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Brands often make references to competitors in their public communications. Yet not all competitors are equal—over time, certain pairs of brands may develop special rivalry relationships. This research examines whether these relationships can alter the effects of interbrand communications. Drawing on rivalry theory, the authors distinguish between brand rivalry, a special competitive relationship between brands based on a shared history, and competition, a situation where brands merely have currently opposing goals. A series of studies using complementary methods (two archival studies using large-scale Twitter data and three preregistered experiments) provide evidence for the "rivalry reference effect" across multiple brands and product categories. That is, referencing a rival (vs. a nonrival) competitor in a public brand message increases consumer engagement. The effect is mediated by increased story embeddedness, defined as the perception that the reference is embedded within an ongoing story. The authors also show positive downstream effects on purchase intentions and test two moderators: brand preference (loyal vs. neutral consumers) and message valence (negative vs. positive). This research highlights the potential appeal of brand rivalry to consumers, illustrating how and under what conditions brands can use their rivalries to their advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypercompetitive mobile app stores are characterized by rapid innovation and intense competition. App firms must vie for temporary competitive advantage through competitive actions such as releasing product improvements. We study how competitive indicators influence a particular competitive action--app updates--in a mobile game app market. Our results reveal that app firms take action to improve or sustain their temporary competitive advantage, updating their apps when there are opportunities to capitalize on popularity (e.g., rank and rating volume are increasing) and when their apps' advantages are threatened (e.g., customer ratings are decreasing). We also find that app updates are released in response to competitors' actions--specifically, when competitors update their apps and new competitors enter ranking lists. Moreover, our findings show that app firms release app updates when an app's customer rating volume is increasing or when an app firm's portfolio of game apps is less diverse, relative to its competitors. We conduct additional analyses that show that older app firms are responsive to more competitive indicators than younger ones and major updates are primarily used to respond to serious threats to apps' competitive positions. Overall, our results indicate that app updates are competitive actions used to improve or sustain temporary advantage when competitive indicators reveal opportunities to improve or threats to apps' competitive positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing line of research examines causes and consequences of militant group competition. However, empirical work on these topics has limitations. Most quantitative research uses relatively rough proxies for competition, such as counts of groups in a country. Other work uses dichotomous indicators, ignoring the intensity or degree of rivalries. Additionally, many studies examine either terrorist organizations or rebel groups, overlooking cross-type rivalry (e.g., terrorist vs. rebel). We address these issues by introducing time-varying dyadic rivalry data on hundreds of groups – rebels, terrorists, and pro-government militias – in Africa and Asia, 1990-2015. Rivalry levels include denouncements, threats, and violence. After presenting the data, we test the "outbidding" hypothesis: the notion that inter-organizational competition leads to more terrorism. This argument has found support in qualitative analyses, but quantitative tests using rivalry proxies show mixed results. Using our data we find support for the hypothesis. We conclude with research questions that could be addressed with the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research was to investigate fans' responses toward a sponsor that has had a long-standing sponsorship deal with a club and decided also to sponsor the club's rival. Design/methodology/approach: A long-term sponsorship deal between a retsina wine company and a popular football club and a newly established deal between the company and the main rival club were selected as the research setting. Data were collected from a total sample of 302 participants, fans of the two teams, using an online survey and PLS-SEM was employed to test the relationships of the proposed structural model. Findings: The results provided evidence for the importance of the inclusion of perceptions of fit for both teams to the model as it impacted the responses in the joint sponsorship. Team identification emerged significant for improving fans perceptions of fit between the sponsor and their favorite club but also led fans of the long-term sponsored club to feel betrayed from the sponsor. The sense of betrayal impacted the level of fit, the rejection of sponsorship but did not emerge significant for driving negative responses toward the sponsor's brand. The same held for the rejection of the joint sponsorship. Originality/value: This is the very first study that incorporated the effects of the perceptions of fit of two rival clubs to test the effect of sponsorship for a sponsor brand of a deal that includes a longtime sponsored football club and its rival as a newly sponsored one. It is also one of the first attempts that explores relationships between perceptions of fit, sense of betrayal and rejection of a joint sport sponsorship in a rivalry context, highlighting the importance of preventing fans' betrayal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GeSec: Revista de Gestao e Secretariado is the property of Sindicato das Secretarias e Secretarios do Estado de Sao Paulo (SINSESP) 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.)

