice. However, the model failed to perform an actual self-congruity to mediate all five dimensions (i.e., sincerity, excitement, competence, excitement, sophistication and ruggedness) of destination brand personality and revisit intention. The results revealed that the ideal self-congruity is a mediating effect between destination brand personality (i.e., sincerity and excitement) and revisit intention. Moreover, this study also reported that the moderating role of gender has no effects on self-congruity and revisit intention. No difference was observed between female and male Chinese tourists who rely more on destination brand personality over self-congruity when the impact of symbolic destination brand benefits on their intention to revisit Glasgow was considered. Findings further offer specific implications for both theoretical insight and marketing practice in context of tourism destinations in Glasgow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on the relationship quality research domain and the social exchange theory to propose a multilevel model leading from shopping motive to patronage behaviors, such as word of mouth and share of wallet, through a relationship quality process leading from satisfaction and trust to emotional commitment and cooperation. A cross-level moderation of store loyalty program benefit is also tested. Using a sample from mainland Chinese shoppers, results reveal that while relationship quality mediates tourist motives and patronage behaviors, store-level membership programs serve as a boundary condition that moderates the relationship quality process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research confirms the importance of value cocreation through customer participation (CP), but relatively little is known about whether and how it creates an enjoyable experience for customers and service employees and the consequential outcomes of this positive affective experience. This study applies the concept of flow as an overarching framework and draws theoretical support from social cognitive theory, particularly its extension (i.e., the conceptual model of relational efficacy beliefs), to examine how customers and employees derive enjoyment from CP conditional on their perceived efficacy of themselves (self-efficacy [SE]) and their partners (other-efficacy [OE]) in financial services. Empirical results from 223 client-financial adviser dyads confirm that participation enjoyment, in addition to economic and relational values, mediates the impact of CP on participants' satisfaction evaluations, with SE positively moderating CP's impact on participation enjoyment. The synergistic effect of SE and OE on participation enjoyment also differs for clients versus financial advisers: Even incongruent levels of SE and OE can enhance participation enjoyment as long as they help validate role expectations of the respective participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport events benefiting a charitable cause have emerged as meaningful experiences for participants. These charity sport events may allow event sponsors to shape perceptions of corporate image among event participants. Using the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) as the theoretical framework, the factors that contribute to participants' perceptions of event sponsors are examined. The influence of this image of event sponsors on behavioral outcomes among participants is also investigated. A post-event questionnaire was administered to participants in a sport event (N = 672) to investigate the relationships among motives, sponsor image, event attachment, purchase intent, and future participation intent. Results reveal that recreation and charity motives contribute to event attachment, while charity motives and event attachment contribute to sponsor image. Significantly, sponsor image and attachment contribute to purchase intent for event sponsors' products. Finally, sponsor image does not influence future participation intent, while event attachment does. The results illustrate the discrete roles that sponsor image and attachment play in sport consumption activities. Suggestions are made for the strategic selection and marketing of events by potential sponsors to most effectively leverage event sponsorship opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid sodium azide and cesium azide crystals were irradiated by high power laser pulses; the ablation products were rapidly cooled by a supersonic expansion of helium and detected by a time of flight mass spectrometer. Neutral and positively charged species were separately recorded and analyzed using 15N isotopomers to help in their assignment. Cluster series of the sequences Na(NaN3)n [or Cs(CsN3)n] were observed, as well as clusters containing NaOH and NaCN; the origin of the C, H, and O atoms appears to be water and CO2 occluded in the salt. Addition of D2O increased the intensity of large clusters and added deuterated ones, whereas addition of chloroform leads to formation of clusters of a Na atom with (NaCl)n clusters. Possible mechanisms for the formation of these clusters are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For large reactive systems, the calculation of energies can be simplified by treating the active part with a high-level quantum mechanical (QM) (ab initio or density functional) approach and the environment with a less sophisticated semiempirical (SE) approach, as an improvement over the widely used hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods. An example is the interaction between an active region of an enzyme and its immediate environment. One such method is the original "Our-own-N-layer Integrated molecular Orbital+Molecular Mechanics (ONIOM)" approach. In this paper, the interaction between the QM and SE region is described explicitly by two different schemes. In the iterative QM/SE schemes (QM/SE-I), the electrostatic interaction and polarization effects are introduced explicitly for both the QM and SE atoms by a self-consistent procedure based on either polarizable point charges or the electron density. In the noniterative QM/SE scheme, based on the ONIOM model (QM/SE-O), the exchange (Pauli repulsion) and charge transfer effects are taken into account at the SE level, in addition to the explicit electrostatic interaction and polarization between the two regions. Test calculations are made on a number of model systems (including small polar or charged molecules interacting with water and proton transfer reactions in the presence of polar molecules or an extended hydrogen-bond network). The quantitative accuracy of the results depend on several parameters, such as the charge-scaling/normalization factors for the SE charge and the QM/SE van der Waals parameters, which can be chosen to optimize the result. For the QM/SE-O approach, the results are more sensitive to the quality of the SE level (e.g., self-consistent-charge density-functional-tight-binding vs AMl) than the explicit interaction between QM and SE atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author proposes a customer relationship marketing -enabled student-attracting product redesign conceptual model for education for business by focusing on customization in business degrees through mirror mapping the interests and career focus of marketing degree students and skills demand of the industry as different from a business degree in analytics. An implementation of the model would make customer acquisition, retention, and relationship processes much more efficient and effective. The author proposes a new way of granting business degrees through "customized personalization" rather than "mass customization" for career focused rather than "get educated, get-job" -focused students. The suggested model has significant implications for institutions' strategy formulators, customer relationship marketing heads, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a conceptual model depicting the relationships between perceived encounter quality, patient participation, self-efficacy, satisfaction and loyalty intentions. The hypothesized relationships in the model were assessed using the data collected from 396 respondents in Hong Kong, China. Using moderated regression analysis, the results showed that technical quality, empathy, communication and physical environment have a significant impact on satisfaction, which in turn influences loyalty intentions. Self-efficacy displays a significant moderating influence on the relationship between patient participation and satisfaction. The implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable disagreement in academic scholarship and beyond as to whether, in cases of bad reputations, companies will want to communicate corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities because this kind of communication is likely to increase consumers' skepticism. In this regard, the two empirical studies discussed in this article examine the influence of prior company reputation on consumers' trust in response to CSR communication in general and the development in response to continuous CSR activities and their ongoing communication by companies as well as by the media in particular. The two studies show that consumers' trust in companies' CSR activities increases after a second presentation of information by companies even in instances when companies had prior negative reputations. The second study in particular fills a gap in the literature on underlying mechanisms of consumers' reactions to CSR communication. The results suggest that companies with prior negative reputations do not need to remain silent about their CSR activities; instead, CSR communication can help improve consumers' trust in companies. However, the findings of these two studies also suggest that this positive development is short-lived. Consumers' developing trust in companies' CSR activities decreases significantly if they are exposed to negative information on these companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in quality-of-life/well-being research in hospitality and tourism. The goal of this paper is to further promote the development and use of quality-of-life/well-being concepts in the discipline by reviewing seven major theories of quality of life and well-being (and their application in hospitality and tourism based on the research that I and my colleagues have conducted over the years) and suggesting future avenues of research. The theories discussed are self-congruity theory, self-expressiveness theory, bottom-up spillover theory, leisure benefits theory, goal theory, need hierarchy theory, and broaden-and-build theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial-relations advertising is a major type of corporate advertising, yet little research has addressed its effectiveness. The authors use a time-series approach to study the effect of financial-relations advertising on stock trading volume and stock price. They find increases in trading volume at the initial appearance of a financial-relations advertisement, but not during subsequent appearances of the ad. Further, these increases occur mainly for small capitalization firms. No support is found for the view that this type of advertising positively affects stock prices, at least in the short