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This research was aimed at knowing: (1) the influence of brand image towards the buying decision of the brand Yamaha Mio Motorcycle, (2) the influence of celebrity endorsers on the buying decision of the brand Yamaha Mio Motorcycle, (3) the influence of price perception towards buying decision of brand Yamaha Mio Motorcycle and (4) the influence of brand image, celebrity endorser and price perception towards buying decision of brand Yamaha Mio Motorcycle. This research used a quantitative approach by applying a survey method. This research used purposive sampling or took the samples based on specific characteristics. The samples of this research were 100 buyers of Yamaha Mio Motorcycle Branch Tanah Kusir Jakarta. Data collection techniques using questionnaires that have been tested for validity and reliability. The data analysis technique used to answer the hypothesis is multiple regression. Yamaha is expected to keep attention to the level of consumer confidence in Selebiriti as a representative of Yamaha Mio. To increase consumer confidence for example by increasing the use of celebrities who have credibility and high popularity and are favored by many consumers, so that later will form a good image in the minds of consumers of the product and make purchasing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world has changed dramatically since Congress promulgated the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934--especially in the realm of financial technology. Regulators have struggled to address and close the regulatory lag that exists between financial innovation and regulation. Detecting wrongdoing, understanding market behavior, and learning investor preferences have always been and continue to be challenges in closing this gap. This Article recommends supplementing existing federal securities law with a novel form of market surveillance that I have termed, "regulation by survey," which involves the surveying by regulators of investors for purposes of gaining a deeper understanding of what is occurring within securities markets. The benefits of regulation by survey are plentiful; it improves regulator surveillance and understanding, promotes market confidence, and allows investors to engage in improved decision-making. Although several concerns exist regarding regulation by survey--namely that it detects injuries after they have occurred, depends on investors to provide meaningful information, permits trolling and manipulation, and creates administrative costs--its benefits far outweigh any concerns. This Article contributes to the existing literature in three main ways. First, it proposes "regulation by survey," a unique form of market surveillance that would not have been possible at the time of the passage of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Second, it identifies three emerging areas of securities regulation with market transparency and market surveillance concerns--the regulation of robo-advisers, crowdfunding, and virtual worlds--and it suggests that these emerging areas be used as a proving ground for regulation by survey. Third, it discusses the benefits of a novel theory of regulation, i.e., regulation by survey, that can be used widely throughout the realm of securities law and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to test the animal spirits theory by Akerlof and Shiller (Animal spirits - how human psychology drives the economy, and why it matters for global capitalism? Princeton University Press) for ethical stock markets using Islamic and sustainable stock indexes during calm and crisis periods. This question helps determine whether ethical finance is driven more by its specific rules or determined by animal spirits. We used data covering January 1996–September 2021, which includes both calm periods and crisis periods (dot-com bubble of 2000, subprime crisis of 2007, global financial crisis of 2008–2009, and COVID-19 recession). Accordingly, we applied different time series tests, ran a quantile regression, and built an econometric framework to empirically test the animal spirits theory. We provide two key findings. First, investor sentiment and consumer confidence significantly affect the dynamics of both ethical stock returns, suggesting further evidence of animal spirits. This finding supports the assumption that investors' emotions and sentiments affect their behaviors and related feelings, for example, spontaneous instinctive that urge to action than inaction, optimism, and so forth, might help to apprehend some investment actions. Second, and interestingly, animal spirit effects enter asymmetrically and nonlinearly as their effects on ethical stock returns are time-varying and vary with the quantile under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When scrutinizing consumer behaviors through the lens of behavioral economics, research in this domain underscores the prevalence of psychological biases in decision-making processes. Departing from the rationality posited by traditional economic paradigms, decision-makers often engage in irrational behavior propelled by cognitive biases. While not outrightly dismissing Neoclassical Economic assumptions, this approach accentuates the imperative of accounting for cognitive biases. The study commences with a succinct exposition of the behavioral economics concept, followed by a comprehensive literature review and an intricate examination of the nexus between consumer confidence and consumption expenditures. The methodological framework encompasses a meticulous time-series analysis, elucidating the co-integration dynamics between variables from 2004Q1 to 2021Q3. The dependent variable comprises consumption expenditures, while income, consumer confidence index, and consumer price index function as independent variables. Employing the ARDL bounds testing approach discerns both short and long-term relationships between the variables. In the conclusion, an evaluation of the impact of consumer confidence on consumption expenditures transpires from the vantage point of behavioral economics, underscoring the pivotal role of confidence in shaping consumers' expenditures, aligning with the study's overarching objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impacts of the exchange rate, consumer confidence, oil prices on the stock returns of the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) manufacturing firms for the timeline aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020 -- September 2022). As the manufacturing companies comprise the majority of the stock market of the BIST, the composite index of these industrial companies (XUSIN) is selected as the response variable. Implementing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds-testing methodology on the monthly time series data, the cointegration existence is detected among the series. The