Market Issues Research Articles

Tackling sustainable development challenges: A fuzzy set examination of textile industry 4.0 and green supply chain barriers

AbstractCircular supply chains transform linear manufacturing into closed‐loop systems that promote Industry 4.0 and sustainable development. However, the barriers to China's textile sector have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this study analyzes the contextual links between identified barriers and their prioritization for effective circular economy and green product development. This study enlisted 75 specialists to evaluate various obstacles utilizing the q‐ROFS approach for comprehensive quantitative analysis. The results revealed the interdependence of barriers and identified major devising from the market, financial, and organizational sides. The significant impact of market barriers on other challenges is shown by high similarity (90%), showing market problems' profound effects. Financial constraints significantly impact organizational and market barriers, stressing the role of economic factors in adoption challenges. Sociological, financial, and market issues are interconnected with organizational barriers, emphasizing the need for an integrated strategy. Finally, the assessments rank market‐related constraints, followed by economic and organizational barriers. Then there are society, the environment, and technological, supply chain, and government barriers faced by the Chinese textile industry. These results emphasize the need for comprehensive policies to overcome market, financial, and organizational barriers and the role of economics and market dynamics in adoption.

Effect of Crude Oil Spillage and Constraints Associated with Artisanal Fishing in Oil-Spilled Areas of Bayelsa State

This study considered the effect of crude oil spillage and constraints associated with artisanal fishing in oil-spilled areas of Bayelsa State. The study's goals were to find out the respondents' socioeconomic status, determine how the spill of crude oil affected artisanal fishing, and pinpoint the obstacles to artisanal fishing output in particular oil-spilled areas. A simple random selection technique was employed to select 100 respondents, from whom a questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data that was collected. Men made up the majority of respondents (77%), according to the study's main findings. In the region where crude oil spilled, 55% of the artisanal fishermen were between the ages of 45 and 55. Married respondents made up 84% of the sample, and 60% had finished secondary school. The respondents had a mean of 25.4 years of experience and an average household size of 6. The main obstacles to artisanal fishing in the areas affected by the spill of crude oil were the following: water pollution, rising consumption, lack of government support, issues with marketing, spoiled fish, funding and credit issues, absence of extension services, climate change and flooding, poor processing facilities, high labour costs, health issues, and a scarcity of fishing baits. This study makes several recommendations, including better processing facilities, increased access to bank loans at lower interest rates for farmers, expanded and strengthened extension services, and the establishment of policies by the government, private citizens, and corporate entities that will boost output and improve the profitability of artisanal fishing.

Social Value of Marketing: A Bibliometric Analysis

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze studies that researched the social value of marketing, identifying the main research and the understanding of the theme. We performed a systematic literature review using the Web of Science database to select and analyze articles that investigated the social value of marketing. After the initial search with filters and exclusion criteria, the final sample consisted of 142 articles submitted to bibliometric analysis. The analysis of the literature revealed advances in the understanding of the social value of marketing. We made the connection between the four groupings of keywords and the five themes of the bibliographic coupling. This result revealed the various nuances of how the social value of marketing is addressed in the literature. The study proposes an agenda for future research, with topics such as social enterprise marketing, social value and consumers’ perception, charity, cause-related marketing, ethical consumption. This study reveals the connections between marketing and social issues, indicating that the social value of marketing tends to be the result of a combination of resources, capabilities, and behaviors that link marketing and the market to social value and society.

Research on the Differences Between the Laws Designed to Protect Brands and Traditional Trademark Laws

Brand protection is an important and challenging issue in the contemporary market, as brands are valuable and influential intangible assets that create and sustain competitive advantage. However, there is a lack of a clear and comprehensive legal category that can adequately address the diverse and complex aspects of brand protection. This paper aims to explore how a law designed to protect brands might differ from traditional trademark law, which mainly focuses on the registration and protection of distinctive signs that identify the source and quality of goods or services. The paper adopts a qualitative and comparative approach, using online sources, such as web articles, research papers, and guides, as well as examples of famous brands and cases, to illustrate and analyze the possible ways, characteristics, challenges, and benefits of brand protection. The paper concludes that brand protection is a useful or viable legal category that recognizes and respects the value and importance of brands as intangible assets that create and sustain competitive advantage in the market, adapts and innovates to changing market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive forces, and harmonizes and cooperates with the existing trademark laws and standards across different countries and regions.

