Exploring Consumer Emotions in Pre-Pandemic and Pandemic Times. A Sentiment Analysis of Perceptions in the Fine-Dining Restaurant Industry in Bucharest, Romania

This research paper aims to analyse how consumer emotions have evolved during the pandemic period in comparison with the pre-pandemic period in relation to restaurant demand in the Romanian fine-dining industry and uses valuable information based on social-media sentiment analysis and content analysis. Focusing on theories of consumer behaviour, the study aims to emphasize how, under the influence of an epidemic crisis caused by an infectious disease, individual behaviour adapts to the “new normal”, embracing a series of changes in the preferences, attitudes, and cognitive choice-making processes. The article takes into account a comparative analysis of the consumer emotions between the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period (2010–2019) and the pandemic period (2020–present), based on the online reviews provided by customers for five fine-dining restaurants from Bucharest, the capital city of Romania: The Artist, Relais & Chateaux Le Bistrot Francais, Casa di David, Kaiamo, and L’Atelier. The research was based on two mining analyses—content analysis and sentiment analysis—and explored the emotional intent of words, with the data being collected from TripAdvisor through web-scrapping. The empirical results defined the fine-dining experience during the pandemic as being associated with the quality of the dishes and also with the quality of the service. The overall consumer sentiment in the direction of the restaurants analyzed is positive. The sentiment research found that throughout the epidemic, the consumers’ attitudes about restaurants deteriorated. In this sense, consumers seem to be less satisfied with the restaurants’ services than before the pandemic. This is another thing that the restaurants had difficulties in when adapting their operations for the pandemic.

WOJNA UKRAIŃSKO-POLSKO-ROSYJSKA 1920 ROKU W INTERPRETACJI JEJ UCZESTNIKÓW ORAZ POLSKI KIERUNEK PROPAGANDY BOLSZEWICKIEJ (NA PRZYKŁADZIE BOLSZEWICKICH ULOTEK KWIETNIA – WRZEŚNIA 1920)

In this publication the author analyzes the interpretations of the events of the Ukrainian- Polish-Russian war in 1920 by its participants. The Polish direction of Russian-Bolshevik propaganda in this war is also being explored. Sources of the study – a collection of Ukrainian agitation editions and Russian-Bolshevik leaflets published in Polish. These editions are stored in the Vernadsky National Libraryʼs Department of Old Books (Viddil starodrukiv Nacionalnoji biblioteky imeni V. Vernadsʼkoho). The Bolshevik propaganda involved the creation of a new social consciousness in which the world of good and evil changed places, and the policy of Russian-Bolshevik expansion was presented as the liberation of peoples. The propaganda methods used by Soviet Russia involved the manipulation of consciousness not only through the traditional means of misinformation, inciting controversy, destroying the enemy's reputation, but also special techniques, which are defined as the methods of the overturned pyramid, absolute clarity, and the formation of controlled cognitive choice. Keywords: Ukrainian-Polish-Russian war, UNR Army, Polish Commonwealth Army, Red Army, Russian-Bolshevik propaganda, propaganda methods, manipulation of consciousness.

Possible cognitive processes underlying competency assessment

Indications are that research on competency assessment lacks a theoretical frame of reference. An attempt is made to explore cognitive processes taking place during assessment explaining the large percentage of rater variance. The principles of five different cognitive theories are discussed in the search for possible explanations namely: cognitive choice-, cognitive evaluation-, social cognitive theories, metacognitive- and the new paradigm approaches.

Psychological factors affecting market dynamics: the role of uncertainty and need satisfaction

Markets can show different types of dynamics, ranging from stable markets dominated by one or a few products, to fluctuating markets where products are frequently being replaced by new versions. This paper explores the dynamics of markets from a psychological perspective using a multi-agent simulation model. The behavioural rules of the artificial consumers, the consumats, are based on a conceptual meta-theory from psychology. The artificial consumers have to choose each period between different products. Products remain on the market for as long as their market share exceeds a minimum level. If not, it will be replaced by a new product. Simulation experiments are being performed with a population of consumats having different preferences. Results show that the dominating type of cognitive (choice) process has large consequences for the resulting market dynamics. Moreover, the size of the social network affects the market dynamics too.

SOCIAL WORK WITH THE ADDICTIONS – CAN THE PROFESSION DELIVER?

This paper reviews the way in which the problems of drug addiction have been managed in Hong Kong. Given the lip service paid so far to social work input in the drug rehabilitation scene, an argument is made for an expansion of the role of social work. But it is contended that social work will only be relevant if addiction work is placed squarely within the totality of an individual's life functioning, the area of concern to social work. This would entail, however, a reconceptualisation of addiction from that of the prevailing medical view, which sees it as a disease process, to that of seeing addiction as a cognitive choice. 本文回顾香港之戒毒治疗及康复工作，发现社会工作之参予未如理想，原因乃由於滥用药物问题一直被定义为一种病态，因而治疗工作倚重於医疗界之服务。但研究指出滥用药物实应视为应付生活之惯性行为。重新定义滥用药物问题後，社会工作之介入变 为极适当，极需扩张。