The current research proposes that order of entry moderates the impact of fit on brand extension evaluation. We conceptualize a model in which new brands enter the market dynamically, driving consumers to engage in differential processing as a function of pioneer and follower evaluation scenarios. We posit that consumers rely on singular evaluative processing in pioneer contexts and comparative evaluation in follower contexts, producing unique moderating effects based on the existence of comparison brands. Experimental results indicate that follower brands can actually benefit from comparison with pioneering brands that have a relatively lower fit with the extension category.

test key portions of this theory of the 'insurance-like' property of CSR activity. We posit that such activity leads to positive attributions from stakeholders, who then temper their negative judgments and sanctions toward firms because of this goodwill. We extend the risk management model by theorizing that some types of CSR activities will be more likely to create goodwill and offer insurance-like protection than other types. We delineate several firm and event specific characteristics that we expect to influence the link between CSR activities and an insurance effect. We then test our model using an event study of 178 negative legal/regulatory actions against firms throughout the 11 years from 1993-2003. We find that participation in institutional CSR activities-those aimed at a firm's secondary stakeholders or society at large-provides an 'insurance-like' benefit, while participation in technical CSRs-those activities targeting a firm's trading partners-yields no such benefits. We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for future theorizing and research into the economic value of CSR engagement. 9 We would have preferred a participation variable in negative CSRs to create a symmetrical variable with our ICSR and TCSR variables; however, 94 percent of the firms in the sample engaged in some negative CSR activity, and a participation variable would create no variance for analysis.

Purpose -This paper aims to evaluate the evolution of buyer-supplier relationships from adversarial toward relational, or service-centered, emphasis for large-scale organizations. Design/methodology/approach -This paper uses the historical method to review historical changes through synthesized qualitative (i.e. field notes and industry interviews) and quantitative (i.e. company reports, Compustat queries, trade reports, and survey) research. Findings -Technology and information sharing in B2B relationships engender integrated value chains. Within these value chains, service-centered view of B2C relationships have been adopted in B2B relationships, resulting in changes in supplier roles and how they are measured.

All research has philosophical foundations. Relativism, positivism, and realism are often posed as alternative philosophies for marketing research. This chapter develops the thesis that scientific realism is an appropriate foundation for guiding marketing research. Specifically, this chapter (1) reviews the reasons why philosophers of science rejected relativism as a foundation for research in the 1970s, (2) examines the historical development of realism, (3) explicates the four fundamental tenets of scientific realism, (4) develops a scientific realist model of truth using as an example the effects of decoys on consumer choice sets, and (5) develops the scientific realist argument for truth as a research objective and regulative ideal.

Motivation has been characterized as one of the more powerful antecedents of human behavior. Behavioral theorists broadly describe motivation as "to be motivated means to be moved to do something" (e.g., . Lee et al. (2005, p. 1096) refer to motivation as "processes that give behavior its energy and direction." A growing consensus in the literature reflects a thought that it might be overly simplistic to treat motivation as a single construct. For example, individuals' motivation could vary by level (i.e, how much) or by orientation (i.e., what type) (Ryan and Deci 2000a).

Marketing strategists should create, maintain, and arrest the decay of causally ambiguous resource competences that lead to competitiveness and thus performance. However, competence causal ambiguity, which helps create competitiveness, is also implicated in competitiveness decay. In this study we test a model of specializationcompetitiveness-performance using primary and secondary data from 169 public respondents/firms, to examine the effects of negative internal barriers to replication and adaptation. These barriers develop due to resource lock-in arising from the same specialization processes that lead to the positive barriers to imitation that deter competitors. Results suggest that commitment to learning can mitigate resource lock-in problems with internal competence causal ambiguity, competence causal ambiguity among competitors appears more essential to competitiveness in more competitive markets, competitiveness positively relates to both shareholder value and new product performance, and an increased differential focus on marketing versus operations in the organization strengthens the positive bridge between organizational competitiveness and shareholder return.

A host of different types of information goods are available for free download from illegal file sharing sites. As far as price is concerned, no company can compete against "free." Hence, managers, researchers, and policy makers are interested in determining factors other than price that might influence consumers' file sharing behavior. Moral consideration is one factor that might sway individuals to pay for files they could otherwise obtain for free. To help better understand how moral consideration works in the context of file sharing, this research examines how people form perceptions of the legality and ethicalness of downloading music files through file sharing. We propose that when people receive files in a more restrictive manner (e.g. streaming vs. downloading) they are less likely to recognize file sharing as being unethical or illegal. We conduct five studies to test our theory of restrictiveness. The results consistently indicate that consumers' perceptions of legality and ethicalness of file sharing are associated with restrictiveness of use. In particular, while file sharing with different levels of restrictiveness still transfers intellectual property from one individual to another, increased restrictiveness results in consumers being less likely to identify file sharing as being illegal or unethical. This in turn has a great impact on their actual engagement in the unauthorized file sharing activities. We find the relationships are significant even when controlling for several other elements such as gender, age, income, and prior knowledge about how and where to go on the internet to participate in file sharing.