Reinforcement learning-based order-dispatching optimization in the ride-sourcing service

Since the emergence of ride-sourcing, the dispatching problem has been a hot research issue in the travel market. Previous studies designed various refined algorithms to improve the dispatching efficiency. However, the heterogeneity of passenger cancellation behavior and driver's work patterns is ignored in the modeling of these studies, which may result in the algorithms failing to entirely capture the randomness in the real world, thereby affecting dispatching efficiency. To fill this research gap, this paper employs a discrete choice model and Gaussian mixture model to model passenger cancellation behavior and extract driver working patterns, respectively. Furthermore, a cooperative deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm is proposed for dispatching. The algorithm constructs decision networks separately for drivers with different working patterns to learn the optimal dispatching decision and designs a centralized neural network to coordinate the dispatching of all vehicles to maximize the global benefit. A price incentive strategy is proposed to improve passenger loyalty by providing incentive prices. Moreover, based on the constructed discrete choice model, a simulation environment is designed to describe the cancellation behavior in the real world and support the training of the algorithm. Experimental results based on real data in Beijing show that the cooperative DDPG algorithm can improve the order response rate by 2% to 6% and platform revenue by 3% to 9% in multiple travel periods while providing a better travel experience to passengers. Additionally, the price incentive strategy also effectively reduces passenger cancellation.

INVESTOR PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE STOCK MARKET

A stock market is a market in which stocks are bought and sold. It is also called industrial securities market, because it is the market for the trading of company stocks i.e. corporate securities; both those securities listed on stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. The term ‘Stock Market’ is often used as synonymous to ‘Stock Exchange’. But there is a difference in the two terms. Stock exchange is a corporation in the business of bringing buyers and sellers of stocks together. It is a major part of stock market, but not whole of it. Because a stock market besides stock exchanges also includes the market for new issue of securities. Thus the stock market can be divided into two constituents as follows: - 1. Primary Market or New Issue Market 2. Secondary Market or Stock Exchange

Rhetoric as Media’s Persuasive Strategy Toward Readers in the Headline on Market Issues

Headline is intended to highlight the main point or category of the news article. They commonly attract readers using strong and emotive words and attention-grabbing vocabulary. This situation made journalists often manipulate the headline news to ensure its appeal and allure to the reader using some linguistic device. This research discussed the rhetoric on market issues in headline news of CNBC Indonesia and to examine the types of rhetoric used on market issues. Descriptive qualitative research is applied in this research. The data sources were headline news on market issues and taken from the website of CNBC Indonesia. There were 300 selected headlines in total around November 2022 – February 2023. In addition, documentation was employed in collecting the data. The data were analyzed by using Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis framework (2015). The findings showed that there are 25 types of rhetoric. It was identified that rhetoric was not limited to alliteration, rhyme, parallelism, hyperbole, understatement, metaphor, and metonymy (Van Dijk, 1991). Other rhetorical devices like personification and onomatopoeia were discovered in the headline. It was also found a headline incorporating two or more rhetoric, for instance, the combination of hyperbole and rhyme, which called as compound rhetoric.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RUSSIA AND BELARUS UNION STATE ROADMAP (2022–2023)

The authors study the development of Belarusian-Russian integration processes in the conditions of sanctions pressure of Western states. The article considers the dynamics of the relationship between the states in the period from 2022 to 2023. In 2021, the program of Russia-Belarus integration was signed and 28 roadmaps within the Union State were approved. As part of the implementation of these programs, the countries have increased cooperation in various areas, including industry, finance, macroeconomics, transport and trade in goods. The article also addresses the issue of creating a single market for energy resources. It is noted that the first stage of creating a single market for electricity has already been achieved. However, the issue of a single gas market remains open.

The image of voivodeship cities among residents: exploring age-related perspectives

Purpose: Image is one of the key issues in city marketing and branding. City image studies are essential tools for urban planners, social researchers as well as political decision-makers and local authorities aiming to understand how people perceive the urban space in which they live. The objective of this article is to identify the image of voivodeship cities among their residents based on the respondents’ age categories. Methodology/approach: The article relies on the results of a quantitative study conducted with a sample of 728 respondents residing in selected voivodeship cities in Poland. The research tool employed in the study was a standardised survey questionnaire. Findings: The findings reveal a statistically significant difference in the assessment of the overall city image by residents across various age categories. Practical implications: This article may serve as an inspiration for city managers who, in shaping a positive image of urban centres, can communicate information about selected city attributes tailored to the chosen age category of inhabitants. Originality/value: The research results unequivocally confirm that older city dwellers appear to be more inclined to feel an emotional connection to their place of residence and express positive opinions about it.

