New studies show how to save parasites and why it's important

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

 

IMAGE: CHELSEA WOOD, RIGHT, AND THE TEAM PREPARE TO COLLECT TRAIL CAMERAS, WHICH WERE DEPLOYED TO QUANTIFY BIRD BIODIVERSITY AT EACH POND. view more 

CREDIT: EMILY WOOD

Parasites have a public relations problem.

Unlike the many charismatic mammals, fishes and birds that receive our attention (and our conservation dollars), parasites are thought of as something to eradicate -- and certainly not something to protect.

But only 4% of known parasites can infect humans, and the majority actually serve critical ecological roles, like regulating wildlife that might otherwise balloon in population size and become pests. Still, only about 10% of parasites have been identified and, as a result, they are mostly left out of conservation activities and research.

An international group of scientists wants to change that. About a dozen leading parasite ecologists, including University of Washington's Chelsea Wood, published a paper Aug. 1 in the journal Biological Conservation, which lays out an ambitious global conservation plan for parasites.

"Parasites are an incredibly diverse group of species, but as a society, we do not recognize this biological diversity as valuable," said Wood, an assistant professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "The point of this paper is to emphasize that we are losing parasites and the functions they serve without even recognizing it."

The authors propose 12 goals for the next decade that could advance parasite biodiversity conservation through a mix of research, advocacy and management.

"Even though we know little to nothing about most parasite species, we can still take action now to conserve parasite biodiversity," said Skylar Hopkins, paper and project co-lead and an assistant professor at North Carolina State University.

Perhaps the most ambitious goal is to describe half of the world's parasites within the next 10 years. Providing taxonomic descriptions allow species to be named, which is an important part of the conservation process, the researchers said.

"If species don't have a name, we can't save them," said Colin Carlson, the other project co-lead and an assistant professor at Georgetown University. "We've accepted that for decades about most animals and plants, but scientists have only discovered a fraction of a percentage of all the parasites on the planet. Those are the last frontiers: the deep sea, deep space, and the world that's living inside every species on Earth."

Importantly, the researchers stress that none of the parasites that infect humans or domesticated animals are included in their conservation plan. They say these parasites should be controlled to safeguard human and animal health.

The paper is part of an entire special edition devoted to parasite conservation. Wood is the lead author on one study in the collection that finds the responses of parasites to environmental change are likely to be complex, and that a changing world probably will see both outbreaks of some parasites and a total loss of other parasite species.

"We need to recognize that there will be a diversity of responses among parasite taxa and not take for granted that every parasite is dwindling toward extinction or about to cause a major outbreak," Wood said.

Parasites often need two or more host species to complete their lifecycle. For example, some parasites first infect fish or amphibians, but ultimately must get transmitted to birds to reproduce and multiply. They ensure that this happens through ingenious ways, Wood explained, often by manipulating the behavior or even the anatomy of their first host to make these fish or amphibians more susceptible to being eaten by birds. In this way, the parasite then gets transmitted to a bird -- its ultimate destination.

Given this dynamic, Wood and colleagues wanted to see what would happen to the abundance of parasites if the ecosystems in which they live changed. They designed an experiment across 16 ponds in central California's East Bay region. In half of the ponds, they installed structures such as bird houses, floating perches and mallard decoys intended to attract more birds, thus temporarily altering the natural ecosystem and boosting biodiversity in these ponds.

After a couple of years, the researchers analyzed parasite biodiversity in each of the 16 ponds. What they found was a mixed bag: Some parasite species responded to elevated bird biodiversity by declining in abundance. But other parasites actually increased in number when bird biodiversity increased. The authors concluded that as biodiversity changes -- due to climate change, development pressure or other reasons -- we can expect to see divergent responses by parasites, even those living within the same ecosystem.

Traditionally, the field of disease ecology assumes one of two paths: That we are either heading toward a future of more disease and massive outbreaks or toward a future of parasite extinction. This paper shows that both trajectories are happening simultaneously, Wood explained.

"This particular experiment suggests that we need to anticipate both trajectories going forward. It starts to resolve the conflict in the literature by showing that everyone is right -- it's all happening," Wood said. "The trick now is to figure out what traits will predict which parasites will decline and which will increase in response to biodiversity loss."

