scholarly journals The role of artificial photo backgrounds of shelter dogs on pet profile clicking and the perception of sociability

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0255551
Author(s):  
Fiona Lamb ◽  
Allison Andrukonis ◽  
Alexandra Protopopova

With the increasing prevalence of technology, the internet is often the first step for potential pet owners searching for an adoptable dog. However, best practices for the online portrayal of shelter and foster dogs remain unclear. Different online photo backgrounds appearing on adoption websites for shelter dogs may impact adoption speed by influencing viewer interest. Online clicking behaviour on pet profiles and human-directed sociability, broadly defined, has been previously linked to increased adoption likelihood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the relationship between photo backgrounds of shelter dogs and online clicking as well as perceived human-directed sociability. In a virtual experiment, 680 participants were asked to rank the sociability and friendliness of four different adoptable dogs on a scale from 0–10. The photo background of each dog was digitally altered and randomly assigned to four experimental background conditions: 1) outdoor, 2) home indoor, 3) in-kennel, and 4) plain coloured. As a proxy for adoption interest, a link to the dog’s adoption profile was presented on each slide and the clicking behaviour of participants on this link was recorded. Mixed logistic regression and Poisson models revealed that background did not affect participants’ link-clicking behaviour (chisq = 3.55, df = 3, p = .314) nor perceptions of sociability (statistic = 6.19, df = 3, p = .103). Across all backgrounds, only 4.74% of presented slides culminated in participant link-clicking. Sociability scores also did not predict link clicking. Assessment of participant-related factors and dog ID revealed that link-clicking and sociability scores of photographs were influenced by differences between dogs themselves and unaffected by participants’ awareness of study hypotheses. We conclude that artificial background types did not affect participant responses. The results demonstrate the importance of empirical data in making marketing decisions in animal shelters. Understanding which aspects of online marketing materials impact viewer interest will provide guidance for both animal shelter personnel and foster families to improve the speed of adoption of the animals in their care.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Lamb ◽  
Allison Andrukonis ◽  
Alexandra Protopopova

With the increasing prevalence of technology, the internet is often the first step for potential pet owners searching for an adoptable dog. However, best practices for the online portrayal of shelter and foster dogs remain unclear. Different online photo backgrounds appearing on adoption websites for shelter dogs may impact adoption speed by influencing viewer interest. Online clicking behaviour on pet profiles and human-directed sociability, broadly defined, has been previously linked to increased adoption likelihood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the relationship between photo backgrounds of shelter dogs and online clicking as well as perceived human-directed sociability. In a virtual experiment, 680 participants were asked to rank the sociability and friendliness of four different adoptable dogs on a scale from 0-10. The photo background of each dog was digitally altered and randomly assigned to four experimental background conditions: 1) outdoor, 2) home indoor, 3) in-kennel indoor, and 4) plain coloured. As a proxy for adoption interest, a link to the dog's adoption profile was presented on each slide and the clicking behaviour of participants on this link was recorded. Mixed logistic regression and poisson models revealed that background did not affect participants' link-clicking behaviour ( chisq = 3.55, df = 3, p = .314 ) nor perceptions of sociability ( statistic = 6.19, df = 3, p = .103 ). Across all backgrounds, only 4.74% of presented slides culminated in participant link-clicking. Sociability scores also did not predict link clicking. Assessment of participant-related factors and dog ID revealed that link-clicking and sociability scores of photographs were influenced by differences between dogs themselves and unaffected by participants' awareness of study hypotheses. We conclude that artificial background types did not affect participant responses. The results demonstrate the importance of empirical data in making marketing decisions in animal shelters. Understanding which aspects of online marketing materials impact viewer interest will provide guidance for both animal shelter personnel and foster families to improve speed of adoption of the animals in their care.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Georgia Stephanou ◽  
Georgios Gkavras

This study study aimed to examine (a) adolescents’ attributions and emotions for their subjectively perceived good and bad relationships with their parents, (b) the association of the intuitive and attributional appraisals of the adolescent-parent relationship with the subsequent emotions, and (c) the role of the perceived importance of the good adolescent-parent relationship in the generation of attributions and emotions, and in the impact of attributions on emotions. The sample comprised 670 adolescents, both genders, aged 14-17 years old, representing various parental socioeconomic levels. The results showed that: (a) It was extremely important for the adolescents to have good relationships with their parents, (b) the perceived good adolescent-parent relationships were attributed to internal, stable and personal controllable factors, along with parent- and self-parent interactive- related factors, while the estimated as bad relationships were attributed to external, stable, personal uncontrollable and external controllable factors (parents’ negative properties), (c) the adolescents experienced intense positive and negative emotions (mainly, general / outcome- dependent) for the perceived good and bad relationships with their parents, respectively, (d) both intuitive and attributional appraisals of the relationship were associated with the emotions, particularly in the perceived bad adolescent-parent relationship, and (e) the relative strength of the association of the attributional dimensions with the emotions varied between the perceived good and bad adolescent-parent relationship and across the various emotions. Keywords: Adolescent-Parent Relationship, Attributions, Emotions, Intuitive Appraisal.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Zahra Nikmanesh ◽  
◽  
Mehdi Darvish Molla ◽  
Mehrnosh Mehranfard ◽  
◽  
...  

