Contribution of concept recall to brand loyalty: An empirical analysis of design and performance

With industries becoming technologically advanced, the source of competitiveness has shifted from a functional value, such as performance and durability, to an emotional value, such as design and comfort. To create an emotional value, the concept of a brand should be consistently embodied in a product or service to enhance its appeal. In the brand management of products and services, although performance and design are surveyed as factors of the repurchase or recommendation intention, the concept remains unused. This study hypothesized that “considering reasons behind the repurchase intention of products/services, consumers who recall the concept of the product are more likely to repurchase than consumers who recall the specific characteristics, such as design and performance.” The target products included Apple MacBook Pro, Dyson Canister Vacuum Cleaner, and Nintendo Switch, and services included Facebook, Starbucks, and Disney. The multiple regression results show that concept contributed more than design, comfort, performance, price, and word of mouth. Therefore, the proposed hypothesis was supported. As a practical implication, a new index known as concept recall can be adopted as a factor of brand loyalty in brand management. Although the index is simple, few studies have claimed the effectiveness of the indicator based on scientific grounds. Empathy, along with the concept, is paramount in acquiring consumer brand loyalty; design/UX is merely a means to embody the concept. The proposed index should be the basis of decision-making and should not turn into “a means to an end.”     

Conditioning of the microcirculation in the rat

The serotonin-catecholamine balancing mechanism maintains normal vascular tonus and permeability of the microcirculation. Serotonin provokes local vasodilatation and increases capillary permeability in the skin of rats. Released or injected catecholamines inhibit the serotonin-induced peripheral hemodynamic alterations. Following eleotroconvulsive treatment (ECT) (US), there is a catecholamine release and the microcirculatory response to serotonin does not occur. When the administration of a visual stimulus (in six consecutive occasions) proceedingly coincided with the administration of the ECT, it was noted that the light became an effective stimulus for this system. Light alone is an indifferent stimulus to catecholamine release. Thus, the inhibition of the serotonin-induced vasodilatation by ECT (via catecholamine release) became conditioned to the visual-conditional stimulus. Since the net effect of extrinsic serotonin depends on free catecholamines at the vascular bed, the intensity of the serotonin-induced vascular response reflects alterations in the chemical balancing mechanism. This mechanism can be conditioned with the present technique. The result indicates that there is central nervous system mediation.     

Superior fluid intelligence in children with Asperger's disorder

Asperger's disorder is one of autistic spectrum disorders; sharing clinical features with autism, but without developmental delay in language acquisition. There have been some studies of intellectual functioning in autism so far, but very few in Asperger's disorder. In the present study, we investigated abstract reasoning ability, whose form of intelligence has been labeled fluid intelligence in the theory of Cattell [Cattell, R. B. (1963). Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 1-22.], in children with Asperger's disorder. A test of fluid intelligence, the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Test, was administered to 17 children with Asperger's disorder and 17 age-, gender-, and FIQ-matched normal children. The results showed that children with Asperger's disorder outperformed on the test of fluid reasoning than typically developing children. We suggest that individuals with Asperger's disorder have higher fluid reasoning ability than normal individuals, highlighting superior fluid intelligence.     

成人依恋的测量：亲密关系经历量表（ECR）中文版

为了促进在中国开展有关成人依恋的研究,对目前国外该领域中广泛采用的“标准”成人依恋量表——“亲密关系经历量表（ECR）”——进行了中文版修订。371名中国大学生接受了测试,并用自尊量表,他人观量表等作为检验效度的依据。其中59人在四周后进行了重测。对其中的231名正处于恋爱中的被试的结果进行了统计分析,包括采用项目反应理论进行项目分析、信效度检验。结果表明,该量表的中文版具有较好的信度（内部一致性、和重测信度）以及效度（构想效度和效标效度）     

Impairment in judgement of the moral emotion guilt following orbitofrontal cortex damage

Although neuroimaging studies have provided evidence for an association between moral emotions and the orbitofrontal cortex, studies on patients with focal lesions using experimental probes of moral emotions are scarce. Here, we addressed this topic by presenting a moral emotion judgement task to patients with focal brain damage. Four judgement tasks in a simple pairwise choice paradigm were given to 72 patients with cerebrovascular disease. These tasks consisted of a perceptual line judgement task as a control task; the objects’ preference task as a basic preference judgement task; and two types of moral emotion judgement task, an anger task and a guilt task. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed on each set of task performance scores to take into account potential confounders. Performance on the guilt emotion judgement task negatively correlated with the orbitofrontal cortex damage, but not with the other variables. Results for the other judgement tasks did not reach statistical significance. The close association between orbitofrontal cortex damage and a decrease in guilt emotion judgement consistency might suggest that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a key role in the sense of guilt, a hallmark of morality.     