empirical results also show that oil price is the most significant determinant among these variables affecting manufacturing companies' returns for the long-run. When considering oil as a vital production input in industries, the decreases in stock prices resulting from oil price rises (i.e. increases in production costs) are inevitable. However, the significant long-run effects of exchange rates and the consumer confidence index on stock returns of this industry cannot be detected for the Covid-19 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in quarantine measures, decreased consumer and investor confidence and a loss of workforce, which adversely affected the world economy. The resultant sharp decline in world stock markets and deteriorating supply chains negatively affected businesses. Since students are the employees of the future, the aim of this study was to examine the evaluations by students of the effects of Covid-19 on the micro economy, at individual, household and company levels. There were 60 participants in the study group, all of them African students at the University of Kyrenia, who were asked to evaluate the pandemic's effects on microeconomic units in their home countries. Students who had enrolled in microeconomics courses in various disciplines were chosen because of knowing the topic better than other students. The snowball sampling method was employed in the selection of the participants. Semi-structured interviews were held one on one and the data was analysed. The findings show that individual poverty increased by at least two times, unemployment rose as a result of the pandemic, and people, families and companies faced financial hardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crisis of confidence in research findings in consumer psychology and other academic disciplines has led to various proposals to abandon, replace, strengthen, or supplement the null hypothesis significance testing paradigm. The proliferation of such proposals, and their often‐conflicting recommendations, can increase confusion among researchers. We aim to bring some clarity by proposing five simple principles for the new era of data analysis and reporting of research in consumer psychology. We avoid adding to researchers' confusion and proposing more onerous or rigid standards. Our goal is to offer straightforward practical principles that are easy for researchers to keep in mind while analyzing their data and reporting their findings. These principles involve (1) interpreting p‐values as continuous measures of the strength of evidence, (2) being aware of assumptions that determine whether one can rely on p‐values, (3) using theory to establish the applicability of findings to new settings, (4) employing multiple measures of evidence and various processes to obtain them, but assigning special privilege to none, and (5) reporting procedures and findings transparently and completely. We hope that these principles provide researchers with some guidance and help to strengthen the reliability of the conclusions derived from their data, analyses, and findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey is one of those countries where housing market has been most severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic. Today the effects of the outbreak have been eliminated significantly. This study retrospectively looks at the days when the world faced a widespread outbreak of a pandemic and investigates the effect of the pandemic and the changes in consumer confidence on housing prices and the volatility of housing prices. Considering the structural breaks in the analysis period (2010:q1-2022:q4 quarterly), we used the Lee and Strazicich structural break unit root test as a research method. The results show that an increase in costs due to a break in the supply chain and containment measures forcing the workforce to stay at home affected the housing supply adversely. It is observable that expansionary economic policies and social assistance programs have a positive effect on housing demand. In this regard, negative supply shock and positive demand pressure are seen to be the determinants of the recent housing price increases in Turkey. However, while there is a positive relationship between consumer confidence and house prices, the effect of house prices on the volatility is statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mushrooms have long been valued for their taste and numerous health benefits. The Montesinho Natural Park is home to over two hundred edible mushroom species, yet climate change and unsustainable practices have affected their availability. Controlled cultivation on forest substrates can contribute to species preservation, and a comprehensive review of nutritional and chemical composition is essential for ensuring quality and consumer confidence, while supporting biodiversity and sustainability. By responsibly meeting the demand for mushrooms, it is possible to protect natural habitats and promote global ecosystem sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international share of plug-in electric vehicle sales was 8.6% in 2021, compared with South Africa's 0.1%. Increasing the sale of these vehicles in South Africa is directly tied to the continued existence of South Africa's vehicle manufacturing industry. To address this challenge, businesses and governments need to understand better the factors influencing electric vehicle adoption. This study identified significant factors that influence and are influenced by electric vehicle adoption. By reviewing the current literature, numerous factors were identified and mapped in a causal loop diagram with an adapted system dynamics approach. The impact of taxation on the cost of electric vehicles and the low availability of electricity negatively affects both consumer confidence in owning an electric vehicle and local manufacturing capacity. This model serves as a useful tool to piece together how various factors in South Africa affect and are affected by electric vehicle adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to study the role of e-commerce as an innovative solution for developing the Saudi economy by describing and analysing the extent to which electronic commerce contributes to the development of Saudi economic indicators and learning about the role of the Saudi government in supporting and developing the e-commerce sector. This development is due to the various types of support provided by the Saudi government to the e-commerce sector, which includes providing a good electronic structure, ensuring consumer rights, e-commerce platforms, enhancing consumer confidence in relying on e-commerce, and stimulating innovation through the Ministry of Commerce, the E-Commerce Council, the Maarouf platform and e-commerce law. Additionally, they learn about the challenges and obstacles facing them, as some individuals lack confidence in e-commerce transactions; fraud; spam; and misleading information about goods and services. Additionally, they are unfamiliar with some consumers using modern technology, such as e-commerce. Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of Middle Eastern countries in terms of the number of Internet users, the expansion of shipping and delivery options, and payment methods, in addition to identifying the types and advantages of these services. Statistical analysis tools such as simple linear regression will also be used. correlation coefficient. The coefficient of determination is used to measure the impact of e-commerce revenues on GDP and the impact of e-commerce revenues on total exports. The effect of e-commerce revenues on total imports. The impact of e-commerce revenues on the clothing and footwear sector. The impact of ecommerce revenues on the electronics sector. The impact of e-commerce revenues on the food and drug sector. The impact of e-commerce revenues on the furniture and home appliances sector. However, the results of the research showed that there is no correlation between e-commerce and GDP in the KSA. Despite the development witnessed in the field of electronic commerce, many Saudi companies have not kept pace with this development. Therefore, Saudi companies must work on finding innovative solutions to improve their business performance and improve the quality of their services and products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes whether subjective well-being can explain the populist vote in the Netherlands. Using data on voting intention and subjective well-being for over 7700 individuals from 2008 to 2019—a period during which populist parties became well-established in the Netherlands—we estimate logit and multinomial logit random effects regressions. We find evidence of an association between decreased subjective well-being and the probability to vote for a populist party that goes beyond changes in dissatisfaction with society—lack of confidence in parliament, democracy and the economy—and ideological orientation. At the same time, we find no evidence for a relationship between subjective well-being and voting for other non-incumbent parties other than populist parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we construct a reliability acceptance sampling inspection plan to decide whether to accept or reject a lot of products where the One Parameter Polynomial Exponential (OPPE) family of distributions governs the lifetimes. The OPPE distribution has infinite support. To utilise finite support, it has transformed into its unit form, i.e. having the support (0, 1). The design of the plan, Operating characteristic curve, and Sampling procedure are discussed. Determination of the plan parameters using an algorithm is stated. The optimal sample size is determined to protect the consumer's confidence level. Two simplest particular choices of the OPPE family - the exponential and the Lindley are chosen as examples, and optimal plan parameters are tabulated and compared. The plan is executed with three real-life data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of hospitality initially was on ambience and novelty to attract customers. With the rise of the digital revolution, the hospitality industry has also undergone significant change. Long-distance travel at the workplace, odd working hours, and a variety of food options have driven people staying in Indian metropolises towards online food delivery (OFD) services. The popularity of OFD services has risen because of their practicality, simplicity, and a rise in consumer confidence in digital payments. Specifically, for the food industry, digitalization has opened new horizons to capture customers. The competition is not among the big brands, but big brands are competing with homemakers who run tiffin services, and street food hawkers who claim to provide traditional Dhaba-style food and fast food. The customers are loaded with unlimited options to choose the food in terms of price, cuisine, quality, etc. The present research examines the associations between service quality of OFD services, perceived ease of use, and word-of-mouth review adoption, leading to expectation confirmation modeling. The path analysis was carried out using data from 500 Indian respondents residing in Tier-I cities who have been using OFD services regularly. The research outcome shows that servqual has a positive influence on perceived ease of use and confirmation. Additionally, it encourages continued usage intentions because of its favorable impact on the adoption of e-word-of-mouth reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies and explores the key factors and issues that influence Taiwanese consumer behavior and preferences when it comes to the consumption of white shrimp. It aims to increase consumer confidence in, and purchase intention for, private-brand white shrimp and to develop marketing strategies and models for farmers who operate a self-produced, self-sold model. This study adopted the Alphabet theory and EKB modeling to obtain a holistic picture of white shrimp purchase behavior and consumer preferences. A semi-questionnaire was conducted with 921 consumers of white shrimp between November 2020 and March 2021, of which 787 questionnaires were valid and used in this study. Our study revealed the following noteworthy points. Freshness and drug residue are the two main concerns of white shrimp purchasers. The results of the consumer study show the existence of statistically significant differences between the defined segments in terms of general characteristics, consumption habits and behavior, and motivation for product awareness and purchase intention, as well as determination of the option of obtaining white shrimp for consumption. Our findings suggest that there is a significant correlation between product awareness and purchase intention. This has a number of practical implications for the self-produced, self-sold aquaculture farmer. In particular, it highlights the importance of the following: 1. establishing connection and trust by business model innovation, 2. improving product image and value, 3. providing product safety information to increase purchase intention and willingness to pay, and 4. developing production and sale plans in response to market demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research studies the impact of online news on social and economic consumer perceptions through semantic network analysis. Using over 1.8 million online articles on Italian media covering four years, we calculate the semantic importance of specific economic-related keywords to see if words appearing in the articles could anticipate consumers' judgments about the economic situation and the Consumer Confidence Index. We use an innovative approach to analyze big textual data, combining methods and tools of text mining and