Choice confidence in the webrooming purchase process: The impact of online positive reviews and the motivation to touch

The webrooming purchase process (i.e. searching for information online and then buying the product offline) is the most extended cross‐channel shopping behaviour. With the aim of offering a better understanding of this behaviour, this research relies on information processing and uncertainty reduction theories to propose that consumers use the online information to make the offline purchase with a higher degree of confidence. We examine the effects of a previous online interaction with a product on the preferences and decision at the physical store, as well as on the outcomes of the experience. In this path to purchase, we analyse how positive online customer reviews, as a specific form of electronic word of mouth, help the consumer to improve their experience, given their great potential to reduce the consumer's uncertainty in a purchase situation. In addition, the role of the motivation to touch the product is examined. The results of two studies show that the combination of an online search and an offline purchase improves the consumers' purchase experience in pre‐choice variables (i.e. purchase intentions), choice and post‐choice variables (i.e. search‐process satisfaction and choice confidence). Moreover, reading a positive online customer review influences choice confidence, and all the variables considered in the research when it is received at the physical store. Finally, the results stress the importance of the motivation to touch when studying multichannel shopping behaviour, given its direct and moderating effects on the webrooming purchase process. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Software for recording observational files

We offer the new software Codex, written in Visual Basic 3.0. It is a tool adequate in observational methodology. Its fundamental objective is to record motor and verbal behavior using the data types proposed by Bakeman and Quera (1995, 1996), together with the field formats proposed by Hall (1963), Weick (1968), Hutt and Hutt (1974), and Anguera (1979). It is designed to allow for data interchange between specific programs in use in observational methodology (SDIS-GSEQ, The Observer, and Theme) and other general programs (spread sheets, statistics applications, word processing programs, sound cards, etc.).     

Interviewing a Therapist in the Presence of a Couple: A Description of the Therapeutic Process

A therapy research team interviewed a therapist in the presence of a couple. Following each of six consecutive sessions with a couple, an interviewer posed questions to the therapist and couple. While one question was standard to each interview, other questions were generated by team members who tracked the entire process via live observation. These questions were directed first at the therapist, then at the couple, and then focused on therapeutic process and outcome. Findings of this process for the therapy system included decreasing the hierarchy within the client/therapist relationship; increasing the client ownership and energy in the therapy process; discovering the presence of parallel processes between the systems; and informing the direction of future therapy sessions. Practical, clinical implications are discussed for a variety of therapy settings.     

Impact of emotional appeal on non-profit advertising: A neurophysiological analysis

The number of Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) has increased in the past years, and they rely on advertising to communicate their causes. Although the effectiveness of NPO advertising has been studied previously, there is still no consensus about which appeal (emotionally positive or negative) increases its effectiveness. On the other hand, the most prevalent research approaches to NPO advertising are traditional research methodologies based on declarative techniques. So, the purpose of this study is to identify which appeal (positive or negative) in NPO advertising is more effective at the three levels of effectiveness (perceptual or communicational effectiveness, psychological or attitudinal effectiveness and behavioural effectiveness), providing a new approach based on the analysis of consumers' unconscious responses to advertising. We conducted an experiment with 113 participants whose neurophysiological responses were evaluated through electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye tracking (ET) while they watched NPO advertisements with a randomly assigned emotional appeal (positive or negative). In addition, a survey revealed behavioural responses. The results showed that considering the psychological or attitudinal effectiveness, positively framed ads are more effective, as there is a positive effect on attitudes towards the ad and a higher positive emotional valence. On the other hand, in perceptual effectiveness, where attention is considered an important variable, the negatively framed ads showed more significant time in the area of interest (AOI) of the image area of the ad, and longer time in the AOI text was observed for positively framed ads. Furthermore, regarding behavioural effectiveness, negatively framed ads seem more effective in eliciting actual donations. The results suggest that a positive appeal is more effective in generating a more positive attitude and a positive emotional valence towards the advertisement, which could benefit the NPO in the long term. But a negative appeal is more effective if the goal is to achieve immediate donations.     

