Reputation Criteria Research Articles

Comparing attentional disengagement between Prolific and MTurk samples

Attention often disengages from primary tasks in favor of secondary tasks (i.e., multitasking) and task-unrelated thoughts (i.e., mind wandering). We assessed whether attentional disengagement, in the context of a cognitive task, can substantially differ between samples from commonly used online participant recruitment platforms, Prolific and Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Initially, eighty participants were recruited through Prolific to perform an attention task in which the risk of losing points for errors was varied (high risk = 80% chance of loss, low risk = 20% chance of loss). Attentional disengagement was measured via task performance along with self-reported mind wandering and multitasking. On Prolific, we observed surprisingly low levels of disengagement. We then conducted the same experiment on MTurk. Strikingly, MTurk participants exhibited more disengagement than Prolific participants. There was also an interaction between risk and platform, with the high-risk group exhibiting less disengagement, in terms of better task performance, than the low-risk group, but only on MTurk. Platform differences in individual traits related to disengagement and relations among study variables were also observed. Platform differences persisted, but were smaller, after increasing MTurk reputation criteria and remuneration in a second experiment. Therefore, recruitment platform and recruitment criteria could impact results related to attentional disengagement.

Implementation of Additive Ratio Assessment Method in Decision Making on Fertilizer Supplier Selection at BBTPH Banyumas

The purpose of this study is to solve problems in the selection of fertilizer suppliers at BBTPH Banyumas by proposing a decision support system (DSS). The quality of fertilizer supplier performance that is less than meeting standards can have a direct effect on crop yields, affect the level of efficiency, and decrease the quality of horticultural commodities. Therefore, this study aims to obtain decisions on the most feasible suppliers to be partners in supplying fertilizers. The method used in this study is the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method which is a method for alternative ranking based on specified criteria. The criteria used are in the form of criteria data, namely quality, price, service, delivery, product, and warranty. Fertilizer supplier data is obtained from BBTPH Banyumas and processed using the ARAS method. The stages carried out are identifying criteria, weighting, determining alternatives, evaluating alternatives, calculating the score of each alternative and choosing the suggested solution. The results showed that the best fertilizer supplier was supplier A with an ARAS value of 0.421. Supplier A has advantages in price, quality, and reputation criteria. This research can provide recommendations to BBTPH Banyumas in choosing fertilizer suppliers that suit their needs and preferences. The ARAS method is very useful in solving complex problems and involves many factors. By using this approach, the decisions taken become more objective and supported by clear data. Therefore, the ARAS method can be adopted by other organizations to address similar problems.

The role of reputation in cross-regional buyer-supplier cooperation in public procurement

Relevance. The relevance of this study is determined by the growing trend of implementing approaches from the private sector in managing public procurement, such as suppliers’ reputation assessment. Although the suppliers’ reputation factor is a topic of current interest, both in research and in public procurement practice, there are ongoing discussions on the effects of the reputation criterion usage in public procurement, and some aspects have been insufficiently studied. Purpose of the study. This study examines the role of suppliers’ reputation factor in terms of interregional cooperation between public buyers and suppliers at the micro and regional levels. Data and methods. The analysis is based on a survey of public buyers in Russia, revealing procurers’ orientation on suppliers’ reputation factor and their involvement in cross-regional cooperation for micro-level analysis. With the help of open data on public procurement contracts, a grouping of Russian regions by the share of suppliers from other regions is proposed. The combination of open data analysis and survey results is then used to explore the role of reputation in terms of interregional cooperation. Results. The analysis shows that a suppliers’ reputation factor is of particular importance when more than half of a buyers’ suppliers are from other regions. Also, suppliers’ reputation is of major significance for public buyers in regions that are more involved in contracting with suppliers from other regions. Thus, the importance of the suppliers’ reputation factor, in terms of interregional cooperation, is confirmed both at the micro level of procurers’ purchases and at the regional level. Conclusion. For effective management of contractual relationships in public procurement, it is important to understand the effects and the role of considering the reputation of suppliers. The study focused on one of the insufficiently explored aspects of suppliers’ reputation in public procurement. The results may be of interest both to regulators and direct procurement participants – public buyers and suppliers.

Developing a Measure for Online Shopping Mall Reputation (OSMR)

This study was conducted with the purpose of developing and validating multidimensional reputation criteria for evaluating online shopping malls, which have been growing explosively since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Delphi study was conducted with a group of 31 professionals, and the initial items for online shopping mall reputation were derived from that study. Those items were used to devise a questionnaire that was administered to 531 consumers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in 17 items based on four factors: reliability, technical skills, customer service, and accessibility. Convergent and discriminant validity were verified between the factors. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to verify the nomological validity of the scale. This online shopping mall reputation scale is expected to provide a standard for companies to effectively manage the reputations of online shopping malls in the future and for consumers to choose online shopping malls they can trust.

Antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation from a customer perspective in Takaful (Islamic insurance) industry

The Takaful (Islamic Insurance) industry is still in infancy in the UAE. Almost eighty percent of the insurance industry is conventional, and the remaining is Takaful. A firm’s reputation is one of its most important intangibles resources, and it is a major source of competitive advantage and to improve financial performance. Many of the customers choosing their service provider consider reputation criteria among other factors. It is worth determining the antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation in the Takaful industry so that marketers can improve the reputation of their service providers and their industry by using various strategies to increase the loyalty and word of mouth among Takaful customers. The sample size is 325, and data was gathered from Takaful customers who have car Takaful policies. Scale and items for each construct were initially gathered from existing literature and then refined with the help of academic and industry experts. The measurement instrument used was analysed for reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The research hypotheses were tested by using structural equation modelling. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), customer satisfaction, trust, and social media engagement proved to be most important antecedents of Takaful service providers. The findings suggest that Takaful marketers should consider in investing in effective reputation strategies to gain loyalty and perceived customer value. The study provides valuable insights into the antecedents and consequences of corporate reputation in the Takaful industry. Since this study focuses only on Takaful industry and was cross-sectional, further studies need to be done. This study found that corporate reputation is influenced by national culture, and it suggests effective strategies to improve the reputation of Takaful service providers compare to their counterparts in conventional insurance.

Evolutionary stability of first-order-information indirect reciprocity in sizable groups

Indirect reciprocity is considered as a key mechanism for explaining the evolution of cooperation in situations where the same individuals interact only a few times. Under indirect reciprocity, an individual who helps others gets returns indirectly from others who know her good reputation. Recently, many studies have discussed the effect of reputation criteria based only on the former actions of the others (first-order information) and of those based also on the former reputation of opponents of the others (second-order information) on the evolution of indirect reciprocity. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary stability of the indirectly reciprocal strategy (discriminating strategy: DIS), which cooperates only with opponents who have good reputations, in n ( > 2 ) -person games where more than two individuals take part in a single group (interaction). We show that in n -person games, DIS is an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) even under the image-scoring reputation criterion, which is based only on first-order information and where cooperations (defections) are judged to be good (bad). This result is in contrast to that of 2-person games where DIS is not an ESS under reputation criteria based only on first-order information.

Three-person game facilitates indirect reciprocity under image scoring

Reputation building plays an important role in the evolution of reciprocal altruism when the same individuals do not interact repeatedly because, by referring to reputation, a reciprocator can know which partners are cooperative and can reciprocate with a cooperator. This reciprocity based on reputation is called indirect reciprocity. Previous studies of indirect reciprocity have focused only on two-person games in which only two individuals participate in a single interaction, and have claimed that indirectly reciprocal cooperation cannot be established under image scoring reputation criterion where the reputation of an individual who has cooperated (defected) becomes good (bad). In this study, we specifically examine three-person games, and reveal that indirectly reciprocal cooperation can be formed and maintained stably, even under image scoring, by a nucleus shield mechanism. In the nucleus shield, reciprocators are a shield that keeps out unconditional defectors, whereas unconditional cooperators are the backbone of cooperation that retains a good reputation among the population.

Evolution of indirect reciprocity in groups of various sizes and comparison with direct reciprocity

Recently many studies have investigated the evolution of indirect reciprocity through which cooperative action is returned by a third individual, e.g. individual A helped B and then receives help from C. Most studies on indirect reciprocity have presumed that only two individuals take part in a single interaction ( group), e.g. A helps B and C helps A. In this paper, we investigate the evolution of indirect reciprocity when more than two individuals take part in a single group, and compare the result with direct reciprocity through which cooperative action is directly returned by the recipient. Our analyses show the following. In the population with discriminating cooperators and unconditional defectors, whether implementation error is included or not, (i) both strategies are evolutionarily stable and the evolution of indirect reciprocity becomes more difficult as group size increases, and (ii) the condition for the evolution of indirect reciprocity under standing reputation criterion where the third individuals distinguish between justified and unjustified defections is more relaxed than that under image scoring reputation criterion in which the third individuals do not distinguish with. Furthermore, in the population that also includes unconditional cooperators, (iii) in the presence of errors in implementation, the discriminating strategy is evolutionarily stable not only under standing but also under image scoring if group size is larger than two. Finally, (iv) in the absence of errors in implementation, the condition for the evolution of direct reciprocity is equivalent to that for the evolution of indirect reciprocity under standing, and, in the presence of errors, the condition for the evolution of direct reciprocity is very close to that for the evolution of indirect reciprocity under image scoring.