Wood's lab is working on that question now by reconstructing the history of parasites over time, documenting which parasites increased in abundance and which declined. However, there's almost no historical record of parasites and without this information, it's difficult to know how to conserve them. By dissecting museum specimens of fish, the researchers are identifying and counting various parasites found in the specimens at different places and times.

"These pickled animals are like parasite time capsules," Wood explained. "We can open them up and identify the parasites that infected a fish at its death. In this way, we can reconstruct and resurrect information that previously we didn't think was possible to get."

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Co-authors on this paper are Pieter Johnson and Margaret Summerside of the University of Colorado Boulder. This research was funded by the Michigan Society of Fellows, National Science Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the University of Washington, the University of Colorado, the National Institutes of Health and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

See the journal for the full list of authors and funders for the special edition.

FROM: Michelle Ma
University of Washington
mcma@uw.edu
(NOTE: Researcher contact information at end)

For more information, contact Wood at chelwood@uw.edu and Hopkins at hopkins@nceas.ucsb.edu.

Grant numbers:

NSF: OCE-1829509, DEB-1149308, DEB-1754171
NIH: RI0 GM109499

New method lets scientists peer deeper into ocean

BIGELOW LABORATORY FOR OCEAN SCIENCES

 

IMAGE: SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST BARNEY BALCH COLLECTS OCEAN OPTICS DATA DURING A RESEARCH CRUISE IN THE GULF OF MAINE. BALCH IS PART OF A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS THAT HAS ESTABLISHED A... view more 

CREDIT: BIGELOW LABORATORY FOR OCEAN SCIENCES

Researchers have advanced a new way to see into the ocean's depths, establishing an approach to detect algae and measure key properties using light. A paper published in Applied Optics reports using a laser-based tool, lidar, to collect these measurements far deeper than has been typically possible using satellites.

"Traditional satellite remote sensing approaches can collect a wide range of information about the upper ocean, but satellites typically can't 'see' deeper than the top five or 10 meters of the sea," said Barney Balch, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and an author of the paper. "Harnessing a tool that lets us look so much deeper into the ocean is like having a new set of eyes."

Lidar uses light emitted by lasers to gain information about particles in seawater, much as animals like bats and dolphins use sound to echolocate targets. By sending out pulses of light and timing how long it takes the beams to hit something and bounce back, lidar senses reflective particles like algae in the water.

Lead study author Brian Collister used a shipboard lidar system to detect algae and learn about conditions deeper in the ocean than satellites can measure. The research team on this 2018 cruise was composed of scientists from Old Dominion University and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

"The lidar approach has the potential to fill some important gaps in our ability to measure ocean biology from space," said Collister, a PhD student at Old Dominion University. "This technique will shed new light on the distribution of biology in the upper oceans, and allow us to better understand their role in Earth's climate."

In the Gulf of Maine, the team used lidar to detect and measure particles of the mineral calcium carbonate, gathering information about a bloom of coccolithophores. These algae surround themselves with calcium carbonate plates, which are white in color and highly reflective. The plates scatter light in a unique way, fundamentally changing how the light waves are oriented - and creating an identifiable signature that the lidar system can recognize.

Balch's research team has studied the Gulf of Maine for over two decades through the Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series. Their experience in finding and identifying algae in this ecosystem provided key background information for testing the lidar system in what turned out to be the largest coccolithophore bloom observed in the region in 30 years.

"This cruise allowed us an ideal opportunity to try the lidar system out with the ability to sample the water and know exactly what species were in it," Balch said. "Lidar has been used in the ocean for decades, but few, if any, studies have been done inside a confirmed coccolithophore bloom, which profoundly changes how light behaves in the environment."

Coccolithophores thrive around the global ocean and exert a huge level of control on the biogeochemical cycles that shape the planet. Studying them is key to understanding global ocean dynamics, but field research is always costly. The team established that using lidar could potentially allow researchers to remotely estimate coccolithophore populations without stopping the ship to collect water samples - increasing their ability to collect valuable data, thus also conserving precious ship-time funds.

The research team also tested this approach in ocean environments that included the clear depths of the Sargasso Sea and the turbid waters off the coast of New York City. They found it to be effective across these diverse environments. Lidar systems can probe the ocean up to three times deeper than passive satellite remote sensing techniques that rely on the sun. Further research may establish approaches that allow lidar measurements to be taken by satellites, as well.