The impact of air pollution on cost of debt: Evidence from corporate bond markets

AbstractThis study explores the influence of air pollution on the corporate bond market in China. An air pollution premium is documented, whereby bonds issued in more polluted areas are associated with higher offering yields at issue in the primary market and higher yield spreads in the secondary market. The statistically and economically significant air pollution premium is robust to a battery of sensitivity checks. The air pollution premium is associated with rising investor attention to climate risk in financial markets.

Establishing a maturity prediction model for respiratory fruits via ethylene-regulated physiology: A case investigation of avocado

In addressing the severe waste issue in the Chinese avocado market due to uncontrollable storage temperatures and quality deterioration, this study investigated avocados under three distinct temperature conditions (20, 12, and 4 °C, with 80% ± 5% relative humidity), analyzing fruit respiration rate, ethylene release rate, peel color, flesh hardness, rheological properties, and sensory quality to explore the intrinsic changes during the ripening process. The study revealed significant differences in ripening rates among the different storage temperatures, albeit with relatively consistent physicochemical changes. Among the temperatures investigated, 12 °C was found to be the most suitable condition, effectively delaying fruit ripening, extending the shelf life, and yielding similar sensory quality to that of room temperature ripening. Subsequently, a ripeness prediction model based on respiratory and ethylene data changes was developed using LASSO regression analysis, achieving accuracy rates of 87%, 72%, and 91% at 20, 12, and 4 °C, respectively. This model demonstrates a high degree of fitting and can be used to predict the ripening stage of avocados. The study sets a direction for future data-driven strategies to optimize storage of climacteric fruits, contributing to reducing carbon emissions in the food cold chain and food waste.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HEMP (CANNABIS SATIVA L.) USE: SCIENTIFIC, LEGISLATIVE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS

Cannabis sativa L. culture has encountered various legislative challenges throughout history, and these have varied according to the social, political and economic context of each period. Historical stigma and prohibitions brought restrictions on cannabis, and anti-drug and prohibition policies adopted in the 20th century led to the prohibition of the cultivation of Cannabis sativa L. Its incorrect association with drugs of abuse and its classification as a narcotic substance complicated the legislation. Problems in differentiating between recreational and medical use have created confusion in law. Global inconsistency in cannabis rules and regulations has created difficulties in international trade and research cooperation. The recent evolution of legislation, marked by ambiguities and inconsistencies regarding the medical, industrial, and food use of cannabis, has raised questions and challenges. Production and marketing issues, such as strict regulations and licensing hurdles affect the cannabis industry in the Republic of Moldova too. These challenges are constantly changing, reflecting the diversity of perspectives and societal developments.

Integrated assessment of irrigation and agriculture management challenges in Nepal: An interdisciplinary perspective

Agriculture plays a critical role in ensuring food and nutrition security, livelihood, and rural employment in Nepal. Despite substantial investments and institutional reforms, irrigation projects have faced consistently low performance. While existing studies have shed light on technical aspects of irrigation performance, they often focus on specific themes rather than holistic evaluations of sustainability. This research systematically assesses barriers and challenges to effective irrigation water management in Nepal by assessing and ranking the challenges faced by three irrigation systems in western Nepal: Mahakali, Rani Jamara Kulariya, and Babai. To investigate these challenges, we collected data from 449 households, which provided insights into 33 indicators representing key barriers to effective irrigation and agricultural management. The identified challenges were categorized into four broad thematic areas: physical and structural, agricultural and water, socioeconomic and market, and gender and governance. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted to compare these challenges among the three irrigation schemes, different thematic areas, and various locations within each scheme (namely, the head, mid, and tail sections of the system). The findings revealed that timely access and availability of fertilizers, spring water availability and fair market prices of agricultural products are the most significant challenges. The Babai irrigation system faced the most substantial challenges among the three systems, particularly in the mid section. These findings emphasize the interconnectedness of these challenges, highlighting the need for a holistic approach to planning, implementation, and management. Integrated strategies are essential to address socioeconomic, market, and endogenous farming issues, ensuring reliable irrigation water availability for sustainable agricultural production.

