Negative Reputation Research Articles

Robust Exponential Worst Cases for Divide-et-Impera Algorithms for Parity Games

The McNaughton-Zielonka divide et impera algorithm is the simplest and most flexible approach available in the literature for determining the winner in a parity game. Despite its theoretical worst-case complexity and the negative reputation as a poorly effective algorithm in practice, it has been shown to rank among the best techniques for the solution of such games. Also, it proved to be resistant to a lower bound attack, even more than the strategy improvements approaches, and only recently a family of games on which the algorithm requires exponential time has been provided by Friedmann. An easy analysis of this family shows that a simple memoization technique can help the algorithm solve the family in polynomial time. The same result can also be achieved by exploiting an approach based on the dominion-decomposition techniques proposed in the literature. These observations raise the question whether a suitable combination of dynamic programming and game-decomposition techniques can improve on the exponential worst case of the original algorithm. In this paper we answer this question negatively, by providing a robustly exponential worst case, showing that no intertwining of the above mentioned techniques can help mitigating the exponential nature of the divide et impera approaches.

The effect of corporate social responsibility reputation on consumer support for cause-related marketing

Drawing insights from the theory of planned behaviour, this study examined the determinants of consumer support for cause-related marketing (CRM) across companies with either positive or negative corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputations. With the use of online experimental data (n = 311 college students), similarities and differences in the relationships between the determinants were discussed across two prior CSR reputations. For companies with positive CSR reputations, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control (PBC) appeared to have positive relationships with purchase intention. For companies with negative CSR reputations, attitude towards CRM, subjective norm, and PBC appeared to have positive relationships with purchase intention. For companies with both CSR reputations, affect towards CRM support was not found to be related to purchase intention. Subsequently, purchase intention turned out to influence the development of favourable brand image for companies with both positive and negative CSR reputations. Overall, these findings shed light on the potential that controversial companies with prior negative reputations can restore and enhance their brand image by employing CRM initiatives. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.

How Do Organizations With A Negative Employer Reputation Due to Their Industry Attract Applicants?

This paper identifies the recruitment messaging strategies that organizations with a negative employer reputation due to their industry could use to attract job seekers. Drawing on the social judgment dimensions that extended from differentiated bias theories and social identity theory, I propose organizations with an employer reputation of operating in a negative reputation industry are unattractive employers due to the low warmth-related traits perceived by job seekers. On the basis of reputation repair literature and social identity theory, I propose two recruitment messaging strategies and introduce a model of the underlying psychological mechanisms responsible for their influences on job seekers’ job pursuit intentions and application decisions. Specifically, the first recruitment messaging strategy is to provide information on organizations’ commitment and behaviors to serve the public’s interests. Job seekers’ expected pride from organizational membership is the underlying psychological mechanism responsible for this strategy’s influence on their job pursuit intentions and application decisions. The second recruitment messaging strategy is to provide information on organizations’ commitment and behaviors to provide intensive employee development opportunities. Job seekers’ expected organization-based self-esteem is the underlying psychological mechanism responsible for this strategy’s influence on their job pursuit intentions and application decisions.

Reputation and Stakeholders: How Stakeholder-specific Reputations Affect Controversial Actions

