Using spatial distance strategically with luxury and popular product displays

News from the Journal of Marketing

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Research News

 

Researchers from Nanjing University, National Sun Yat-sen University, and Northwestern University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that shows that the spatial distance between products and consumers can affect perceived value and willingness to pay.

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Values Created from Far and Near: Influence of Spatial Distance on Brand Evaluation" and is authored by Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu, Chun-Tuan Chang, and Angela Y. Lee.

No one ever questions why some retail products are on display in cabinets behind the sales counter, where shoppers can only view them from a distance, while other displays take center stage to greet shoppers as they walk inside the store. Consumers likely reason that the former practice is to protect high-value products from potential damage or theft and that the latter practice is to entice shoppers to purchase these items. However, there are additional hidden advantages to these practices. This research team finds that keeping a distance between consumers and products enhances the perceived value and prestige of luxury items while proximity increases the perceived sincerity and closeness of popular products.

The researchers propose that the spatial distance between the product and the consumer, whether in real life or in ads or websites, may enhance or devalue consumers' perceptions of the product depending on whether the brand image reflects status or broad appeal. Specifically, distance signals prestige when status and luxury are relevant to the brand image, in which case a far distance should help enhance the brand image. On the other hand, distance signals social closeness when popularity and broad appeal are relevant to the brand image, in which case a close distance should help to enhance that brand image.

Across seven studies, they show that the distance between the product and the consumer, whether in real life or in ads, can have a profound influence on how consumers evaluate the product and make purchase decisions. The researchers observe the relationship between spatial distance and consumer perception and price judgments in a variety of contexts that include store display, window display, print ads, and websites. In the first study, participants designing a mock ad positioned the image of a product further away from the image of the model when the ad was for a prestigious brand than for a popular brand. In the next set of studies, participants estimated the same distance between the model and an expensive handbag to be further apart than for an inexpensive handbag; but they estimated the distance between the model and a popular brand to be closer than for an unpopular brand.

In the next two studies, participants evaluated an expensive leather backpack more favorably when they were standing five feet (versus three feet) away, but an everyday-use canvas backpack more favorably when they were standing three ft (versus five feet) away. Participants in the sixth study evaluated a coffeemaker with the tagline "Aromatic coffee, distinguished taste. Luxurious life, prestigious choice" more positively when it was positioned further away from the model in an ad, but the coffeemaker with the tagline "Aromatic coffee, trendy taste. Cozy life, popular choice" more positively when it was positioned closer to the model in the ad. Finally, in the last study, consumers receiving a text sent to their mobile phone were more likely to click on the ad with a "Luxurious lifestyle, Prestigious choice" tagline and visit the website to redeem a discount coupon when the product image is further away from the model in the ad. But they were more likely to click on the ad with a "Cozy lifestyle, Popular choice" tagline when the product image is closer to the model in the ad.

These findings offer useful insights to marketers about how to leverage visual cues in window and store displays and in advertising. By strategically matching the distance between the product and the consumer, marketers can effectively enhance value and increase consumers' willingness to pay a price premium for luxury brands by enhancing perceived prestige. Alternatively, they can enhance value and increase consumers' willingness to pay a price premium for brands with broad appeal by enhancing perceived social closeness. For luxury brands or products with an exclusive brand image, a distal distance signals prestige and exclusivity. In contrast, for popular brands or products that appeal to a wide customer base, a proximal distance signals connectedness and sincerity.

Images are powerful communication tools. Today's time-starved consumers are bombarded by information. Chu explains that "Vivid images can capture attention and convey meaning without words and lengthy messages. Marketers can easily incorporate the insights from our research into their communication strategy--whether it be window displays, store layouts, website designs, billboards, print ads, etc. Far distance can enhance perceived status for brands with a prestigious brand image whereas proximal distance can enhance social connectedness for brands with a popular brand image." Marketers should also be aware of the corresponding downsides--keeping a distance can dampen the perceived connectedness of popular products, while proximity can lower the perceived prestige of luxury products.