LEARNING IN SPACE – USING SCIENCE FICTION PODCASTS IN AND OUT OF THE MARKETING CLASSROOM

ABSTRACT To provide the current student generation with an innovative online learning method, podcasts with science fiction short stories are introduced to marketing education. Findings from neurology and psychology point to positive effects of storytelling for gaining knowledge and developing interpersonal skills. Science fiction stories challenge common conceptions and enable students to engage with upcoming marketing issues in creative ways. An overview of eight marketing related science fiction stories is provided that are available for download as open access podcasts, with 23 more management and economics podcast stories available in the online appendix. To show how science fiction podcasts can be implemented in class, one of the stories is discussed in more detail. Further suggestions for implementation and possible challenges are outlined.

Task shifting in Dutch nursing practice: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of nurses' experiences.

This study aims firstly to identify shifts in the execution of medical tasks by nurses in the past decade. Secondly, it aims to explore nurses' perspectives on task shifting: how they think task shifting affects the quality of care, the attractiveness of nursing practice and their collaboration with physicians. A quantitative repeated cross-sectional study. A nationwide survey was conducted among Dutch registered nurses (RNs) working in hospitals and home care, first in 2012 and again in 2022, with sample sizes of 359 and 362, respectively. Analyses were based on descriptive statistics and logistic and linear regressions. Between 2012 and 2022, there was a significant increase in the execution of only one medical task by nurses, namely prescribing over-the-counter medication. The majority reported in both years that task shifting has positive impact on their professional autonomy and the attractiveness of nursing practice. However, most nurses also reported that task shifting increased their workload (72.7% in 2022) could lead to conflicts in care teams (20.9% in 2022 compared to 14.7% in 2012) and may cause physicians to feel threatened (32.8% in 2022 and 29.9% in 2012). There were no significant changes in nurses' perception of the impact of task shifting on quality of care, the attractiveness of nursing practice and the nurse-physician relationship. There was an increase in the execution of prescribing over-the-counter-medication by nurses between 2012 and 2022. However, both in 2012 and in 2022, as the majority of nurses reported that task shifting increased their workload, there is reason to worry about this negative consequence of task shifting, e.g. with regard to labour market issues. Further research, also among the medical profession, is needed to better understand and address the implications of task shifting for the nursing profession. Implications for the nursing profession include potential scope expansion with complex tasks, attracting more individuals to nursing careers, although an eye must also be kept on what that means for the workload of nurses and the relationship with physicians. Nurse prescribing medicines was more executed in 2022 compared to 2012. Nurses had a predominantly positive perspective on task shifting, but still felt it can cause conflicts in care teams, high workload and physicians feeling threatened. These results can help during implementation of task shifting and in monitoring the perceived effects of task shifting among nurses. This study followed the STROBE reporting guideline for cross-sectional studies. No Patient or Public Contribution. This study focussed on the task shifting (perspectives) of nurses.

Investigating Energy Renovation of Multi-Owner Buildings and Real Estate Market Issues in a Degraded Greek Urban Area

States establish ambitious policies and important measures to achieve targets for the energy upgrade of buildings but although some important barriers prevent their implementation in space, they are rather overlooked by research. In this paper, it is argued that extensive multi-ownership (MO) and weak performance of the real estate market in degraded urban areas impede the mass energy retrofitting of multi-owner buildings (MOBs), which are an important part of the urban building stock A deprived area of central Athens (Greece) that serves as a case study. With a pluridisciplinary approach based on extensive field surveys, cadastral data analysis and cases of energy renovation of buildings through a public–private partnership financing scheme as well as ways to overcome the MO issue were explored, according to the provisions of the Greek legal framework. The integrated urban regeneration approach is promoted as a means to encounter the MO issue and enhance the functioning of the real estate market by the generation of surplus values that will render the energy retrofitting of buildings more attractive to investors and thus achieve the deep renovation of MOBs towards the sustainability of the urban environment. This paper ultimately advocates the integration of energy planning with spatial planning.