social network analysis. Results show a strong predictive power for the judgments about the current households and national situation. Our indicator offers a complementary approach to estimating consumer confidence, lessening the limitations of traditional survey-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have reported positive associations between certain biologically active compounds, with pharmacological properties, such as nutraceuticals, contained in some foods and various pathologies. The term "nutraceutical" currently varies from country to country, referring to a number of valuable molecules, derived from organic sources (plants) or foods such as polyphenols, essential amino acids, antioxidants, soluble fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFA), prebiotics, prebiotics, which act at the cellular level, in combating oxidative stress and inflammatory processes and / or in altering the expression of some genes. The discovery of the many benefits attributed to these products and the ever-changing lifestyle have contributed to increasing consumer confidence in nutraceutical and functional foods around the world, and there is a growing interest in improving the quality of life and adopting a healthy lifestyle. to prevent or reduce the risk of disease. Based on these considerations, this paper aims to review some scientific evidence obtained from in vitro / in vivo studies, which supports the beneficial effects of some nutraceuticals and their medical implications in various pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient engagement is currently considered the cornerstone of a revolution in healthcare for its positive impact on health outcomes, health behaviors and healthcare costs. Patient engagement is focused on personalized care to consumers through providing knowledge, skills and confidence. Mobile health (mHealth) applications are an innovative means to facilitate patient engagement. Nevertheless, the extent to which the current mHealth applications are designed to engage patients in managing their chronic diseases is unclear. This paper aims to identify the Persuasive System Design (PSD) features present in current mHealth applications that increased the engagement of patients with chronic diseases. This review also aims to identify patient engagement-related outcomes of these features. This paper conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to find relevant studies published from all years up to 2020 through six databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cinahl plus with full text, MEDLINE with full text, and Cochrane Library (Central register of controlled trials). The database search returned 4939 articles; after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the number of included articles for the final review was 13. A qualitative content analysis was performed to identify PSD model features and their patient engagement-related outcomes. The quality assessment has been done through the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for RCTs. The systematic literature review and meta-analysis identified eleven PSD features that can increase patient engagement through using mHealth applications. The identified PSD features have been shown to have various patient engagement-related outcomes. Behavior Change Techniques (BCTs) were combined with the identified PSD features. This paper identified persuasive features of mHealth application design that influence the engagement of patients with chronic diseases toward changing their behavior. The impact of these features is also analyzed in this review. The results show that an mHealth technology-mediated patient engagement model is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers always delay their choices, which can cause companies to suffer tremendous losses. One reason for such delay is a lack of confidence. Confidence in consumer decision-making can stem from many sources, including social power. In this research, we find that selection power with regard to choosing a romantic mate increases consumers' decision confidence and, in turn, decreases choice deferral. We define the concept of intersexual selection power (ISP), and propose certain factors that can induce individuals' asymmetric ISP. We conducted four studies to explore four factors that could influence consumers' ISP perceptions (sex, mating cues, sex ratio, and mate value) and the effects of such power perception on choice deferral. The results showed that individuals with high ISP perception have more decision confidence and a lower choice deferral rate than individuals with low ISP perception regardless of the way in which choice deferral is measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recreation user fees are the focus of a large body of research. Existing work has examined their acceptability while considering factors related to the user, the nature of the fee itself, and the effect of fee justification messaging. Missing to this point is an examination of the role of beliefs about the broader economic climate, and an individual's willingness—rather than ability—to pay in this context. To that end, in this paper we examine the effect of consumer confidence in shaping attitudes toward a hypothetical user fee increase at an aquatic facility. Using a series of one-way ANOVAs, we report that users with greater confidence in the broader economy find the fee increase more acceptable, and indicate greater purchase intention at the higher fee rate. Implications for practice, as well as directions for future fee-related research, are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although macroeconomic conditions are recognized as factors that influences country’s performance, little is known about how companies from different sectors absorb such impacts. Using the myopic marketing theory, the paper goal is to analyze the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and marketing investments in Brazilian companies. The sample consists of 183 Brazilian companies with quarterly financial data, obtained from Economatica, and macroeconomic data, obtained from IpeaData (2010 to 2020). First, the results indicate that GDP, interest rates and consumer confidence are positively related, and the exchange rate and unemployment showed a negative relationship with marketing investments. Second, the impact of these relationships differs across sectors. Third, the results demonstrate that the level of investments and expansion of marketing investments depend on macroeconomic conditions, indicating which contexts influence the discretionary treatment of the marketing budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the tourism industry, including hotels, has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, few empirical studies have systematically examined the typology and effectiveness of their responses. To capture common