Features are also important: contributions of featural and configural processing to face recognition

It has been suggested that face recognition is primarily based on configural information, with featural information playing little or no role. We investigated this idea by comparing the prototype effect for face prototypes that emphasized either featural or configural processing. In Experiment 1, participants showed a tendency to commit false alarms in response to nonstudied prototypes, and this tendency was equivalent for featural and configural prototypes. Experiment 2 replicated this finding, and provided support for the assumption that the two types of prototypes differed in terms of featural and configural processing: Face inversion eliminated the prototype effect for configural prototypes but not for featural prototypes. These results suggest that both featural and configural processing make important contributions to face recognition, and that their effects are dissociable.     

Stimulus-response compatibility and response preparation: effects on motor component of information processing for upper and lower limb responses

The effects of stimulus-response compatibility and response preparation on the motor component of the information processing system were investigated by analyzing the fractionated reaction time for the upper and lower limbs. The reaction time was divided into two periods with respect to the onset of electromyographic activity, premotor and motor times. The response preparation was manipulated by the probability that the locations of the precue and subsequent imperative stimulus corresponded. On a stimulus-response compatible task, subjects were required to release a key on the same side as an imperative stimulus, irrespective of the precued side. On an incompatible task, subjects were required to act in the reverse manner. The upper and lower limb responses were measured during both tasks. A repeated-measures design was used with 12 male university students. Analysis of the reaction and premotor times indicated that the stimulus-response compatibility effect became larger as response preparation decreased. The analysis of motor time yielded significant interactions between stimulus-response compatibility and limb and between response preparation and limb. These findings indicated that the motor component of information processing for the lower limb response is affected by both stimulus-response compatibility and response preparation.     

Nanoprecipitates of icosahedral phase in quasicrystal-strengthened Mg-Zn-Y alloys

Extensive microstructural studies have been performed with respect to the formation of the icosahedral quasicrystalline phase and its relationship to other phases in Mg 95 Zn 4.2 Y 0.8 alloy. The icosahedral phase forms as an intergranular eutectic phase as well as precipitates in the matrix. The precipitates are nanosized (typically 50 nm) with a definite orientation relationship with the matrix, sharply faceted on twofold planes which are on the basal and prismatic planes of the matrix. The detailed crystallographic relationship with the matrix is described. The icosahedral phase is occasionally found to coexist with the cubic W-Zn 3 Mg 2 Y 3 phase with a definite crystallographic relationship.     

Work Engagement in Japan: Validation of the Japanese Version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale

The purpose of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES‐J). Employees from three independent samples completed the questionnaire (total N= 2,334). Confirmatory factor analyses using the multiple‐group method revealed that, instead of the original three‐factor model, a one‐factor model that assumes that all engagement items load on one single factor fitted the data. Moreover, the one‐factor structure was invariant across all three samples. Internal consistency of the scale was sufficiently high (α= .92) and the test–retest reliability with an interval of two months was .66. A series of second‐order confirmatory factor analyses to examine construct validity confirmed the hypothesised model, indicating that work engagement was positively related to job satisfaction whereas it was negatively related to strain and burnout. However, as in previous studies, professional efficacy, a component of burnout, loaded on the engagement factor. These results, in general, suggest the reliability (internal consistency and stability), factorial invariance, and construct validity of the UWES‐J in three independent samples. Cette étude avait pour objectif de valider la version japonaise de l’Echelle d’Implication au Travail d’Utrecht (UWES‐J). 2,334 salariés provenant de trois échantillons indépendants ont rempli le questionnaire. Une analyse factorielle confirmatoire faisant appel à la méthode des groupes multiples a montré que le modèle originel en trois facteurs devait laisser la place à un modèle unifactoriel puisque tous les items d’implication étaient saturés sur un unique facteur qui rendait compte à lui seul des données. En outre, la structure monofactorielle restait identique à elle‐même sur les trois échantillons. La consistance interne de l’échelle était suffisamment élevée (α= .92) et la fidélité test‐retest après une période de deux mois était de .66. Une série d’analyses factorielles confirmatoires de second ordre destinées àétudier la validité de construction ont confirmé le modèle hypothétique, indiquant que l’implication dans le travail était en corrélation positive avec la satisfaction professionnelle tandis qu’elle était en relation négative avec la tension nerveuse et le burnout. Comme dans des travaux antérieurs, l’efficacité professionnelle, une composante du burnout, était saturée dans le facteur d’implication. Ces résultats, vont dans le sens de la fidélité (consistance interne et stabilité), de la solidité factorielle et de la validité de construction de l’UWES‐J dans ces trois échantillons indépendants.