Excitotoxicity is the main event during neurological disorders producing drastic morphological and functional changes. Rac-GTPase is involved in cytoskeletal remodeling and survival. However, the role of Rac1 after cerebral ischemia has not been completely understood yet. In this study, we evaluated the activity of Rac1 and its immunoreactivity associated to neuropathological hallmarks and behavioral task analyses after global cerebral ischemia in an acute and long-term post-ischemia period. Our findings showed that during the acute phase (24 h) after global cerebral ischemia, a decrease of the active state of Rac1 was detected in the hippocampus, together with a down-regulation of survival signaling. In this same post-ischemia time, Rac1 immunoreactivity was redistributed to cytoplasm and to aberrant neurites, accompanied by dendritic and actin cytoskeletal retraction both in vivo and in vitro in neuronal primary cultures treated with glutamate. Neurons transfected with the constitutively active mutant of Rac1 were recovered from the glutamate-induced affection in vitro. However, in the in vivo model an inactive state of Rac1, and its cellular localization remained one month after ischemia, with still decreased survival signaling, significant tauopathy, and learning and memory alterations. These neuropathological hallmarks were reversed two months post-ischemia,related with a Rac1 activity state similar to control, as well as a ''normalization'' of the learning and memory tasks in the ischemic rats. In summary, our data suggests that changes in Rac1 activity are involved in the neurodegenerative processes after cerebral ischemia, and also in its long-term recovery.

Rho-kinase (ROCK) is a downstream effector of RhoA, which has been associated with growth cone collapse and retraction in neurons. ROCK inhibition has been shown to protect against ischemic damage, thereby improving short-term collateral flow, inhibiting platelet aggregation, leukocyte adhesion, and preventing neuronal death. However, little is known about the long-term effects of ROCK inhibition on behavior and neuroprotection. The consequence of ROCK inhibition on ischemic rats' learning and spatial memory after 30 days of intracerebroventricular treatment was evaluated. It was found that Y27632 (ROCK inhibitor) reduced neurodegenerative markers, such as Fluoro-Jade, PHF (paired helicoidal filaments) immunoreactivity, and p25 protein levels, in the hippocampus of ischemic animals and improved learning and spatial memory tasks. However, Y27632 alone impaired sham animals' long-term memory. These findings demonstrated the beneficial impact of ROCK inhibition on tauopathy and altered p25 protein levels following global cerebral ischemia.

This Letter presents the results of a direct search with the ATLAS detector at the LHC for a Standard Model Higgs boson of mass 110 ≤ m H ≤ 130 GeV produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying to bb. Three decay channels are considered: ZH → ℓ + ℓ − bb, W H → ℓνbb and ZH → ννbb, where ℓ corresponds to an electron or a muon. No evidence for Higgs boson production is observed in a dataset of 7 TeV pp collisions corresponding to 4.7 fb −1 of integrated luminosity collected by ATLAS in 2011. Exclusion limits on Higgs boson production, at the 95% confidence level, of 2.5 to 5.5 times the Standard Model cross section are obtained in the mass range 110-130 GeV. The expected exclusion limits range between 2.5 and 4.9 for the same mass interval.

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs (tt) in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron e or muon μ) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton (ee, μμ or eμ) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb −1 , 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-tt Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be 12.2 ± 3.9 events and 2.5 ± 0.6 events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM tt production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be σ tt = 145 ± 31(stat.) +42 −27 (syst.) pb.

A search for direct pair production of supersymmetric top squarks (t 1 ) is presented, assuming thet 1 decays into a top quark and the lightest supersymmetric particle,χ 0 1, and that both top quarks decay to purely hadronic final states. A total of 16 (4) events are observed compared to a predicted Standard Model background of 13.5 + 3.7 − 3.6 (4.4 + 1.7 − 1.3 ) events in two signal regions based on L dt = 4.7 fb −1 of pp collision data taken at √ s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. An exclusion region in thet 1 versusχ 0 1 mass plane is evaluated: 370 < mt 1 < 465 GeV is excluded for mχ0 1 ∼ 0 GeV while mt 1 = 445 GeV is excluded for mχ0 1 ≤ 50 GeV. Technology, Ankara; (e)