response strategies within the hotel industry and assess their effectiveness, two studies were conducted. Study 1 adopted a hybrid approach involving deductive and inductive thematic analyses to evaluate 4,211 news articles. Five broad themes emerged: (1) revenue management, (2) crisis communication, (3) alternative approaches to service delivery, (4) human resource management, and (5) corporate social responsibility. Drawing upon protection motivation theory, Study 2 included a pre-test, pilot study, and main experimental study to examine the effectiveness of several common response strategies. Results showed that reassuring crisis communication and contactless services can foster consumer confidence and response efficacy, leading to positive consumers' attitudes and booking intentions. Crisis communication and price discount were found to influence consumers' attitudes and booking intentions directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for ready to serve food consumption and therefore the number of catering establishments has increased day by day because of the rapid growth of industry, the increase in the employed population, the acceleration of urbanization, the increase in the income level and the allocation of more time to entertainment and travel. The society's preference for the consumption of ready to serve foods outside the home has led to more problems such as foodborne illness. It has been determined that the factors causing these diseases are mostly incorrect information and practices in the food processing systems such as improper cooking/preparation, faulty temperature control, and the lack of hygiene knowledge of the personnel. Therefore, food safety and hygiene are vital issues in the catering sector, which serves a large part of the society, to gain consumer confidence and protect public health. In this review, the hygiene practices that must be followed in catering sector to ensure food safety are explained by considering the researches in the literature. Accordingly, comprehensive information about food, personnel and tool-equipment hygiene, personnel training, critical applications in the process from receiving of food to the establishment and delivery to the consumer, disinfectants used in sanitation, and systems required for catering establishments are included, the precautions to be taken in catering establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic are also stated. Catering establishments should show their importance given to consumers, employees, food quality, and reliability by applying systems that must be present in the food establishments such as the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System, ISO 9001 Quality Management System, TS 13811 Hygiene and Sanitation Management System, ISO TS 22002-2 Food Service, TS 8985 Service Adequacy Certificate and TS 18001 OHSAS Occupational Health and Safety Management System. Besides, it is important for the sustainability of the system that all personnel are aware of food hygiene and receive training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to determine the factors affecting consumer loyalty for every business that wants to be sustainable. One of the factors affecting consumer loyalty is the element of trust. Consumer confidence, on the other hand, is a concept associated with the capacity of a business to fulfill its obligations and commitments in terms of consumers' expectations. It is expected this study will contribute to the literature on deepening the understanding of the relationship between consumer innovativeness, consumer loyalty and trust. The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of consumer trust in the effect of consumer innovativeness on consumer loyalty. In this context, the data obtained from 389 consumers were analyzed with the snowball sampling method. As a result of the analysis, it was found that there is a relationship between consumer innovativeness, consumer trust and consumer loyalty and that consumer trust partially mediates the effect of consumer innovativeness on consumer loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moreover, some health care organizations use tools from digital technology companies that leak patient data.[4] Certain populations have greater privacy concerns - notably conservative and older respondents. Those data can be used to improve individual and community health, but also raise security and privacy concerns.[1], [2] Given potential benefits alongside substantial privacy risks, it is important to evaluate how consumers view organizations and entities that collect and re-use their personal digital health data. [Extracted from the article]

The objective of this research is to study the characteristics of slaughterhouses and meat distribution of butcher's shops operating under the relevant laws, including attitudes, problems, and obstacles facing butchers in implementing the law in the north-eastern part of Thailand. A total of 14 butcher shops at Baan Din Dam, Muang District, Maha Sarakham Province, participated in the study. Data were collected by surveying, interviews by using a semi-structured questionnaire, and focus group discussion. It was found that in cases where animals are slaughtered in standard slaughterhouses, butchers complied with the law. On the other hand, in the case of butchers who slaughtered animals by themselves, it was found that the practice mostly did not meet the standards as required by law. In terms of problems, obstacles, and attitudes of butchers regarding legal compliance, it was found that the butchers have knowledge related to law at a moderate level. They considered that the law was difficult to follow, but there was also a positive opinion that complying with the law gives consumers confidence and safety. Education level is the factor affecting opinions and attitudes on slaughter and meat distribution law. Compliance with butchers' slaughter and meat distribution laws in north-eastern part of Thailand requires supervision from the government, and ongoing provision of education is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In the United States, hemp and marijuana are both Cannabis sativa, differentiated only by whether the plant on dry weight basis is above or below 0.3% Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). • Pod-based vaping products were devised for discreet vaping and originated in the cannabis industry. • Cannabis vaping is correlated with younger age, higher education, and higher income. • Thorough and transparent labelling of chemicals present in cannabis vaping products is not widespread industry practice. • A federally unregulated cannabis industry and variable state-to-state regulations has enabled low quality products to enter the marketplace which can lead to adverse events and consumer confusion. • Unified and enforced state regulations or federal regulations supported by