Support for collective action against refugees: The role of national,European, and global identifications,and autochthony beliefs

To understand recent anti-refugee protests in Europe, we examined how different levels of inclusiveness of group identities (national, European, and global) are related to intentions to protest among native Europeans. We focused on the mediating role of autochthony (a belief that the first inhabitants of a territory are more entitled) and the moderating role of threat. Survey data from 11 European countries (N = 1,909) showed that national identification was positively associated with autochthony, and therefore, with the intention to protest against refugees. In contrast, global identification was related to lower protest intentions via lower autochthony. These paths were found only among Europeans who perceived refugees as a threat. European identification was not related to the endorsement of autochthony or to collective action. These findings indicate why and when majority members are willing to participate in collective action against refugees, and underscore the importance of global identification in the acceptance of refugees.     

Automatic Associations and Conscious Attitudes Predict Different Aspects of Men’s Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Harassment Proclivities

Intimate partner violence against women (IPV) and sexual harassment are both widespread. Research on their causes and attitudinal correlates has rarely examined implicit, automatic cognitive associations related to the partner (in IPV aggressors) or to women (in sexual harassment offenders). The aim of the present research was to study these implicit associations in 129 male German students. Participants completed scales of hostile sexism (HS), masculine gender role stress (MGRS), short-term (STMO) and long-term mating orientation (LTMO), and proclivity to both IPV and sexual harassment. Next they performed a primed lexical decision task that measured whether concepts of violence, power, hostility, and sexuality were differentially associated with representations of women, men, and the participant’s own intimate partner. Results showed that implicit associations of own partner with violence as well as hostility were generally high but did not correlate strongly with the proclivity measures. Furthermore, the proclivity measures were positively predicted by HS, MGRS, and STMO, whereas LTMO negatively predicted IPV proclivity. Practice implications point to the need to address early socialization processes that may shape men’s negative associations with female partners. Some strategies to prevent and reduce these types of implicit associations are discussed.

     

Emotional and behavioral problems in children of depressed mothers: a school-based study in Southern Brazil

The present study aimed to verify the association between maternal depression and emotional and behavioral problems in school children in Pelotas, Southern Brazil, considering that maternal depression increases children’s vulnerability for developing psychiatric disorders. This is a cross-sectional study with a school-based sample conducted between August 2015 and November 2016 and it is part of a major project entitled ‘Healthy Childhood in Context: A Multidisciplinary Investigation’. Schoolchildren aged between 7 and 8 years and one of their respective parents or a primary caregiver were included in the study. Maternal depression was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The presence of emotional and behavioral problems in children was verified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – parents version. Children of depressed mothers exhibited higher mean scores in all SDQ domains and in the total score when compared to children of non-depressed mothers. Lower socio-economic status was also associated with higher SDQ scores. Our results showed the effects of both maternal depression and poverty on children emotional and behavioral problems, which evidence the need for child mental health preventive care, and free quality assistance for both mothers and their children.     

The link between social interactions and trust recovery in customer–business relationships

Trust plays a crucial role in interpersonal relationships, including customer–company relationships, where the customer expects that a company will behave predictably in any particular situation. Companies do not always fulfill customers' expectations and thereby breach the trust relationship. To avoid negative consequences of this trust violation, companies may issue a formal apology as one possible path to regaining customer trust. In the same way, a previous social interaction, which can increase the customer's levels of oxytocin, can help to recover trust after service failures. In this study, three experiments were conducted as follows: the first manipulating a simulated social interaction with images; the second manipulating a physical social interaction, (i.e., a hug); and the third with exogenous oxytocin administration. The results showed that both physical interaction, (i.e., a hug) and simulated social interaction, (i.e., images of people interacting with each other) had a positive effect on customer trust recovery and provided support for oxytocin release as the underlying mechanism in this process. This research contributes to understanding of the link between social interactions and trust by elucidating the effects of both simulated and physical interactions on trust recovery.     

The effects of aging on the working memory processes of multimodal information

Normal aging is associated with deficits in working memory processes. However, the majority of research has focused on storage or inhibitory processes using unimodal paradigms, without addressing their relationships using different sensory modalities. Hence, we pursued two objectives. First, was to examine the effects of aging on storage and inhibitory processes. Second, was to evaluate aging effects on multisensory integration of visual and auditory stimuli. To this end, young and older participants performed a multimodal task for visual and auditory pairs of stimuli with increasing memory load at encoding and interference during retention. Our results showed an age-related increased vulnerability to interrupting and distracting interference reflecting inhibitory deficits related to the off-line reactivation and on-line suppression of relevant and irrelevant information, respectively. Storage capacity was impaired with increasing task demands in both age groups. Additionally, older adults showed a deficit in multisensory integration, with poorer performance for new visual compared to new auditory information.