Computer-aided Telephone Interviews Research Articles

The Role of Digital Technology Platforms in the Context of Changes in Consumption and Production Patterns

The article focuses on issues relating to achieving sustainable development by promoting new consumption and production patterns based, for example, on sharing resources and doing business exclusively in a digital environment. This topic is extremely important because sustainable development is a fundamental concept aimed at improving the functioning of the present and future generations. The main focus of the article is to show the role played by digital technology platforms within this concept, including in relation to consumption and production patterns. The article is based on two research methods—CATI (i.e., computer-aided telephone interviews) and regression analysis for CATREG quality variables. It has been established that digital technology platforms significantly influence the creation and development of modern business models and increase the quality and intensity of relations between various company stakeholders, which is the basis for promoting new consumption and production patterns—including those based on the sharing economy, subscription to various products and services or the functioning of virtual markets, enabling purchase and sale transactions.

P45 Do “Natural” and Other Clean Labels Detract from more Regulated Food Labels?

<h3>Background</h3> "Clean labeling" is a food industry trend characterized by simpler ingredients and front of package marketing statements that attract health-oriented consumers looking for more natural foods. Many clean labels, including "all natural" are not clearly defined, nor regulated, and have the potential to detract from food labels that are regulated by the FDA and/or USDA. <h3>Objective</h3> To compare consumer use of federally regulated (organic) and unregulated (natural) food labels, and to determine whether use of these labels is associated with demographic characteristics. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> Computer-aided telephone interviews were collected (in February 2020) in a random, representative sample of Vermont residents (n = 574). <h3>Measurable Outcomes/Analysis</h3> Respondents were asked about their use of food labels, including whether they used organic and/or natural food labels when evaluating food products. Associations between use of each type of food label and demographic variables (age, gender, income, education, having children in the household) were compared using chi-squares, and logistic regression (<i>P</i> < 0.01). <h3>Results</h3> Most respondents indicated that they did use organic (70% of respondents) or natural (64% of respondents) labels when evaluating food products. Use of organic food labels was significantly higher among parents with children in the home (78%), women (77%), and those with a college degree or higher (75%). In contrast, use of natural labels was negatively associated with income, with the highest use (79%) seen in the lowest income category (<$25,000/yr). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The increasing use of unregulated marketing statements on packaged foods (including "natural," "raw" and "minimally processed") could be distracting consumers from using more regulated food labels, especially consumers with limited education or income. Nutrition education programs and federal labeling policies are needed to support consumer use of labels, and to prevent low-income consumers from potentially being deceived by unregulated food labels.

Knowing What to Do Substantially Improves the Effectiveness of Flood Early Warning

AbstractFlood warning systems are longstanding success stories with respect to protecting human life, but monetary losses continue to grow. Knowledge on the effectiveness of flood early warning in reducing monetary losses is scarce, especially at the individual level. To gain more knowledge in this area, we analyze a dataset that is unique with respect to detailed information on warning reception and monetary losses at the property level and with respect to amount of data available. The dataset contains 4,468 loss cases from six flood events in Germany. These floods occurred between 2002 and 2013. The data from each event were collected by computer-aided telephone interviews in four surveys following a repeated cross-sectional design. We quantitatively reveal that flood early warning is only effective in reducing monetary losses when people know what to do when they receive the warning. We also show that particularly long-term preparedness is associated with people knowing what to do when they receive a warning. Thus, risk communication, training, and (financial) support for private preparedness are effective in mitigating flood losses in two ways: precautionary measures and more effective emergency responses.

