The Influence of Familial Reference Groups on Consumer Decisions in Different Culture Context

This paper examines the influence of familial reference groups on individuals＇ product and brand decisions for products across two kinds of culture. The study is addressed through an examination of intergenerational influences across the two different cultures. The results of the study lend support to the original approach and also provide an insight look into how reference group influence may vary depending on different culture context. The paper also provides very useful advice for marketers when they apply western marketing concepts in China market.

Level of Labor Pain, Level of Labor Pain Behaviors, and Cultural Pain Behaviors among First-Time Indonesian Muslim Mothers

Background: Many factors influence the expressions of pain in primiparous women aside from contractions of the uterus. Objective: This study aimed to describe the level labor pain, level of labor pain behaviors based on cultural pain behaviors at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation or the beginning of the active phase of labor among primiparous Muslim women in Indonesia. Methods: This was a study with 42 primiparous Muslim women who gave birth in the labor room at Bhinneka Bhakti Husada Hospital and Community Health Center Pamulang, Indonesia from June until January 2017. The women were asked to describe on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale the intensity of level of labor pain in their abdomen during the last contractions at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation, and Pain Behaviors Observation Scale to observe pain behaviors. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings showed that the mean score of level of labor pain at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation was 86.38 (SD = 4.47) and most participants experienced high level of labor pain (97.6%). The expression of cultural labor pain behaviors including saying praises to Allah, Asma’aul husna, reciting the Qur’an, sholawat.

Regional Dialect Diversity and Corporate Strategic Aggressiveness

As an important role of the regional culture,dialects have a significant influence on the corporate strategy.Diversity of dialects appears to move firms towards strategic radicalization by weakening the“hometown effect”,enhancing innovation awareness,and increasing the diversification of business.Using A-share listed companies from 2006 to 2018 as sample,based on information from the annual financial statements,this paper argues that higher dialect diversity in the city where enterprise is located leads the corporate strategy to be more aggressive;and the mismatch between strategy and dialectal environment will have a negative effect on corporate performance.After a series of robustness tests and using instrumental variables to solve endogenous problems,the conclusions remain consistent.Further study indicates that the influence of dialect diversity on strategy is enhanced as managers’awareness of the dialectal environment increases,but is weaken if the enterprise is a state-owned enterprise or has larger scale.This research reveals the connection between dialect culture and corporate behavior form a strategic level,provides empirical evidence and enriches the literature for the traditional view of“culture influences strategy”,and has significance on promoting the corporate strategic management practices.