Showing papers on "Credibility published in 2009"

Credibility of Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Informational and Normative Determinants of On-line Consumer Recommendations

Abstract: Word-of-mouth (WOM) study is extended to the on-line context (eWOM) by examining the informational and normative determinants of the perceived credibility of on-line consumer recommendations. A survey of users of an on-line consumer discussion forum in China substantiated the effects of the determinants, although post-hoc analyses revealed that prior knowledge and involvement level moderate some of them. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Assurance on sustainability reports: an international comparison

Abstract: Globally, companies increasingly publish separate general purpose, nonfinancial (sustainability) reports. Some of these are independently assured and assurers may or may not be from the auditing profession. We seek to understand this emerging voluntary assurance market. Using a sample of 2,113 companies (from 31 countries) that produced sustainability reports between 2002–2004, we use sequential logit analysis to identify the factors associated with the decision to voluntarily purchase assurance and the choice of assurance provider. We hypothesize that a company's need to enhance credibility through assurance and choice of assurance provider will be a function of company‐, industry‐, and country‐related factors. Our results support the argument that companies seeking to enhance the credibility of their reports and build their corporate reputation are more likely to have their sustainability reports assured, although it does not matter whether the assurance provider comes from the auditing profes...

How consumers evaluate eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) messages.

Abstract: This experiment explored how consumers evaluate electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages about products. Each participant was exposed a 10-message set in a single board. Five groups were manipulated in terms of their ratios of positive and negative messages. The result showed significant differences across various sets of eWOM messages. Although more positive sets showed higher scores in many cases, this was not true in all situations, especially for the case of credibility. Involvement and prior knowledge partially moderated the relationship between the ratio of messages and the eWOM effect. The credibility of Web sites and eWOM messages can be damaged in the long run if all of the eWOM messages are positive.

This is PR : the realities of public relations

Abstract: 1. PR Roles and Responsibilities. 2. PR's Origins and Evolution. 3. Research: Planning, Processes and Techniques. 4. Publics and Public Opinion. 5. Theoretical Underpinnings for PR. 6. PR Ethics and Responsibilities. 7. PR and the Law. 8. Strategic Management in PR Practice. 9. Communication Channels and Media. 10. Tactics and Techniques: Details That Make PR Strategy Work. 11. Campaigns. 12. Crisis and Credibility.

The effects of teacher self‐disclosure via Facebook on teacher credibility

Abstract: Research suggests that teachers who personalize their teaching through the use of humor, stories, enthusiasm, and self‐disclosure are perceived by their students to be effective in explaining course content. This experimental study examined the effects of computer‐mediated teacher self‐disclosure on perceptions of teacher credibility. Participants who accessed the Facebook website of a teacher high in self‐disclosure reported higher levels of teacher credibility than participants who viewed a low self‐disclosure Facebook website. Implications for classroom pedagogy, technology use, and areas for future research are discussed.

Losing participants before the trial ends erodes credibility of findings

Abstract: AIMS AND METHOD To estimate the proportion of attrition at which results of drug trials for people with schizophrenia lose enough credibility to become mistrusted by relevant groups of stakeholders. A piloted questionnaire was sent to 128 local clinicians, 100 relevant researchers and 104 service users and carers. RESULTS We received the biggest number of responses from the service user and carer group ( n =81, 76%); 43% of clinicians and 32% of researchers responded. All three groups suggested that the follow-up rate for a 12-week schizophrenia drug trial should be around 70-75% for the trial to be credible. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS This survey suggests that relevant stakeholders, including researchers, fundamentally mistrust results of the majority of drug trials in schizophrenia. Adopting a more pragmatic trial design can help address this.

System and method for aggregating and summarizing product/topic sentiment

Abstract: Documents are collected from a variety of publicly available sources that contain product data including product reviews, product specifications, price information and the like. Snippets of text obtained from the documents are analyzed for relevance, sentiment, credibility and other aspects that help evaluate the quality of a product. Feature vectors are computed for snippets to analyze relevance, sentiment, or credibility. Statistical analysis is performed on the feature vectors to estimate a measure of the relevance, sentiment, or credibility. Factors associated with various snippets are aggregated to compute a quality score for a product or a particular aspect of product including product features, attributes, usages, or user personas. Information is displayed on a user interface that allows the user to examine the details relevant to computation of the quality score.