P90 Consumer Use of Food Labels Increases as “Clean Label” Trend Continues

<h3>Background</h3> The "clean label" trend has driven the food industry towards the production of new food products increasingly marketed to consumers looking for wholesome, nutritious, and minimally processed foods. While the number of "clean labels" continue to grow, the term has not been clearly defined and food manufacturers use a range of food labeling strategies to communicate that their products are "natural" and "free-from" industrial ingredients. <h3>Objective</h3> To better understand trends in "clean label" use and resultant food purchasing behaviors, this study examines consumer use of food labels to identify whether food label usage has increased in recent years, and which parts of the food label are used most often when evaluating packaged foods. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> Computer-aided telephone interviews were collected annually over 3 years (2017-2019) in a random, representative sample of Vermont residents (n = 1847). <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Respondents were asked about their use of nutrition facts panels, ingredient lists, front of package claims (natural, low sodium), and labels related to food production practices (organic, non-GMO) when evaluating food products. The Mantel-Haenszel test of linear trends (<i>P</i> < .01) was used to determine whether use of each category of food label changed over time. <h3>Results</h3> The use of all 4 label categories significantly increased from 2017 to 2019, while the proportion of respondents stating that they did not read food labels decreased. Reading of ingredient lists (86%) and nutrition panels (85%) were more frequently reported compared to front of package (74%) and production practice (72%) label claims. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Food label usage is increasing in general, and consumers are increasingly reading both front of package claims (organic, natural, low sodium) and back of package information (ingredients, nutrition facts panel). As consumer demand for "clean label" products increases, more research is needed to better understand the health impacts of such products and the best methods for labeling them.

Flash floods versus river floods – a comparison of psychological impacts and implications for precautionary behaviour

Abstract. River floods are among the most damaging natural hazards that frequently occur in Germany. Flooding causes high economic losses and impacts many residents. In 2016, several southern German municipalities were hit by flash floods after unexpectedly severe heavy rainfall, while in 2013 widespread river flooding had occurred. This study investigates and compares the psychological impacts of river floods and flash floods and potential consequences for precautionary behaviour. Data were collected using computer-aided telephone interviews that were conducted among flood-affected households around 9 months after each damaging event. This study applies Bayesian statistics and negative binomial regressions to test the suitability of psychological indicators to predict the precaution motivation of individuals. The results show that it is not the particular flood type but rather the severity and local impacts of the event that are crucial for the different, and potentially negative, impacts on mental health. According to the used data, however, predictions of the individual precaution motivation should not be based on the derived psychological indicators – i.e. coping appraisal, threat appraisal, burden and evasion – since their explanatory power was generally low and results are, for the most part, non-significant. Only burden reveals a significant positive relation to planned precaution regarding weak flash floods. In contrast to weak flash floods and river floods, the perceived threat of strong flash floods is significantly lower although feelings of burden and lower coping appraisals are more pronounced. Further research is needed to better include psychological assessment procedures and to focus on alternative data sources regarding floods and the connected precaution motivation of affected residents.

Older people and home ownership: the intention to relocate

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s intention to relocate from their primary homes. The study also seeks to understand the policy implications that such intentions may have.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a survey-based design via computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI). The CATI survey was employed to gather information on the behaviour of older people and whether differences exist by gender, age, health immigration status and financial knowledge. The survey-based design is triangulated with the literature on this topic area and policy issues.FindingsThe findings of the study suggest amongst others, that older South Australians overwhelmingly and significantly do not intend to move from their primary home and are content to age in place. This is particularly true as people reach the older stages of life.Originality/valueThe study enhances the understanding of the decision-making environment that older people are exposed to in contemplating relocation from the primary home. More specifically, it shows that factors stated in the literature that deemed to be of importance in the decision to relocate, has no significance in this study and that ageing in place should be used as a policy base.

Application of Marketing Communication Tools in Small and Medium Enterprises. Results of Regional Research

This paper aims to investigate the application of different types of communications forms and tools in the context of client capital management and development of the client lifetime value in the sector of small and medium enterprises. The research method was a questionnaire survey using computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI), on a group of 383 small and medium-sized enterprises from the Opolskie Voivodship. This research illustrates the use of diverse forms and tools by diverse members of the SME sector. More importantly, this research prepares conclusions for future development of communication as a main stimulator of increasing client lifetime value. The findings show that the small and medium enterprises in Opolskie Voivodship are aware of the need to use a variety of tools to communicate with clients. The tools are diverse and have a different degree of contact intensity, which effectively contributes to the involvement of clients in the relationship with the company’s offer. In the future the SME sector should develop and diversify channels of communication with client capital. For modern enterprises, the most important thing will be constant development of the client’s lifetime value.