This study enhances our understanding of organizational reputation by exploring how a firm’s reputation in the eyes of different stakeholders influences the likelihood of its taking a controversial action, such as downsizing. On the one hand, firms that have a positive reputation are likely to be motivated to self-govern because of fear of losing reputation and losing future gains. On the other hand, reputable firms are more confident in their social acceptance and less limited by social norms and, therefore, less motivated to self-govern. To resolve this contradiction, I employ a stakeholder- based perspective that views the role of reputation in preventing a controversial action as contingent on stakeholders’ perception of such an action. Specifically, I examine how positive reputations in the eyes of two important stakeholder groups – investors and the public – affect the likelihood that a firm engages in a controversial strategy (for this study, downsizing). Using a longitudinal dataset of the 100 largest U.S. firms from 2004 to 2013, I find evidence for relationships between stakeholder-specific reputations and downsizing and for how this relationship varies depending on firms’ financial performance. In general, I find that firms that have positive reputations among investors as well as firms that have positive reputations among the public were less likely to downsize than other firms. However, the effect of these two reputations on the relationship between negative financial performance and the likelihood of downsizing diverged: whereas there was no evidence that a firm’s reputation with respect to investors changed the association of financial performance and the chances of downsizing, I find some evidence that reputation with respect to the public moderated the relationship between financial performance and downsizing. That is, positive reputation with respect to the public mitigated the relationship between financial performance and downsizing, but negative reputation with respect to the public amplified the relationship between financial performance and downsizing. These findings suggest that reputations with respect to different stakeholders control firms’ engagement in a controversial action to different degrees, and these differences can be explained by particular stakeholders’ preferences in particular contexts.

Should the shady steal thunder? The effects of crisis communication timing, pre‐crisis reputation valence, and crisis type on post‐crisis organizational trust and purchase intention

A scenario‐based 2 (communication timing: stealing thunder vs. thunder) × 2 (pre‐crisis reputation valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (crisis type: product‐harm vs. moral‐harm) between‐subjects experiment was implemented with 273 Dutch participants to address the question of whether or not the positive effects of stealing thunder depend on pre‐crisis reputation valence and crisis type. Statistical analyses reveal that stealing thunder by an organization with a positive pre‐crisis reputation results in higher post‐crisis trust and purchase intention levels than stealing thunder by an organization with a negative pre‐crisis reputation. Moreover, crisis type interacts with crisis communication timing in influencing post‐crisis trust and purchase intention, as stealing thunder works better than thunder during a product‐harm crisis.

Examining the Case of an Academic Library’s Student-Focused, Patron-Satisfaction Approach to Organizational Transformation for Student Retention

This article serves as a case study of an academic library’s student-focused management decisions, including the concept of relationship-marketing- and reputation-management in relation to their perceived impact on student retention.
 
 After realizing the library had developed a negative reputation, the director of SUNY Canton’s Southworth Library integrated a multi-pronged strategic plan to improve the perceived reputation of the library while cultivating student loyalty. The library had to make the firm decision on what it determined to be “about,” and whether what the library was “about” was its collections - the traditional library-centric identity - or about student success. Southworth Library Learning Commons had to make a collective determination to reject tradition and choose the latter. That meant altering course in terms of collection activities, redefining priorities and making non-traditional choices. The article illustrates strategies and actions that can be similarly replicated as part of a student-focused strategic plan. More broadly, other academic libraries and higher education institutions should consider the relationship-marketing approach in decision making and sustainability planning.

Local knowledge on native bees and their role as pollinators in agricultural communities

Pollination is indispensable for the reproduction of native and agricultural plant species. Current data underline the fragility of pollinator populations, mainly bees, which are threatened by increasing habitat fragmentation and use of agrochemicals. In this scenario, traditional communities in rural areas represent an important source of information, acquired upon direct observation of the biology and the ecology of animal species in these regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the local environmental knowledge of students in elementary schools in rural areas about bees and pollination at two moments, before and after the use of specific educational activities. Initially 110 students were interviewed and they mentioned a relatively low number of ethnospecies. After the educational activities, we noticed a marked increase in this number, besides the significant learning of important concepts. Rural school communities lack information about pollination and insect pollinators and the insects, pollinators or not, still constitute animals of negative reputation for people. We believe that a deeper knowledge of pollination and pollinators may improve sustainable activities in the region.

