Background: Female entrepreneurship has a crucial positive influence on the economy and social advances. Yet, women are still underrepresented in entrepreneurship and are often made to fit a male-centric western entrepreneurship stereotype. Further, many studies on entrepreneurship focus on one context and there is a lack of cross-cultural studies on influential factors and how female entrepreneurs can manage them. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to add to the literature about female entrepreneurship and its influential factors and related management aspects. We utilise a feminist theory lens, which suggests women should be viewed on their own to add female perspectives to literature and broaden the understanding of entrepreneurship. We further follow a cross-cultural comparison between Germany and South Africa as developed and developing contexts, which provides richer and newer insights into the variety of influential factors. Method: Methodologically, this study is based on qualitative interviews and an exploratory research design. In an abductive grounded theory approach, we have interviewed five German female entrepreneurs and five South African female entrepreneurs. In semi-structured interviews, we could gain significant insights from female entrepreneurs about their journey. We further utilised a comparative analysis to sufficiently view the similarities and differences between the two contexts. Conclusion: Through this study, we were able to compare findings from previous studies and further identified new areas that have not been previously studied. We realised that many internal factors are crucial for female entrepreneurship, and we identified five major categories of influential and managing factors.

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Submitted by Ricardo Boeing da Silveira (ricardoboeing@hotmail.com) on 2012-12-21T02:10:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO Dissertation -Versão Entrega Final.pdf: 3100930 bytes, checksum: 812983d7901c1503074e9f0db58f8095 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2012-12-21T10:31:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO Dissertation -Versão Entrega Final.pdf: 3100930 bytes, checksum: 812983d7901c1503074e9f0db58f8095 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-12-21T11:23:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO Dissertation -Versão Entrega Final.pdf: 3100930 bytes, checksum: 812983d7901c1503074e9f0db58f8095 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-29 / The broader objective of this study undertaking can briefly be articulated in particulate aims as follows: to measure the attitudes of consumers regarding the brand displayed by this strategy as well as to highlight recall, recognition and purchase intentions generated by product placement on consumers. In addition, check the differences and similarities between the behavior of Brazilian and American consumers caused by the influence of product placements. The study was undertaken targeting consumer audience in Brazil and the U.S. A rang3 modeling set ups were performed in order to realign study instruments and hypothesis towards the research objectives. This study gave focus on the following hypothesized models. H1: Consumers / Participants who viewed the brands / products in the movie have a higher brand / product recall compared to the consumers / participants who did not view the brands / products in the movie. H2: US Consumers / Participants are able to recognize and recall brands / products which appear in the background of the movie than Brazil. H3: Consumers / participants from USA are more accepting of product placements compared to their counterparts in Brazil. H4: There are discernible similarities in consumer / participant brand attitudes and purchase intentions in consumers / participants from USA and Brazil in spite of the fact that their country of origin is different. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient ensured the reliability of survey instruments. The study involved the use of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for the hypothesis testing. This study used the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to assess both the convergent and discriminant validities instead of using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) or the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This reinforced for the use of the regression Chi Square and T statistical tests in further. Only hypothesis H3 was rejected, the rest were not. T test provided insight findings on specific subgroup significant differences. In the SEM testing, the error variance for product placement attitudes was negative for both the groups. On this The Heywood Case came in handy to fix negative values. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative approach where closed ended questionnaires and interviews respectively were used to collect primary data. The results were additionally provided with tabulations. It can be concluded that, product placement varies markedly in the U.S. from Brazil based on the influence a range of factors provided in the study. However, there are elements of convergence probably driven by the convergence in technology. In order, product placement to become more competitive in the promotional marketing, there will be the need for researchers to extend focus from the traditional variables and add knowledge on the conventional marketplace factors that is the sell-ability of the product placement technologies and strategies.

Helicopter parenting has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in families with adult children. Due to its developmentally inappropriate nature, helicopter parenting sometimes serves as a risk factor for children. In addition, culture and parents’ gender shape parenting and adult children’s outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to identify multidimensional constructs of helicopter parenting among college students and describe how latent classes of helicopter parenting of mothers and fathers are related to college students’ game and social media addictive behaviors in the United States and China. Using a three-step latent class approach, data from 1402 mother and young-adult child (MC) and 1225 father and young-adult child (FC) pairs in the United States and 527 MC and 426 FC pairs in China were analyzed. Four helicopter parenting latent classes (strong, strong but weak direct intervention, weak but strong academic management, and weak) were identified among MC and FC pairs in the United States, but three latent classes (strong, strong but weak direct intervention, and weak) were identified in China. In addition, college students whose parents were in the strong helicopter parenting class reported a higher level of game and social media addictive behaviors than those in weak and weak but strong academic management classes in the United States, but not in China. These findings indicate that helicopter parenting is multidimensional in nature in both American and Chinese families, but the impact of helicopter parenting on college students’ game and social media addictive behaviors differs between the two countries.