Making Science Useful to Decision Makers: Climate Forecasts, Water Management, and Knowledge Networks

Abstract: Moving from climate science to adaptive action is an immense challenge, especially in highly institutionalized sectors such aswater resources. Knowledgenetworksare valuablestrategiesto put climateinformation to use. They overcome barriers to information adoption such as stovepipes, pipelines, and restricted decision space, and they can be responsive to issues of salience and the hurdles of reliability, credibility, and trust. Collaboration and adaptive management efforts among resource managers and forecast producers with differing missions show that mutual learning informed by climate information can occur among scientists of different disciplinary backgrounds and between scientists and water managers. The authors show how, through construction of knowledge networks and their institutionalization through boundary organizations focused on salient problems, climate information can positively affect water resources decision making.

The Effects of Blog-Mediated Public Relations (BMPR) on Relational Trust

Abstract: Key features of blog-mediated public relations are conducive to initiating and nurturing relationships with publics. As a result, blogs have emerged as a new venue for public relations in recent years. Many public relations practitioners have come to realize that blogging is not just a fad and have recognized a growing trend of blogging adoption in the industry—suggesting a need for common principles of successful public relations blogging practices. This study selected the following critical features of effective blog-mediated public relations: salience of narrative structure, dialogical self, blogger credibility, and interactivity. Using these concepts, the researchers proposed a theoretical model in explaining relational trust as a central outcome of effective blog-mediated public relations. Findings showed that dialogical self in blog posts enhanced interactivity, which, in turn, led to an increase in relational trust. Additionally, this study found that blogger credibility played a positive role in r...

Persuasion by Cheap Talk

Abstract: We consider the credibility, persuasiveness, and informativeness of multidimensional cheap talk by an expert to a decision maker. We find that an expert with state-independent preferences can always make credible comparative statements that trade off the expert's incentive to exaggerate on each dimension. Such communication benefits the expert -- cheap talk is "persuasive" -- if her preferences are quasiconvex. Communication benefits a decision maker by allowing for a more informed decision, but strategic interactions between multiple decision makers can reverse this gain. We apply these results to topics including media bias, advertising, product recommendations, voting, and auction disclosure.

Preserving professional credibility: grounded theory study of medical trainees’ requests for clinical support

Abstract: Objective To develop a conceptual framework of the influences on medical trainees’ decisions regarding requests for clinical support from a supervisor. Design Phase 1: members of teaching teams in internal and emergency medicine were observed during regular clinical activities (216 hours) and subsequently completed brief interviews. Phase 2: 36 in depth interviews were conducted using videotaped vignettes to probe tacit influences on decisions to request support. Data collection and analysis used grounded theory methods. Setting Three teaching hospitals in an urban setting in Canada. Participants 124 members of teaching teams on general internal medicine wards and in the emergency department, comprising 31 attending physicians, 57 junior and senior residents, 28 medical students, and eight nurses. Purposeful sampling to saturation was conducted. Results Trainees’ decisions about whether or not to seek clinical support were influenced by three issues: the clinical question (clinical importance, scope of practice), supervisor factors (availability, approachability), and trainee factors (skill, desire for independence, evaluation). Trainees perceived that requesting frequent/inappropriate support threatened their credibility and used rhetorical strategies to preserve credibility. These strategies included building a case for the importance of requests, saving requests for opportune moments, making a plan before requesting support, and targeting requests to specific team members. Conclusions Trainees consider not only clinical implications but also professional credibility when requesting support from clinical supervisors. Exposing the complexity of this process provides the opportunity to make changes to training programmes to promote timely supervision and provides a framework for further exploration of the impact of clinical training on quality of care of patients.

Brand credibility in cause‐related marketing: the moderating role of consumer values

Abstract: Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of consumer altruistic values upon two drivers of brand credibility in cause‐related marketing (CrM): cause‐brand fit and consumer attribution of altruistic brand motivations.Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative study. Data have been collected through personal interviews at households using the random route sampling technique. The sample is formed by consumers of insurance and personal hygiene products, using different brand‐social cause combinations. Data have been analysed through structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis to test the moderation hypotheses.Findings – Findings show that altruistic consumers use mainly altruistic attribution to form their judgement on brand credibility in CrM messages, whereas non altruistic consumers base their assessment on cause‐brand fit.Research limitations/implications – Real brands have been used in the empirical study and thus further research should replicate t...