Background: Although high-risk behaviors lead to adverse physical, psychological, and sociological consequences, less attention has been paid to identifying their related factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between defense mechanisms and high-risk behaviors among adolescents in Zahedan. Methods: In this descriptive-correlative study, junior and senior high school students of Zahedan, Iran were studied in the academic year 2015-2016. A sample of 250 (125 males and 125 females) students were chosen by multi-stage cluster sampling and asked to complete the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), and the Risk-Taking Scale (IARS) for Iranian Adolescents. Data analysis was conducted by measuring coefficients of correlation and performing a path analysis. Results: Path analysis showed a significant correlation between defense mechanisms and alexithymia (P<0.01) and a significant correlation was found between immature defense mechanisms and high-risk behaviors (P<0.01). Conclusion: In the relationship between dysfunctional defense mechanisms and high-risk activities, alexithymia played a mediating role. It can be inferred that dysfunctional defense mechanisms play a key role in high-risk activities by influencing alexithymia.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daleen Van der Merwe ◽  
Hanli de Beer ◽  
Marli Nel ◽  
Susanna M. Ellis

PurposeThis study investigated the influence of marketing- and family-related factors on consumers' in-store usage of different types of food label information. Furthermore, the authors determined the mediating role of consumers' knowledge about healthy foods between these factors and their label consultation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey among 223 purposively selected South African working female consumers via social media. Subjective and objective knowledge about healthy foods, the importance of marketing- and family-related factors and the extent of food label usage were determined. Structural equation modelling served to test the mediating effect of knowledge in the relationship of the marketing and family-related factors with food label usage.FindingsMarketing-related factors demonstrated a strong direct effect on food label usage. Subjective knowledge about healthy foods mediated the relationship between family members' dietary needs and food label usage. However, objective knowledge was not a mediator.Practical implicationsRespondents' firm reliance on marketing-related factors (instead of knowledge) during food label usage is not in the best interest of consumers' healthy food choices. Healthy food choices based on factual knowledge rather than marketing efforts are necessary to establish long-term healthy food habits, hence the need for retailers' response in supplying healthier food options. Role players in consumer education should focus on increasing consumers' healthy food knowledge.Originality/valueIn the context of rising awareness of public health concerns, healthy food choice among consumers is essential. This study contributes to the complexity of consumers' need to make healthy food choices within an economic-driven marketing environment.


Author(s):  
Hayiel Hino

The concept of prejudice has become increasingly important to scientific thinking about relations between groups. Yet, despite extensive research, little is known about how prejudice affects consumer buying behavior, especially regarding activities that involve purchasing products and services thereby crossing to suppliers from the dominant community.  The purpose of this study is twofold: to examine the influence of both positive and negative prejudices on cross-shopping intention in the context of an ethnic minority-majority group relationship; and, to investigate the moderating influence of intercultural-related factors (i.e. online contact, social interaction, and acculturation) on the relationship between negative prejudice and cross-shopping intention. A sample consisting of 202 respondents was obtained from across ethnic-minority consumers (the Israeli Arabs) who routinely interact online and offline with individuals from the majority population (Israeli Jews). The conceptual framework and hypothesis are tested using the partial least squares analyses (PLS). The study results provide a better understanding of the conflicting effects of positive and negative prejudice on cross-shopping intention. Additionally, results shed light on the moderating role of intercultural factors on the relationship between negative prejudice and cross-shopping intention. Implications are identified together with consideration of the study limitations and avenues for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 690-711
Author(s):  
Sidsel Karsberg ◽  
Ruby Charak ◽  
Ask Elklit

AimTo examine the unique contribution of child maltreatment victimization on the association between adolescent dating violence (ADV) and four negative behavioral and health-related factors.MethodIn total, 2,934 7th grade students (M = 13.5, SD = .5) filled out questionnaires at school. Binominal logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of child maltreatment on the relationship between ADV and behavioral and health-related factors.ResultsAfter child maltreatment was taken into account, associations between ADV and the negative behavioral and health-related factors became weaker.ConclusionsThe findings from the present study suggest that focusing on one victimization type (such as ADV) when examining psychological outcomes, can be problematic as the causal relationship may be misrepresented when an adolescent's broader victimization profile and context is not considered.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Jasiewicz