quality testing and robust research are needed for consumer confidence and safety in cannabis vaping products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the role of consumer confidence and selected well-being measures in aggregate consumption and in subsets of aggregate consumption on a broad set of 22 OECD countries. Consumer confidence played a positive and statistically significant role in the development of expenditures especially on durable and semi-durable goods and services. The increase in cognitive, affective and eudaimonic measures of well-being, measured by the Cantril ladder, positive and negative affect and freedom to make life choices variables, had negative impact on total consumption and expenditures on semi-durable goods and services. Possible explanations for these estimates are provided in the paper. Based on the purpose of expenditure, consumer confidence was a significant determinant of all expenditures except for unavoidable spending such as food, health, housing, water, energy, and fuel. The subjective well-being indicators showed a negative impact on expenditures on clothing and footwear, recreation and culture, and restaurants and hotels. Possible explanations for the positive and negative effects of subjective well-being measures on consumption, benefits of including the freedom of choice variable, and directions for future research regarding the introduction of understudied variables are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the emergence, definition, and characteristic of the phenomenon of “post-truth” and how its characteristics are used in connection with historical narratives by various political forces for their own goals. The article’s goal is to identify how historical narratives are used by the spreaders of post-truth for various results in domestic and foreign policy, or, in the case of the post-truth spreader being a contesting politician vying for power, for electoral support. The research utilizes historical-narrative and historical-comparative methods, alongside methods of discourse and content analysis. After reviewing the literature, it is observed that from the point of view of historical politics, the methods of spreading the post-truth pose a tempting prospect of ensuring the ideological unity of the nation (or a part of it). The creation of an ideological and informational climate in which history consisted only of the heroism of "Us" and the various affronts and capture of “our old territories” by "the Other" contributes to internal stability. However, such historical politics, while useful in an “information bubble” in domestic policy, can be easily exposed and deconstructed by the neighboring powers decried as “the Other”, blamed for various historical grievances (in the case of a reigning regime using post-truth historical narratives), or by political rivals debunking false claims (in the case of a contesting political force using such narratives in a democracy). The post-truth relies on charisma and cognitive bias, rather than specific historical knowledge, and can be used to strengthen existing political support, more so than converting others. Post-truth accelerates the involvement of media consumers and the growth of their confidence in the correctness of the ideology. However, regardless of its utilitarian positives for political forces, a choice in favor of post-truth is a voluntary choice in favor of misinformation, anti-intellectualism and deception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer fraud is a category that has existed for many years, and is also quite widespread, and includes the false representation of goods or services to potential consumers. Every potential consumer can be a victim of one of the types of fraud, and insufficient awareness of their rights increases the risk of being a victim, while consumer fraud leads to a loss of consumer confidence in products, mistrust in online sales, etc. The purpose of this paper is to increase consumer awareness of the most common types of fraud and how the consumer can protect himself from fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kosovo is working toward meeting the requirements to align politically and economically with the EU. The strengthening of institutional quality is a requirement for fostering economic activity, advancing general development, and harmonizing Kosovo's governmental policies with those of the European Union. Through the quality of the services they provide, state institutions increase their credibility in front of citizens. This research analyzes the correlation between the perception of Kosovar consumers regarding the credibility of the services of state institutions (mandated to control the quality of local products) and the reflection of this perception in the attitude of consumers towards the purchase of local products. The research's findings are based on a survey-based analysis of students' opinions. The findings show that the trustworthiness of Kosovo consumers in the work of institutions is quite low, and as a result, their preferences to buy relatively few local products are influenced by this perception. The research suggests that current government policies to boost the production activity of local companies should be focused not only on offering fiscal, financial and administrative incentives, but also to be accompanied by genuine reformation of state agencies, primarily those covering the quality infrastructure area. This is because quality institutional services contribute to increasing consumers' confidence in the quality of local products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why mergers and acquisitions occur in waves is still a subject little explored in the financial literature, especially in the context of markets outside the USA and UK. Therefore, this study investigates whether agents' optimism could lead to an M&A wave, using Brazilian data from 2007 to 2017 of transactions and the Business Confidence Index, which measures the optimism of the entrepreneurs about the current and future economic scenario. We used Harford's (2005) definition for an M&A wave. Using a Logit binary response model, the study pointed out that optimism increases the probability of an M&A wave. Ibovespa was the variable that had the greater effect on the probabilities of an M&A wave. The results were significant for different lags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly every important issue in trademark litigation turns on the question of what consumers in the marketplace believe to be true. To address this question, litigants frequently present consumer survey evidence, which can play a decisive role in driving the outcomes of trademark disputes. But trademark survey evidence has often proven to be highly controversial, not least because it has sometimes been perceived as open to expert manipulation. In this Article, we identify