Strategic Press Release When Employee Unemployment Risk Is Better Insured

Using the staggered changes in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits across states in the United States as an exogenous shock to employees’ costs of unemployment and the hiring firm’s costs of disclosure, this study investigates whether and how a firm’s relationship with its employees impacts its strategic disclosure through press releases. We find that firms increase (reduce) bad (good) press releases after their employees’ UI benefits become more generous. This finding is consistent with the notion that larger UI benefits reduce the costs of employee unemployment risk borne by hiring firms and thus reduce firms’ costs to release bad news items. Interestingly, we find that the large increase in UI benefits is associated with more discretionary, but not nondiscretionary, bad press releases. The findings are robust when we exclude earnings-related press releases from our sample. Further evidence shows that the increase in negative press releases is mainly driven by news regarding earnings, products-services, marketing, credit ratings, assets, and legal issues, which are more closely related to employee perceptions of unemployment risk. JEL classification: G10; M41; J31; J65.

The Influence of Digital Transformation on the Reconfigurability and Performance of Supply Chains: A Study of the Electronic, Machinery, and Home Appliance Manufacturing Industries in China

In this era of intense global competition, supply chains are facing challenges in coping with emerging market issues. Within diverse industries worldwide, supply chains are experiencing accelerated reconfiguration, with one of the most notable transformations being the digitalization of supply chain operations. But the literature lacks empirical evidence about how digital transformation effectively contributes to it. Thus, this paper delves into the implications of the supply chain digital transformation (SCDT) and supply chain reconfigurability (SCR) on its overall performance. Cross-sectional data from 379 respondents in the machinery, electronics, and home appliance manufacturing industries were collected through a closed questionnaire. Utilizing a hybrid approach involving the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), this study employs a cross-validation of the conceptual model. Initially, the PLS-SEM is employed to unveil the direct impact of SCDT on supply chain performance (SCP), as well as the intermediary effect of SCR. Building on this foundation, the fsQCA method is further utilized to investigate the configuration paths that enable enterprises to achieve high SCP under the combined influence of SCR and SCDT. The research results affirm the significant influence of SCDT on SCP. Likewise, the findings highlight the crucial intermediary role of SCR between SCDT and SCP. Ultimately, three distinct configurations driving high supply chain performance are identified: technical, management, and flexible configurations, each playing a unique role.

Leasing in Russian agricultural economy: current stage of development

The purpose of the study is to analyze leasing sustainable development as the main investment mechanism of the Russian agrarian sector technical re-equipment. The author uses general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, economic and statistical methods, graphical methods, etc.). The current state of the domestic agrarian sector technical equipment, the development of agricultural machinery leasing market development, issues and prospects for the use of agrarian leasing at the present stage have been considered. Considering the current situation in the domestic market, decreased prices for agricultural products and outstripping growth of prices for equipment, domestic agricultural producers need systemic state support to maintain the machinery and tractor fleet renewal pace. In conditions of agricultural machinery and investment resources for its reproduction deficit, leasing is one of the effective tools in solving the technical potential of the agricultural sector technical potential strengthening issues. The main promising areas of leasing mechanisms application, contributing to technical re-equipment acceleration in the agricultural sector have been proposed (sustainable development projects, national “green taxonomy”, “green” bonds; agricultural machinery market digitalization development; use of leasing mechanisms for the machinery and technology complexes development as a modern form of joint machinery use in agriculture). The proposed areas will ensure systemic development and acceleration of Russian agrarian sector technical re-equipment.

A bibliometric analysis using the VOS Viewer: Green marketing, repurchase intention, and correlations

This study uses the SCOPUS database to analyze the evolution of publications on green marketing, repurchase intention, and their relationships. The VOSviewer software program was used in this study's bibliometric analysis approach to construct and display a bibliometric network. Researchers were selected using the SCOPUS database's top keywords for green marketing, repurchase intention, and correlation between 2003 and 2022. The number of publications identified according to the keywords initially appeared to be 5.481 for green marketing, 1.658 for repurchase intention and 13 for keyword green marketing and repurchase intention. After filtering, it was discovered that there were only 5 articles containing the keywords "green marketing and repurchase intention", out of a total of 2.893 articles on green marketing and 1.117 articles on repurchase intention. Based on the findings of the VOSviewer study and the network visualization of keyword co-occurrence, 162 items were divided into 5 groups (clusters) for green marketing issues, 102 items were divided into 5 groups (clusters) for repurchase intention issues, and only 25 items were divided into 5 groups (clusters) for correlations between green marketing and repurchase intention issues. There is still limited research analyzing the correlation between green marketing and repurchase intentions, starting in 2016. However, companies must spend more of their budgets when implementing green marketing strategies; in the future, further enhanced research examining whether green marketing strategies have an impact on repurchase intentions by customers is needed.