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Political violence, racial violence, and new gun ownership: results from the 2023 National Survey of Gun Policy

BackgroundU.S. firearm sales surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many purchases by first-time firearm owners. The 2023 National Survey of Gun Policy sought to understand the public health implications of this surge by comparing the purchasing motivations and firearm policy views of pandemic-era first-time purchasers to prior gun owners.MethodsWe fielded a nationally representative public opinion survey of U.S. adults (n = 3096) from 1/4/23 to 2/6/23. We oversampled for gun owners and Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. Survey weights were applied to generate representative estimates. New gun owners were identified through affirmative responses to: “Have you bought any guns since January 1, 2020?” and “Did you buy your first gun after January 1, 2020?” Recent purchasers were additionally asked whether concerns of 1) political or 2) racial violence motivated their purchase. Purchase motivations and gun policy support were examined among new and prior gun owners (n = 1002) and compared using logistic regression and predictive probabilities.ResultsOverall, 11% of respondents reported purchasing a gun since 1/1/20, 35% for the first time. Among recent purchasers, larger proportions of Democrat, Black, Asian, and Hispanic respondents were new gun owners than Republican or white respondents. Compared to prior owners, odds were 4.5-times higher that new gun owners’ recent purchase was motivated by racial violence and 3.2-times higher for political violence.Majority support was found for protective gun policies, with few differences by purchase recency or motivations. The only policy for which support by new and prior gun owners differed significantly was the permit-to-purchase policy (76% v. 63%, respectively). Similarly, few significant differences in support were observed when stratifying by purchase motivation. Notably, both those who reported recent purchase motivations of racial violence and of political violence expressed significantly higher support for a “stand-your-ground” policy compared to those who did not report such motivations.ConclusionsRacial and political violence appear to be larger concerns among new gun owners, motivating purchasing among demographic groups with traditionally lower gun ownership rates. These findings suggest a need for safety assurances amid racial and political tensions and growing gun ownership. Gun owners’ support for such policies remains strong.

12 Strategies to Get Customers to Buy Your Product

12 Strategies to Get Customers to Buy Your Product

Product promotion as the fourth element of the marketing complex

The paper is devoted to the study of the most widespread issues and difficulties of product promotion implementation nowadays, considering current complicated conditions of uncertainty. The paper covers the main definitions of product promotion as the fourth element of the marketing complex, which necessitates the study and generalization of the experience of Ukraine and other countries. The study examines product promotion as an important way to drive sales and increase revenue to cover initial research and development costs, manufacturing costs, and product testing. However, a poorly planned advertising campaign can bring big losses. Therefore, successful product promotion involves creative marketing strategies to increase sales by reaching a specific audience. Product launch and promotion are parts of a manufacturing company's process to increase revenue and brand loyalty. It can also be noted that product promotion is the process by which a company uses the means at its disposal to encourage customers to buy their products. Companies may offer exclusive offers, discounts, and other opportunities for a limited period to entice customers to purchase their product or service. Since customers usually want to receive a favourable offer, it is the quality of product promotion that becomes the determining factor in the process of the customer deciding whether to buy your product or your competitor's product. Promotion is the fourth element of the marketing complex (namely: product, price, distribution, and promotion), which is considered as a method of communication. This element is used by the enterprise to achieve a certain set of goals, such as: providing potential buyers with information about the availability of functions and use of the product; stimulating demand for the product by increasing awareness and interest among customers; emphasizing the difference between the company's product and the competitor's product by creating customer loyalty to the brand; stabilization of sales, emphasizing the importance and features of the product. These goals have shown that product promotion is one of the most important ways to increase the profits of the company and to keep further improvement in difficult conditions.

Market Harms and Market Benefits

Market Harms and Market Benefits

Buy My Trust, Before I Buy Your Food – Consumers’ Insights for Online Food Delivery Platforms During the COVID -19 Pandemic

Purpose : This study aimed to find the factors that affected the usage of OFD platforms during the emergent situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/Methodology/Approach : The extended valence framework and UTUAT2 model were integrated to develop a parsimonious model comprising trust, perceived risk, performance expectancy, habit, and buying intention. The model was tested by employing structural equation modeling with a sample of 362 respondents from India. Findings : The relationship between trust and buying intention was found to be the strongest amongst all factors. All modeled predictors of trust were found to impact trust significantly, while perceived risk was found to have an inverse relation with trust. Research Limitations/Implications : The constructs presented in the model successfully explained the factors that impacted OFD platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The understanding of consumers’ responses developed in the study is a useful addition to the literature. Practical Implications : The study provides direction to promoters and marketers of OFD platforms to identify specific factors that can help boost the buyers’ intention to purchase during emergency situations. Originality/Value : The integration of two theoretical models: the extended valence framework and UTUAT2 is unique in the context of OFD platforms. The COVID-19 situation and circumstances therein provide a unique research situation for an improved understanding on the subject.