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Full article and author contact information available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429211000706

About the Journal of Marketing

The Journal of Marketing develops and disseminates knowledge about real-world marketing questions useful to scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders around the world. Published by the American Marketing Association since its founding in 1936, JM has played a significant role in shaping the content and boundaries of the marketing discipline. Christine Moorman (T. Austin Finch, Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University) serves as the current Editor in Chief. https://www.ama.org/jm

About the American Marketing Association (AMA)

As the largest chapter-based marketing association in the world, the AMA is trusted by marketing and sales professionals to help them discover what is coming next in the industry. The AMA has a community of local chapters in more than 70 cities and 350 college campuses throughout North America. The AMA is home to award-winning content, PCM® professional certification, premiere academic journals, and industry-leading training events and conferences. https://www.ama.org

 

Use of e-cigarettes plus tobacco cigarettes linked to higher risk of respiratory symptoms

Cough and wheeze are more likely to develop among those who both vape and smoke

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Research News

 

BOSTON - Exclusively using (or "vaping") e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, but many people using e-cigarettes to quit smoking continue to smoke cigarettes. New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals that respiratory symptoms--such as cough and wheeze--are more likely to develop when people use both e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes together compared with using either one alone. The findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the flagship journal of the American Thoracic Society.

The investigators analyzed information on 20,882 individuals aged 12 years and older in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a U.S. nationally representative longitudinal survey.

The analyzed participants had no respiratory symptoms when surveyed in 2015-2016. When they were surveyed about one year later, respiratory symptoms were reported by 10.7% of those who did not use e-cigarettes or tobacco cigarettes, 11.8% of exclusive e-cigarette users, 17.1% of exclusive tobacco smokers, and 19.7% of dual users (those who both vaped e-cigarettes and smoked tobacco cigarettes). Dual users had a 1.9-times higher odds of developing respiratory symptoms compared with exclusive e-cigarette users and a 1.24-times higher odds compared with exclusive tobacco smokers. The risk of new respiratory symptoms among individuals who vaped but did not smoke was not significantly higher than the risk among individuals who neither vaped nor smoked.

"To help people quit smoking, FDA-approved medications, such as the nicotine patch or the medication varenicline, are preferred," says lead author Krishna Reddy, MD, MS, an investigator in MGH's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and the MGH Tobacco Research and Treatment Center. "People who vape e-cigarettes in an effort to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes should be cautioned against using both and instead should switch over completely from smoking to vaping, with an ultimate goal of stopping vaping as well."

Senior author Nancy Rigotti, MD, director of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, adds: "This study helps identify how e-cigarettes can best be used to reduce the harms caused by smoking cigarettes. Exclusive e-cigarette use did not increase the risk of new respiratory symptoms while using both products (e-cigarettes and cigarettes) did."

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Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute of the NIH and Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH.

Co-authors were Sara Kalkhoran, MD, MAS, and Eli Schwamm of MGH; Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, then of MGH, now of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Farzad Noubary, PhD, of Northeastern University.

About the Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2020, Mass General was named #6 in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."

Malaria vaccine becomes first to achieve WHO-specified 75% efficacy goal

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Research News 

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. In their findings (posted on SSRN/Preprints with The Lancet) they note that they are the first to meet the World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.

The authors report (in findings in press with The Lancet) from a Phase IIb randomised, controlled, double-blind trial conducted at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) / Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Burkina Faso. 450 participants, aged 5-17 months, were recruited from the catchment area of Nanoro, covering 24 villages and an approximate population of 65,000 people.

The participants were split into three groups, with the first two groups receiving the R21/Matrix-M (with either a low dose or high dose of the Matrix-M adjuvant) and the third, a rabies vaccine as the control group. Doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely prior to the peak malaria season.

The researchers report a vaccine efficacy of 77% in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71% in the lower dose adjuvant group, over 12 months of follow-up, with no serious adverse events related to the vaccine noted.

Following these results, the Phase IIb trial, which was funded by the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (grant number RIA2016V-1649-MMVC), was extended with a booster vaccination administered prior to the next malaria season one year later.

The researchers, in collaboration with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd., and Novavax Inc., have now started recruitment for a Phase III licensure trial to assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children, aged 5-36 months, across four African countries.

Halidou Tinto, Professor in Parasitology, Regional Director of IRSS in Nanoro, and the trial Principal Investigator said: 'These are very exciting results showing unprecedented efficacy levels from a vaccine that has been well tolerated in our trial programme. We look forward to the upcoming phase III trial to demonstrate large-scale safety and efficacy data for a vaccine that is greatly needed in this region.'

Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute and Lakshmi Mittal and Family Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and co-author of the paper, said:

'These new results support our high expectations for the potential of this vaccine, which we believe is the first to reach the WHO's goal of a vaccine for malaria with at least 75% efficacy.

'With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have major public health impact if licensure is achieved.'

Professor Charlemagne Ouédraogo, Minister of Health, in Burkina Faso said:

'Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa. We have been supporting trials of a range of new vaccine candidates in Burkina Faso and these new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years. That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives.'

Professor Alkassoum Maiga Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Burkina Faso, said:

'I am proud of Burkina Faso researchers who made a great contribution to reach this important milestone. Hope that the upcoming phase III trial will confirm these exciting findings and that this vaccine could have a real impact on this disease affecting millions of children every year.'

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla and Mr Adar Poonawalla, Chairman and CEO of the Serum Institute of India said:

'We are highly excited to see these results on a safe and highly effective malaria vaccine which will be available to the whole world through an excellent collaborative effort between Serum Institute, the University of Oxford and Novavax Inc.. Serum Institute is committed to global disease burden reduction and disease elimination strategies by providing high volume, affordable vaccines. We are highly confident that we will be able to deliver more than 200 million doses annually in line with the above strategy as soon as regulatory approvals are available.'

Dr Michael Makanga, EDCTP Executive Director, said:

'We congratulate the Multi-stage Malaria Vaccine Consortium on these highly promising results from the Burkina Faso trial of R21. This study represents a key advance in the clinical development of the R21 malaria vaccine towards licensure, and an important step closer to malaria control and elimination.'

Gareth Jenkins, Director of Advocacy, Malaria No More UK, said:

'An effective and safe malaria vaccine would be a hugely significant extra weapon in the armoury needed to defeat malaria, which still kills over 270,000 children every year. For decades, British scientists have been at the forefront of developing new ways to detect, diagnose, test and treat malaria, and we must continue to back them.

'A world without malaria is a world safer both for the children who would otherwise be killed by this disease, and for us here at home. Countries freed from the malaria burden will be much better equipped to fight off new disease threats when they inevitably emerge in the future.'

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Note to Editors: For further information, or requests for interview with Prof. Hill, please contact: news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

About R21/Matrix-M:

R21 was produced by expressing recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) virus-like particles in Hansenula polymorpha, comprising the central repeat and the C-terminus of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP), fused to the N-terminal end of HBsAg. It is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (SIIPL). R21 was mixed prior to administration with Matrix-M, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant produced by Novavax AB, Uppsala, Sweden.

Development of R21/Matrix-M, a vaccine which targets P. falciparum malaria, has been accelerated by a collaboration between the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd and Novavax Inc. working with many clinical trial units in the UK and Africa.

About Malaria:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that malaria causes over 400,000 deaths each year globally and progress in reducing malaria mortality has stalled in recent years. Most deaths are amongst children in Africa where very high transmission rates are found in many countries.

229 million cases of clinical malaria were reported in 2019.

Over 100 malaria vaccine candidates have entered clinical trials over recent decades but none has shown the >75% efficacy targeted by World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap.

About the Jenner Institute:

The Jenner Institute is based within the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and operates out of the Old Road Campus Research Building, in Headington, Oxford. The Jenner Institute also supports senior vaccine scientists, known as Jenner Investigators, within many other departments across the University of Oxford, as well as externally within The Pirbright Institute and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Jenner Institute brings together investigators who are designing and developing numerous vaccines to generate an exceptional breadth of scientific know-how and critical mass, whilst still allowing the individual investigators to remain independent and accountable to their funders and stakeholders.

The Jenner Institute is supported by the Jenner Vaccine Foundation, a UK registered charity and is advised by the Jenner Institute Scientific Advisory Board.

About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the fifth year running, and at the heart of this success is our ground-breaking research and innovation.

Oxford is world-famous for research excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 200 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past three years.

Radar satellites can better protect against bushfires and floods

CURTIN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 VIDEO: THE RESEARCH USED SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR DATA OBTAINED BY THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SENTINEL-1 SATELLITE, AMONGST OTHERS. view more 

CREDIT: EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

New research led by Curtin University has revealed how radar satellites can improve the ability to detect, monitor, prepare for and withstand natural disasters in Australia including bushfires, floods and earthquakes.