Examining the paracrisis online: The effects of message source, response strategies and social vigilantism on public responses

A 2×2 experimental study (N=168) examined the effects of the message source (CEO vs. individual real estate agent) and response strategies (deny vs. diminish strategies) on public perceptions of controversial online comments and emotional and behavioral responses. This study extends situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) by applying it to paracrisis situations as well as by testing a cognitive model in which breach of expectation by different actors leads to different degrees of judgment of responsibility and counterfactual thinking processes (i.e., the person could/would/should have done something else). A deny crisis response (e.g., scapegoating) was effective in reducing blame and negative affective responses and yielded less negative reputation assessment of the message source. The expectation breach led participants to engage in a counterfactual thinking process, which in turn evoked greater indignation and more negative reputation assessment. Indignation and negative reputation were both significant predictors of online word-of-mouth intention. Social vigilantism, individuals’ tendency to propagate their opinions onto others, mediated the relationship between indignation and online discussion intention.

A knockout to the NFL’s reputation?: A case study of the NFL’s crisis communications strategies in response to the Ray Rice scandal

The NFL was largely criticized for its mishandling of the Ray Rice controversy in 2014. This study identifies crisis communication strategies that both followed and deviated from established research-based models. Further, the study evaluates whether and how these response strategies were mismatched with the perceived level of crisis responsibility as predicted by theory. The results of this case illustrate the consequences of mismatching crisis communications strategies with perceived crisis responsibility. This study demonstrates the need for scholars to identify and study potential buffering factors that can shield organizations from short-term consequences of a crisis. Moreover, it suggests that researchers need to better understand the cumulative effect of negative reputation and crisis history that can accrue over time.

Visualising “junkies” and “meth heads” – a visual analysis of the persistent negative reputation of heroin and meth users

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the persistent negative reputation of two particular types of drug users, the so-called heroin junkie and the meth head. The visual portrayal of both kinds of users in the media has been consistent in the last decades. Inspired by films and anti-drug campaigns, stereotypical ideas about heroin and meth users dominate the visual portrayals. Existing research has already shown that this standardised picture is not applicable uniformly. Nevertheless, the important role of the visual element for constituting beliefs about drug use and users is lacking in the current drug research. Therefore, this work focusses on the visual element of the drug discourse.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the British movie Trainspotting, and the two American campaigns Faces of Meth and Montana Meth Project the visual representation of heroin and meth users is discussed. With the help of a visual discourse analysis this research discloses the particularities of every image.FindingsThe current visual portrayal of heroin and meth users stigmatises them as deviant and unhealthy. This single-sided perspective labels all users, without acknowledging different patterns of use. Counterexamples obtained through existing research do not support this uniformly applied stereotypical representation. The persistent negative reputation mediates inaccurate knowledge about drug use, with harmful consequences for the users, and harm-reduction work.Originality/valueDrug research has not been focussing enough on the visual element of the drug discourse. This research intends to close the existing gap and emphasise the possible harmful consequences produced by such visuality.

Društvena odgovornost banaka u vrijeme financijske krize: ususret direktivi Europske unije o nefinancijskom izvještavanju

The current financial crisis reaffirmed the relevance of social responsibility and ethics in financial products. Frauds, scandals, collective law suits by organizations for consumer protection, negative reputations as well as increasing anti-corporate activism have not circumvented the banking industry. In a situation of constant emphasis of social costs and operating damages, the banks are expected to embrace social responsibility more significantly, as well as to endure the sizeable burden of the economic crisis. According to the legitimacy theory, the voluntary adoption of the corporate social responsibility concept within the banking business may serve as a method of building up the reputational capital of the banks and regaining the trust of society in banking products, all segments where it is important that socially responsible actions are adequately reported and disclosed. Thanks to the 5/EU on non-financial reporting of large-sized and listed companies as well as public-interest entities, social responsibility reporting will soon become mandatory for the banking sector. By giving an insight into the scale of social responsibility reporting of selected Croatian banks, this paper will address responsibility reporting has increased during the financial crisis, as the legitimacy theory suggests. It will also give an answer how prepared are banks for the new regulatory requirements in the nonfinancial reporting area.