Balancing conflicts of interest during cardiology training: why does industry buy your lunch?

Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers—often referred to as ‘Industry’—play an important role in bringing new therapies into clinical practice. Once marketed, Industry frequently cultivates relationships with physicians they believe will influence...

A Letter to Medical Students from an Anesthesiologist

A Letter to Medical Students from an Anesthesiologist

Building Worlds, Losing Friends

Building Worlds, Losing Friends

Carmax: Driving What's Possible

CarMax, based in Richmond, Virginia, is the largest retailer of used cars in the United States. Over the past several years leading up to 2019, CarMax has undergone a major digital transformation, integrating agile, lean, and user experience (UX) design best practices to become a customer-centric, product-driven organization.In this case, CarMax is facing new competitors (e.g., digital native players Carvana and CarsDirect), changing consumer shopping behavior, and technological advancements in electric cars, autonomous vehicles, and ride-sharing platforms. In order to maintain its dominant position in the used-car marketplace, CarMax must continue to evolve from a traditional brick-and-mortar model marked by legacy corporate practices (such as annual roadmaps and budget cycles) to a product-focused, omnichannel experience that delivers significant value to its customers. Excerpt UVA-S-0317 Aug. 26, 2019 CarMax: Driving What's Possible CarMax, a Fortune 200 company, was the largest used-vehicle retailer in the United States in 2019, operating 206 stores in 102 markets nationwide. Started as “just a test” by then–electronic giant Circuit City in 1993, “CarMax revolutionized the auto industry by delivering an honest, transparent, and high-integrity car buying experience” to its customers. For 26 years, CarMax's focus had been on making “car buying more ethical, fair, and stress free by offering a no-haggle experience and an incredible selection of vehicles.” In addition, CarMax had made car selling easy by offering no-obligation appraisals good for seven days, using the slogan “At CarMax, we'll buy your car even if you don't buy ours.” Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, as of February 2019, CarMax had “nearly 25,000 associates nationwide and for 15 consecutive years [had] been named as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.” The size of the pre-owned market in 2019 was at the highest levels since the recession, with sales of over 40 million vehicles totaling over $ 150 billion. Competition for this market included local dealer franchises that sold used cars, and large traditional players such as CarMax, Penske, AutoNation, and Lithia, plus a host of online dealerships that had recently emerged, such as CarsDirect and Carvana. Despite the intense competition, CarMax's sales had remained strong with impressive financial results (see Exhibit 1). CarMax sold more than one million vehicles (748,961 retail and 447,491 wholesale) in fiscal year 2019, a 7% increase from the previous year, while posting over $ 18 billion in revenue. In addition to selling more cars than any other used car dealer, an industry source reported that CarMax had the highest gross profit margin (over $ 2,100) and the highest gross profit per unit sold (10.7%). By comparison, upstart Carvana made less than $ 1,000 per car and a gross profit of about 5% per unit sold. In addition to competing through their different business models, the entire automotive industry was facing a great deal of disruptive change. During the annual shareholders' meeting on June 25, 2019, when Bill Nash, president and CEO of CarMax, was asked if he was concerned about the potential risks that new technologies (electric and autonomous vehicles in particular) and ride sharing posed to CarMax's business model, Nash responded: . . .