"It's a huge deal that we are learning to reliably identify particles in the ocean from a lidar system positioned above the water," said Richard Zimmerman, a study author and professor at Old Dominion University. "This is a significant advance, and it could revolutionize our ability to characterize and model marine ecosystems."

This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Virginia SpaceGrant Consortium.

CAPTION

Brian Collister, a doctoral student at Old Dominion University, tends to a laser-based lidar system during a research cruise in the Bahamas. Collister is part of a team of researchers that has established a new approach to detect algae and measure key ocean properties using this tool.

Speech processing hierarchy in the dog brain

The study reveals exciting speech processing similarities between us and a speechless species

EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY (ELTE), FACULTY OF SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: A DOG AND RESEARCHERS (MÁRTA GÁCSI (LEFT), ATTILA ANDICS, ANNA GÁBOR (RIGHT)) AT THE SCANNER. view more 

CREDIT: ENIK? KUBINYI / EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY

Dog brains, just as human brains, process speech hierarchically: intonations at lower, word meanings at higher stages, according to a new study by Hungarian researchers at the Department of Ethology, Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) using functional MRI on awake dogs. The study, which reveals exciting speech processing similarities between us and a speechless species, will be published in Scientific Reports.

Humans keep talking to dogs whose sensitivity to human communicative signs is well known. Both the words what we say and the intonation how we say them carry information for them. For example, when we tell 'sit' many dogs can sit down. Similarly, when we praise dogs with a high toned voice, they may notice the positive intent. We know very little, however, on what is going on in their brains during these.

In this study, Hungarian researchers measured awake, cooperative dogs' brain activity via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Dogs listened to known, praise words (clever, well done, that's it) and unknown, neutral words (such, as if, yet) both in praising and neutral intonation.

"Exploring speech processing similarities and differences between dog and human brains can help a lot in understanding the steps that led to the emergence of speech during evolution. Human brains process speech hierarchically: first, intonations at lower-, next, word meanings at higher stages. Some years ago, we discovered that dog brains, just as human brains, separate intonation and word meaning. But is the hierarchy also similar? To find it out, we used a special technique this time: we measured how dog brain activity decreases to repeatedly played stimuli. During brain scanning, sometimes we repeated words, sometimes intonations. Stronger decrease in a given brain region to certain repetitions shows the region's involvement" - Anna Gábor, postdoctoral researcher at the MTA-ELTE 'Lendület' Neuroethology of Communication Research Group, lead author of the study explains.

The results show that dog brains, just like human brains, process speech hierarchically: intonation at lower stages (mostly in subcortical regions), while known words at higher stages (in cortical regions). Interestingly, older dogs distinguished words less than younger dogs.

"Although speech processing in humans is unique in many aspects, this study revealed exciting similarities between us and a speechless species. The similarity does not imply, however, that this hierarchy evolved for speech processing" - says Attila Andics, principal investigator of the MTA-ELTE 'Lendület' Neuroethology of Communication Research Group. "Instead, the hierarchy following intonation and word meaning processing reported here and also in humans may reflect a more general, not speech-specific processing principle. Simpler, emotionally loaded cues (such as intonation) are typically analysed at lower stages; while more complex, learnt cues (such as word meaning) are analysed at higher stages in multiple species. What our results really shed light on is that human speech processing may also follow this more basic, more general hierarchy."

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Video abstract about the research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EhI80fdEbw

This study was published in Scientific Reports titled "Multilevel fMRI adaptation for spoken word processing in the awake dog brain", written by Anna Gábor, Márta Gácsi, Dóra Szabó, Ádám Miklósi, Enik? Kubinyi and Attila Andics. This research was funded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ('Lendület' Program), the European Research Council (ERC), the Ministry of Human Capacities, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund and the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE).

Survey finds Americans social media habits changing as national tensions rise

A new national survey from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found more than half of Americans have changed their social media habits because of tensions surrounding current events this year

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER

Social Media Stress (VIDEO)

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER

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CAPTION

A new national survey from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found more than half of Americans have changed their social media habits because of tensions surrounding current events this year

CREDIT: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER


COLUMBUS, Ohio - As national tensions rise, a new national survey of 2,000 people commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds more Americans are adjusting how they use social media platforms.


