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Important Practical Implications (important + practical_implication)
Selected AbstractsAn Examination of the Effects of WebTrust and Company Type on Consumers' Purchase IntentionsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 2 2003Steven E. Kaplan This study examines the effects of both WebTrust and company type on purchasing intentions in a B2C E-commerce setting. While past studies have focused on the incremental effects of Web assurance services on Web sites, this study extends research by exploring whether WebTrust strengthens purchasing intentions for both known, and unknown, companies. Professional literature suggests that Web assurance seals such as WebTrust will primarily benefit unknown companies. A second contribution of the paper is to propose and test a model of how WebTrust and company type each lead to greater purchasing intentions. Based on a mediation model, WebTrust is expected to influence purchasing intentions through assurance beliefs. Alternatively, company type is expected to influence purchasing intentions through the formation of trusting beliefs. Under our model, because each works through a separate mediating variable, WebTrust and company type are not substitutes for each other. The results support the proposed model showing that WebTrust is mediated by assurance beliefs and company type is mediated by trusting beliefs. These results have important practical implications as they show that all companies, not just the unknown, can benefit from displaying a WebTrust seal. Thus, the results from our study suggest that the potential market for Web assurance services should include all B2C E-commerce companies. [source] Corticosteroid Osteoporosis: Practical Implications of Recent TrialsJOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 9 2000Philip N. Sambrook Abstract Corticosteroids are widely used and effective agents for control of many inflammatory diseases, but osteoporosis is a common problem associated with their long-term use. Several large double-blind controlled clinical trials in patients with corticosteroid osteoporosis recently have been published, indicating it is possible to prevent or reverse this bone loss. Ultimately, the aim of treatment is to prevent fractures, especially vertebral fractures that are the most common type of fracture associated with corticosteroid therapy, yet it remains unclear exactly which patients should receive prophylaxis. Understanding the differences between these trials is key to interpreting the results, which have important practical implications for patient management. [source] Increasing the Reliability of Ability-Achievement Difference Scores: An Example Using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for ChildrenJOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 1 2002John C. Caruso In this study, we focused on increasing the reliability of ability-achievement difference scores using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC) as an example. Ability-achievement difference scores are often used as indicators of learning disabilities, but when they are derived from traditional equally weighted ability and achievement scores, they have suboptimal psychometric properties because of the high correlations between the scores. As an alternative to equally weighted difference scores, we examined an orthogonal reliable component analysis, (RCA) solution and an oblique principal component analysis (PCA) solution for the standardization sample of the KABC (among 5- to 12-year-olds). The components were easily identifiable as the simultaneous processing, sequential processing, and achievement constructs assessed by the KABC. As judged via the score intercorrelations, all three types of scores had adequate convergent validity, while the orthogonal RCA scores had superior discriminant validity, followed by the oblique PCA scores. Differences between the orthogonal RCA scores were more reliable than differences between the oblique PCA scores, which were in turn more reliable than differences between the traditional equally weighted scores. The increased reliability with which the KABC differences are assessed with the orthogonal RCA method has important practical implications, including narrower confidence intervals around difference scores used in individual administrations of the KABC. [source] Contrasting Burns and Bass: Does the transactional-transformational paradigm live up to Burns' philosophy of transforming leadership?JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 3 2007Dmitry Khanin Both proponents and critics view the transactional-transformational paradigm (Bass, 1997, 1998) as the brainchild of Burns' (1978) philosophy of transforming leadership. However, Burns (2003) has criticized the paradigm's narrow managerialist orientation and the claim that it is uniformly applicable to any culture and organization. In this article, I first summarize and articulate Burns' (1978, 2003) and Bass' (1985, 1998) approaches toward leadership, then compare them by using a new four-dimensional framework. Extending previous research (Yukl, 2006), the framework represents a useful tool for detecting the commonalities and differences between leadership theories with respect to the core dimensions, categories, and aspects of leadership. My inspection indicates that Burns' and Bass' conceptions stem from disparate contexts and differ in their applicability. Thus, Burns' (1978) ideas stem from political movements ideally characterized by mutual quest for shared meaning and active collaboration between leaders and followers. Conversely, Bass' (1985) approach springs from military training in which leaders transfer existing knowledge to followers and stimulate their activity by using a variety of tools from inspirational motivation to individualized consideration. This study has important practical implications as it delineates the boundary conditions of the transactional-transformational paradigm and warns against its uncritical adoption in incongruent leadership contexts. [source] CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF IRRADIATED FRUIT: A CASE STUDY USING CHOICE-BASED CONJOINT ANALYSISJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 2 2010ROSIRES DELIZA ABSTRACT Papaya is a popular fruit among Brazilian consumers, but one problem is that fruit ripens quickly due to the high temperatures of the country. Irradiation is an effective way of slowing down ripening, hereby increasing shelf-life, but consumer acceptance of this novel technology is paramount for its successful introduction by industry. Using conjoint analysis, this research measures consumer acceptance of irradiated papaya fruit in a sample of urban Brazilian consumers. The study assesses the joint influence of product appearance, price and information about the use of irradiation for consumer choice. Real fruit was used and consumer responses were collected through intercept interviews in supermarkets. These two empirical aspects add external validity to the research. The responses from a convenience sample of 168 consumers from Rio de Janeiro revealed that the product appearance, as a proxy for product quality, was the most important factor influencing decision to purchase papaya. Price was of lesser importance. The participants in this study did not reject papaya due to the labelled information about the use of irradiation. This suggests irradiation as a viable alternative for fruit producers. Consumers demonstrated no knowledge about food irradiation, and education initiatives may be useful as a strategy to aid commercial introduction of irradiated papaya in Brazil. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This study has important practical implications for Brazilian agribusinesses because it contributes to our understanding of the relationship between market changes, consumer behavior, food products and processing technologies. It has shown that sensory appearance was the key factor influencing Brazilian consumers' choice of papaya, however, more education and information regarding irradiation technology should be provided. The results suggest that irradiation could be used in Brazil and provide a viable alternative to fruit producers. As a consequence, these results are useful for strategic planning of consumer education regarding food irradiation (with emphasis on the benefits of processing and addressing the myths), something which could, eventually, contribute to a more favorable consumer response to the technology. [source] Fast, but Error-Prone, Responses During Acute Alcohol Intoxication: Effects of Stimulus-Response Mapping ComplexityALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2004Tom A. Schweizer Abstract: Background: Although moderate doses of alcohol can impair performance on tasks that require information processing, little is known about the locus of the alcohol effects within the processing stream. This study used a psychological refractory period paradigm to investigate the effect of alcohol on the central, cognitive stage of information processing when task complexity is manipulated by altering stimulus-response compatibility. Methods: Thirty-four healthy male social drinkers were assigned to one of two groups (n= 17) that performed two tasks. Each trial consisted of a task 1 stimulus (tone) followed by a task 2 stimulus (letter) that was presented after one of four stimulus onset asynchronies (50, 200, 500, or 1100 msec). A baseline test of performance was obtained before the groups received a beverage containing either 0.0 g/kg (placebo) or 0.65 g/kg alcohol. Both groups were retested when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was increasing and was decreasing. Results: The alcohol group made significantly more errors in task 1 compared with their drug-free baseline measure during the ascending phase of the BAC curve, and error rates increased to a greater extent for the more complex arbitrary stimulus-response mapping condition. Moreover, this increase in errors continued unabated during the descending phase of the BAC curve. Increasing BACs also slowed performance (longer reaction time), but unlike errors, reaction time returned to drug-free baseline levels when BAC was decreasing. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that an acute dose of alcohol can impair one aspect of the central, cognitive stages of information processing. The possibility that errors in information processing remain during decreasing BACs even after processing speed has returned to drug-free levels has important practical implications relating to the detrimental consequences of acute alcohol intoxication. [source] Segregation of infectious pancreatic necrosis resistance QTL in the early life cycle of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)ANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 5 2010A. A. Gheyas Summary In a previous study, three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with resistance to Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN) disease were identified by analysing challenge data from one sub-population of Landcatch Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolt. While these QTL were shown to affect the resistance in seawater, their effect in freshwater was unknown. This study investigates the effect of these QTL on IPN resistance in salmon fry in freshwater. Twenty families with intermediate levels of IPN mortality were analysed from a freshwater challenge trial undertaken on a different sup-population of LNS salmon to that studied previously. Only the QTL from linkage group 21 (LG21) appeared to have a significant and large effect on resistance in freshwater; the same QTL was found to have the largest effect in seawater in the previous study. Variance component analysis showed a high heritability for the QTL: 0.45 ± 0.07 on the liability scale and 0.25 ± 0.05 on the observed scale. In a family where both parents were segregating for the QTL, there was a 0% vs. 100% mortality in homozygous offspring for resistant and susceptible QTL alleles. The finding that the same QTL has major effect in both freshwater and seawater has important practical implications, as this will allow the improvement of resistance in both phases through marker assisted selection by targeting this QTL. Moreover, the segregation of the LG21 QTL in a different sub-population gives further evidence of its association with IPN-resistance. [source] Drawing facilitates children's reports of factual and narrative information: implications for educational contextsAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2009Julien Gross In the present study, we examined the effect of drawing on children's reports of an educational event. Five- and 6-year-old children visited a local museum and were interviewed either 1,2 days or 7 months later. After each delay, half of the children were asked to tell about what they had learned during their visit to the museum and the other half were given the opportunity to draw while telling. All children were also given a standard comprehension test, covering material that the museum staff considered to be most relevant to the visit. When tested after a short delay, children who drew while talking reported more factual and more narrative information than children who did not draw. When tested after a long delay, drawing only enhanced children's reports of narrative information. After both delays, children's verbal descriptions of the event exceeded their scores on the comprehension test. These data have important practical implications for the educational value of museum visits and suggest a new method of assessing children's learning in educational contexts. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||