The research used Synthetic Aperture Radar data obtained by the European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellite, amongst others, to evaluate Australia-specific case studies.

Lead researcher Dr Amy Parker, an ARC Research Fellow from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the Sentinel-1 satellite mission provided the first complete global Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) dataset and the first opportunity to use this type of data to assess hazards in new locations, including Australia.

"What makes SAR so valuable is that it provides all-weather and night-and-day capability to remotely monitor the Earth's surface, unlike traditional optical Earth Observation (EO) imagery which is at the mercy of cloud, fog, rainfall and smoke," Dr Parker said.

"SAR data can be used to precisely map topography, track movements of the ground surface, characterize land-use change, and map damage to infrastructure, all of which can significantly improve how we track and respond to natural disasters.

"But despite SAR satellites being well-documented as a hazard monitoring tool, the uptake of such data varies, and in Australia the use of SAR data has been limited."

The research applied SAR data to nine case studies covering critical issues such as bushfires, floods and earthquakes to assess the power of SAR as a disaster mitigation and prevention tool.

"For example we looked at the 2016 Wildman Coastal Plains Floods in the Northern Territory and found that SAR has added benefits in mapping flood patterns and floodplain dynamics."

Dr Parker said these benefits can also be applied to maintaining mine site safety and better understanding seismic hazards and activity.

"Globally, Australia is one of the largest users of Earth observation data derived from satellites, which contributes to national hazard monitoring and response and more than 100 state and federal government programs. Our research shows SAR data can effectively complement this." Dr Parker said.

"Previously SAR data has been considered too expensive to use as a tool for hazard mitigation, but our findings show, through Sentinel-1 we now have economically viable wall-to-wall, consistent sensor imaging of Australia.

"The uptake of SAR data for hazard applications globally will continue to benefit from validated case studies such as ours, the development of tools that support operational use, and the continued provision of open-access imagery by large-scale satellite missions."

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The research paper is titled 'Applications of Satellite Radar Imagery for Hazard Monitoring: Insights from Australia' was published in Remote Sensing.

Study uncovers human-to-cat transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19

WILEY

Research News

 

New research provides evidence that people have transmitted SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to cats during the pandemic in the UK. The study, which is published in Veterinary Record, detected the virus last year in cats that developed mild or severe respiratory disease.

Investigators used a range of laboratory techniques to show that two domestic cats from households with suspected cases of COVID-19 were infected with SARS-CoV-2.

"These findings indicate that human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with the infected cats displaying mild or severe respiratory disease. Given the ability of the coronavirus to infect companion animals, it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission," said lead author Margaret Hosie, PhD, of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.

Finding new life for wine-grape residue

Chardonnay pomace may be rich in health-enhancing compounds

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

Research News

 

California produces nearly 4 million tons of world-class wine each year, but with that comes thousands of tons of residue like grape skins, seeds, stems and pulp. What if scientists could harness that viticultural waste to help promote human health?

Maybe they can, according to new research from food scientists at the University of California, Davis. In a study published in the journal LWT - Food Science and Technology, the team discovered a wealth of potentially health-enhancing compounds and sugar molecules called oligosaccharides within chardonnay wine-grape pomace.

Oligosaccharides are found in many plant and animal tissues, including human breast milk. Recent advances have revealed oligosaccharides' vast potential to support intestinal health.

"We were surprised by the diversity of the oligosaccharides in the chardonnay wine grapes, including the presence of structural elements found in mother's milk," said Amanda Sinrod, lead author and a master's candidate working with Professor Daniela Barile.

The UC Davis team analyzed the molecular composition of chardonnay residue provided by Jackson Family Wines and Sonomaceuticals, a company founded by two food industry businesswomen to develop new uses for viticulture waste. Wine-grape pomace, or marc, comprises about 30 percent of the original wine-grape material, and much of it is left to decompose in the sun.

Potential source for food or supplements

"It's all about sustainable wine production and finding a second life for wine grapes," Barile explained. "Up to this point, chardonnay marc has been regarded as a byproduct of winemaking with little or no value. Early results are encouraging that marc could be a valuable source for oligosaccharides and other compounds that support health and nutrition."