Many participants cited stress from the global COVID-19 pandemic, along with the movement to end racial inequality and other divisive political issues in our country as reasons for taking a social media break.

While it may seem impossible to disconnect and step away from social media, some survey participants reported changing their social media habits this year. The survey found:


More than half of Americans (56%) say their social media habits have changed because of tensions surrounding current events this year.
Almost 3 in 10 Americans (29%) say their social media use has increased because of tensions surrounding current events this year.
And 1 in 5 Americans (20%) say they've taken breaks from social media because of tensions surrounding current events this year.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by information, opinions and arguments while scrolling through social media channels, said Ken Yeager, Ph.D., director of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

"Stepping away and reconnecting with reality offline is an important step to take for your mental health," Yeager said. "Being constantly immersed in this stressful environment and being overexposed to contentious or traumatic events can make you feel like the world is a less safe place to be. And because these stressors have persisted over a long period of time, it's wearing on people's ability to cope with that stress."

CAPTION

When the negativity of social media posts and comment sections becomes overwhelming, Andrea Koder feels empowered by volunteering for causes she cares about, like fostering shelter animals.

Across the United States, there's been an increase in cases of depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance abuse over the past several months, said Yeager, who is a clinical professor in The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

"Even though you can't control what happens on social media, it's important to recognize how it may affect you and take steps to limit your exposure," Yeager said.

He offers these tips to go on a social media diet:


Reconnect with family and friends - Disconnect from your devices and stop scrolling on social media for a night. Instead, make plans with the people you care about, even if that's a group Zoom call. An evening of friendly conversation can be a welcome break from social media.
Create positive change in your community - Volunteer at a food bank, clean up a park or do anything that makes your neighborhood a better place. Seeing the good that you and others in your community are doing can help you realize what's truly important.
Use your power - Not only do you have the power of your vote, but you also have the power to voice your concerns and enact local change. Get involved in the issues that are important to you. Feeling like you're part of the process can be empowering and calming.
Talk about it - There can be a lot of misunderstandings in conversations about the biggest issues we are facing now, especially when they take place in social media comment sections. Talking to family and friends one-on-one about what is important to them and how they believe these issues affect them can help you understand where they're coming from.

Anyone who is regularly feeling panicked or having trouble controlling their mood or connecting with others should seek help from a mental health professional to learn ways to cope, Yeager said.

CAPTION

Ken Yeager, Ph.D., counsels a patient at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Yeager says the stress of being constantly connected to the negativity on social media during this contentious time in our country has led to an increase in depression and anxiety.

Children's National Hospital case report sounds the alarm for antibiotic resistance

Isolated bacterium tests positive for resistance to two antibiotics for which it has historically been susceptible, highlights importance of antibiotic stewardship

CHILDREN'S NATIONAL HOSPITAL

WASHINGTON-(August, 3, 2020)- A recent meningitis case at Children's National Hospital raises serious concerns about antibiotic resistance in the common bacterium that caused it, researchers from the hospital write in a case report. Their findings, published online August 3 in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, could change laboratory and clinical practice across the U.S. and potentially around the globe.

Neisseria meningitidis is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in adolescents and an important cause of disease in younger children as well, say case report authors Gillian Taormina,D.O., a third year fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children's National, who was on service for this recent case, and Joseph Campos, Ph.D., D(ABMM), FAAM, director of the Microbiology Laboratory and the Infectious Diseases Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at Children's National. As standard clinical practice in the U.S., they explain, patients who are thought to have this infection are typically treated first with the broad spectrum antibiotic ceftriaxone while they wait for a microbiology lab to identify the causative organism from blood or cerebrospinal fluid samples. Once the organism is identified as N meningitidis, patients are typically treated with penicillin or ampicillin, antibiotics with a narrower spectrum of activity that's less likely to lead to ceftriaxone resistance. Family members and other close contacts are often prophylactically treated with an antibiotic called ciprofloxacin.