According to the steps-to-war theory, the probability of war between two states rises as the involved states take four distinct steps—namely, initiate a territorial disagreement, enter a rivalry relationship, secure defensive allies, and initiate an arms race with one another. Our study explores the relationships between these four steps in greater detail. In particular, we ask whether the steps to war might unfold in a predictable (modal) sequence. After demonstrating that the theory contains the elements needed to think about the steps to war as a sequence of events, we theorize a modal steps-to-war sequence and derive a series of predictions about it. We then evaluate these predictions through path analysis (i.e. a structural equation model). The results not only confirm the existence of a modal sequence, but also overwhelmingly support the steps-to-war theory's predictions, some of which we formalize and investigate for the first time. Most notably, we uncover evidence that territorial disagreements function as an underlying cause of war that drives the entire steps-to-war process. Contests over territory increase the probability of war both directly as well as indirectly, through the additional steps to war they encourage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narcissists are characterized by confidence, fragility, a desire for social approval without showing interest in others, charm, self-assurance, arrogance, and aggression. This study assesses the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) among Algerian students (N = 714). Confirmatory factor and Rasch analyses were used. The NARQ consists of 18 items addressing six narcissism subscales under two main dimensions: rivalry and admiration. The results showed good saturation of the items on the six subscales and the three sub-scales on each of the two main dimensions, revealing a modest but positive correlation between rivalry and admiration. Moreover, the results of the Rasch model demonstrated that the scale aligns with the data, confirming the validity of the scale. This study offers valuable perspectives on assessing narcissism among Arabic populations and enhances our comprehension of the traits linked to narcissistic personalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The consensus of the literature has suggested that competition prompts individuals to act unethically. However, prior research that explored the ethical implication of competition has largely ignored the role of contexts within its examination—studying competition generally independent of other social relationships/actors. Drawing on the relational perspective of competition (i.e., rivalry), we propose that broader social relationships in which rivalry relationships are embedded will give rise to alternative psychological processes that can account for a curbing effect of rivalry on workplace cheating behavior. Results from one pre‐registered experiment and three surveys on working professionals suggest that exposure to rivalry leads to a heightened perception of peer monitoring, which in turn is associated with lower cheating behavior at work. We further find that the effect of rivalry on the perception of peer monitoring is stronger (weaker) when employees' leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship with their supervisor is lower (higher), highlighting the significance of other social actors in the rivalry process. This research complements the literature with a balanced perspective regarding the ethical implication of competition and contributes to the theory building of rivalry by providing an interpersonal lens to the psychology of rivalry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Cost advantage helps a firm at the expense of its rivals, but may hurt some rivals worse than others. Conventional wisdom suggests that an advantaged firm will do more harm to closer competitors, but the opposite may occur if competitors can reposition themselves. Closer competitors have stronger incentives to reposition away from the advantaged firm, thereby potentially encroaching on rivals more distant from the advantaged firm and propagating the harm to them like the cue ball in billiards transfers energy from cue stick to target ball. Our formal model compares an advantaged firm's closer and farther competitors, when repositioning is allowed or prohibited, and demonstrates when its advantage hurts farther competitors worse than closer ones. We provide an illustrative case study from grocery retailing. Managerial Summary: When Walmart brought its advantage in distribution efficiency to the low end of the grocery retailing industry, it displaced the inefficient downscale incumbent Winn‐Dixie in many geographic areas. One might have expected such increased efficiency at the low end of the market to hurt midscale supermarkets like Kroger more than premium grocers like Whole Foods, yet the opposite occurred. Why? In a word, repositioning. Midscale competitors retreated away from Walmart by repositioning upscale via renovations, which thereby transferred the impact to premium rivals who could not escape any further upscale. Our economic model of this "cue‐ball effect" predicts that the impact propagated onto upper‐end competitors is greater in markets with less income inequality, and our empirical results are consistent with this prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes this shift in the relationship between China and the United States, focusing in particular on the role of American corporations in shaping US geopolitical strategies with regard to China. Once aggressive promoters of economic integration with China, these firms now defend policies designed to block the growth of Chinese firms in Western markets and protect America's lead in critical emerging technologies. The current tension between the US and China, we argue, reflects, in part, a dispute for control over technical progress in these key areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the territory of the European Union, logistical projects clash as a reflection of the clash for global supremacy in establishing a new world order. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a major strategic undertaking, combining two traditional Eurasian trade roads - the Silk Road the Novgorod-Santiago de Compostela road. Due to their combination the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, part of the 16 + 1 platform, could become an important link in a larger “Eurasian Economic Community”, which could help overcoming their economic difficulties East-West trade statistics show the viability of the project. Such an opportunity faces the resistance by the USA, which launch their own project, the Trimorje, to cut off the economic ties between their geopolitical rivals and CEE. The conflict in the Ukraine cuts off these ties in the NorthEst and shifts the weight to the southern section of BRI, the Third Eurasian Continental Bridge. If the EU succeeds in maintaining trade relations with China, this shift reveals new opportunities for Bulgaria to serve as logistic hub, but a negative scenario should not to be excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many extended reality (XR) devices present different views to the left and right eyes. Unwanted colorimetric differences between these views can cause perceptual artifacts that degrade binocular image quality. We present an image‐computable model designed to predict the appearance of binocular views with colorimetric differences in XR displays. The model is fitted to data from a recent perceptual study in which people provided multidimensional responses about the appearance of stimuli simulating an optical see‐through augmented reality device with interocular intensity differences. This work can be used to create preliminary assessments of binocular artifact appearance and inform XR display design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is the result of interdisciplinary research on the relationship between workplace harassment (or mobbing) and fibromyalgia (FM). Mobbing can cause emotional trauma due to the intense suffering that it provokes in the individuals who experience workplace harassment for a prolonged and recurrent manner. FM is a progressive disease that presents mainly in women and is characterized by generalized, debilitating pain, along with fatigue that does not resolve with rest. Because of studies suggesting an association between these two phenomena, we examined these two conditions in the context of our own country (Mexico). The purpose of this study is to answer two questions: 1) Can workplace relationships exacerbate a pre-existing case of FM? 2) Can workplace harassment cause the development of a disease such as FM?

Narcissists are characterized by confidence, fragility, a desire for social approval without showing interest in others, charm, self-assurance, arrogance, and aggression. This study assesses the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) among Algerian students (N = 714). Confirmatory factor and Rasch analyses were used. The NARQ consists of 18 items addressing six narcissism subscales under two main dimensions: rivalry and admiration. The results showed good saturation of the items on the six subscales and the three sub-scales on each of the two main dimensions, revealing a modest but positive correlation between rivalry and admiration. Moreover, the results of the Rasch model demonstrated that the scale aligns with the data, confirming the validity of the scale. This study offers valuable perspectives on assessing narcissism among Arabic populations and enhances our comprehension of the traits linked to narcissistic personalities.

Abstract The concept of narcissism encompasses various personality traits, including cognitive, emotional and behavioural characteristics, which often lead to difficulties in maintaining a healthy self-esteem. This study examines the prevalence of narcissism traits (Admiration and Rivalry) in the surgical profession and their association with age, gender and professional experience. A total of 1390 participants (408 women, 982 men) took part in an online survey. The results show that female participants have significantly lower levels of rivalry than male colleagues. Additionally, age was found to be inversely correlated with both facets of narcissism, demonstrating that levels of narcissism decrease as age increases. Participants who are still in education tend to show higher levels of both facets. These results improve our understanding of personality traits in surgery and provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners.

The relevance of the research is due to the growing importance of the Middle East region in the economic development In Russof China in the XXI century, and consequently, the spread of economic and political interests of the latter. The purpose of the study is to determine China’s strategic priorities and the main directions of its political presence aimed at balancing threats and opportunities in such a turbulent region as the Middle East. Given the instability of this region caused by the global anti-terrorist struggle of the United States, the specifics of Chinese policy in the Middle East and North Africa are of interest, since it is China’s interests that are being threatened. With the help of the analytical method, the factors influencing the Middle East policy of the PRC have been identified, which, of course, contributes to the transformation of the regional order. The study concludes that the future of the Chinese presence in the Middle East is determined by China’s global strategy, as well as its vision of its role and the future world order as a whole.

