Consumer evaluation of net utility: Effects of competition on consumer brand selection processes

This study explores how brand-related information is integrated within a competitive environment. Specifically, we develop a structural equation model of competition between two brands, which includes each brand's price-quality characteristics (i.e., net utility). The model simultaneously tests how the net utility of the focal and competing brands affects consumers' attitudes, intentions, and choice regarding the focal brand. This study extends existing research with the findings that price-quality evaluations of a focal brand and net utility perceptions of competing brands influence consumers' attitudes, intentions, and choice regarding the focal brand. Thus, in order to attract consumers to their brands, marketers should focus not only on improving the performance and net utility of their own brands, but also on studying competing brands in the marketplace.     

Fallow deer tactic to compete over food with red deer

Small ungulates may compete with larger species through higher mobility, greater aggressiveness, and/or by larger group sizes. We observed a herd of approximately 100 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 130 fallow deer (Dama dama) at the Žehušice Deer Park during supplemental feeding to determine whether fallow deer can displace red deer at feeding sites and to describe strategies used for displacement. Data were analyzed during the antlered period (AP) when males of both species had hard antlers and the cast period (CP) when all red deer stags had cast antlers, but fallow bucks were still in a hard antler. We conducted 41 observation sessions, 29 during the AP and 12 during the CP. In both periods red deer were more numerous than fallow deer at the feeding sites. Fallow bucks initially waited until red deer arrived at the feeding site, after which they attacked any red deer. Fallow bucks were more aggressive than red deer stags or hinds. When stags retaliated, the bucks turned their attacks toward hinds. During feeding sessions, attacks against hinds intensified, while bucks avoided encounters with stags. As a result, in most cases (90%), red deer vacated the feeding site before the supplementary food was depleted. In contrast, fallow does not compete with the larger red deer and selected other sources of food in the park. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

男性监控配偶、配偶不贞与精子竞争的关系

精子竞争是指同一女性产道中两个或两个以上男人的精子相互竞争卵子的过程。女性得到社会承认的性伙伴可能因精子竞争失败而损失惨重,因为女性私通可能引起男性投资于不携带自己基因的后代。过去研究表明进化而来的男性配偶监控策略可以防止女性不贞,减少精子竞争失败的危险。当前研究发现男性与配偶进行性行为后离别时间越久,男性就越采取出其不意地打电话、独占配偶时间、威胁对配偶感兴趣的男性等手段来监控配偶     

知晓感和学习判断产生机制的实验研究

以汉语配对词为实验材料,在已有实验研究的基础上,采用干扰模式进一步探讨了关于知晓感(Feeling of knowing)和学习判断(Judgment of learning)产生机制的四种理论假说,即线索熟悉性假说、目标提取假说、可接近性假说和竞争性假说。实验结果表明:在干扰条件下,知晓感和学习判断符合竞争性假说。     

不同教师群体激励因素的比较研究

本研究选择云南曲靖和浙江宁波的两所师范学校作为研究对象,以教育人种学研究方法为基本方法,通过现象分析、个案访谈、问卷调查、文献分析等途径,对不同地区教师群体的工作积极性状态及其原因进行了实证性对比研究,得出以下结论:竞争压力和相对报酬之间的相互关系是决定不同教师群体工作积极性大小的两个关键因素。其中竞争因素的激励功能相对较强。竞争压力大小与相对报酬高低之间的相互关系影响着群体激励力量的大小。     

The effect of a subliminally primed context on intrasexual competition depends on individual differences in sex drive

We argue that sex drive can be regarded as a fundamental correlate of individual differences in mating strategies, and that it modulates men’s tendencies to engage in intrasexual competition. We expected that men with a high sex drive would be more threatened by a rival in a sexual context than in a commitment context, whereas men with a low sex drive would be more threatened by a rival in a commitment context. Male participants were subliminally primed with either sex-related or commitment-related words, and then confronted with a romantic rival. The results confirm expectations and are discussed in light of other research.     

Case study of a one‐sided attack by multiple troop members on a nontroop adolescent male and the death of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

An adolescent wild male Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), following Kinkazan A troop, was attacked one‐sidedly by multiple members of the troop. The victim was identified as PI, and was estimated to be seven±one year old. The aggressive interaction was recorded by video camera until the end. Although at least 16 troop members approached PI more than once, only three males (one adult, two adolescents) of A troop attacked him. PI kept crouching throughout the attack, then escaped to the shore and dived into the sea. The interaction continued for more than one hour. PI was found dead a few hours after the end of interaction. The damage caused by the assailants was not the direct cause of PI's death; it was due to hypothermia caused by drifting in the sea. PI's life history was reconstructed from past records. PI was a normal adolescent male who migrated from an all‐male group around B₁ troop and started ranging around A troop. The aggressive interaction is believed to be a typical example of conflict between troop males and a nontroop male. The interaction period was very long compared with previous reports on such conflicts among Japanese macaques. PI kept crouching in open areas, exposing himself as a potential competitor for the resources of the troop, and did not show any submissive or reconciliatory behavior toward the troop males. This may be why the troop males did not stop the attack. Aggr. Behav. 35:334–341, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Effect of conspecific sex on aggression during pregnancy and lactation in golden hamsters

The effect of conspecific sex on maternal aggression in hamsters was determined by comparing the frequency of aggressive responses by dams continuously housed with either a virgin male or female cagemate during pregnancy and lactation. Dams easily established aggressive dominance over male cagemates soon after pairing, and their aggression was low thereafter for the duration of pregnancy and lactation. The aggression of dams with females, on the other hand, tended to fluctuate with highs during mid pregnancy and mid lactation and lows around birth. When dam aggression was low around birth, female cagemates frequently became aggressively dominant, and several dams lost their litters. The higher aggression of dams toward females than males is probably a reflection of greater intrasexual competition for environmental resources that includes pups.     

Activating Semantic Knowledge During Spoken Words and Environmental Sounds: Evidence From the Visual World Paradigm

Two visual world experiments investigated the activation of semantically related concepts during the processing of environmental sounds and spoken words. Participants heard environmental sounds such as barking or spoken words such as “puppy” while viewing visual arrays with objects such as a bone (semantically related competitor) and candle (unrelated distractor). In Experiment 1, a puppy (target) was also included in the visual array; in Experiment 2, it was not. During both types of auditory stimuli, competitors were fixated significantly more than distractors, supporting the coactivation of semantically related concepts in both cases; comparisons of the two types of auditory stimuli also revealed significantly larger effects with environmental sounds than spoken words. We discuss implications of these results for theories of semantic knowledge.     

Anger,aggression, and humor in newfoundland floor hockey: An evolutionary analysis

This paper examines patterns of anger, aggression, and humor during 95 floor hockey games in a small fishing village in Newfoundland. The observed behaviors meet the prediction, based on evolutionary theory, that anger and aggression will be more frequent among males at the age when mate competition is most intense. Aggression was also found to be combined with humor most frequently in interactions among players attempting to form social relationships. This last finding is consistent with the hypothesis that combining humor (smiling and laughing) with what would otherwise be interpreted as aggressive behavior is a means of establishing trusting relationships between individuals. The potential contribution of an evolutionary approach to studies of anger and aggression is discussed. ©1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.