run. Although financial-relations advertising may change the expectations of individual investors, such advertising does not appear to change the market's view of a stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Country of origin (CO) is a potentially powerful image variable that can be used to gain competitive advantage in international marketing. However, deficiencies in the definition and measurement of its facets have contributed to ineffective and infrequent use of CO image as a competitive tool. The research reported in this article addresses these weaknesses through the use of confirmatory factor and incremental fit analyses. The findings reveal that CO image is a multifaceted construct and that its facets are clearly interpretable. The article concludes with a discussion of advertising implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most prior research on barriers to exporting has been descriptive. The perceived importance to firms of numerous barriers has been documented in various countries and regions. Perceptions of barriers are important because they influence managerial behavior in international markets. Surprisingly, researchers have mostly ignored the firm and decision making characteristics that give rise to barriers. Why do some firms perceive barriers to be more important than other firms? Or, why do some firms perceive a given barrier as more important than it is for another company? The research reported here examines the role of cultural distance and managerial decision-making style as explanatory variables. The data indicate that both play a role in predicting the perceived importance of export barriers to exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While personal selling positions have been categorized into taxonomies, a longitudinal view of how selling jobs change or evolve has not yet been provided. This article presents such a view, based on an inductive analysis from available literature on selling jobs, selling's history, and characteristics of competitive and market environments. Five stages in this evolution of selling are presented and discussed: provider, persuader, prospector, problem-solver, and procreator. Relationships to management practice and implications for future research efforts are also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the abstracts of articles on personal selling and sales management published in various journals in the U.S. Purchasing agents want salespeople who have a thorough knowledge of what their customers are purchasing, can offer insights into helping them make things more efficiently, can act as a bridge between all the various departments at both companies and are concerned with service and follow-up. Sales managers should develop policies for handling customer grievances and effectively train their sales staffs to utilize such approaches. Established complaint-handling procedures not only prepare the salesperson but also lead to customer perceptions of situational fairness. Designing a sales compensation plan that can motivate effective salesperson performance consistent with marketing strategies is an age-old important issue. One of the abstracts discusses a step-by-step process for developing and implementing a sales compensation plan which recognizes the link between sales compensation, evaluation and motivation.

Although brand theorists suggest that what a person knows about a company (i.e., corporate associations) can influence perceptions of the company's products, little systematic research on these effects exists. The authors examine the effects of two general types of corporate associations on product responses: One focuses on the company's capabilities for producing products, that is, corporate ability (CA) associations, and the other focuses on the company's perceived social responsibility, that is, corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations. The results of three studies, including one that measures respondents' CA and CSR associations for well-known companies and one that uses consumers recruited in a shopping mall, demonstrate that (1) what consumers know about a company can influence their beliefs about and attitudes toward new products manufactured by that company, (2) CA and CSR associations may have different effects on consumer responses to products, and (3) products of companies with negative associations are not always destined to receive negative responses. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for marketing managers and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous authors have discussed the possibility of a marketing science and have presented their visions to describe the characteristics of such a science. Fundamentally, these visions must come to grips with the idea of "truth" and the role truth plays in theory and research. In this article, the authors explore "truth in marketing science" by describing the essential problem of science in general and discussing the issues that shape the notion of a marketing science in particular. They note two limiting factors in viewing marketing as a science: (1) marketing as an applied field and (2) marketing's attempts to explain human behavior - a phenomenon that is mutable, unpredictable, and reactive. They propose a scientific realist perspective, which can be useful for describing some of the "scientific" explanations offered in the marketing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts pertaining to marketing. They include "A Flexible Class of Discrete Choice Models," "Consumer Store Choice and Choice Set Definition," and "Economics and Advertising: Exercise in Denial."