Three Myths About the Oil and Gas Industry’s Future and How To Counter Them

Special Section: The Value and Future of Petroleum Engineering What are the most important trends in energy? If you follow mainstream press accounts, there are at least three: The oil and gas industry will soon face radical restrictions as countries respond to climate change. The rapidly growing electrical vehicle market will make oil obsolete. The world is quickly moving toward 100% renewable energy. All of these supposed trends are part of an overarching narrative that says we are in the midst of an energy transition: the world is moving quickly and inevitably away from “dirty” fossil fuels to “green” solar, wind, and batteries. Regardless of whether the “transition to renewables” narrative is true, the wholesale belief in that narrative poses a threat to oil and gas companies. A recent survey of top fund managers, including BlackRock and HSBC, found that 90% believe international oil and gas companies will be negatively revalued in a few years because of climate and energy transition risks—and many think this negative revaluation has already started. What’s more, the belief that the industry’s days are numbered will make it increasingly difficult to find and retain top talent—a crucial priority at a time when the industry is already facing the challenge of coping with the “great crew change” brought on by Baby Boomer retirements. One major way the industry has responded to this is to talk about the benefits of its work: about how oil and gas power our homes, cars, data centers, and hospitals, and about how the industry creates millions of jobs and billions in tax revenue. All of that is true. But, by itself, it does not counter two core premises: That oil and gas are easily replaceable by solar, wind, and electric vehicles, which means these benefits are not unique to oil and gas but apply to all sources of energy. That oil and gas have catastrophic costs—on our health, our environment, and our climate—which means that even significant economic costs of transitioning to alternatives could be worth it. When I give training workshops to the oil and gas industry on persuasive communication, one of the key concepts I teach is what I call superiorizing. You can’t just talk about the benefits of your product: you have to explain how your product has a superior cost/benefit combination to the alternatives. Imagine that you sold smartphones and your pitch was, “Our phone is amazing. It makes calls, it holds your music, you can surf the internet.” Well, so does every other phone on the market. Customers won’t buy your phone unless they believe it is superior to the alternatives. That is why Apple doesn’t just talk about the iPhone’s features, but about how they compare to a Samsung or a Google Pixel.

Does Wall Street buy your growth story? For how long?

Purpose The article introduces the authors’ “ Imagination Premium™” metric which assesses the confidence of the investing community in a business’ growth strategy. Design/methodology/approach The article explains how the Imagination Premium is calculated and applies it to several cases--Amazon, Tesla and Buffalo Wild Wings. Findings Amazon’s implied value of growth was nearly four times its value from operations, a result completely consistent with its “profits are optional” motto. Amazon is a prototypical example of a company that is built to thrive in the ‘transient advantage economy. Practical implications Sky-high expectations for growth can be dashed by external events over which businesses have little control as Tesla found out. Unless a business can show, as Amazon has historically done, that it can turn expectations into gold-spun reality, lofty investor expectations can become a liability. Originality/value By applying the Imagination Premium concept to successful and problematic cases the authors illustrate the risks and advantages of a bold growth-before-profits strategy.

Energy trading for fun and profit buy your neighbor's rooftop solar power or sell your own-it'll all be on a blockchain

Would you pay slightly more for your electricity if you knew it was sourced from photovoltaic panels on your neighbor's roof? Or, if you are that neighbor, would you use your solar power to charge a battery and dump that energy back onto the grid at peak hours, when the price was highest? The answers to these questions-which depend on how people would behave in an open energy market-are unknown, because that market does not exist. Net metering and feed-in tariff programs, the two dominant schemes for reimbursing residential energy production, pay out at a fixed rate, effectively decoupling producers from the price signals that might otherwise direct their behavior. But that may be changing. And we may have the blockchain to thank. Multiple projects are now under way to use technology that was originally intended to account for transactions in digital currency to track electricity production and put it up for sale.

SMEs MARKETING STRATEGIES DEVELOPMENT IN IMPROVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES (STUDY ON CENTER OF MAKING BEADS IN JOMBANG)