Because N. meningitidis has historically been sensitive to these antibiotics, most laboratories do not perform tests to confirm drug susceptibility, Dr. Campos says. But the protocol at Children's National is to screen these isolates for penicillin and ampicillin resistance with a rapid 5-minute test. The isolate from Dr. Taormina's five-month-old patient -- a previously healthy infant from Maryland who came to the Children's National emergency room after six days of fever and congestion -- yielded surprising results: N. meningitidis grown from the patient's blood was positive for beta-lactamase, an enzyme that destroys the active component in the family of antibiotics that includes penicillin and ampicillin. This isolate was also found resistant to ciprofloxacin.

"The lab used a rapid test, and after just a few minutes, it was positive," Dr. Campos says. "We did it again to make sure it was accurate, and the results were reproducible. That's when we knew we needed to share this finding with the public health authorities."

Dr. Campos, Dr. Taormina and their colleagues sent samples of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria first to the Washington, D.C. Public Health Laboratory and the Maryland Department of Health, and later to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When the CDC asked other state laboratories to send their own N. meningitidis samples to be tested, 33 were positive for beta-lactamase. And like the bacterium isolated from Dr. Taormina's patient, 11 of these were also resistant to ciprofloxacin.

"These bacteria wouldn't have been susceptible to the common antibiotics that we would normally use for this infection," Dr. Taormina says, "so it's entirely possible that the infections caused by these bacteria could have been treated inappropriately if doctors used the standard protocol."

Dr. Taormina says that her patient cleared his infection after staying on ceftriaxone, the original antibiotic he'd been prescribed, for the recommended seven days. His six family members and close contacts were prophylactically treated with rifampin instead of ciprofloxacin.

Although this case had a positive outcome, Dr. Campos says it raises the alarm for other N. meningitidis infections in the U.S., where antibiotic resistance is a growing concern. The danger is even higher in other countries, where the vaccine that children in the U.S. commonly receive for N. meningitidis at age 11 isn't available.

In the meantime, Drs. Taormina and Campos say their case highlights the need for the appropriate use of antibiotics, known as antibiotic stewardship, which is only possible with close partnerships between infectious disease doctors and microbiology laboratories.

"Our lab and the infectious diseases service at Children's National interact every day on cases like this to make sure we're doing the best job we can in diagnosing and managing infections," says Dr. Campos. "We're a team."

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Other Children's National authors who contributed to this case report include infectious disease specialist Benjamin Hanisch, M.D.

Properly-equipped laypersons can potentially reverse opioid overdose mortality

In the race against time to reverse overdose, community members supplied with naloxone and a smartphone application can act in the crucial moments prior to EMS arrival

IN THE SEVENTIES I WORKED AT A YOUTH CENTRE THAT PROVIDED OD AND DRUG CRISIS COUNSELLING CITIZEN ACTIVISM WORKS I ALSO WORKED AS A STREET MEDIC IN VANCOUVER AT THE OCCUPATION OF THE FOUR SEASONS OCEAN FRONT WHERE HEROIN OD'S WERE NOT UNCOMMON

BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Without timely reversal, opioid overdose causes respiratory depression that may deteriorate into apnea, leading to brain injury and even death. Naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose, can quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of overdose with heroin or prescription opioid pain medications.

One of the major challenges in decreasing lethal opioid overdose is ensuring that naloxone reaches those in need at short notice. For opioid overdose, as for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), layperson response is a key link in the "chain of survival", the complex relationship between bystanders, emergency services, and hospitals. Locating a nearby volunteer with naloxone presents various challenges that may be addressed by means of collective mobilization.

In a paper published today in The Lancet's EClinicalMedicine journal, researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Drexel University report the results of the first observational cohort study of community members equipped with naloxone and a smartphone application to signal and respond to opioid overdoses. The cohort was comprised of individuals who lived and/or worked in a neighborhood with high incidence of opioid overdose in the US city of Philadelphia. After tracking the group for more than a year, the researchers showed that laypersons, including people who use opioids, can effectively signal and respond to overdose incident to administer nasal naloxone in advance of emergency medical service (EMS) arrival.

Volunteers were trained in recognizing opioid overdose, the use of intranasal naloxone, and use of a dedicated smartphone app to signal and/or respond to a suspected overdose alert. The app was activated by volunteers witnessing an overdose to signal other nearby volunteers. The researchers looked for three possible scenarios when volunteers received an alert: those who received the alert and chose to respond and help, those who explicitly declined to respond, or those who missed/ignored the alert. The witnessing volunteer was connected to speak with 9-1-1 dispatch through a semi-automated telephone call. The primary outcome was layperson-initiated overdose reversal before the arrival of EMS/first responders.