Job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution. The research was conducted through computer-aided telephone interviews and self-completion techniques. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among 260 employees in an open distance learning institution. The measuring instruments included the job insecurity scale, organisational commitment questionnaire and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The results demonstrated statistically significant relationships between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and work engagement. A practically significant relationship between variables was also determined; however, the effect was too small to yield a practically significant relationship between the variables. The results revealed that a component of job insecurity (likelihood of loss of job features), together with a component of work engagement (vigour), explains 25% of the total variation of organisational commitment and that the remaining 75% was attributed to factors beyond the scope of this study. This study demonstrated that employees would not always reduce their commitment and work effort when confronted with uncertainty as suggested by several studies. Nevertheless, it could be assumed that the survey participants fear being unemployed and feel trapped because of a lack of alternative employment opportunities.

Promotion of breastfeeding in Poland: the current situation.

ObjectiveExclusive breastfeeding is safe and beneficial for healthy infants; it is the optimal feeding method during the first 6 months of life. Infants should be complementary fed in conjunction with breastfeeding until 12 months of age or longer. The aim of the present study was to analyse the duration of breastfeeding through 12 months of age.MethodsParticipants were 1679 women from 42 randomly selected hospitals in Poland. The data were obtained from surveys, including a paper and pencil interview that was conducted after mothers delivered in the hospital and before discharge. Computer aided telephone interviews were administered at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months.ResultsThere was a high rate of initiating breastfeeding after birth (97%), a rapid abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding (43.5% at 2 months, 28.9% at 4 months and 4% at 6 months) and an onset of formula feeding during the first days of life, which is contrary to current recommendations.ConclusionsIt is necessary re-educate mothers, medical staff who care for mothers and children during the perinatal period, and other specialists.

A comparative survey of the impacts of extreme rainfall in two international case studies

Abstract. Flooding is assessed as the most important natural hazard in Europe, causing thousands of deaths, affecting millions of people and accounting for large economic losses in the past decade. Little is known about the damage processes associated with extreme rainfall in cities, due to a lack of accurate, comparable and consistent damage data. The objective of this study is to investigate the impacts of extreme rainfall on residential buildings and how affected households coped with these impacts in terms of precautionary and emergency actions. Analyses are based on a unique dataset of damage characteristics and a wide range of potential damage explaining variables at the household level, collected through computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI) and an online survey. Exploratory data analyses based on a total of 859 completed questionnaires in the cities of Münster (Germany) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) revealed that the uptake of emergency measures is related to characteristics of the hazardous event. In case of high water levels, more efforts are made to reduce damage, while emergency response that aims to prevent damage is less likely to be effective. The difference in magnitude of the events in Münster and Amsterdam, in terms of rainfall intensity and water depth, is probably also the most important cause for the differences between the cities in terms of the suffered financial losses. Factors that significantly contributed to damage in at least one of the case studies are water contamination, the presence of a basement in the building and people's awareness of the upcoming event. Moreover, this study confirms conclusions by previous studies that people's experience with damaging events positively correlates with precautionary behaviour. For improving future damage data acquisition, we recommend the inclusion of cell phones in a CATI survey to avoid biased sampling towards certain age groups.

Coping with Pluvial Floods by Private Households

Pluvial floods have caused severe damage to urban areas in recent years. With a projected increase in extreme precipitation as well as an ongoing urbanization, pluvial flood damage is expected to increase in the future. Therefore, further insights, especially on the adverse consequences of pluvial floods and their mitigation, are needed. To gain more knowledge, empirical damage data from three different pluvial flood events in Germany were collected through computer-aided telephone interviews. Pluvial flood awareness as well as flood experience were found to be low before the respective flood events. The level of private precaution increased considerably after all events, but is mainly focused on measures that are easy to implement. Lower inundation depths, smaller potential losses as compared with fluvial floods, as well as the fact that pluvial flooding may occur everywhere, are expected to cause a shift in damage mitigation from precaution to emergency response. However, an effective implementation of emergency measures was constrained by a low dissemination of early warnings in the study areas. Further improvements of early warning systems including dissemination as well as a rise in pluvial flood preparedness are important to reduce future pluvial flood damage.