Environmental Management’s Impact on Market Value: Rewards and Punishments

Concerns regarding changes in the natural environment have led to an increase in research regarding environmental management (EM) practices. Studies examining the financial impact of such practices have been inconclusive. Drawing on agency theory and the resource-based view of the firm, we provide a comprehensive examination of the market’s reaction to firms identified by Newsweek’s Green Rankings as the best (top 100) and worst (bottom 100) for EM reputation among the largest 500 firms in the United States. Specifically, we investigate the extent to which the market reacts differently to service firms and manufacturing firms in regards to environmental reputation signals. We find that the market responds favorably to positive environmental management reputation signals for service firms and to negative environmental management reputation signals for manufacturing firms. Post hoc analysis reveals that both service firms and manufacturing firms are rewarded for being ranked “in the middle” of the Newsweek Green Rankings.

Changing an image through sports events: Palembang’s success story

AbstractHosting an international sports event is seen by many governments as an opportunity to promote a variety of issues and agendas such as inculcating a feeling of pride among the citizens of the host city and country, boosting development or conveying a positive image of the host to a large international audience. This is especially true in the local context of the host city where the event takes place. Drawing from the results of ethnographic fieldwork, this paper examines the Indonesian city of Palembang as a repeated host of international sports events and how these events create an image and narrative of success with regard to the city. The focus lies on change of image as Palembang formerly had a negative reputation. The time frame includes the 2011 SEA Games, the 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games and the upcoming 2018 Asian Games. Furthermore, the narrative of success can be perceived as a starting point to shed light on Palembang’s potential for city marketing and promotion using sport as an urban...

The impact of corporate reputation on brand attitude and purchase intention

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to explore the influences of the negative corporate CEO and corporate social responsibility reputations on the changes in consumers’ brand attitudes and purchase intentions. To perform this study purpose, we proposed the relationships between brand awareness and perceived quality and initial brand attitude and purchase intention by relying on the hierarchy of effects model; then we assessed the changes in brand attitude and purchase intention after providing information on negative corporate reputation. Multiple regression analysis and paired samples T-tests were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships using a convenience sample of 212 respondents. The empirical results support significant effects of brand awareness and perceived quality on brand attitude and purchase intention. Furthermore, respondents’ brand attitudes and purchase intentions are reduced after they are being provided with the information on negative corporate reputation. This result confirms that negative corporate reputation significantly aggravates consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention. However, the type of reputation is not a decisive factor for consumers’ cognitive processes. The results imply that marketing managers need to manage a negative reputation carefully because negative corporate reputation aggravates consumers’ cognitive process However, consumers are not influenced by specific type of negative information, thus a company can mitigate the negative impact of their negative reputation by another type of positive reputation.

International mediation in low intensity conflicts

Purpose Success and failure in mediation are widely understood to determine whether a state will receive positive or negative reputation outcomes from undertaking a mediation role in an international conflict. Research from mediation in domestic settings contradicts this view, finding that peer mediators in school and community settings received positive mediator outcomes from undertaking their role, even when they failed to facilitate an agreement between disputants. This paper aims to test this assumption and argues that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with observable reputation outcomes for mediating states and proposes an alternative explanatory framework. Design/methodology/approach The hypothesis was inductively generated through a comparative analysis of single-state mediation attempts selected from the Uppsala Conflict Database Project MILC data set. The cases selected were South Africa’s mediation attempts in Côte d’Ivoire from 2004 to 2005 and Comoros from 2003 to 2004, and Mexico’s mediation attempts in Colombia (National Liberation Army) in 2004 and Guatemala (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) between 1994 and 1996. To contextualise the findings and develop the explanatory framework, South African mediation attempts in Burundi and the DRC are discussed in the closing sections of the paper. Findings This paper finds that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with mediator outcomes. Mediator outcomes are explained by the activity level of the mediating state in providing mediation services; the positive intention of the mediator to assist in resolving the conflict; the scale of the conflict mediated; the severity of spill over effects from the conflict in question; the regional importance of the conflict; the proximity of the government which a mediating state looks to develop relations with to the conflict; the importance of the mediation attempt within the peace process; the level of contestation of the mediation attempt, meaning the extent to which mediation attempts are themselves sites of regional or global international power politics; and the success or failure of the mediation attempt. Originality/value An explanatory framework for state mediator outcomes in which the outcome of a mediation attempt for the third-party state is not determined solely, or even primarily, by mediation success or failure bridges mediation research applying to international and domestic issue areas and provides additional information for policy makers regarding the costs and benefits of committing their state to processes of mediation in conflicts with low probabilities of resolution. This is particularly important for state policy makers, given that mediation is successful on average in only one out of every three attempts.