"We observed 202 layperson-initiated overdose true alerts with a rate of layperson naloxone administration of 36?6% (74/202) and found that naloxone-based reversal was initiated over five minutes prior to EMS arrival in 59?6% of these cases," said Prof. David Schwartz, of Bar-Ilan University's Graduate School of Business Administration. "We observed layperson support behaviors, including contacting EMS and remaining with the victim until recovery, that are consistent with American Heart Association guidelines and that strengthen the chain of survival that begins in the community," added Schwartz, who led the study with Dr. Stephen Lankenau, of Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health.

Equipping laypersons with naloxone and an emergency response community app to signal suspected opioid overdose and alert other nearby volunteers to provide naloxone can result in naloxone administration prior to EMS arrival and overdose reversal, potentially reducing mortality in opioid overdose. The findings support further study of smartphone-based naloxone intervention to strengthen the chain of survival starting at the community level.

There are striking parallels for emergency healthcare delivery between opioid overdose in the community and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Studies have shown that CPR and early defibrillation by a layperson, in advance of EMS, contributes to positive outcomes after OHCA. "It is time to recognize that opioid use disorder patients can benefit from similar forms of community support that we advance for OHCA." write the authors. Locating a nearby volunteer with naloxone presents some unique challenges but is not inherently different than locating a nearby defibrillator. Creating and studying smartphone-based emergency response communities for naloxone provision can help address this important challenge.

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This study was funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Is less more? How consumers view sustainability claims

News from the Journal of Marketing

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

 

Researchers from City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that offers consumer insights to guide marketing teams' communication of products' negatively framed attributes.

The study forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing is titled "When Less is More: How Mindset Influences Consumers' Responses to Products with Reduced Negative Attributes" and is authored by Vincent Chi Wong, Lei Su, and Howard Pong-Yuen Lam.

As companies embrace sustainability and circular economy concepts, they are transforming products and services to reduce negative impacts. By so doing, they can help preserve the environment for future generations, burnish their corporate social responsibility credentials, and, ideally, drive sales with values-based consumers. But is it true that sustainability claims increase sales?

The study challenges this common intuition and finds that a marketing claim of reducing negative product properties may be interpreted by consumers in one of two ways: 1) view the claim as improving the product relative to its previous state; or 2) draw attention to a negative product feature that might otherwise have been overlooked. Moreover, whether such claims have positive or negative influence depends on whether consumers interpret such claims through an incremental or entity mindset. Consumers with an incremental mindset (i.e., the tendency to think of attributes as malleable) take a trend-based view of a reduction in negative attributes, which results in improved product evaluations. In contrast, consumers with an entity mindset (i.e., attributes are unlikely to change) view these claims negatively.

The researchers first manipulated consumers' mindsets by exposing them to marketing materials such as advertising slogans, promotional direct mail, and spokespersons' quotes. Results show that activating consumers' incremental (vs. entity) mindset leads to more favorable evaluations for luncheon meat with sodium nitrite reduced by 30%, for frozen mussels with reduced microplastic content, and for antidiabetic drugs with reduced side effects. In other studies, the researchers measured consumers' chronic incremental and entity mindsets and show that those with a dominant incremental (vs. entity) mindset preferred stereo speakers with 50% less non-recyclable materials, bottled water with plastic materials reduced by 35%, and yogurt with 50% reduced sugar. Ironically, communicating a reduced negative attribute leads to poorer sales compared to no communication for consumers with an entity mindset.

The findings have managerial marketing implications. Wong explains, "Our research provides new techniques in marketers' toolbox to activate more easily consumers' incremental versus entity mindsets as a controllable variable. In addition, companies intuitively expect that promoting a reduction in negative attributes should benefit sales as opposed to doing nothing. Our findings imply that communicating a reduced negative attribute might have unintended consequences if consumers approach it with the wrong mindset." Accordingly, marketers should estimate the potential risks of such communications and carry out such communication strategically (along with properly activating consumers' mindset).