In search of relevance: The changing contract between science and society

Abstract: This paper reflects on the relevance of academic science. Relevance plays a central role in what we define as the ‘contract’ between (academic) science and society. The manifestations of relevance in the daily practice of academic research can be studied using the credibility cycle. Together, the science—society contract and the credibility cycle enable a systematic analysis of relevance in scientific disciplines. This is illustrated with a case study of academic chemistry in The Netherlands. We conclude that science's search for relevance is not new, but that its meaning changes together with changing ideas about the potential benefits of scientific research. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

A Meta-Analytical Review of Teacher Credibility and its Associations with Teacher Behaviors and Student Outcomes

Abstract: This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 51 studies (N = 14,378) examining the associations among teacher credibility, teacher behaviors, and student outcomes. When all three dimensions of credibility are considered collectively (i.e., competence, trustworthiness, and caring), the cumulative evidence indicates a moderate, meaningful relationship between teacher credibility and overall outcomes (r=.448). Similar overall effect sizes were observed for competence (r=.481), trustworthiness (r=.477), and caring (r=.554), though the overall effect size for caring was greater in magnitude than that obtained for credibility measured as a single factor (r=.294). On average, higher correlations were observed when researchers measured all three dimensions of credibility (r=.518) than when they only measured competence and character (r=.256). Collectively, the results highlight the unique contributions of perceived caring to the teacher credibility construct, as well as the meaningful role that teacher credibility ...

Internet Auction Features as Quality Signals.

Abstract: Internet auction companies have developed innovative tools that enable sellers to reveal more information about their credibility and product quality to avoid the “lemons” problem. On the basis of signaling and auction theories, the authors propose a typology of Internet auction quality and credibility indicators, adopt and modify Park and Bradlow’s (2005) model, and use eBay as an example to examine empirically how different types of indicators help alleviate uncertainty. This empirical evidence demonstrates how Internet auction features affect consumer participation and bidding decisions, what modifies the credibility of quality indicators, and how different buyers react to indicators. The signaling-based hypotheses provide coherent explanations of consumers’ bidding behavior. As the first empirical study to evaluate the signaling role of comprehensive Internet auction institutional features in mitigating the adverse selection problem, this research provides evidence to clarify the economic foundation behind innovative Internet auction designs.

‘The Ring of Truth’: A Case Study of Credibility Assessment in Particular Social Group Refugee Determinations

Abstract: Credibility assessment has always been a major issue in refugee determinations and its importance increases in the context of widespread introduction of 'fast-track' processes and the manifest trans-national trend to truncate (or indeed remove) avenues for review. This article explores the practice of credibility assessment in lower level tribunals using a case study of over 1000 particular social group ground (PSG) decisions made on the basis of sexual orientation over the past 15 years. Credibility played an increasingly major role in claim refusals, and negative credibility assessments were not always based on well-reasoned or defensible grounds. The article uses this specific case study in order to ground recommendations for structural and institutional change aimed at improving the credibility assessment process in refugee determinations more broadly.

Customer Self-Efficacy in Technology-Based Self-Service: Assessing Between- and Within-Person Differences

Abstract: Firms increasingly offer customers the opportunity to coproduce self-service using online technologies. This requires novice customers to adopt a new role and engage in information search. This is ...

Learning from Minimal Economic Models

Abstract: It is argued that one can learn from minimal economic models. Minimal models are models that are not similar to the real world, do not resemble some of its features, and do not adhere to accepted regularities. One learns from a model if constructing and analysing the model affects one's confidence in hypotheses about the world. Economic models, I argue, are often assessed for their credibility. If a model is judged credible, it is considered to be a relevant possibility. Considering such relevant possibilities may affect one's confidence in necessity or impossibility hypotheses. Thus, one can learn from minimal economic models.

Blogs of Information: How Gender Cues and Individual Motivations Influence Perceptions of Credibility

Abstract: This study examines how gender cues influence perceptions of credibility of informational blogs. Using 2 experiments for data collection, this study manipulated the gender descriptors of a Weblog authors and had participants rate the overall perceived credibility of 1 of 3 blog posts. Male authors were deemed more credible than female authors, and main effects were found for information seekers, who found the blogs more credible than noninformation seekers. Implications are discussed.

Providing answer to keyword based query from natural owner of information

Abstract: A type of search engine (referred to as the “Get Engine”) receives one or more keywords, semantically formulates a question being asked from the keywords, generates specifications for the query, and searches a website index to determine websites that are likely owners of the answer to the question based on the query specifications and website classifications. The Get Engine determines a website that is most likely the owner of the answer based on credibility, searches the pages of the website using the keywords and additional keywords related to the query, retrieves the answer from the pages of the website, and receives feedback used in part to determine the credibility of the website.