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It has been reported that Asian people have negative views of mental illness, including beliefs that it is incurable and shameful. Asian people also tend to attribute causes of mental disorders to factors less susceptible to personal influence such as supernatural factors, and are likely to have an external health locus of control which reflects beliefs that health outcomes are a product of external factors such as luck. In the present study, each of the above constructs were compared between American and Asian students. In addition, the above constructs were used to predict self-report of utilization of various treatment modalities. Four inventories were developed to assess the above constructs and treatment preferences. Reliability and validity of the new measures were examined. Results revealed that Asian students were more likely than American students to identify psychological disorder as shameful and its sufferers as socially untrustworthy and dangerous. Asian students were also more likely to attribute the causes of psychological disorder to supernatural factors than American students, and were more likely to seek folk medicine remedies for psychological disorder than were American students were. Both American and Asian students endorsed family care as the most preferable treatment approach, followed by psychological intervention, medical intervention, folk medicine intervention, and no treatment. An internal mental health locus of control predicted participants' willingness to seek no treatment. Among Asian students, beliefs in the untrustworthiness of the mentally ill predicted their willingness to seek folk medicine treatment. Attribution of psychological disorder to supernatural causes predicted their unwillingness to seek medical treatment. Among American students, an internal mental health locus of control predicted participants' willingness to seek no treatment. Attribution of supernatural causes and an internal mental health locus of control predicted their willingness to seek folk medicine treatment. A belief that mentally ill people were untrustworthy predicted a preference for medical interventions. / Master of Science

The present study examined how acculturation, mental health problems, and parenting stress are associated with two dimensions of father involvement longitudinally for Latino and Chinese immigrant fathers using a nationally representative sample of young children and their resident fathers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). After controlling for a variety of individual and demographic characteristics and previous levels of father involvement, results from multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that immigrant fathers' English proficiency is negatively associated with care-taking involvement at 2 years, but positively associated with care-taking involvement at 4 years. Interestingly, mothers' English proficiency is also positively associated with fathers' care-taking involvement at 2 years. In addition, fathers' US citizenship is positively associated with care-taking involvement at 2 years. Finally, mothers' US citizenship is negatively associated with fathers' literacy or language involvement at 2 years. In contrast with the hypotheses, no significant differences between Latino and Chinese immigrant fathers were found. Findings suggest that some dimensions of acculturation affect different dimensions of father involvement across different groups of immigrants, and the impacts may remain significant even four years after the child birth.

價值觀與生活型態是消費者從事各項消費行為的基礎，透過價值觀及生活型態可以解釋及預測消費者行為，因此對於研究消費者行為是相當重要的基礎主題之一。Rokeach (1973) 認為價值觀是一種持久的信念，這樣的信念使個人或社會對於某些特定的行為模式或是事情的結果產生偏好。Lazer (1963) 將生活型態定義為一種有特性的生活模式，代表某一個群體或社會有別於其他群體之特徵，這些特徵之差異來自於文化、價值觀及資源等綜合影響的結果。過去學者研究消費者的價值觀及生活型態時，多半以單一國家的消費者為主，雖然也有學者比較跨文化的消費者生活型態，但仍以美歐等地之研究居多。因此，本研究藉由交換至法國的機會，於當地進行消費者調查，取得第一手資料，以瞭解當地消費者生活型態及消費價值觀，並與台灣消費者進行跨文化比較。 本研究採滾雪球法抽樣，深度訪談十三位法國消費者及十九位台灣消費者。訪談內容為消費價值觀及生活型態等主題，包括工作與休閒生活、家庭及朋友關係、消費模式及金錢分配方式，並導出相關命題如：台灣人較法國人之價格敏感度高、台灣人較法國人具有品牌意識、台灣人在消費時較法國人具他人導向、台灣人較法國人具投資理財觀、台灣人較法國人重視工作所帶來的金錢滿足以及台灣人較法國人對婚姻關係有較高的期待等命題。 此外，本研究並探討消費價值觀如何具體影響消費者的生活型態及消費模式，透過本研究可發現：價格敏感度高的消費者，會隨著折扣或低價而調整其消費頻率；具他人導向的消費者會傾向購買外顯性的名牌產品，也較易受他人影響而產生衝動性消費行為。 藉由本研究可瞭解兩地消費價值觀及生活型態之差異，廠商進入兩地市場時，可參考本研究結果設計適合當地消費者之行銷策略，以期更貼近消費者需求。 / Values and lifestyles can be the foundation of most kinds of consumptions. Therefore, studying values and lifestyles is of importance for marketers to explain and predict consumers’behavior. According to Rokeach (1973), a value is defined as “an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.”As for lifestyle, it is defined as“a distinctive or characteristic mode of living (Lazer, 1963). Past studies concerning values and lifestyles mostly focused consumers in one country. Even though some studies dealed with cross-cultural comparison, they usually compared two or more markets in American and European. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the lifestyles and consumption values of consumers in Taiwan and France to do a cross-cultural comparison between Taiwanese and French consumers. Thirteen French consumers and nineteen Taiwanese consumers were interviewed during this study. The interview questions were regarding to lifestyles and consumption values, such as respondents' work and leisure life, relations with family and friends, consumption patterns and the way to allocate money. Some important propositions are derived based on content analysis: Taiwanese consumers have higher price sensitivity, more brand consciousness, higher other-oriented degree and more saving and investment concept than French consumers. Besides, Taiwanese people place more importance on the salary of work and have higher expectation about marriage than French consumers. Furthermore, this study also discusses how consumption values influence consumers' lifestyles and consumption patterns. It reveals that consumers with higher price sensitivity will adjust their consumption patterns according to discount frequencies. Besides, people-oriented consumers tend to choose prestige brands and have more impulsive consumptions under the influence of friends. The findings of this reseach can provide suggestions to marketers in these two markets to develop marketing strategies corresponding with the values and lifestyles of local consumers.