This article presents a summary of analyses addressing the changing patterns of voting behavior in post-communist Poland as a context for examination of the issue of the relationship between regions defined by history (eighteenth-century partitions, border shifts after WWII) and contemporary forms of voting behavior. In the 1990s, the dominant cleavage in Polish politics was the one between the post-Solidarity and post-communist camps, and the best predictor of voting behavior was one’s religiosity. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, this cleavage has been replaced by another, between the liberal, pro-European orientation and the more Euro-skeptic, populist attitudes. The empirical evidence seems to suggest that one end of the populist—liberal continuum is relatively well defined and represents the traditional system of values, which defines Polish national identity in terms of ethnic nationalism, strong attachment to Catholic dogmas, and denunciation of communism as a virtual negation of those values. The other end of this continuum is defined more by rejection of this nationalistic-Catholic “imagined community” than by any positive features. This article examines the relative role of identity-related factors (e.g., religiosity or region) and determinants based on one’s socioeconomic (class) position in shaping voting patterns in the 2007 elections to the Polish Sejm and Senate. The empirical data come from a postelection survey, the Polish General Election Study 2007.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-ting Lin ◽  
Yi-zhong Li ◽  
Xiao-qi Sun ◽  
Qian-qian Chen ◽  
Shun-fa Huang ◽  
...  

Breast cancer and osteoporosis are common diseases that affect the survival and quality of life in postmenopausal women. Women with breast cancer are more likely to develop osteoporosis than women without breast cancer due to certain factors that can affect both diseases simultaneously. For instance, estrogen and the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) play important roles in the occurrence and development of these two diseases. Moreover, chemotherapy and hormone therapy administered to breast cancer patients also increase the incidence of osteoporosis, and in recent years, neuropeptide Y (NPY) has also been found to impact breast cancer and osteoporosis.Y1 and Y5 receptors are highly expressed in breast cancer, and Y1 and Y2 receptors affect osteogenic response, thus potentially highlighting a potential new direction for treatment strategies. In this paper, the relationship between breast cancer and osteoporosis, the influence of NPY on both diseases, and the recent progress in the research and treatment of these diseases are reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tat-Huei Cham ◽  
Jun-Hwa Cheah ◽  
Hiram Ting ◽  
Mumtaz Ali Memon

PurposeDespite being a popular topic in sports tourism research, limited studies have focused on golf tourism in relation to destination image. The present study aimed to examine the impact of country-related factors on the destination image among golf tourists as well as the interrelationships between perceived service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and behavioural intention in this context in the Malaysian context. Excitement was also examined as a moderator of the relationship between satisfaction and behavioural intention.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 360 golf tourists using a self-administered questionnaire at the two largest airports (KLIA and KLIA2) in Malaysia. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.FindingsThe findings present the significance of country-related factors (i.e. accessibility, safety and security and golf course setting) in determining the image of Malaysia as a golf tourism destination. Destination image, in turn, is found to influence golf tourists' perceived service quality, perceived value and satisfaction; with both perceived service quality and perceived value acting as mediators between destination image and satisfaction. Moreover, the moderation assessment confirms that the level of excitement about golfing in Malaysia strengthens the relationship between their satisfaction and behavioural intention.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that focuses on the consequential importance of destination image within the golf tourism setting. It highlights the mediating role of perceived service quality and perceived value as well as the moderating role of excitement in understanding the effect of destination image on satisfaction and behavioural intention of golf tourists.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1787-1796
Author(s):  
Lan Nguyen ◽  
Thi Khanh Phuong Tan ◽  
Thu Ha Nguyen ◽  
Zhang Zuyen

The study examines how school-related factors influence the cognitive, psychological, and mental development of Vietnamese students. We randomly sent the questionnaires to more than 2000 students with different majors at five top universities in Vietnam based on the Ranking Web of Universities and conducted in-depth online interviews with respondents. Subsequently, we tested the correlation between student development and four school-related factors, including academic staff quality, school infrastructure, teaching curriculum, and school environment, using SPSS 22 and STATA version 2016. The findings suggest the significant role of staff quality in determining the level of student satisfaction. Specifically, students express their satisfaction and appreciation with their studies if their teachers have a solid academic platform. More importantly, infrastructure is positively correlated with three dependent variables, while teaching curriculum only influences cognitive development. The school environment positively affects psychological, mental, but not cognitive development. We also find that gender does not moderate students’ development but does influence student satisfaction.


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