Exhausted, mistreated, or indifferent? Explaining deviance from emotional display rules at work

ABSTRACTThis article explores different theoretical explanations for deviance from display rules (DDR), which occurs when employees consciously display emotions to customers that are unsanctioned by the organization. DDR is an important outcome in service organizations because it triggers strong negative reactions from customers, such as negative reputation and business losses. To better explain why DDR occurs, the author compared predictors drawn from organizational justice theory, conservation of resources theory and goal-setting theory in a comprehensive model to explore complementary and competing effects. The model was tested using hierarchical linear modelling with data from 1146 transactions performed by 51 service employees who participated in an experience sampling study over several weeks. Results demonstrated that emotional valence mediated the transaction-level relationship between customer interpersonal injustice and DDR. Similarly, negative emotions mediated the transaction-level relationship between mental exhaustion and DDR. However, person-level differences in goal commitment to organizational display rules had a buffering effect on the relationship between negative emotions and DDR. Overall, the results demonstrate that unfair treatment from customers and mental exhaustion can promote the expression of unsanctioned emotions to customers via negative emotional experiences, but employees who are committed to emotional labour goals are more resistant to engaging in DDR.

Reputation in an economic game modulates premotor cortex activity during action observation.

Our interactions with other people - and our processing of their actions - are shaped by their reputation. Research has identified an Action Observation Network (AON) which is engaged when observing other people's actions. Yet, little is known about how the processing of others' actions is influenced by another's reputation. Is the response of the AON modulated by the reputation of the actor? We developed a variant of the ultimatum game in which participants watched either the visible or occluded actions of two 'proposers'. These actions were tied to decisions of how to split a pot of money although the proposers' decisions on each trial were not known to participants when observing the actions. One proposer made fair offers on the majority of trials, establishing a positive reputation, whereas the other made predominantly, unfair offers resulting in a negative reputation. We found significant activations in two regions of the left dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC). The first of these showed a main effect of reputation with greater activation for the negative reputation proposer than the positive reputation proposer. Furthermore individual differences in trust ratings of the two proposers covaried with activation in the right primary motor cortex (M1). The second showed an interaction between visibility and reputation driven by a greater effect of reputation when participants were observing an occluded action. Our findings show that the processing of others' actions in the AON is modulated by an actor's reputation, and suggest a predictive role for the PMC during action observation.

When Strangers Start to Gossip: Investigating the Effect of Gossip on Cooperation in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

Previous research indicates gossip is a social bonding system that is use to establish shared acquaintances and/or attitudes, to punish group norm violators, or for coercion via invoking fear of gossipmongers. However, no empirical work explores directly the relationship between gossip about freeloaders leading to improved cooperation in recipients. Thus, we predicted that the sharing of negative gossip about the freeloading behavior of a third party will lead to higher levels of cooperation. Using levels of cooperation in a prisoner’s dilemma game as a proxy to measure social bonding, we compared cooperation levels of 60 female respondents who met with a confederate randomly assigned to one of three conditions. They either (1) did not talk or were exposed to (2) negative reputation gossip or (3) self-disclosed negative reputation information. Results show that, even after controlling for a list of potential confounding factors, cooperation levels are high in both the control and self-disclosure condition and are significantly lower in the gossip condition. We suggest that gossip may spark initial relations, yet is insufficient to ignite a social bond sustained by cooperative action among complete strangers.