Tracing the value of data for flood loss modelling

Flood loss modelling is associated with considerable uncertainty. If prediction uncertainty of flood loss models is large, the reliability of model outcomes is questionable, and thus challenges the practical usefulness. A key problem in flood loss estimation is the transfer of models to geographical regions and to flood events that may differ from the ones used for model development. Variations in local characteristics and continuous system changes require regional adjustments and continuous updating with current evidence. However, acquiring data on damage influencing factors is usually very costly. Therefore, it is of relevance to assess the value of additional data in terms of model performance improvement. We use empirical flood loss data on direct damage to residential buildings available from computer aided telephone interviews that were compiled after major floods in Germany. This unique data base allows us to trace the changes in predictive model performance by incrementally extending the data base used to derive flood loss models. Two models are considered: a uni-variable stage damage function and RF-FLEMO, a multi-variable probabilistic model approach using Random Forests. Additional data are useful to improve model predictive performance and increase model reliability, however the gains also seem to depend on the model approach.

School Travel

Over the past half-century, rates of active school travel have declined across the industrialized West, and the number of children driven to school by automobile has increased. Over the same period, the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased. Lack of physical activity may be partly to blame for recent obesity trends. School travel is one opportunity to establish daily physical activity through walking or cycling. The purpose of this study was to examine how social and environmental barriers related to the mode of travel and children's independent mobility in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Ontario, Canada. Computer-aided telephone interviews were conducted with 1,016 parents and guardians of elementary school children. Geographic information system analysis was performed to examine the objective measures of the environment. Binary logistic regression tested the association between social, individual, and objective neighborhood characteristics and school travel outcomes. Distance was related to the mode of travel: students who lived farther from school were less likely to walk. Children who lived in a residential development constructed before 1960 were more likely to walk to school; this finding suggested that certain features within these older neighborhoods promoted walking. The density of intersections was related to walking, but living in an area with a higher population density discouraged unescorted walking to school. Finally, the age of the child influenced the odds of walking independently, but the relationship varied by environment. Children were able to undertake independent travel at a younger age when living in an older neighborhood. Keywords: SR2S

After the extreme flood in 2002: changes in preparedness, response and recovery of flood-affected residents in Germany between 2005 and 2011

Abstract. In the aftermath of the severe flooding in Central Europe in August 2002, a number of changes in flood policies were launched in Germany and other European countries, aiming at improved risk management. The question arises as to whether these changes have already had an impact on the residents' ability to cope with floods, and whether flood-affected private households are now better prepared than they were in 2002. Therefore, computer-aided telephone interviews with private households in Germany that suffered from property damage due to flooding in 2005, 2006, 2010 or 2011 were performed and analysed with respect to flood awareness, precaution, preparedness and recovery. The data were compared to a similar investigation conducted after the flood in 2002. After the flood in 2002, the level of private precautions taken increased considerably. One contributing factor is the fact that, in general, a larger proportion of people knew that they were at risk of flooding. The best level of precaution was found before the flood events in 2006 and 2011. The main reason for this might be that residents had more experience with flooding than residents affected in 2005 or 2010. Yet, overall, flood experience and knowledge did not necessarily result in building retrofitting or flood-proofing measures, which are considered as mitigating damages most effectively. Hence, investments still need to be stimulated in order to reduce future damage more efficiently. Early warning and emergency responses were substantially influenced by flood characteristics. In contrast to flood-affected people in 2006 or 2011, people affected by flooding in 2005 or 2010 had to deal with shorter lead times and therefore had less time to take emergency measures. Yet, the lower level of emergency measures taken also resulted from the people's lack of flood experience and insufficient knowledge of how to protect themselves. Overall, it was noticeable that these residents suffered from higher losses. Therefore, it is important to further improve early warning systems and communication channels, particularly in hilly areas with rapid-onset flooding.