UC Davis researchers were among the first to decode the magic of oligosaccharides in mother's milk. The sugar molecules don't nourish the baby directly. Instead, they feed a strain of bacteria in the infant's intestines that helps build immunity against illness and disease. That discovery is helping scientists develop methods and products to improve human health.

Barile's lab innovates technologies for recovering health-enhancing compounds from various agricultural and industrial waste streams, such as whey, legumes and chickpeas. Her team previously discovered oligosaccharides in both red and white wine residue and is pleased with preliminary findings from the chardonnay analysis.

"There is more research to be done, but early results are promising that chardonnay marc can become a source for developing supplements and other food products to support health," Barile said.

Oligosaccharides appeared to be especially abundant in the wine-grape skins. In earlier research, scientists detected oligosaccharides in the finished wine product, but not in large concentrations. Researchers didn't include bottled wine in this study.

The chardonnay marc samples were also rich in flavonoids, healthy compounds found in many fruits and vegetables. Researchers are exploring whether the oligosaccharides work independently or synergistically with these bioactive compounds to support intestinal health. The team is studying how growing conditions, vintages and processing might affect the health potential of viticulture waste.

"We observed significant differences in the relative abundance and type of oligosaccharides in different parts of the marc, so further research is needed to maximize their potential in food product design," Sinrod said.

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The UC Davis team included Cooperative Extension Specialist Selina Wang and Xuequi Li with the Olive Center, and Mrittika Bhattacharya and Bruna Paviani with the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Taking down human traffickers through online ads

Algorithm designed to spot anomalies in data finds new purpose in stopping trafficking

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and McGill University have adapted an algorithm first developed to spot anomalies in data, like typos in patient information at hospitals or errant figures in accounting, to identify similarities across escort ads.

The algorithm scans and clusters similarities in text and could help law enforcement direct their investigations and better identify human traffickers and their victims, said Christos Faloutsos, the Fredkin Professor in Artificial Intelligence at CMU's School of Computer Science, who led the team.

"Our algorithm can put the millions of advertisements together and highlight the common parts," Faloutsos said. "If they have a lot of things in common, it's not guaranteed, but it's highly likely that it is something suspicious."

The team calls the algorithm InfoShield and presented a paper on their findings at this year's IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE).

According to the International Labor Organization, an estimated 24.9 million people are trapped in forced labor. Of those, 55% are women and girls trafficked in the commercial sex industry, where most ads are posted online. The same person may write ads for four to six victims, leading to similar phrasing and duplication among listings.

"Human trafficking is a dangerous societal problem which is difficult to tackle," lead authors Catalina Vajiac and Meng-Chieh Lee wrote. "By looking for small clusters of ads that contain similar phrasing rather than analyzing standalone ads, we're finding the groups of ads that are most likely to be organized activity, which is a strong signal of (human trafficking)."

To test InfoShield, the team ran it on a set of escort listings in which experts had already identified trafficking ads. The team found that InfoShield outperformed other algorithms at identifying the trafficking ads, flagging them with 85% precision. Perhaps more importantly, it did not incorrectly flag any escort listings as human trafficking ads when they were not. False positives can quickly erode trust in an algorithm, Faloutsos said.

Proving this success was tricky. The test data set contained actual ads placed by human traffickers. The information in these ads is sensitive and kept private to protect the victims of human trafficking, so the team could not publish examples of the similarities identified or the data set itself. This meant that other researchers could not verify their work.

"We were basically saying, 'Trust us, our algorithm works,'" Vajiac said.

To remedy this, the team looked for public data sets they could use to test InfoShield that mimicked what the algorithm looked for in human trafficking data: text and the similarities in it. They turned to Twitter, where they found a trove of text and similarities in that text created by bots.

Bots will often tweet the same information in similar ways. Like a human trafficking ad, the format of a bot tweet might be the same with some pieces of information changed. Rabbany said that in both cases -- Twitter bots and human trafficking ads -- the goal is to find organized activity.

Among tweets, InfoShield outperformed other state-of-the-art algorithms at detecting bots. Vajiac said this finding was a surprise, given that other algorithms take into account Twitter-specific metrics such as the number of followers, retweets and likes, and InfoShield did not. The algorithm instead relied solely on the text of the tweets to determine bot or not.