and present empirical evidence of a fundamental problem with trademark survey evidence: while the leading survey formats in trademark law test for whether consumers hold a particular belief, they do not examine the strength or the varying degrees of certainty with which consumers hold that belief. Yet as the social science literature has long recognized, the strength with which consumers hold particular beliefs shapes their behavior in the marketplace, and thus it should also shape how trademark disputes play out in the courtroom. Through a series of experiments using the three leading trademark survey formats (the so-called Teflon, Eveready, and Squirt formats), we show the remarkable degree to which these formats as conventionally designed overlook--or suppress--crucial information about consumer uncertainty. We further demonstrate how low-cost, easily administered, and relatively simple modifications to these formats can reveal that information. We explain both the practical and theoretical implications of our findings. As a practical matter, trademark survey evidence that shows only weakly held beliefs (or that does not even test for belief strength) should not, without more, satisfy a litigant's burden of persuasion on the issue addressed by the survey. Furthermore, in line with courts' growing efforts in intellectual property cases to tailor injunctive relief, survey evidence showing only weakly held mistaken beliefs may provide courts with the opportunity to fashion more limited forms of relief short of an outright injunction. As a theoretical matter, trademark survey formats that reveal the true extent of consumer uncertainty in the marketplace may finally force trademark law and policy to confront normative questions it has long left unanswered going to exactly what kind of harm trademark law is meant to prevent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pigeon food production industry from breeding to processing into food for market circulation involves many stages and people, which is prone to food safety issues and difficult to regulate. To address these problems, one possible solution is to establish a traceability system. However, in traditional traceability systems, a number of stages involved and each of them provides their own data accumulated in the database. Therefore, complex traceability data are compose of too many stages easily result in confusing information for customers. Besides, centralized data storage makes data vulnerable to be tampered with. To solve these problems, hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) principles have been utilized in our work which is a comprehensive traceability system. In this work, we analyze the pigeon food production industry through HACCP principles and determine some critical control points (CCPs), including incubation, breeding, transportation, slaughtering, processing, and logistics. With the help of these CCPs, we are able to build a traceability system with critical and abundant data but not too complicated for users. To further improve the system, there are different kinds of techniques integrated into it. Firstly, a permissioned blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric, is selected as blockchain module to enhance trustworthiness of data. Secondly, the system contains various IoT devices for automatically collecting environmental parameter data with the aim of reducing human interference. Besides, it is worth mentioning that the proposed information management device can decrease the data entry burden. Consequently, the implementation of the traceability system increase consumers' confidence in pigeon food production. To summarize, it is a new application of modern agricultural information technique in food safety and a bold experiment in the field of poultry, particularly pigeons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the chemical, physical, and microbial safety of food and ingredients underpins the international trade of food items and is integral to building consumer confidence. Achieving this requires effective systems to support the safety of food across the supply chain. Differing risk‐assessment approaches are utilized globally for establishing food safety systems, and bench marking these approaches against international food safety standards can assist in the development of country‐specific systems. This China–Australia collaborative review examined similarities and differences in the food safety risk‐assessment systems of China, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, with the view to identify areas that could support improvements to the Chinese system. Key differences include the level of cohesiveness among stakeholders and the level to which each country promotes the international harmonization of standards. The evidence highlights a need for greater capacity‐building in risk assessment in China that may support greater stakeholders' cohesion, improve hazard identification, and allow regulators to more readily keep abreast of changes to international standards. This review may help the Chinese food industry to replicate the same level of food safety risk assessment currently applied by other key countries, and reflects the determination, government prioritization, and active strengthening of China's National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment currently underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth requires confidence in the state's ability to enforce secure exchange. But when states selectively enforce rule of law, political considerations can moderate the trust that buyers have in sellers. I argue that political connections produce moral hazard in exchange because they introduce biases in expectations of judicial enforcement. Buyers avoid trade with politically connected sellers, and, in this context of unequal enforcement, formal contracts disproportionately protect politically connected buyers. To examine these features of connections and contracts, I created a sales business in Senegal and randomized whether employees signaled political connections and/or offered formal contracts during transactions. The results show that political connections decreased buyers' willingness to exchange. Formal contracts increased exchange, though primarily for connected buyers. These findings show that asymmetric political connections can impede daily trade and intensify economic inequalities in developing contexts, while simultaneously demonstrating the limits of state institutions for mitigating politically driven moral hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraging consumers to switch to lower-rate mortgages is important both for the individual consumer's finances and for functioning competitive markets, but switching rates are low. Given the complexity of mortgages, one potential regulatory intervention that may increase switching rates is to provide