Calendar Instruments in Retrospective Web Surveys

Calendar instruments incorporate aided recall techniques such as temporal landmarks and visual time lines that aim to reduce response error in retrospective surveys. Those calendar instruments have been used extensively in off-line research (e.g., computer-aided telephone interviews, computer assisted personal interviewing, and paper and pen interview) and have been shown to increase the quality of retrospectively collected life course data. The goal of our study was to investigate if calendar recall aids can also improve data quality in web surveys. In a methodological field experiment, we evaluated the effects of adding visual feedback and personal landmarks to our questionnaire with regard to response/break off rates, completeness of retrospective reports, interview duration, and respondent evaluations. The study included 1,451 respondents from a probability-based Internet panel who were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of the experiment. The results indicate that in the web-based calendar tool, visual feedback properties exerted the most influence on data quality.

Functional form of connections between perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the automotive servicing industry

Perceived quality of services and customer satisfaction is a concept that is increasingly important because of its impact on customer loyalty and other effects on the performance of a company. There is growing evidence that the links between quality of services, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty might be non-linear. However, there is no consensus about the actual functional form, since individual studies have discovered linear as well as concave, convex, S-shaped and inversed S-shaped relationships. Inconsistent results of previous studies suggest that different functional forms might be typical for different industries. The aim of this study was to examine the functional forms typical for the vehicle maintenance and repair industry, based on 34,421 computer-aided telephone interviews with customers of Slovenian automotive servicing companies performed between 2005 and 2011. For each of the connections between the constructs under consideration, we used linear and several non-linear regression models with the curve fit procedure in SPSS. The obtained results suggest that in describing the relationship between perceived quality of services and customer satisfaction, the non-linear functional model only slightly outperformed the linear one in terms of explained variance of data (R2). The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty on the other hand could clearly be best described using a non-linear model. Using the non-linear model that produced a concave functional form enabled us to achieve 41–47% better explanatory power compared to the linear model. On the basis of our research, we can make several recommendations to the management of automobile servicing companies; for example to concentrate the resources of their companies on improving the satisfaction of their least-satisfied customers, because by this approach, they can expect the highest yields in terms of improved customer loyalty.

Predictors of driving among families living within 2 km from school: Exploring the role of the built environment

Rates of active school travel have declined over time in line with decreasing levels of physical activity among children. Understanding why some children are driven to school when walking is an option is important for future intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate demographic characteristics, parent/family level factors, attitudinal and psychosocial factors, route features, access to vehicles, and environmental factors which appear to influence the decision to drive children who live within a walkable distance from school in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Canada. Computer-aided telephone interviews were conducted in 2009 with 1001 parents of children attending elementary school in the GTHA, Canada׳s largest urbanized region. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the household demographics, parent/family factors, attitudinal and psychosocial factors, route features, access to vehicles, and environmental factors (qualities of urban design) that predict driving among households less than 2km away from school (n=529). In the GTHA, attitudes and psychosocial factors have a stronger role to play than the built environment in influencing driving behavior within close proximity to school. The introduction of built environment characteristics in the final regression model only explained an additional 4% of the variance in driving to school. To promote AST among drivers living within a walkable distance from school, non-infrastructure programs that provide adult supervision, such as Walking School Bus Schemes, may be a more powerful strategy to alleviate safety concerns while potentially reducing the parental time costs of escorting the child, than capital projects targeting changes to the built environment.