"That speaks a lot to how important text is in finding these types of organizations," Vajiac said.

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The paper's authors are Christos Faloutos, Catalina Vajiac and Namyong Park from Carnegie Mellon University; Reihaneh Rabbany, Aayushi Kulshrestha and Sacha Levy from McGill University, Meng-Chieh Lee from National Chiao Tung University; and Cara Jones from Marinus Analytics.

COLLECTIVISM + MUTUAL AID = @

Life satisfaction among young people linked to collectivism

Loyalty to family and mutual assistance are important regardless of culture

NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY HIGHER SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

Research News

 

An international group of scientists from Italy, the USA, China and Russia have studied the relationship between collectivism, individualism and life satisfaction among young people aged 18-25 in four countries. They found that the higher the index of individualistic values at the country level, the higher the life satisfaction of young people's lives. At the individual level, however, collectivism was more significant for young people. In all countries, young people found a positive association between collectivism, particularly with regard to family ties, and life satisfaction. This somewhat contradicts and at the same time clarifies the results of previous studies. Russia was represented in the research group by Sofya Nartova-Bochaver https://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/143572312, Professor at HSE University's School of Psychology. The results of the study have been published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.

https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aphw.12259

What is this about?

Research shows that cultural factors play a significant role in explaining differences in indicators of subjective well-being and, in particular, life satisfaction.

Life satisfaction is one component of subjective well-being. It is an individual assessment of the correlation of living conditions with standards, a sense of correspondence between desires and needs on the one hand, and achievements and resources on the other.

Cultural factors include the values of individualism or collectivism. In general, an understanding of individualism is based on the assumption that people are independent of each other. It is a worldview centred on personal goals, uniqueness and control. Collectivism, on the other hand, assumes the importance of connections with others and mutual obligations.

Scientists distinguish between collectivism and individualism both at the cultural level (part of the national culture) and at the individual level (the individual's worldview). In this case, within the scope of the approach taken by the American psychologist Harry Triandis, individualism and collectivism can be considered in two dimensions -- horizontal and vertical:

• Vertical Individualism (VI) is characterized by a desire to be outstanding and gain status through competition with others.
• Horizontal Individualism (HI) is related to the desire to be unique, different from the group and able to rely on oneself.
• Vertical Collectivism (VC) is characteristic of people who emphasize the integrity of their group and maintain competition with outgroups (a group of people to which the individual feels no sense of identity or belonging), as well as the possible subordination of their desires to authority.
• Horizontal Collectivism (HC) is related to the desire to be like others, to follow common values, and to live interdependently without having to submit to authority.

The study's authors set out to discover how different dimensions of collectivism and individualism relate to life satisfaction in young people during early adulthood.

How was it studied?

The study involved 1,760 young boys and girls aged 18-25 from China, Italy, Russia and the USA -- countries that differ greatly in their individualistic values index. The average age of the respondents was around 20 years old. All of them university students, studying primarily social and behavioural sciences.

According to Hofstede's model, Italy and the United States are individualist cultures, while China and Russia are collectivist.

The study used special methods and questionnaires to identify individual levels of collectivism and individualism -- the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale (INDCOL), as well as the level of life satisfaction -- the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The influence of gender, age and cultural differences on life satisfaction was taken into account.

What were the findings?

At the country level, it was confirmed that individualism is closely linked to the degree of life satisfaction among young people. The higher the country's index of individualistic values, the more satisfied respondents are with their lives. Americans are the luckiest in this regard, as the USA has the highest individualism index, followed by Italians in second place and Russians and Chinese in third and fourth place, respectively.

At an individual level, the results were different -- life satisfaction showed a positive correlation with the two collectivist dimensions (vertical and horizontal) regardless of the type of culture. However, no significant correlations were found with either vertical or horizontal individualism.

The study showed that the degree of life satisfaction among young people is related to interdependence and social communication in different types of cultures. The researchers cite the example of Russians and Italians. For both, although some live in a collectivist country and others in an individualist one, life satisfaction is positively related to the successful fulfilment of social roles and obligations. Although this is to be expected, the transition to adulthood in Italy, as the authors note, is strongly intertwined with family relationships.

Previous research on American samples has not shown a relationship between life satisfaction and mutual social commitment. But this study did, for both levels of collectivism.