independent advice on how to select good mortgage products and how to navigate the switching process. Working with a government consumer protection agency, we conducted an experiment with mortgage-holders to test whether such advice alters perceptions of switching. The experiment tested how the attributes of the offer, perceptions about the switching process, individual feelings of competence and comprehension of the product affect willingness to switch to better offers, both before and after reading the official advice. The advice made consumers more sensitive to interest rate decreases, especially over longer terms. It also increased consumers' confidence in their ability to select good offers. Overall, the findings imply that advice from policy-makers can change perceptions and increase switching rates. Moreover, the experiment demonstrates how lab studies can contribute to behaviourally informed policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer behavior is embedded in a certain social structure and social networks, and the scale and density of household social networks will be likely to affect consumption expenditure. To explore the impact of social networks and institutional embeddedness on household consumption, this study constructs a model of consumption influencing factors, and devises an empirical study using the data of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). The results show some innovation. (1) The impact of household social networks on total household consumption is significant. A 1% increase in social networks spending boosts household consumption spending by 0.364%. (2) The institutional embeddedness will affect household consumption. Every 1% increase of social security account balance (the proxy variable of institutional embeddedness) can boost household consumption by 0.196%. This proves that the social insurance institution can enhance consumer confidence and promote current consumption growth. (3) The results of the robustness test confirmed that even after replacing the dependent variable with "the proportion of developmental consumption in total household consumption," the influence of social networks and institutional embeddedness on consumption is still significant. Using the variable "communication expenses" instead of "gift income and expenditure" as the proxy variable of social networks, the estimation result is still robust. (4) Social networks have a significant influence on all types of household consumption except medical care consumption, but the degree of influence is different. Further discussion revealed that the estimation results are different for different regions in China, but the coefficients of core independent variables are not significantly different. This conclusion is different from people's intuition, which holds that people in regions with low economic development rely more on social communication and spend more on social communication to maintain a certain social status. The conclusion of this paper is of great significance for formulating policies and institutions affecting residents' consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the effect relationship between the Turkish economy of import volume and consumer confidence index in the focus of production and consumption. Within the scope of the analysis, a total of two variables, import volume and consumer confidence index, and a data set consisting of 214 monthly observations for the period 2004:01-2021:10 for each variable investigated with ADF Unit Root Test, Johansen Co-integration Analysis and Toda-Yamato Causality Test. When the empirical findings are examined, a long-term cointegrated relationship was not found between the variables of import volume and consumer confidence index. Granger causality was not determined from consumer confidence index to import volume and from import volume to consumer confidence index. With the results obtained, there is no causal relationship between the consumer confidence index of changes on the import volume of changes in Turkey, periodically and in terms of causality. Consumer confidence trends are not affected by the changes in imports, and consumer confidence trends do not have a share in the realization level of imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic became a driver for the adoption and use of information and communication technologies, as well as digitization processes in companies. With the confinement due to the risks of physical proximity, many companies saw the need and the advantage of making use of digital technologies to offer their products, reach the customer, maintain themselves and even increase their sales. Social networks enabled remote "social contact" and became other means of buying and selling, so electronic commerce became more relevant. The use of these networks to trade is becoming more frequent and with greater confidence on the part of consumers. This work deals with micro, small and medium enterprises and electronic commerce. Its objective is to identify the factors that contribute to the adoption of electronic commerce. To achieve this, an analysis of the bibliographic sources, a hemerographic search and statistical databases was carried out. Among the factors are the change in culture of the entrepreneur to invest, adopt and use digital technologies. This requires knowledge, learning, development of skills and abilities, exchange of experiences throughout the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature emphasizes the importance of strengthening the administrative capacity of States to guarantee an efficient use of EU funds. In the context of the Spanish Plan of Recovery, Transformation and Resiliency to distribute Next Generation EU funds, this article explores the role of the Spanish parliament in the improvement of this administrative capacity. We argue that it can contribute in two ways. First, reinforcing the accountability of public administration. Second, promoting the participation of authorities and public officials in the design and analysis of public policies. With the goal to explore how the parliament has developed these functions, the article analyzes the parliamentary control activity on public administrations during the period 1979-2019, based on the study of parliamentary questions introduced in plenary sessions and committees. It also take into account all the parliamentary appearances of public officials and authorities for the period 1986-2019. Results illustrate, on the one hand, that political control on public administrations is very low and, even if it has diversified compared to the eighties, it has significantly decreased over time. On the other hand, the participation of public officials and authorities takes place mainly on economy and budget issues, and through posts of political confidence, more than with a technical profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]