The impact of customer engagement on customer happiness

Previous studies have found relationships between variables that predict happiness and engagement. While this suggests that engagement is a basis for generating customer happiness, the literature does not provide sufficient confirmatory evidence. Thus, the effects of different engagement intensities remain unclear. Focusing on conditions related to the Starbucks brand, this study analyzed how (1) passive and active engagement impacted customer happiness and (2) happiness impacted word of mouth (WOM) and purchase intention. Data were collected through an online survey among 802 Peruvian customers, all of whom were recruited via non-probabilistic sampling. Because two exogenous variables were considered formative (i.e., customer engagement and customer happiness), a partial least-squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis. In sum, engagement (both passive and active) significantly and positively impacted customer happiness, which then positively impacted WOM and purchase intention. Given that engagement is associated with variables that are broadly related to happiness, this study makes new contributions by (i) clarifying how customer engagement can generate customer happiness, (ii) identifying differences between active and passive engagement, and (iii) adding evidence for use in the debate on the purpose of marketing and traditional practices such as engagement. As discussed in the paper, these findings have theoretical and practical implications for brand managers.     

“In my own comfort zone”: Clients' experiences of relational aspects of online therapy for alcohol problems

Background

Therapists and counsellors increasingly use online video applications to offer treatment in place of face-to-face delivery. In the alcohol treatment sector, this offers a range of potential benefits for treatment providers. However, the impact of working remotely via video on the therapeutic relationship remains unclear and under-researched.

Aims

This study aimed to explore how alcohol treatment clients make sense of the relational aspects of therapy delivered remotely, and to examine how the use of remote therapy might disrupt existing ideas around the therapeutic relationship.

Methodology

This study utilised a qualitative design using thematic analysis, with 15 participant interviews with adult service users from a single treatment provider. All participants had previously undertaken at least four 1-h online therapy sessions.

Findings

The themes that were identified highlighted the significance of the participants' own homes as the site of therapy, with emphasis on the comfort of the home, and the presence of family members and pets. Participants stressed the importance of viewing the face of the therapist, the establishment of a therapeutic bond and specific therapist qualities. Participants also reflected on issues around denial and avoidance associated with self-image and identity.

Discussion

There are nuanced and potentially unforeseen consequences of undertaking therapy for alcohol problems via video, relating to the significance of the therapy environment and relationship between client and therapist. This may include issues of shame, denial and avoidance, which are of particular significance for clients experiencing difficulties associated with alcohol.     

Parental socialization of mental health in Chinese American families: What parents say and do,and how youth make meaning

Parental mental health socialization is a process by which parents shape how youth develop and maintain beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Although culture shapes parental mental health socialization, few studies have examined specific parental socialization practices regarding mental health and help-seeking, especially as a culturally anchored process. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores youth-reported parental socialization of mental health within Chinese American families by examining focus group data from 69 Chinese American high school and college students. Findings revealed that youth received parental messages that conveyed culturally anchored conceptualizations of mental health that included stigmatized views of mental illness and perceptions of mental distress as not a legitimate problem. Parents responded to youth distress in culturally consonant ways: by encouraging culturally specific coping methods, dismissing or minimizing distress, or responding with silence. Youth engaged in the active interpretation of parental messages through cultural brokering, bridging the gap between their parents’ messages and mainstream notions of mental health and help-seeking. Overall, our findings point to the significant role of culture in parental mental health socialization in Chinese American families and the need to integrate culturally specific understandings of mental health into future interventions for Asian American youth.     