Overall, the fact that vertical collectivism, namely family ties and the obligation to take care of one's family, even at the expense of one's own needs, contributes positively to life satisfaction is unexpected and noteworthy, say the researchers. At the same time, the findings show correlation with a recent study proving that family and social relations are important basic components of happiness in different countries, regardless of gender and age.

Why is this needed?

Early adulthood is a period when there are still few social obligations and more opportunities to live out individualistic values. The original hypothesis of the study was that levels of life satisfaction are positively related to individualistic values at a personal level. Concluding this would have confirmed the results of much previous work. However, the results turned out to be the opposite.

The authors note that this study is more age-restricted than previous ones and also looks at the relationship between life satisfaction and different dimensions of individualism and collectivism. The new findings suggest that further research in this area is needed to clarify the particular influence of individualist and collectivist values on different aspects of subjective well-being.

Here, however, the researchers make it clear that this situation can occur not only because Americans and Italians are more satisfied with life, thanks to their countries' individualistic culture, but also because of differences in social inequality, the increased availability of opportunities and future life prospects.

Canadian bowler on his $100,000 win and why bowling should be in the Olympics

Special to National Post 

EARTH DAY 2021

© Provided by National Post Canadian bowler François Lavoie competes during the PBA Tours Super Slam at Bowlero Lanes in Annandale, Va. on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Lavoie has won the Guaranteed Rate PBA Super Slam. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-PBA Tour-Reinhold Matay *MANDATORY CREDIT* ORG XMIT: CPT650


By Ceilidh Young

Canadian bowler François Lavoie won the Guaranteed Rate PBA Super Slam last weekend in Annandale, VA, earning him US$100,000. The 28-year-old from Québec City was seeded fourth going into the tournament, where he beat the No. 1 seed Chris Via in the semi-final and advanced to the final, winning 247-202 over Kyle Troup.

Lavoie, who now makes his home in Wichita, KA, is a two-time U.S. Open Champion, and will now be headed to the PBA playoffs beginning April 24. Lavoie told the National Post he has never been feeling more confident and shared other insights about his game.

The interview was edited for clarity and length.

Q: What do you plan on doing with the prize money that you won?

A: I think most of it is going to go towards a house. I bought a house just last year, so a good chunk of it is gonna help pay that off.

Q: Oh, that’s great, as you probably know the housing market here in Canada is crazy.

A: I know, yeah. I’ve been looking because I’ve been trying to, eventually, maybe sometime in the future, try to move back to Canada.

Q: How did you get into bowling?

A: My dad was the one who got me in. He bowled a little, but he was never competitive or anything like that. But instead of trying to scramble to find babysitters all the time, they would take me to the bowling centre when he was bowling. They would turn on a lane next to them, and I would just throw some shots there and stuff like that. I honestly don’t remember any of it, but that’s the story my parents tell me.

Q: You continued to pursue bowling instead of another sport or hobby. Why bowling?

A: I get that question a lot, because it’s obviously not a popular sport like some of the other ones. I played a little bit of hockey, and tennis in the summer when I was younger as well, but bowling was what I did first, and it was something that I was good at from an early age. I started competing in junior tournaments around Québec City, and eventually around the province, and when you’re young and you’re doing something that you’re good at, its super-gratifying and it gives you some self-confidence. So that’s how it started with me, performing well and me winning tournaments at a young age — and I just kept doing it.

Q: So, your parents are the ones who got you bowling, what do they think about your career now?

A: They’re really happy for me, they have always been really supportive. My dad was the one who got me into it, and he was the one I spent all my time with in bowling centres around Québec City, around the province and eventually around the country. So, he’s always been really supportive, and he’s always wanted the best for me. He was actually kind of demanding, he had high expectations for me, and I think that translates to me having high expectations for myself. My mom, she’s seen me bowl like a handful times in my whole life. She’s not a bowler herself, so she didn’t follow throughout my career, but she follows me now.

Q: Can you pinpoint a moment when you thought, wow I’m good at this, I can do this.