Su adds that, "Marketers may also strategically induce these mindsets to fight against competitors." To entice consumers from a competitor's product that claims a reduction of a negative attribute, marketers may activate an entity mindset using advertising slogans (e.g., De Beers' "A diamond is forever"). Moreover, slogans for significant social events can also temporarily prime different mindsets (e.g., Barack Obama's "Change we can believe in" likely activated an incremental mindset). Marketers can strategically leverage such social events as opportunities to promote products containing reduced negative attributes. "Importantly, individuals in Western countries (e.g., Americans) typically hold entity beliefs whereas those in Eastern countries (e.g., Chinese) typically hold incremental beliefs by default. Thus, promotion strategies for products with reduced negative attributes need to be customized across cultures," says Lam. Similarly, consumers' incremental versus entity mindset can be traced to demographic, geographic, or political ideology information. Marketers need to consider these factors when promoting products with a reduced negative attribute.

###

Full article and author contact information available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920920859

Boycotts or buycotts? The role of corporate activism

News from the Journal of Marketing

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Researchers from Texas Christian University, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, and Portland State University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the effect of corporate activism on financial and other types of performance to empower managers with insights they can use to chart their company's course in today's marketplace.

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Corporate Sociopolitical Activism and Firm Value" and is authored by Yashoda Bhagwat, Nooshin L. Warren, Joshua T. Beck, George F. Watson IV.

In 2014, a group of concerned mothers demanded that Chipotle prohibit guns in its restaurants. The company agreed and uproar ensued among a divided customer base as strong opinions opposing and favoring the policy translated into boycotts and buycotts. Chipotle is not alone in its controversy. Other examples include when Nike famously took a stand in support of Black Lives Matter, Delta cut ties with the NRA, Target publicly supported transgender rights, Amazon stopped selling confederate flags, and J.C. Penney supported LGBTQ+ families. Corporations have historically avoided contentious issues, but many are now responding to growing expectations that they become advocates.

These activities are called Corporate Sociopolitical Activism (CSA), defined as a firm's public demonstration (statements and/or actions) of support for--or opposition to--one side of a partisan sociopolitical issue. CSA reflects a shift. For decades, corporations have strived to be socially responsible (known as "CSR"), which involves broadly favored activities such as donating to charity or limiting pollution. Also, firms have lobbied to change laws in ways that favor their operations (known as corporate political activity [CPA]). Now some firms are going beyond these traditional, performance-enhancing activities to engage in CSA with unknown outcomes.

The researchers investigate how customer and investor responses to CSA affect firm performance. Bhagwat explains that "We argue that CSA publicly signals a firm's sociopolitical values and increases uncertainty among investors for at least two reasons. First, CSA may deviate from the political values of key stakeholders--customers, employees, and state government legislators. Second, CSA signals a shift in a firm's strategic commitments. Firms focusing more on sociopolitical issues may divert resources (money, time, attention) from other more profit-oriented activities." Thus, CSA has a negative effect overall on a firm's stock return. However, the effect of CSA varies highly and can even be positive.

To better understand the range of CSA outcomes, the study examines several contingency factors. First, it tested the extent to which CSA deviates from the political values of its stakeholders. Results indicate that highly misaligned CSA that deviates from the values of customers, employees, and state lawmakers results in a 2% stock decline, on average. Alternatively, highly aligned CSA can increase stock returns by nearly 1%, on average.

Second, it examined how the implementation of CSA signals a firm's commitment to activism. Warren says that "The more strategically committed a firm seems to be, the more uncertain investors become. CSA that takes the form of an action (vs. a statement), is delivered by the CEO (vs. another executive), is motivated purely on moral terms (vs. rationalized as being good for business), or is conducted alone (vs. in a coalition with multiple other firms) signals stronger commitment and, ultimately, a more negative impact on a firm's near-term stock price."

Importantly, the study also examines the impact of CSA on next-quarter and next-year sales growth. Findings are generally consistent with the stock return results and demonstrate the high potential of CSA. When CSA is aligned across stakeholders, it can result in an 8% increase in next-quarter sales growth and a 12% increase in next-year sales growth. This is presumably because well-aligned CSA works to strengthen relationships with customers, employees, and state lawmakers who fundamentally agree with the firm's stance.

