John G. Knight

Role of international trade shows in small firm internationalization: a network perspective

Purpose – The impact of trade shows on the internationalization of participating small exporting firms in terms of growth and expansion has gone largely unstudied, as has their effectiveness in network‐building activities. Using the network model of internationalization, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role international trade shows play in the internationalization process of small exporting firms in Ireland and New Zealand (NZ).Design/methodology/approach – Taking a two‐tier approach, first, qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 37 Irish‐ and NZ‐based export‐intensive seafood firms, followed by in‐depth cases of three Irish export start‐ups.Findings – Trade shows go well beyond being a marketing and information platform and make an important contribution to establishment and enhancement of a network infrastructure for enabling such firms to grow and expand internationally.Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a research basis for exploring the role of tr...

Rationale for a trial of immunosuppressive therapy in acute schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating, costly, socially disruptive, life-threatening disease in which available treatments are largely palliative and empirical, and produce significant short- and long-term side effects. Therefore, a strong case can made for exploring alternative treatments with a rational basis for use in this disease. Considerable evidence indicates that autoimmune processes may be involved in some forms of schizophrenia, including altered risk of certain autoimmune diseases in patients and their relatives, shared epidemiological features, and apparent involvement of genes known to influence the immune response repertoire. Attempts to provide direct evidence for autoimmune processes have proven elusive, possibly due to the technical difficulty inherent in accessing autoantibodies with high affinity for brain cell-surface receptors. In view of this impasse, we argue for a well-designed trial in schizophrenia of immunosuppressive therapy, which is now the mainstay of therapy for many autoimmune diseases. Analysis of disease states in which immunosuppression has been effectively used over many decades provides guidelines necessary for a meaningful trial.

Quest for social safety in imported foods in China: gatekeeper perceptions.

Concerns about food safety, and mistrust of food production systems within China, result in imported food products generally enjoying a higher reputation than locally produced food products. Findings from interviews of gatekeepers are discussed in relation to conspicuous consumption, social trust, and the symbolic value of foreign brands and production. The issue of social safety emerges as a dominant consideration in determining product choice. Culturally bound constructs are integrated with price-perceived value constructs in order to build a comprehensive model of social risk avoidance applicable to food channel gatekeepers in China.

Guanxi as a gateway in Chinese‐Western business relationships

Purpose – This article aims to identify critical aspects of Chinese‐Western intercultural guanxi relationships that have largely been ignored as a domain for study in international business and industrial marketing, and to suggest a way forward.Design/methodology/approach – A theme analysis across a range of academic and business journal articles is undertaken to capture major themes involving China‐focused research that relates to international business and industrial marketing, and also to locate critical themes that may have been overlooked.Findings – Intercultural interaction at a personal level is both unavoidable and critical for successfully doing business with China. This study introduces the term guanxi gateway ties to highlight a special class of facilitating relationships that can emerge through interactions between guanxi insiders and guanxi outsiders. Insiders and outsiders can meet and work together in this middle‐cultural territory for the instrumental purpose of obtaining passage through t...

Determinants of trust in imported food products: perceptions of European gatekeepers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the elements of country image that influence gatekeepers of the European food distribution sector when making industrial purchasing decisions regarding imported food products.Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth interviews were conducted with key informants of seventeen food distribution companies and industry organisations in five European countries to determine the factors that they consider important when deciding from which countries to source food products.Findings – Confidence and trust in production systems, the integrity of regulatory systems, and the reliability of suppliers appear to be the major determinants of product‐country image as viewed by gatekeepers of the food distribution channel.Practical implications – These specific factors relating to confidence, trust, integrity and reputation appear to over‐ride more general perceptions of country image based on scenic or environmental considerations.Originality/value – Provides useful infor...

Social Stigma and Consumer Benefits: Trade-Offs in Adoption of Genetically Modified Foods

Attitudes toward genetically modified (GM) foods have been extensively studied, but there are very few studies of actual consumer purchasing behavior regarding GM foods offering a consumer benefit. Using a field choice-modeling experiment, the authors investigate the trade-off between price and social desirability in consumer choices with regard to conventional, organic, and GM fruit. What consumers say they will choose in a survey and what they actually choose in a real-purchase situation may differ substantially when their decision is framed by a socially charged issue such as genetic modification. The results are analyzed in relation to established principles of diffusion of innovation.

Pricing differentials for organic, ordinary and genetically modified food

Purpose – Aims to conduct research on consumer willingness to buy genetically modified (GM) foods with a price advantage and other benefits, compared with organic and ordinary types of foods, employing a robust experimental method. The importance of this increases as the volume and range of GM foods grown and distributed globally increase, as consumer fears surrounding perceived risk decrease and consumer benefits are communicated.Design/methodology/approach – In contrast with survey‐based experiments, which lack credibility with some practitioners and academics, customers chose amongst three categories of fruit (organic, GM, and ordinary) with experimentally designed levels of price in a roadside stall in a fruit‐growing region of New Zealand. Buyers were advised, after choosing, that all the fruit was standard produce, and the experiment was revealed. Data were analysed with multi‐nomial logit models.Findings – Increasing produce type and price sensitivity coefficient estimates were found in order from ...

Be rational or be emotional: advertising appeals, service types and consumer responses

Purpose – This research aims to examine the use of emotional and rational advertising appeal regarding service options that differ in terms of their experience and credence properties and exploring the moderating role of individual difference in affect intensity on the consumers’ varying reliance on rational vs emotional appeals. Design/methodology/approach – Study 1 is a 2 (service type: restaurant vs dentist) × 2 (advertising appeal: emotional vs rational) between-subjects design. In total, 137 undergraduate students took part in this study. Study 2 is a 2 (service type: airline vs hospital) × 2 (advertising appeal: emotional vs rational) between-subjects design. In total, 84 MBA students were randomly assigned to each of the experimental conditions. Study 3 is a 2 (service type: airline vs hospital) × 2 (advertising appeal: rational vs emotional appeal) × 2 (affect intensity: high vs low) between-subjects design. The sample size was 170 undergraduates. Findings – The results of the first two studies provided support that an emotional advertising appeal led to a higher purchase intention in the experience service condition, while a rational message generated higher purchase intention in the credence service condition. Study 3 showed the moderating role of individual difference in affect intensity. High affect intensity individuals reported higher levels of brand favorability than did their low affect intensity counterparts when exposed to ads using emotional appeal. Conversely, subjects showed no significant differences in the intensity of their emotional responses when exposed to rational appeals. Practical implications – Our results suggest a strong need to tailor ads to fit different service categories. An emotional appeal would be more effective for experience services, and a rational appeal would be more effective for credence services. Besides, individual traits may also need to be considered when matching the appeal to the service type. Originality/value – This study makes an important contribution to the limited existing research by providing a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between advertising appeal and the type of service across different sub-categories, themes, individual trait and effectiveness measures. Specifically, the present research seeks to illuminate the relative effectiveness of emotional vs rational appeals in services advertising. In addition, the current research reveals new knowledge about the role that affect intensity plays in determining consumer responses to advertising.

Disruption of Fetal Brain Development by Maternal Antibodies as an Etiological Factor in Schizophrenia

Various immunological abnormalities have been described in schizophrenics and in their family members. Usually these have been confined only to a subgroup of schizophrenics, and have been interpreted as evidence that some schizophrenia is caused by autoimmune processes occurring in postnatal life. However, recent discoveries indicate that the neuropathology of schizophrenia has a developmental basis, which is consistent with reports that maternal exposure to influenza in mid gestation increases the risk of subsequent schizophrenia in the offspring. The capability of influenza viruses to elicit autoimmune reactions to brain tissue in man and animals, and the proven causative role of maternal autoantibodies in various disease-states of the fetus and neonate, suggest a new interpretation of the immunological data: i.e. that the association of autoimmune phenomena with schizophrenia represents a familial manifestation of a maternal tendency to produce anti-brain autoantibodies which disrupt the development of the fetal brain. This view is supported by animal studies which demonstrate the teratogenic and behavioural effects of maternally administered anti-brain antibodies on the developing fetus.

Consumer scapegoating during a systemic product-harm crisis

Abstract To determine how consumers respond to betrayal of their trust in brands, we surveyed 2156 consumers in nine metropolitan centres in China following the 2008 melamine contamination crisis. Drawing on psychological drivers of scapegoating and attribution theory, we investigate how early information and the perceived involvement in a multi-brand crisis and attribution factors influence scapegoat effects. The survey results reveal that the first accused brand, Sanlu, took disproportionate blame and was made a scapegoat for an industry-wide crisis. The observer/tension-discharging perspective, the ‘early information’ effect, and the contrasting roles of manufacturers and non-manufacturer parties in the supply chain in causal attributions have the most significant effect in consumer scapegoating. Study of a highly unfortunate ‘real-life experiment’ shows how a food safety scandal spills over and negatively affects attitudes and beliefs about the whole supply chain and about competing brands.