Browsing by Author "Mourali, Mehdi"
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- ItemOpen AccessApplying the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution to the Northern Gateway Pipeline Conflict(2016) Szabo, Mark; Keenan, Tom; Musiani, Marco; Wylant, Barry; Falkenberg, Loren; Mourali, Mehdi; Seel, KevinThis dissertation addresses the problem of how to make sense of environmental conflicts in a way that is both practical enough to direct strategy, and comprehensive enough to encompass the full range of the conflict. I make three contributions towards solving this problem. First, after examining the literature from several different disciplines, I determine the attributes required for an effective sensemaking framework for environmental conflicts, and further conclude that the Graph Model of Conflict Resolution (“GMCR”) meets those criteria. Specifically, theat framework should be multidisciplinary, include a systems approach, allow for non-rational behaviour, embrace multiple theoretical constructs, facilitate an iterative resolution approach, and utilize one of several methodological approaches to account for time series data. Second, using Northern Gateway as an example, I develop an approach forto simplifying a complicated conflict, using Northern Gateway as an example, into the kind of inputs the GMCR is equipped to handle, resulting in with the result ofbroadening its application to conflicts that are more nuanced than currently researched in the literature. Third, I support further research by recommending how to improve the choice of decision-makers in the model, suggesting a protocol for primary qualitative validation of the model using subject matter experts, outlining parameters for use in iteratively refining the simulation model, clarifying limitations of the GMCR approach, and suggesting opportunities for further research. I conclude that a useful way to make sense out of a complex environmental conflict is to, counterintuitively, simplify it in the context of the participants’ next unilateral decisions, and use the GMCR approach to determine possible future states of conflict equilibrium.
- ItemOpen AccessAttitudes, behaviours and barriers to public health measures for COVID-19: a survey to inform public health messaging(2021-04-21) Lang, Raynell; Benham, Jamie L; Atabati, Omid; Hollis, Aidan; Tombe, Trevor; Shaffer, Blake; Burns, Katharina K; MacKean, Gail; Léveillé, Tova; McCormack, Brandi; Sheikh, Hasan; Fullerton, Madison M; Tang, Theresa; Boucher, Jean-Christophe; Constantinescu, Cora; Mourali, Mehdi; Manns, Braden J; Marshall, Deborah A; Hu, Jia; Oxoby, Robert JAbstract Background Public support of public health measures including physical distancing, masking, staying home while sick, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and contact tracing/exposure notification applications remains critical for reducing spread of COVID-19. The aim of our work was to understand current behaviours and attitudes towards public health measures as well as barriers individuals face in following public health measures. We also sought to identify attitudes persons have regarding a COVID-19 vaccine and reasons why they may not accept a vaccine. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in August 2020, in Alberta, Canada in persons 18 years and older. This survey evaluated current behaviours, barriers and attitudes towards public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine. Cluster analysis was used to identify key patterns that summarize data variations among observations. Results Of the 60 total respondents, the majority of persons were always or often physically distancing (73%), masking (65%) and staying home while sick (67%). Bars/pubs/lounges or nightclubs were visited rarely or never by 63% of respondents. Persons identified staying home while sick to provide the highest benefit (83%) in reducing spread of COVID-19. There were a large proportion of persons who had not downloaded or used a contact tracing/exposure notification app (77%) and who would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine when available (20%) or were unsure (12%). Reporting health authorities as most trusted sources of health information was associated with greater percentage of potential uptake of vaccine but not related to contact tracing app download and use. Individuals with lower concern of getting and spreading COVID-19 showed the least uptake of public health measures except for avoiding public places such as bars. Lower concern regarding COVID-19 was also associated with more negative responses to taking a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion These results suggest informational frames and themes focusing on individual risks, highlighting concern for COVID-19 and targeting improving trust for health authorities may be most effective in increasing public health measures. With the ultimate goal of preventing spread of COVID-19, understanding persons’ attitudes towards both public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine remains critical to addressing barriers and implementing targeted interventions and messaging to improve uptake.
- ItemOpen AccessExamining the Role of Inequality in Security Consumption(2022-12-20) Novakowski, Dallas; Mourali, Mehdi; Agarwal, James; Radford, Scott; Goode, Miranda; Gibbs Van Brunschot, ErinA growing body of evidence suggests that economic inequality causes humans to take more risks and engage in aggressive behaviours. In a ‘winner-takes-all’ environment, risky activities such as gambling, lying, and crime can be a person’s only means of keeping up with competitors and accessing contested resources. There is comparatively little research investigating whether people anticipate risk-taking and conflict from their neighbors in unequal environments. An informative context for examining the distrust-inducing effects of inequality is the security market, which offers goods that protect customers from the actions of malicious agents. For instance, barred windows are purchased because they (supposedly) protect consumers from break-ins. Given the costly nature of these security products, security consumption is generally only worthwhile if a consumer expects that other people have harmful intentions. This project provides evidence that economic inequality increases consumers’ willingness to purchase security products through three studies: 1) experimental manipulations of inequality in an economic game context, 2) experimental manipulations of distributional fairness and income visibility, and 3) multilevel analyses of the effects of nation-level inequality (k = 32) on individuals’ consumption of security goods (n = 79,776).
- ItemOpen AccessIs Accounting a (Fe)Male Profession?(2016) Ounlert, Nadharatch; Rahaman, Abu; Cooper, David; Lehman, Cheryl; Warsame, Hussein; Mourali, Mehdi; Madibbo, AmalThe study in this thesis is not only motivated in part by my interest in how and why accounting in Thailand seems gendered differently from that in prior accounting studies, but also by the call to enrich gender issues in accounting research by including non-Western contexts (Haynes, 2016; Komori, 2015). Gender is a pervasive social phenomenon that intertwines with accounting (Hopwood, 1987). Socio-cultural, economic, and geographical differences influence the gendering process in the accounting profession (Haynes, in press). Despite much research on gender issues in accounting, little is known regarding the accounting profession in Thailand, where accounting is seen as a woman’s area. This study analyses interviews and documentary data about the accounting profession in Thailand. In Thai society, cultural capital that is influenced by characteristics of men and women is closely linked to the accounting profession as a predominantly female area although men occupy the upper echelon of power with the acceptance of women. Analyses in this study reveal double symbolic violence in the accounting profession in the Thai context. At one level, the profession is stereotyped so that men are more likely to be discouraged from pursuing accounting because the profession is naturally seen as a woman’s area. At another level, the existing embodied capital of women is reinterpreted as unfavourable for senior management. Therefore, women are likely to accept that men should assume the leadership role. Masculine domination is symbolic of administration (Bourdieu, 2001), such that management seems to be gendered separately from the accounting profession. The gendering of the accounting profession and of management results in limits on the full capabilities of men and women in contributing to society. The lack of true equality results in silent suppression of some men, whose skills are suitable for accounting, from entering and thriving in the profession, and in the silent prevention of some women from fully realising their ability to competently execute managerial roles.
- ItemOpen AccessLaw Firm Mergers Among Canadian Law Firms: The Effect on Lawyer Retention(2016) Ho, Michael Oliver; Beaulieu, Eugene; Tingle, Bryce; Mourali, Mehdi; Whalley, AlexanderBefore the turn of the 20th century the Canadian legal environment experienced a surge in mergers of local law firms to form law firms with a national presence. More recently, instances of law firm mergers once again increased, this time on an international basis. Notwithstanding these trends, the general effect of law firm mergers on lawyer retention is unknown. The aim of this research is to collect the data necessary to analyze whether law firm mergers had any impact on lawyer retention at merged law firms. Using a 20-year sample of data collected specifically for this research growth rates were calculated and compared for 28 instances of mergers. Analysis of the data reveals that while there were similar trends between law firms that did merge and those that did not, law firms that participated in mergers generally had smaller growth rates than those law firms that did not merge.
- ItemOpen AccessRegulatory fit from attribute-based versus alternative-based processing in decision making(Elsevier, 2009) Mourali, Mehdi; Pons, FrankThis paper discusses the fit between attribute-based versus alternative-based processing and regulatory focus, and its impact on decision outcome valuation. Attribute-based processing was found to occur more frequently under prevention focus, whereas alternative-based processing occurred more frequently under promotion focus. The fit between prevention/promotion focus and attribute-based/alternative-based processing was found to enhance satisfaction with choices and the perceived monetary value of chosen options. Moreover, the effect of fit on outcome valuation was found to be mediated by ease of processing. Finally, the effects of fit on ease of processing and outcome valuation disappeared when consumers first practiced to process information based on either attributes or alternatives.
- ItemOpen AccessResources and Customer Engagement Behaviours(2020-05-07) Zeng, Xianfang; Mourali, Mehdi; Mourali, Mehdi; Agarwal, James; Radford, Keith Scott; Fung, Tak S; Hoegg, JoAndreaCustomers do not just passively receive market offerings. Empowered by advanced communication technologies, they have ample opportunities to engage with firms. Faced with limited firm resources, marketers would benefit from leveraging resources from customers through their engagement behaviours. This dissertation explores resources and customer engagement behaviours (CEBs). It includes two essays: “A Resource-Based Perspective of Customer Engagement Behaviours: Definition, Typology, and Conceptual Framework (with Research Propositions),” and “The Effect of Effort Level on Consumer Knowledge Behaviour.” Given the prevalence and diversity of CEBs, it may be cost-effective to formulate engagement strategies based on different types of CEBs. Essay 1 offers a definition and typology of CEBs, and then proposes a conceptual framework based on this typology. The framework deals with (a) the main effects of perceived engagement benefits and costs (and risks) on customers’ intention to perform a broad array of CEBs and (b) the boundary conditions for these effects. In Essay 2, the primary research focus is on how the required effort level of an engagement task influences consumers’ intention to undertake knowledge behaviour. This effect is mediated by perceived probability of success (i.e., the first mediator) and perceived value of engagement (i.e., the second mediator). Three lab experiments with different effort manipulations support that the mediators operate in tandem such that the mediating effect of the second mediator depends on the first one. The second essay also examines the moderating role of consumer mindsets (i.e., fixed vs. growth) and supports the moderating effect of situational (but not chronic) mindsets on the impact of effort level on perceived engagement value.
- ItemOpen AccessRunner's World meets Runners' Worlds: Female Recreational Athletes, Ideal Bodies, and Fitness Advertising(2019-04-24) Drake, Carly; Radford, K. Scott; Nelson, Fiona; Mourali, Mehdi; Woiceshyn, Jaana; Moules, Nancy Jean; Fischer, Eileen M.The historically masculine realm of sport has not always been welcoming to women. Today, women have found a place in sport culture, but contemporary media remind them they may only occupy a certain place – namely, as objects whose bodies are public goods available for interested parties to judge. In this dissertation, I argue that this discourse is linked to a combination of neoliberal ideology and post-feminist sentiment that valorizes a form of aspirational femininity in which women are both subjects and objects. I combine the use of post-structuralist feminist theory and a hermeneutic methodology to investigate if and how advertisements in fitness magazines participate in sport culture’s “here is a place for you”/“know your place” discourse, and how female recreational athletes engage with such advertisements to construct an embodied sense of self. Focusing on the context of recreational endurance running, I accomplish these tasks across two interlinked studies: (1) a critical reading of fitness advertisements found in popular North American running magazines, including Runner’s World; and (2) semi-structured interviews with 26 female recreational runners. Through the critical reading, I argue that advertisements address the body as a machine, prescribing and normalizing an obsession with athletics. They glorify the pursuit of the ideal running body through athletics, and discount women’s potential in and contributions to sport. In this way, advertisements function as a “biopedagogy,” or “body-becoming pedagogy,” that teaches consumers how a suitable body appears and functions. My interpretation of the semi-structured interviews shows that participants engage in a process I title “strategic ideological filtering” in order to negotiate advertising’s images of the ideal body. Through this process, the women assess advertising’s gendered neoliberal sentiment in order to take up aspects that suit them and discard or modify those that do not. For this reason, I argue that although fitness advertising is indeed a powerful force in consumer culture, female consumers exhibit a form of agency that counters a common narrative surrounding their victimization. These findings contribute to theory on gendered sporting embodiment, as well as advertising, and offer implications for marketing and advertising practitioners seeking to create advertisements that support, rather than marginalize, women in sport.
- ItemOpen AccessSport Celebrity Scandal: Consumer Attitude towards the Sponsoring Brand(2014-05-02) Hardwicke-Brown, Emeleigh; Kulchitsky, Jack; Mourali, MehdiAdding to previous research grounded in sport celebrity scandal, this study used an experimental design to focus on consumer attitude following an athlete's involvement in scandal. Specifically, consumer attitude towards a brand following the post-scandal decision to continue or terminate the relationship with the athlete was examined. Athlete loyal consumers were the main focus of the study. Brand loyalty and severity of the scandal‘s impact on consumer attitude after the sponsor’s decision were also studied. Four hypotheses were grounded in theory and tested using ANOVA. Results demonstrated that athlete loyal consumers had a significantly more positive attitude when the decision was to terminate the relationship. Brand loyal consumers reported a more positive attitude towards the brand regardless of the sponsor’s relationship decision, and severity of the scandal did not have a significant impact. Results provide insight on what relationship decision fosters a more positive attitude towards the brand.
- ItemOpen AccessSupervisor Unforgiveness in the Workplace: A Risk Protection Framework(2017) Stackhouse, Madelynn Raissa Dawn; Falkenberg, Loren; Ogunfowora, Babatunde; Mourali, Mehdi; Weinhardt, Justin; Griep, Yannick; Bobocel, RamonaAlthough there is growing interest in forgiveness in the workplace as a positive outcome for repairing workplace relationships, little is known about unforgiveness in response to workplace transgressions. This dissertation explores the conditions in which unforgiveness may be a functional response to a transgression. An exploratory qualitative study of supervisor narratives of subordinate transgressions systematically analyzed the nature of workplace unforgiveness, how it differs from forgiveness, and its functional value within the context of supervisor-subordinate relationships (Study 1). While forgiven narratives tended to minimize the offender’s role in the offense, unforgiven narratives tended to emphasize the negative consequences of the offense and portray the offense as diagnostic of moral flaws in the offender’s character. Additionally, in line with a risk protection view of unforgiveness, unforgiven narratives emphasized more rigorous behavioral safeguards to prevent the incident from reoccurring (e.g., changing policies, choosing not to assign future consequential tasks to the transgressor) compared to forgiven narratives. A quantitative critical incident study (Study 2) demonstrates that stronger supervisor unforgiveness post-transgression predicts greater use of task-based and relational exclusion as safeguards. This study further demonstrates that the positive links between supervisor unforgiveness and both types of exclusion safeguards are mediated by self-protection motives. Finally, an experimental study (Study 3) demonstrates that supervisors who express unforgiveness of a subordinate’s offense are viewed as more effective and less passive by third party observers compared to supervisors that forgive. The study also shows that supervisors who express unforgiveness engender reduced team member intentions to turnover from the team and improved team member satisfaction. Study 3 further demonstrates that these effects are mediated by the “doormat effect” – that is, compared to forgiving supervisors, unforgiving supervisors are less likely to be viewed as individuals who let others take advantage of them. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for future studies of workplace forgiveness and unforgiveness and the practical benefits of supervisor unforgiveness under certain circumstances.
- ItemOpen AccessThree Essays on Customers in Waits.(2022-03) Lin, Yizhe; Agarwal, James; Mourali, Mehdi; Radford, Scott; Yang, Zhiyong; McGrath, DanielWaiting is an important topic that deserves more scholarly examination given its ubiquity, its substantial impact, and its diversity and complexity. This thesis attempts to offer firms potential solutions to waiting issues by investigating customers’ perceptions, thoughts, emotions, intentions, and behaviors in waits. Specifically, I examine customers’ perceptions and responses to waits in the service (Essay 1), customers’ decision-making about waiting for new products (Essay 2), and customers’ intention to delay their redemptions of rewards in loyalty programs (Essay 3). The selection of these three waiting scenarios covers the diversity inherent in waiting issues and yet sharing a commonality of ‘delay’. In the first essay, I propose that customers see service waits as both an inherent component of the service and an extra cost to the service, and I examine how these two perspectives shape customers’ responses to service waits. In the second essay, I found that customers’ decision to wait for the future product could be influenced by whether the product is introduced with an emphasis on hedonic or utilitarian aspect, and I reveal two distinct underlying mechanisms for the effect. In the third essay, I investigate customers’ redemption from the goal theory perspective, and I compare strategic customers, who delay redemptions for larger rewards, to non-strategic customers in the model.
- ItemOpen AccessWorking Together toward a Better Brand: Customer-Based Brand Equity and Co-Creation of Value with Consumers(2020-03-30) Farrokhi, Mohammad; Radford, Scott K.; Mourali, Mehdi; Andrus, Deborah; Calvert, Ann; DiBenedetto, AnthonyCustomer-based brand equity (CBBE) is an important marketing asset. Despite numerous previous studies on CBBE, there is still the need for a comprehensive conceptual framework to be used as a guideline for both academics and practitioners. This thesis is an effort to integrate the relationship between CBBE and many important marketing constructs into a comprehensive framework that help both scholars and practitioners in building and improving CBBE. Then, considering the increasing interaction opportunities between customers and brands, due to the constant advances in technology, the current dissertation explores the relationship between co-creation of value with customers, as a relatively new construct, and CBBE. Chapter 2 explains why CBBE is a fundamental construct in brand building and explains the important constructs of interaction, value, and co-creation of value with customers. Chapter 3 uses these constructs to form a theoretical framework for CBBE that explains how important marketing concepts stand in relation with CBBE. After forming the theoretical foundation of CBBE, this thesis uses multiple quantitative methods to test those theories. First, in chapter 4, numerous previous quantitative studies on CBBE are used in a meta-analysis to test the strength of relationship between proposed constructs and CBBE. Meta-analysis is complemented by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test the fitness of the proposed framework. In chapters 5, 6, and 7, multiple experiments are used to test the CBBE and co-creation of value with customers relationship, using both online and lab settings, student and general population samples, in a product as well as a service context. This research shows co-creation of value with customers has a direct positive effect on CBBE. Finally, the role of process enjoyment and self-efficacy as moderators of co-creation and CBBE relationship are tested. The experiments’ outcome does not support the moderating role of process enjoyment or self-efficacy in terms of statistical significance, but data depicts promising patterns of effect size that asks for more studies to better understand the moderating role of self-efficacy and process enjoyment. Findings of this manuscript cast new light on the significance of how important marketing constructs can help build CBBE, which can be used as a guideline for both academics and practitioners.