The researchers advise managers navigating these unchartered waters to: (1) pick CSA they feel confident supporting and that aligns with the values of key stakeholders; (2) prepare for a short-term stock drop, realizing that activism has the potential to hurt or enhance stock price and sales growth; and (3) persuade stakeholders that CSA serves the interests of society and the company because customers will reward CSA they believe in.

Customers should be aware that their values matter and play a key role in whether activism is successful for firms. Investors should recognize sociopolitical activism as a new firm activity and that while it may risk backlash, it may also lead to tangible positive financial outcomes, particularly when aligned with customers.

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Full article and author contact information available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920937000

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.

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Baby boomers show concerning decline in cognitive functioning

Trend reverses progress over several generations, study finds

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a reversal of trends, American baby boomers scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning than did members of previous generations, according to a new nationwide study.

Findings showed that average cognition scores of adults aged 50 and older increased from generation to generation, beginning with the greatest generation (born 1890-1923) and peaking among war babies (born 1942-1947).

Scores began to decline in the early baby boomers (born 1948-1953) and decreased further in the mid baby boomers (born 1954-1959).

While the prevalence of dementia has declined recently in the United States, these results suggest those trends may reverse in the coming decades, according to study author Hui Zheng, professor of sociology at The Ohio State University.

"It is shocking to see this decline in cognitive functioning among baby boomers after generations of increases in test scores," Zheng said.

"But what was most surprising to me is that this decline is seen in all groups: men and women, across all races and ethnicities and across all education, income and wealth levels."

Results showed lower cognitive functioning in baby boomers was linked to less wealth, along with higher levels of loneliness, depression, inactivity and obesity, and less likelihood of being married.

The study was published online recently in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

Zheng analyzed data on 30,191 Americans who participated in the 1996 to 2014 Health and Retirement Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan. People over 51 years old were surveyed every two years.

As part of the study, participants completed a cognitive test in which they had to recall words they had heard earlier, count down from 100 by 7s, name objects they were shown and perform other tasks.

Other research has shown that overall rates of mortality and illness have increased in baby boomers, but generally found that the highly educated and wealthiest were mostly spared.

"That's why it was so surprising to me to see cognitive declines in all groups in this study," Zheng said. "The declines were only slightly lower among the wealthiest and most highly educated."

Zheng also compared cognition scores within each age group across generations so that scores are not skewed by older people who tend to have poorer cognition. Even in this analysis, the baby boomers came out on bottom.

"Baby boomers already start having lower cognition scores than earlier generations at age 50 to 54," he said.

The question, then, is what has happened to baby boomers? Zheng looked for clues across the lifetimes of those in the study.

Increasing cognition scores in previous generations could be tied to beneficial childhood conditions - conditions that were similar for baby boomers, Zheng said.

Baby boomers' childhood health was as good as or better than previous generations and they came from families that had higher socioeconomic status. They also had higher levels of education and better occupations.

"The decline in cognitive functioning that we're seeing does not come from poorer childhood conditions," Zheng said.

The biggest factors linked to lower cognition scores among baby boomers in the study were lower wealth, higher levels of self-reported loneliness and depression, lack of physical activity and obesity.

Living without a spouse, being married more than once in their lives, having psychiatric problems and cardiovascular risk factors including strokes, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes were also associated with lower cognitive functioning among people in this generation.

"If it weren't for their better childhood health, move favorable family background, more years of education and higher likelihood of having a white-collar occupation, baby boomers would have even worse cognitive functioning," Zheng said.

There were not enough late baby boomers (born in 1960 or later) to include in this study, but Zheng said he believes they will fare no better. The same might be true for following generations unless we find a solution for the problems found here, he said.

While many of the problems linked to lower cognitive functioning are symptoms of modern life, like less connection with friends and family and growing economic inequality, other problems found in this study are unique to the United States, Zheng said. One example would be the lack of universal access and high cost of health care.

"Part of the story here are the problems of modern life, but it is also about life in the U.S.," he said.

One of the biggest concerns is that cognitive functioning when people are in their 50s and 60s is related to their likelihood of having dementia when they are older.

"With the aging population in the United States, we were already likely to see an increase in the number of people with dementia," Zheng said.

"But this study suggests it may be worse than we expected for decades to come."

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Contact: Hui Zheng, Zheng.64@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu