Despite the strong appeal of iconic brands, research on how consumers form attachments and loyalty to them has been limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this research is aimed at identifying factors that can determine consumers’ emotional attachment and ensuing loyalty toward iconic brands, focused on brand personality, cultural disposition, and social media activity as influencing factors. To accomplish this, a survey was implemented on Amazon Mechanical Turn (Mturk) (n=759). Empirical results from multi-level linear regression model indicate that brand personality, cultural disposition and social media activity influence both loyalty and attachment in iconic brands. Detailed findings are presented. Lastly, theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
Excellence in education is based on a curriculum that is true, relevant, and appropriate, and on educational processes that are humane and democratic. A pervasive problem in U.S. schools is a curriculum that perpetuates cultural hegemony, lacks multiple perspectives, and adheres to scripts to accommodate education policy. “Re-membering” history by producing and studying democratized knowledge can counter master narratives. Applying critical race theory and Afrocentricity, this research explores curriculum development, culturally responsive pedagogy, and student outcomes in the context of urban education. Using case study methodology, content analysis, and historical detection, this qualitative multiple article dissertation explores three curricular omissions that can expand multicultural education discourse. Findings show that culturally responsive pedagogy combined with a curriculum that is accurate, relevant, and appropriate can yield improved student outcomes. This has implications for practitioners and scholars in U.S. schools.
Micro-entrepreneurship constitutes undeniably an important development strategy in developing countries. Earlier empirical studies have shown it generates 20 to 45% of full-time employment and 30% to 50% of rural household income in Africa. However, when assessing employment growth through the expansion of existing microenterprises, data suggests that most small enterprises in rural Africa do not grow. This research seeks to examine the relationship between institutional trust and entrepreneurial orientation in rural Africa. The study investigates how external factors such as political connections, environmental uncertainty, munificence and kinship ties affect the relationship between institutional trust and entrepreneurial orientation. The research builds on an alternative approach to institutional theory as it relates to the African context. The research questions are addressed through both an exhaustive review and synthesis of the literature and using primary data gathered from surveys from microenterprise owners organized in cooperatives in rural communities of Angola. The data analysis tests the hypothesized relationships through ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with tests for moderation.
Over the past several years the connection between entrepreneurship and digital technologies has transformed the way business is conducted. This, coupled with reactions to the coronavirus outbreak that have caused interruptions to significant economic and business activities, has exponentially accelerated the implementation of digital technologies. Yet intentions to pursue digital entrepreneurship remain understudied, while an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses continue the adoption of digital technologies unabated. Do strategic processes that are the basis for decision making and actions play a role in the intention to pursue digital technologies?
This dissertation examines the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and intention to pursue digital entrepreneurship, and whether this relationship is moderated by opportunity evaluation. Data was gathered from entrepreneurs (N=240) through a cross-sectional survey approach, and regression analysis was used to analyze the data. A confirmatory factor analysis was also performed. The results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation is positively linked to intention to adopt digital technologies. The study found evidence of interaction effects between two opportunity evaluation constructs: loss estimation and perceived feasibility and entrepreneurial orientation. The results signal the importance of studying moderators of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention to adopt digital technology.
Through a qualitative multiple case study, the researcher’s goal in conducting this study was to investigate and understand the experiences of five upper elementary teachers in grades three through five who transitioned from traditional grading practices to standards-based grading (SBG) practices at one elementary school. Using Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a framework, this study examined how the five teachers experienced the initial training and subsequent implementation in their transition from traditional grading practices to standards-based grading practices. The researcher also aimed to understand teacher self-efficacy toward the new grading practice based on the training received at the onset of the implementation. A recruitment survey was sent to 79 certified teachers at the study site, chosen based on its convenience and recent implementation of SBG, and yielded the minimum of five participants meeting the criteria to participate in the study. Two of the total five study participants were part of a pilot study conducted in the fall of 2019. The researcher conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews using an interview protocol established in the pilot study. In order to identify underlying themes present in the five interviews, the researcher used a constant comparison method of analysis (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). Common themes present in the five case studies include grades as communication, frustration with SBG transition, support from colleagues as useful or not useful, and lack of preparation at the pre-service level. Findings from this study align with the current body of knowledge on the inequities present in the use of traditional grading, the lack of specific grading instruction in teacher preparation programs as well as continued support at the district or school level, and the positives of SBG moving teachers toward best practices. Findings from this study also support teachers’ self-efficacy being tied to the quality of training they receive when making a change in practice.