This study aims to determine “prospective teachers’ perspectives on the impact of competitive practices in formal basic education on students”. Bearing a descriptive qualitative nature, this research utilizes the phenomenology design among qualitative research methods. The research study group consists of 205 fourth-year students attending Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education during the 2021-2022 academic year spring semester. The study's data were collected through an interview form created by the researcher. The research data were analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis method, grouped by observation frequency and percentage distributions, and interpreted based on the relevant literature. According to the study's findings, prospective teachers believe that competitive practices in education negatively affect students in terms of stress, blame, tension, hostility, ruthlessness, anxiety, pressure, exclusion, and violence. Ending such practices to protect students from the negative impacts of competitive practices in formal basic education can be recommended. Additionally, awareness among prospective teachers and teachers can be supported by including courses or topics related to competitive educational philosophy in teacher training and in-service training curriculums.

At four sites in Texas, the density of the clown weevil, Eudiagogus pulcher, in stands of rattlebox, Sesbania drummondii, increased with proximity to water. Size-assortative mating (SAM) was negative at high density, positive at intermediate density, and absent at low density. Only at intermediate density were relatively small potential mates frequently rejected. Females rejected males via resistance to attempts to mount while males rejected females by abandoning them soon after mounting. A laboratory experiment showed that mate rejection is more likely when individuals experience intermediate densities, but not low or high densities, prior to courtship. In the field, rival males displaced mounting males that were small relative to either the female or rival. Rates of rivalry increased with density. At high density, low rates of mate rejection and high rates of rivalry resulted in the formation of displacement-resistant pairs consisting of large males and small females. This left small males to vie for large females and resulted in negative SAM. At intermediate density, low rates of rivalry coupled with rejection of small individuals favored the formation of pairs consisting of similarly sized males and females, causing positive SAM. At low density, low rates of both mate rejection and rivalry resulted in random mating by size and the absence of SAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text attempts to analyze the competition for the leadership role in the young Bábí religious community after the execution of their leader, Báb (1819–1850). With the elimination of many leaders, a small group stood out who were willing to replace the absent leader. Two preferences arose within the Babi community: forceful and pacifist. Motivated by the hunger to settle scores, supporters of the first option wanted to fight and reach the victory predicted in the Shiʻite tradition. The second option's followers, however, rejected all acts of violence, preferring to look at the Báb's texts, calling their worshipers to lofty ideals as a method of luring other people to the new religion. Presently, after the sentencing to punishment of the Prophet Báb, several people emerged among the former Shiʻites' group who made claims to authority in the community. Nevertheless, quite quickly, the main confrontation came down to a conflict between two outstanding personalities. Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí (1831–1912), representing the radical trend of Babism, nicknamed Ṣubḥ-i Azal, was fighting for leadership with Mírzá Ḥusajn-'Alí Núrí (1817–1892), his half-brother, belonging to the peaceful Bábí party. This article describing the rivalry between two relatives for the leadership position also allows us to see the process of writing down, codifying and spreading the young Bayán religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Ahmet Kelesoglu Educational Faculty is the property of Journal of Ahmet Kelesoglu Educational Faculty 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.)

Undersea cables have been a strategic resource for major nation-states over the years. The first international undersea cable was laid between Europe and North America in 1858, just over a decade after the first telegraph message was sent in 1844. With the advent of fiber-optic technology in the late 1980s, undersea cables took on a drastically enhanced functional role in the global political economy. Fiber-optic communications led to an explosive expansion of Internet connectivity, which inevitably flowed beneath the seas due to its cost-effectiveness and freedom from regulation. Despite its critical and rapidly increasing global importance, the undersea cable network has faced formidable challenges in its evolution over the past three decades. Most importantly, there needs to be a clearly defined, practical legal framework that regulates this profitable, high-growth, and strategically important sector. This lack of regulation has proved both a blessing and a curse for Big Tech firms that are the principal owners of undersea cables, such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft. A second major challenge has been the rise of mercantilist challengers to Big Tech preeminence, especially from state-sponsored Chinese enterprises. The Chinese share of international subsea fiber-optic cable has doubled over the past decade. China has also broadened cable coverage systematically to developing nations of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, with broader geopolitical implications. Concrete suggestions on how to better protect sensitive data mainly when they are physically located in international waters inside undersea cables, are explored in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relational adjectives in Spanish constitute a subset of adjectives