Wykorzystanie elektronicznej dokumentacji medycznej w placówkach podstawowej opieki zdrowotnej w województwie podlaskim

Introduction. Despite the statutory obligation to keep medical records only in electronic form from August 1, 2014, there are no publications in the scientific literature on the current level of preparation of institutions in this regard. Aim. The aim of this study is to determine the current level of the use of electronic medical records by primary care physicians in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Material and methods. The study was conducted using the CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviews) and the CAWI (Computer Aided Web Interview) methods. In total, results were obtained from 104 Primary Health Care units (PHC), which accounts for 44% of all health care providers having a contract for the provision the primary care physician services in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Results. The results show that only 14.7% of primary care physicians use the individual electronic medical record. As regards external medical records, prescription are generated and printed by 71.6%, medical referrals – by 39.8% and medical certificates – by 11.8% of the respondents. Transmission of medical data over the Internet practically does not exist, except for the access to the results of laboratory tests, which is declared by 28.2% of respondents. Discussion. Despite the fact that currently all the doctors declare access to computers and the Internet in the PHC institutions, these resources are used primarily for the purpose of billing and verification of patient insurance status, not for keeping electronic medical records. The case of Denmark, where the use of electronic medical records among general practitioners reaches 100% indicates that the process is long-lasting, and it was achieved with strong substantial and financial support from the state. Conclusions. In view of the computerization of the health care system in Poland, special attention should be paid to the computerization of healthcare providers themselves, including in particular providers of primary health care level. The concentration of efforts and resources only on central projects and computerization of hospitals may be a highly inefficient solution.

Health Care Utilization and Self-Care Behaviors of Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes: Comparison of National and Ethnically Diverse Underserved Populations

Caring for persons with diabetes is expensive, and this burden is increasing. Little is known about service use, behaviors, and self-care of older individuals with diabetes who live in underserved communities. Information about self-care, informal care, and service utilization in urban (largely Latino, n = 695) and rural (mostly white, n = 819) Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes living in federally designated medically underserved areas was collected using computer-aided telephone interviews as part of the baseline assessment in the Informatics and Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDEATel) Project. Where items were comparable, service use was compared with that of a nationally representative group of Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Compared to nationally representative groups, the underserved groups reported worse general health but similar health care service use, with the exception of home care. However, compared to the underserved rural group, the underserved, largely minority urban group, reported worse general health (P < 0.0001); more inpatient nights (P = 0.003), emergency room visits (P < 0.001), and home health care (P < 0.001); spent more time on self-care; and had more difficulty with housework, meal preparation, and personal care. Differences in service use between urban and rural groups within the underserved group substantially exceeded differences between the underserved and nationally representative groups. These findings address a gap in knowledge about older, ethnically diverse individuals with diabetes living in medically underserved areas. This profile of disparate service use and health care practices among urban minority and rural majority underserved adults with diabetes can assist in the planning of future interventions.

Perception, reflection and communication: an empirical case study within the pharmaceutical industry

PurposeThis paper aims to show how instruments of empirical opinion research can help to provide a basis for interactive communication between a company and its stakeholders via the media, so that important issues can be identified and discussed internally and externally. By doing this, the company can actively participate in the process of forming public opinion and building trust.Design/methodology/approachConcentrating on the company of Pfizer, in order to acquire a comprehensive view, an empirical analysis of the opinions of those stakeholders mentioned in Pfizer's vision was conducted. In a first step, a content analysis of the Pfizer web site, two representative computer‐aided telephone interviews (CATI) surveys with the Swiss public, a content analysis over a period of two years of the five most important daily newspapers, and interviews with the top management team of Pfizer Switzerland were carried out. In a second step, the findings of the analysis were reflected on in a workshop with Pfizer's top management team.FindingsThe role of the media was recognised for its function for informing, and as a platform for initiating dialogues in appropriate areas of interaction. But it was also obvious that the reports published by the media, and the actual perception of the population, were distinctly different. In this realm, opinion research in its function of objectifying information makes a significant contribution to the ability to reflect on the actual situation.Originality/valueThe knowledge of the opinions of the relevant stakeholders based on a high standard of empirical data and the self‐reflection by senior management of its own beliefs provide an additional foundation for stakeholder‐oriented communication.