INTRODUCTION:The increasing business competition in this globalization era is something unavoidable among business players. The success of SMEs in the globalization era depends on planning and implementation of own strategies (Porter, 1980). Although SMEs play an important role in the national economy, SMEs still have low competitiveness. The study results from Center for Industry SME and Business Competetition Studies of Trisakti University shows that the competitiveness of the micro, small and medium enterprises in Indonesia is the lowest compared to member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Sarwani, 2012).Low competitiveness impact company's long-term existence. Competitive advantage is one factor to be considered by companies to achieve its objectives. (Porter, 2008) said that the competitive advantage is the most important thing in terms of a company's performance to compete and grow so they can defend themselves from the market's competitive pressures.The competitive advantage for the company is a company's ability to provide added value to its products. The added value that will attract consumers who must be willing to buy your products that have the same benefits as competitors but at lower prices, or have unique characteristics compared with competitors, but at a higher price (Porter, 1985). SMEs that have a competitive advantage manufacture products that are competitive. Competitive products marked with a quality product, in accordance to the wishes of consumers and be able to compete with similar products and has its own uniqueness (Song & Parry, 1997)(Sriyana, 2010), in his research on SMEs in Bantul, found that SMEs are still facing fundamental problems such as product quality, marketing and business sustainability. Marketing problems faced by SMEs in general is limited market access. They were only able to sell their products in the area where it is produced and have not been able to reach a larger extent.The competitive advantage for the company is that the company is implementing a strategy that cannot be replicated by its competitors (Barney, 1991). According to (Knight, Summer 2000), the company's potential is shown by the company's business strategy in responding to the challenges and opportunities caused by the business environment. Company implements its strategy in order to attract customers and deal with a variety of environmental problems, such as competitors and suppliers.Strategy is everything executed by the company to achieve its objectives. According to (Rostro & Grudzewski, 2008), understand the rules of marketing can help companies determine the strategies undertaken in gaining a competitive advantage. (Varadarajan & Cunningham, 1995) states that the purpose of such marketing strategy is to achieve a competitive advantage. Creating products that have more value for consumers, promotion and setting competitive prices are some forms of marketing strategies that can help SMEs dominate the market.The business value of glass beads' craft industry got decreased in the last decade. Jombang beads began to lose market share in both local and global markets for various reasons due to high turnaround of younger generation from being beads' craftsmen and changed their profession into factory workers due to scarcity of raw materials. Many factories were switched from using non-glass packaging causing the raw materials used to make the beads hard to get.The flood of China's beads production played a big role in the decline of market share of beads' craft. Unlike China's beads products that are manufactured through industrial processes, the Jombang beads were manually appreciated as craft. So despite having the same quality, the Chinese beads were less compared to Jombang beads that are relatively more expensive.During these days, beads' craftsmen sell their products in conventional way. Marketing is done through distributors, who then distribute it to other regions such as Bali and Kalimantan. …

Sahlberg, Pasi (2015) Finnish lessons 2.0Teachers College Press (Columbia University, NY & Eurospan, London) isbn 978‐0‐8077‐5585‐3 237 pp £18.50 http://store.tcpress.com/0807755850.shtml

SummaryIf you are interested in systematic school reform, you must read this book. Sahlberg tells us how Finland was highly successful—and continues to be highly successful—in school reform; it includes some well chosen advice on how any country can achieve similarly. If this book seems likely to be relevant, I recommend that you buy your own copy.William Brescia

Wyatt‐Smith, Claire et al ed (2014) Designing assessment for quality learningSpringer (Berlin) isbn978‐94‐007‐5901‐5 426 pp £90 (ebook £72) http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/book/978‐94‐007‐5901‐5

SummaryAssessment offers a challenging future for education. This welcome volume offers a new perspective towards the importance, form and role of assessment for all the stakeholders. It is a must for anyone involved in changing and improving education through assessment. If it appears likely that this book is relevant to what you do, I recommend you buy your own copy.Jesús García Laborda

‘Buy your own drugs’: an unreasonable request or sensible policy?

‘Buy your own drugs’: an unreasonable request or sensible policy?

Buy your own Shipboard Wireless! Advertisements in the British Officers’ Trade Union Journal, 1950s and 1960s

Buy your own Shipboard Wireless! Advertisements in the British Officers’ Trade Union Journal, 1950s and 1960s

“Long Gone Hippies in the Desert”: Counterculture and “Radical Self-Reliance” at Burning Man

“Long Gone Hippies in the Desert”: Counterculture and “Radical Self-Reliance” at Burning Man

Sachs, Judyth & Parsell, Mitch ed (2014) Peer review of learning and teaching in higher educationSpringer (Berlin) isbn 978‐94‐007‐7638‐8 219 pp £90 http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/book/978‐94‐007‐7638‐8

SummaryThis clearly written and pertinent text provides a comprehensive, detailed and critical overview of current peer review practice in higher education. Its effective Introduction should enable readers to identify and move quickly to the contributions they are likely to find useful or stimulating—or both! Is the content of this book likely to be relevant to you? If it is, I recommend you buy your own copy.John Cowan

Walker, Aisha & White, Goodith (2013) Technology enhanced language learningOxford University Press (Oxford) isbn 978‐0‐19‐442368‐7 208 pp £22 https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/teacher_development/oxford_handbooks_for_language_teachers/9780194423687?cc=global&selLanguage=en&mode=hub

SummaryWalker and White's book provides very interesting insights into the use of new information technology (IT) in language learning contexts. Not only does it show tools and ways of integrating them into teaching in practice—it also contributes to teachers’ understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and issues involved in using new information technology with language learners. The book is not an end in itself as it aims to give language teachers the means to become familiar with relevant IT and therefore to be able to keep up with the new resource types that seem to appear almost every day. Does the content of this book seem likely to be relevant to you? If so, I recommend you buy your own copy.Cristina Oddone