中、東歐十國加入歐盟後，發展引起世界關注，而擁有最多人口的波蘭更是備受矚目；近年來波蘭中產階級增加，消費力提高，令研究者興起瞭解波蘭消費者的念頭。消費者的價值觀與生活型態會影響消費行為，對研究消費者行為是十分重要的主題。然而過去與消費者價值觀與生活型態相關的研究大多以單一國家之消費者為主，跨文化比較以歐美研究為多，故研究者利用到波蘭交換的機會，進行消費者生活型態與消費價值觀之調查研究，以取得第一手資料，然後與台灣消費者作比較。 本研究以滾雪球法進行抽樣，深度訪談15位波蘭消費者與19位台灣消費者。訪談內容涵蓋生活型態與消費價值觀各面向，經過分析後發現兩地消費者於金錢配置、儲蓄理財觀、信用卡使用習慣、價格取向、他人導向、品牌觀、服飾消費模式、婚姻觀、家庭觀、工作觀、宗教觀、環保觀、助人觀等方面的差異，並推導出相關命題，如：台灣消費者的價格敏感度和他人導向程度較波蘭消費者高；台灣人和波蘭人相比，與原生家庭的關係較為密切、對婚姻關係也有較高的期待，並且更具環保概念等。 除此之外，本研究也探究消費價值觀、生活型態及消費行為間的關係。本研究發現價格敏感度高的消費者傾向選擇於較便宜的通路，以及在特價的時候購物，消費次數較一般人來得少，也少有衝動性消費與犒賞自己的行為產生，而且消費時不太在意品牌，通常是購買平價的品牌；然而注重價格之餘，這些消費者也會注意商品的質感，不希望別人發現該商品很廉價。另外，具環保觀念的人，傾向有需要才購物；在衣著方面，購買次數不多，且重視品質、材質與持久性，不願買路邊攤，但也不會買很貴品牌的服飾，也不會跟隨潮流；而這些具環保理念的人與其他人相比，較注重健康或養生。 本研究結果在學術上有助於拓展國內碩士論文的跨文化研究領域，以及建立跨文化消費價值觀與生活型態之訪談大綱；在實務方面，能夠提供欲進入兩地市場的廠商一些開發市場與行銷策略的建議。 / Central and Eastern European countries have attracted worldwide attention since 10 Central and Eastern European countries joined the European Union. Among these countries, Poland, the country with the largest population among these nations, gains the most attention. In recent years, the middle class in Poland has increased, and consumer purchasing power has enhanced. These have raised more and more researchers’ interests to investigate Poland consumer’s bevaviors. Values and lifestyles affect consumer behavior. Therefore, Values and lifestyles are important subjects in consumer behavior research. However, past studies concerning values and lifestyles mostly focused on consumers in a single country. Furthermore, the literature about cross-cultural comparative analysis emphasizes on comparing more than two markets in American as well as those in Europe. Thus, this study aims to compare the lifestyles and consumption values between Taiwanese and Polish consumers. This study uses snow ball method to find appropriate samples. 15 Polish respondents and 19 Taiwanese respondents were interviewed in this study. The interview covers various aspects with regards to lifestyles and consumption values. The results showed that there are differences between Polish and Taiwanese consumers in money arrangement, credit card usage, clothing consumption patterns, brand perception and so on. Besides, some propositions that are derived from content analysis include: Taiwanese consumers are more price sensitive and other-oriented, and have higher expectations about marriage, closer relationships with their family of origin, and are more conscious about environmental protection than Polish consumers. This study also discusses the relationship among consumption values, lifestyles and consumer behavior. It reveals that consumers with higher price sensitivity prefer to make purchases in places that sell cheaper things, and in stores with discounts. They expend less frequently than most people, and seldom have impulsive consumption behaviors or reward themselves. They do not really care about brands and usually buy cheap brands. Furthermore, people who are environmentally friendly tend to go shopping only when they have actual needs. In clothing aspect, they do not buy frequently, and put emphasis on quality, material and persistence. They are not willing to buy clothes from street vendors, but they also do not buy from expensive brands. Moreover, they do not follow the trend. Compared with others, they pay more attention to keep their health well. This study helps to expand the domain of cross-cultural research and develops an interview outline for cross-cultural consumer values and lifestyles. More importantly, this study provides some suggestion to those who are willing to enter Taiwanese or Polish markets.