I revisit my Journal of Business Research (JBR) article published in 1985 that has garnered many citations. As such, I discuss the concept of self-congruity and the stream of research that the JBR article has spurred over the last 32 + years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the changing roles of customers from service co-producer to value co-creator, the customer participation literature has conceptualized two types of participation behavior: co-production and value co-creation. However, there is a dearth of knowledge concerning both the antecedents of customer co-creation behavior and the outcomes of such behavior in relation to customer-perceived value and loyalty. Anchored in the trust-commitment theory, the present research (a) examines the effect of how a customer's trust in the service personnel could affect his/her cooperative behavior over the service design and delivery processes; and (b) investigates how the potential impact of a customer's trust in service personnel on his/her co-design and co-delivery behavior could be made contingent upon the customer's trust in the service brand and the types of high- versus low-customer-contact service contexts. Filling the aforementioned research gaps, the present research contributes to advance our knowledge of the roles played by trust at different levels of analysis in facilitating customer participation behavior and improving our appreciation of the customer contact service contexts when designing the service organization for maximizing service value and sustaining brand loyalty over time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study explores the role of three types of customer participation (mental, emotional and physical) on service failure perceptions of customers. Based on 472 scenario-based online surveys, it is established that customer participation in the service (co-production) causes customers to produce softer/milder responses after experiencing a service failure, though there are variations according to the type of participation. In general, customer participation in the service reduces customers' tendency to make complaints to hotel management, writing negative comments on Internet blogs and the intention to leave the hotel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are becoming a prevalent form of communication between people. Despite the enormous popularity of clicking the “like” button on Facebook, little research has been done in either network or behavior. This study focuses on how clicking a “like” button on Facebook affects other browsers. We examine the influence of customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) on customer voluntary performance (CVP) for social networking sites. This study employed structural equation modeling to investigate a research model based on a total of 210 valid surveys from social networking site users. The results indicated that CCI does influence satisfaction, commitment, and the commitment effect CVP, which is composed of loyalty, cooperation, and participation. This study suggests that positive CCI will lead to positive commitment and satisfaction. The higher commitment then causes higher CVP. These findings have implications for both marketers and consumer behavior researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the concept of cocreation of value, defined as the tourist’s interest in mental and physical participation in an activity and its role in tourist experiences. Based on the theoretical perspective of “the new service-dominant logic,” customer participation in tourist experiences is explored and tested as a moderating variable on the perceived value – satisfaction relationship. In essence, the customer partakes mentally and physically in an experience, which moderates the role that experience value has on overall satisfaction. The study thus hypothesizes that the higher the level of participation, the stronger the experience value–satisfaction link becomes and vice versa. Using a sample drawn from tourists in Norway, the results confirm that experience value is an effective predictor of tourist satisfaction. The study reveals that the level of cocreation moderates the effect between the experience value of winter tourism activities and satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent disorders in school-age children. Children with ADHD often have difficulty at school and at home. Medication is a common treatment for children with ADHD; however, it has been shown to be more effective when combined with behavioral interventions. Self-management has extensive research support showing its effectiveness for children with ADHD primarily in academic settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact a self-management intervention would have on the on-task behavior of children during various routines, both academic and nonacademic, in the home setting. Participants were trained to use a self-management intervention. In addition, parents were trained to conduct accuracy checks on their child’s performance as well as deliver feedback and rewards. All three participants showed an increase in on-task behavior following the implementation of the self-management intervention; two of the three participants’ on-task behavior maintained high, stable levels as the self-management schedule was faded. One participant’s on-task behavior did not maintain high levels and therefore required implementation of a self-management plus reinforcement for on-task behavior condition to reestablish high, stable levels of on-task behavior. For one participant, the duration of the targeted routine increased. Current limitations are discussed, and recommendations for future research in this area are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies examined whether employees’ emotional labor as perceived by customers, moderates the relationship between customers’ participation and money spent. In Study I, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with customers to examine participation during shopping as well as customers’ awareness of their service employees’ behaviors. The interviews revealed two types of customer participation: emotional engagement and physical effort. Based on Study I, Study II investigated 114 customers, and the moderating role of perceived employees’ emotional labor on the relationships between customer participation and spending money. Even when customers were highly involved in the purchasing process, they spent less money when they observed employee inauthenticity as manifested in Surface Acting. However, Deep Acting positively moderated the relationship between customer participation and spending money. These findings help shed light on the circumstances in which customer participation is strengthened (leading to greater spending) or weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]