Effects of two levels of treatment intensity on a young child with severe disabilities

This single-case study evaluated the effects of two levels of center-based behavioral intervention for a young child with diagnoses of autism, severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, and severe developmental delay. The child entered an applied behavior analysis school and residential program at age 4 years. At that time he was receiving fluoxetine and valproic acid for control of challenging behavior. Six other medication trials had been attempted previously. Assessments completed just before the child entered the behavioral program estimated his overall functioning at the 8–16 month level. Throughout the study, the child participated in comprehensive behavioral programming for about 30 hours per week. For the first (A) phase of the study, the teacher:student ratio was 1:1. This phase lasted 12 months. At that point resource limitations necessitated changing the teacher:student ratio to 1:2 (the B Phase), which continued for 9 months. Then 1:1 intervention was reinstated. Dependent variables included out-of-seat behavior, aberrant behavior, motor imitation, stereotypic responses, matching to sample, and appropriate communication (recognizable signs and pictures used as mands). By the end of the first A phase (1:1 intervention), substantial improvements were documented in five of six dependent variables, and fluoxetine was discontinued. These improvements were maintained for all dependent variables three months into the B phase, but after an additional six months of 1:2 intervention gains were maintained on only one dependent variable. Nine months after a return to 1:1 intervention, improvements over B-phase levels were evident for five dependent variables, four of which returned to levels comparable to those at the end of the first 1:1 phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty-related Stress: Initial Efficacy of the BaSICS Intervention for Early Adolescents

This proof-of-concept study tests the initial efficacy of the Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) intervention, a selective prevention of internalizing problems program for early adolescents exposed to high levels of poverty-related stress. Eighty-four early adolescents (M_age = 11.36 years) residing in very low-income neighborhoods were randomized to receive the 16-session intervention (n = 44) or to an assessment-only control condition (n = 40). BaSICS teaches coping skills, social identity development, and collective social action to empower youth with the ability to connect with members of their communities and cope with poverty-related stress in positive and collaborative ways. Pretest–posttest analyses showed that intervention adolescents acquired problem-solving and cognitive-restructuring skills and reduced their reliance on avoidant coping. In addition, HPA reactivity was significantly reduced in the intervention youth, but not controls. Finally, intervention youth's internalizing and somatic symptoms as reported by both youth and their parents, showed significant reductions over time, whereas control youth had no such changes. Results provide strong support for this approach to strength-building and symptom reduction in a population of early adolescents exposed to poverty-related stress.     

Pilot randomised controlled trial of counselling in a community mental health setting: Pitfalls and learnings

The establishment of counselling and psychotherapy as “evidence‐based” interventions is contingent on the effective implementation of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in real‐world clinical settings. This paper identifies some of the pitfalls that led to the termination of a practical RCT in a community mental health setting. It reflects upon the significance of the lessons learned by drawing on similar challenges that are documented in the wider literature. Issues surrounding staff turnover, counsellor engagement and procedural clarity are discussed, as is the conflict between the time required for research procedures and counsellors’ clinical time constraints. In our recommendations, we recognise the decisive role of collaboration and counsellor motivation in research partnerships, and the significance of clinical relevance, communication, training and research co‐production in achieving them. Time commitment is identified as the pivotal challenge in the formation and maintenance of collaborative research, but one that also must be overcome for the advancement of the counselling and psychotherapy field.     

EFFECTS OF A FIXED‐TIME SCHEDULE ON ABERRANT AND ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR

Fixed‐time (FT) schedules of reinforcement have been used to decrease destructive behavior. However, the effects of FT schedules on acquisition and maintenance of appropriate behavior remain unclear. In this study, we present a case in which an FT schedule produced an increase in adaptive behavior and resulted in a significant decrease in destructive behavior.     

Stability of scores for the Slosson Full-Range Intelligence Test

The test-retest stability of the Slosson Full-Range Intelligence Test by Algozzine, Eaves, Mann, and Vance was investigated with test scores from a sample of 103 students. With a mean interval of 13.7 mo. and different examiners for each of the two test administrations, the test-retest reliability coefficients for the Full-Range IQ, Verbal Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Memory were .93, .85, .80, .80, and .83, respectively. Mean differences from the test-retest scores were not statistically significantly different for any of the scales. Results suggest that Slosson scores are stable over time even when different examiners administer the test.