Over the last two decades, general aviation pilots in the US, especially those who fly light fixed-wing aircraft, have portrayed high rates of vulnerability to weather-related accidents. This high vulnerability rate is in stark contrast to the increased availability of weather forecasts, which has vastly improved given the wide variety of weather guidance now available online and in the cockpit. VFR into IMC flights is the leading cause of fatal weather-related accidents. A common contributor to these fatal accidents is the pilot’s inability to definitively assess the hazard prior to departure from the relevant weather guidance. Therefore, it is hypothesized in this research that the lack of sufficient weather reports and forecasts are not a core problem, but instead the primary contributing factor is an inaccurate or incomplete weather assessment by pilots before a flight. In this light, it has become apparent that pilots need a well-integrated route-based application that simplifies and organizes weather guidance in a way that requires less technical interpretation and gives time-based options to minimize a pilot’s exposure to adverse weather. Consequently, this presents the opportunity for a targeted software application that will eliminate or significantly reduce weather-related accident risk especially for pilots planning VFR flights.
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, task value, metacognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy for learning, and cumulative GPA predicts academic success among college students enrolled in remote, asynchronous Elementary Spanish I and II courses. The study was conducted during the Summer 2020 term at a large urban research university in the Southeastern United States. Data for this study were collected from students enrolled in Elementary Spanish I or II courses. One hundred and sixty-eight participants provided answers for five of the scales included in Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and McKeachie’s (1991) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Multiple regression was used to test the relationship between the predictor variables and the outcome variable. The results indicated that 41% of the variance in Spanish course grades was accounted for by the predictor variables. Three of the predictor variables were statistically significant, self-efficacy, metacognitive self-regulation, and cumulative GPA. Self-efficacy and cumulative GPA showed a positive relationship to course grade when examining correlation coefficients. Metacognitive self-regulation indicated a negative relationship to course grade when predictor variables were included in the model. When the predictor variables were not included in the model, there was a positive bivariate correlation between metacognitive self-regulation and class grade.
This research contributes to our understanding of the students’ perception of motivational constructs and metacognitive self-regulation during the COVID-19 crisis. As it pertains to Elementary Spanish classes, this study should be replicated once the pandemic abates to examine if there is a difference in perceptions of self-efficacy and metacognitive self-regulation in face-to-face, blended, and online classes. Academic coaching at the institutional level should be considered to support students whose self-efficacy and use of metacognitive self-regulation strategies may be underwhelming.
The emergence of the concept of DC grids comes from the fact that there is an increasing number of power grid components that naturally operate with DC power. The combined trend of DC sources and loads in power grids is an important player in the sudden growth of research interest in DC micro-grids and their interplay with the main power grid. Even though DC grids are easy to implement on a small scale and their own, the connection of DC micro-grid with the AC power grid takes research problems to another level. Innovative approaches, methods, distribution system architectures and control strategies are required to manage and mitigate the problems of involving DC micro-grid in conjunction with conventional power grids. Through this research work, novel, innovative and comprehensive system architectures and control strategies are proposed to mitigate some of the problems of DC micro-grid like DC-AC micro-grid interplay during steady-state and dynamic conditions, tandem operation of DC and AC micro-grids for frequency regulation. The thesis also proposes the concept of a DC ring architecture to emulate a small residential community using a common DC-bus-centric structure. The research work aims to provide a comprehensive DC-AC micro-grid design and control architecture that can provide a platform for testing and validation of steady-state and fault time system performance. The proposed methods in each chapter have been incorporated and validated on standard distribution test systems provided by IEEE like the 13 bus and 123 bus systems and hence their analysis is crucial and could serve as a reference for future design and control of DC micro-grids.
Many endeavors in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) align themselves with the promise of the democratization of technology production, a promise that has yet to be fulfilled due to gaps in access and underlying power dynamics. HCI has recently seen new glimmers of the promise of democratized technology production in the making phenomenon. In this dissertation, I present a theory project grounded in my experience of starting and running a university makerspace that engages with the concept of democratization directly. I first derive a definition of democratization, develop a normative theory that suggests a shift in values to better meet that definition, and present a series of empirical studies to develop the theory. I then use feminist utopianism as a definition of democratization to evaluate the theory and reflect on the merits and challenges of this theory project in light of HCI's promise of democratization. Contributions include insights about the merits of the NTHCM as a reflective lens for maker leaders and HCI researchers, insights about the merits of feminist utopianism to guide maker leaders and HCI researchers towards the promise of democratization, and insights about underlying assumptions of HCI that may be in the way fulfilling the promise of democratization.
Abusive supervision is defined as the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact by a supervisor or leader. Research to date suggests that perceptions of abusive supervision may be driven as much as, if not more than, by subordinate characteristics than by supervisor behavior. The fundamental issue is that while abusive supervision is defined in terms of supervisor behavior, it is assessed via subordinate perceptions of supervisor behavior. While many studies have been conducted concentrating on the impact of specific subordinate characteristics on perceptions of abusive supervision, the literature has tended to focus on specific characteristics in isolation. Thus, the literature would benefit from a more comprehensive treatment that examines the collective effect of multiple subordinate characteristics and the relative importance with respect to ratings of abusive supervision. This survey-based study focused on several established subordinate characteristics. The results of these surveys were analyzed using regression analysis and supplemented by dominance weights analysis. This study found that collectively, subordinate characteristics accounted for 47% of the variance in subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision and that the "WUSI" scale dominated with 59% of this effect size.