distinct from qualifying adjectives in both their syntax and semantics. A key difference between relational and qualifying adjectives is that the former can only be created by means of suffixation. From an onomasiological approach, suffixes forming relational adjectives are all conceptually similar, given that they perform the same function. These suffixes create a rivalry between schemes because they compete in the categorization of a lexeme. The choice of a given suffix is dictated by structural and contextual factors. This paper aims to describe the structural factors involved in the use of the -al, -ario, -ero, -esco, -´ico, -il, -ivo, and -torio suffixes, and give an account of their productivity in Mexican Spanish, using data from the Morfolex corpus. The results show that the main suffix forming relational adjectives is -ero, but it is used more in colloquial contexts, so that the diaphasic factor is key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do foreign rivals perceive and respond to heightened domestic polarization in the United States? The conventional thinking is that polarization weakens and distracts the United States, emboldening its adversaries. However, untested assumptions underlie this claim. We use two strategies to explore mechanisms linking domestic polarization and international rivalry. First, we field a survey experiment in China to examine how heightening perceptions of US polarization affects public attitudes toward Chinese foreign policy. Second, we investigate how US rival governments responded to an episode of extreme partisanship: the US Capitol attacks on January 6, 2021. Drawing on Integrated Crisis Early Warning System event data, we explore whether foreign rivals increased hostility toward the United States following the Capitol riots. Both studies fail to show robust evidence for the Emboldening Hypothesis. Extreme polarization has other negative consequences for American foreign policy, but we find no evidence that it makes adversaries materially more assertive toward the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista UNISCI is the property of Unidad de Investigaciones Sobre Seguridad y Cooperacion International (UNISCI) 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 Human Sciences Journal / Revue des Sciences Humaines is the property of Universite des Freres Mentouri Constantine 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.)

After observing a fight between two snowflake eels in southern Taiwan, we had difficulties locating scientific information on eel–eel aggressive behaviour and looked further afield. We collected and scored 34 videos posted on social media, to provide more insight into antagonistic behaviours in eels. The videos showed 12 different species of moray eels involved in aggressive interactions, with the genus Gymnothorax contributing to ~ 71% and Echidna contributing to 24% of the observed occurrences. 82% of the videos documented antagonistic interactions between conspecifics. The fights involved "knotting", when opponents curl around each other and shove with their bodies, and some biting. Overall, the incidence of injury and death of losers, as well as injury of winners, was higher in smaller-bodied opponents. Conspecific encounters elicited the greatest intensity of aggressive behaviour, which we interpreted as rivalry due to dominance hierarchies and territoriality. This normally included a visible resource the opponents fought over (a den, a food item, a mate). Same-species fights started after gaping mouths at each other, with individuals being roughly equal in size. Conspecific opponents were often injured, but never killed. Available videos with fights between different species included predatory attacks and defensive reactions. Except for one case, interspecific encounters often ended with one eel being killed and eaten, with the winner being a fish-eating Gymnothorax species. Pre-fight, the killer was observed displaying food searching behaviour by checking holes. Both conspecific and interspecific fights frequently incurred deep, V-shaped wounds that were not apparently life threatening. Old V-shaped scars occurred on the bodies of some eels. Such scars could be used in research further investigating aggressive behaviour in moray eels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that some EU member states have been smart, or even dishonest. Splitting off capital cities from existing NUTS2 regions has given them an advantage in the Cohesion Policy funds allocation scheme but worsened the position of others. To explain the reasons and implications, we review the issue of delimiting the NUTS2 regions and the related allocation of financial resources. We evaluate how modifications of NUTS2 regions, carried out by Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania, impacted the allocation of financial resources for the 2021–2027 programming period. The analysis shows the shift of billions of euros towards these countries. We also argue that this experience is and could also be an inspiration for other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Akademik Hassasiyetler is the property of Huzeyfe Suleyman Arslan 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 article investigates the dynamics of rivalry and state sponsorship of non-state actors by explaining the Saudi-Iranian rivalry through the lens of securitization theory. The study elucidates that despite the enduring nature of their rivalry, both Iran and Saudi Arabia have exhibited a degree of restraint in escalating their conflicting dyadic relationship. It further notes that this behavior has forced them to securitize various issues in the region, framing them as potential threats to national and regime security, that has allowed them to build alliance and provide critical support to non-state actors across the region. By so doing, Tehran and Riyadh seek to expand their influence and hunt their strategic and tactical objectives within the Middle East. This policy is primarily driven by geopolitical concerns rather than ideological or ethnic entitlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]