Intervention policy of the BoJ: A unified approach

Abstract: intervening in the FX market implies a complex decision process for central banks. Monetary authorities have to decide whether to intervene or not, and if so, when and how. Since the successive steps of this procedure are likely to be highly interdependent, we adopt a nested logit approach to capture their relationships and to characterize the prominent features of the various steps of the intervention decision process. Our estimations based on Japanese data from 1991 to 2004 indicate that the Bank of Japan: (i) mainly reacted to deviations of the exchange rate with respect to fundamentals and (ii) tended to favour secrecy when its credibility was low. We also provide new insights on the so-called secrecy puzzle by modeling explicitly the risk for a secret intervention to be detected. Our results have important implications in terms of exchange rate policy, such as the emergence of a trade-off between intervention size, communication policy and secrecy. Our results tend to provide some explanation for the observed persistence of ineffective intervention policy during some sub-periods. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Believing is seeing: laypeople's views of future socio-economic and climate change in England and in Italy

Abstract: Cross-cultural studies are particularly relevant in the context of climate change, given its pervasive character and the growing demand for climate change mitigation at both global and local levels. This paper reports on findings from comparative cross-cultural mixed-methods research eliciting perceptions of the future among citizens in Norwich (UK) and Rome (Italy). The paper explores how individuals at the two locations interpret socio-economic and climate scenarios, and how they relate environmental change to human behavior. Attitude segmentation was found to be similar in both localities. Although most participants in both locations realized the benefits of a future centered on sustainable resource use and societal welfare, individuals' attitudes and considerations about the future were not largely influenced by the scenarios. Discussions revealed that the credibility of the projections depended on individuals' prior beliefs and their trust in the science portrayed.

Using the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique in Counselling Psychology Research

Abstract: This article describes an effective approach to using the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) research method based on Flanagan’s (1954) Critical Incident Technique (CIT). It begins with an overview of the CIT, how to decide if it is the appropriate methodology to use, then using a recent CIT study as an example discusses Flanagan’s five steps for conducting a CIT study: determining the activity’s aim; setting plans, specifications, and criteria for the information to be obtained; collecting data; analyzing the data; and reporting the findings. Nine credibility checks, developed to increase the rigor and credibility of the ECIT, are described.

MoviExplain: a recommender system with explanations

Abstract: Providing justification to a recommendation gives credibility to a recommender system. Some recommender systems (Amazon.com etc.) try to explain their recommendations, in an effort to regain customer acceptance and trust. But their explanations are poor, because they are based solely on rating data, ignoring the content data. Our prototype system MoviExplain is a movie recommender system that provides both accurate and justifiable recommendations.

Dangerous decisions: A theoretical framework for understanding how judges assess credibility in the courtroom

Abstract: Purpose. Numerous wrongful convictions have brought into question the ability of judges and juries to accurately evaluate the credibility of witnesses, including defendants. Dangerous decisions theor y( DDT) offers at heoretical framework to build our understanding of the decision-making process that can culminate in such injustices. Arguments. According to DDT ,t he reading of ad efendant’ sf ace and emotional expressions pla ya major role in initiating as eries of ‘dangerous’ decisions concerning his/her credibility .S pecifically ,p otent judgments of trustworthiness occur rapidly upon seeing ad efendant’ sf ace ,s ubjectively experienced as intuition. Originally evolved to reduce the danger to the observer ,t he initial judgment –w hich ma yb eu nreliable –w ill be enduring and have ap owerful influence on the interpretation and assimilation of incoming evidence concerning the defendant. Ensuing inferences will be irrational, but rationalized by the decision maker throug hh is/he rs ubjective schemas about trustworthiness and heuristics for identifying deceptiv eb ehaviour .F acilitated by a high level of motivation, an on-critical, tunnel vision assimilation of potentially disconfirming or ambiguous target information can culminate in am istaken evaluation of guilt or innocence. Conclusions. Empirically based education and responsibl ee xper tt estimon yc ould serve to reduce such biases and improve legal decision-making.

In Search of Credibility: Pupils' Information Practices in Learning Environments.

Abstract: Introduction. We aim to create an in-depth understanding of how pupils in upper secondary school negotiate the credibility and authority of information as part of their practices of learning. Parti ...