A: Yeah, I think that would have been in 2009, when I was 15 or 16, when I qualified for the under 21 Team Canada for the first time. 2010 was my first international competition representing Canada, and that tournament was probably the start of it all. That was the World Youth Championship in Finland, and I ended up getting a bronze medal. The atmosphere of the tournament, the travelling, everything surrounding it, the lifestyle, all that stuff — that’s when it opened my eyes to what competitive bowling was like, and that’s when I really set my sights on pursuing a career in that sport.

Q: Do you have another job right now or is it bowling full time?

A: Right now, I’m only bowling. I would say the top 30-40 players on the PBA tour are probably making their living through bowling.

Q: You’ve said that this has been your best season yet. What made this season so different for you than the others?

A: It’s a really strategic sport, it’s a precision sport, it’s a repetition sport, so all those things come into play. I would say that my strategies have been better this year. I have been working with a few different people, a few different coaches, and we’ve been able to strategize better. My accuracy has always been my strong suit.

Q: How long would you like to continue in the sport of bowling?

A: I would want to continue for as long as possible, and in our sport that’s a little bit longer than in some of the more physical sports. There are some players on the tour right now who are in their late thirties, early forties, who are still competitive. There are a few things that kind of suck about bowling, like we don’t make as much money as some of the other pro athletes, but we’re able to do it for a longer period of time. So, I could see myself doing this for another 20 years or so.

Q: Do you think that bowling is a game or a sport?

A: To me, it doesn’t really make sense to try to debate if bowling is a game or a sport because I think both are valid and both have their place. There are definitely some people who are going to go bowling once a year, have some fun with friends, and that will be it. What I do is a sport and what the general public does when they go to a bowling centre is a game, and that’s OK.

Q: Do you think that bowling should be considered for the Olympics?

A: I think so, we were on the shortlist for Tokyo 2020. We’ve been trying for a few years, we’re a part of the Pan Am games and the World Games, so the next step would be to be included in the Olympic games. I think we’re going to keep trying, and hopefully it happens one day, because that would be pretty special to participate in the Olympics.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to any young athlete, what would it be?

A: Have fun, be a kid and enjoy what you’re doing

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

Nearly 400,000 users of a Turkish crypto exchange fear millions of dollars may be stolen after its CEO abruptly fled the country, reports say

snagarajan@businessinsider.com (Shalini Nagarajan)

© Haber Global/YouTube Thodex CEO, Faruk Fatih Ozer. Haber Global/YouTube

About 400,000 users of a Turkish crypto exchange have filed a criminal complaint against its CEO.

They fear that investments worth thousands of dollars may be missing after its website shut down.

CEO Faruk Fatih Ozer flew out of Istanbul on Wednesday.

Several users of Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex fear their investments worth millions of dollars may be missing after being unable to access their accounts or withdraw their money from the platform.

A lawyer representing them filed a criminal complaint against its CEO on Wednesday, according to multiple reports, after Thodex posted a statement on its website that says it would be closed for four to five days to evaluate a partnership offer.

"World-renowned banks and funds, whose names we are going to announce when the agreement process is completed, have been wanting to invest in our company and proposed a partnership for a long time," the company said in a statement.

"For this process to be completed, transactions need to be halted and the sale process needs to be completed."

Many users tweeted they were unable to access their accounts and were worried they may be victims of a scam, Reuters reported, citing Turkish media outlets. Oguz Evren Kilic, a lawyer, said he was contacted by the users on Wednesday and a criminal complaint has been filed on behalf of them all.

Thodex had 400,000 users, of which 390,000 were active, according to Kilic. He told Bloomberg that CEO Faruk Fatih Ozer flew out of Istanbul via a commercial flight on Wednesday evening and hasn't responded to multiple phone calls.

A photo of Ozer departing from Istanbul has been published by Turkish news outlet Demiroren.

Thodex last month promoted a campaign to boost its user numbers by announcing a giveaway of 4 million Dogecoins. But several users tweeted they hadn't received the meme currency after all, according to Bloomberg.

A public prosecutor in Istanbul has launched an investigation into Thodex, according to Anadolu Agency. The company's website currently only displays a statement about its claimed sale process. It also tells users not to fall for "negative news on the internet" about Thodex.

Turkey only last week banned the use of cryptocurrencies effective April 30, saying they may cause non-recoverable losses for parties involved. Under new rules, citizens can still hold crypto, but can't use it to make payments towards goods and services.

Insider was unable to contact Ozer for comment.
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