To instill fear or love: Terrorist groups and the strategy of building reputation

Why does one terrorist group employ actions that win the hearts and minds of its constituency while another resorts to tactics that alienate their support? The paper investigates terrorist groups’ strategy of building reputation in their constituency/in-group population and non-constituency/out-group population. Studying all domestic terrorist groups between 1980 and 2011 with original data, we find that ethnic/religious groups and those with territorial control invest in positive reputation in their constituency as they can minimize the risks of returns. Radical groups and those with cross-border support, however, tend to build negative constituency reputation. While the former type of group has a small constituency, the latter ones can find resources across borders, which reduces their dependency on the constituency. Lastly, we find that terror groups seeking policy concessions avoid building a negative reputation in their non-constituency as this strategy enhances their chances of negotiating with the government.

The Janus-Face of Bacteriophages across Human Body Habitats.

One hundred years after their discovery [1,2], the interest towards the therapeutic use of bacteriophages (briefly: phages) has resurged due to the escalating rise of multi-drug–resistant bacteria [3,4]. However, besides regulatory hurdles, realization of this treatment concept is hampered by efficiency and safety concerns [5]. Conversely, metagenome studies have shown that phages are consistent and dominant members of the human microbiome, suggesting an unknown role of phages in human health and disease [6]. Therefore, the recognition and understanding of phages as common members of the human microbiome may provide the required confidence and pave the way for their targeted medical application, which will go beyond the classical form of phage therapy. Here we provide a holistic perspective regarding the impact of human-associated phages and possible consequences for our well-being. The influence of phages is rather complex, because the consequence of infection is not restricted to the immediate host. Any drop-out or altered physiology of the bacterial host can have profound effects on other members within the microbiome as well. Phages are best known for their ability to “arm” bacteria with virulence genes, which converts a benign bacterial strain into a highly pathogenic strain, causing an acute and severe infection [7,8]. Hence, phages are broadly regarded as notorious “providers” of virulence genes, which has conferred upon them a largely negative reputation. However, considering that phages are our permanent companions along with bacteria, the emergence of novel pathogenic bacterial strains is actually a comparably rare event. We believe that from a global perspective, the impacts of phages are rather subtle and mostly in a regulatory and positive way. A stable, healthy microbiome can probably only evolve and be maintained through phage activity. Nonetheless, metagenomic studies have also indicated altered phages populations in dysbiosis. This means that human diseases, characterized by distorted bacterial communities, may ultimately also have phage-driven origins. From this it follows that phages are critical mediators of human health but also of disease, lending them somewhat the character of a “Janus-Face” (Fig 1). It will be one of the greatest challenges of future research to disentangle the dynamic and complex interplays between phages and bacteria. This endeavor is worthwhile, because understanding phage activity in humans (good or bad) can be considered a golden chance for developing strategies that aim at the directed use of phages in favor of human health [9]. Fig 1 The Janus-Face of phages. The human microbiome is biogeographically structured across the four major habitats: the oral cavity, the gastrointestinal tract, the vagina, and the skin [10,11]. Each habitat is characterized by numerous sub-niches and surfaces harboring a myriad of bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses, most of which are phages [9,12–14]. Given the distinctiveness of each body site, phage–bacterial interactions may be quite distinctive as well. However, some general principles may apply, such as the “kill the winner” hypothesis, which argues that the chances of superior (thus growing) bacterial populations encountering phages increases with increasing cell density [15]. This, in turn, initiates the decline of the “winner.” As a consequence, phages aid in sustaining bacterial diversity as they prevent overgrowth of certain bacterial species or strains over others. Clearly, more complex interactions may exist, and a number of models of how bacteria and phages may influence each other have been described recently [6].