As the adoption of mobile devices grows around the world, the use of this tool to access the internet and, consequently, interact with a mobile store is also growing. A mobile commerce that is trustworthy tends to have advantages if compared to its competitors and, therefore, better results. This study focuses on understanding and measuring the influence of trust antecedents applied to mobile commerce, in Brazil. The final antecedents found are Data Controls, Website Interactivity, Reputation and Willingness to Customize. The results indicate that Data Controls, followed by Reputation and Website Interactivity are the main influencers of Trust. If Reputation is not considered as part of the model, Website Interactivity becomes an important antecedent. The results provided in this thesis are relevant, since there is a lack of research related to trust in mobile commerce. It has deep practical applications by helping an online business to focus on actions that are essential to build trust through a device with such differentiated capabilities and dynamics of use.

This dissertation explores intersections of public relations and social media in the context of professional sports organizations. Specifically, this dissertation examines sports public relations practitioners’ perceptions of public relations, social media, the relationship between the two, and their organizational roles relative to both practice areas. This study explores the degree to which these practitioners have integrated social media into the organizational functions of public relations. With this, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine how social media have affected the practice of excellence in public relations within professional sports organizations in the U.S.

<p>For scholars of international relations, reputation for resolve - the belief that an actor will stand firm in future disputes - has served as a seminal explanation for the outcome of interstate crises. Scholars studying state reputation remain divided as to which characteristics of the state determine reputation for resolve. Recent scholarship questions this traditional state-centric view of international relations, indicating leaders can be as influential as states in international affairs. My dissertation investigates whether individual leaders can develop reputations for resolve independently from the states they serve. In doing so, my dissertation bridges the state-centric and leader-centric literatures, contributing to our understanding of both reputations for resolve and the impact of individual leaders on international politics. My theory focuses on reputation development as I examine which information decision-makers use to make assessments of resolve. As leaders are the primary arbiters of foreign policy and interact substantially with each other during international crises and negotiations, I conclude that leaders should be able to develop independent reputations for resolve based on their behavior while in office. I further theorize that, due to the ways in which individuals access and process information, a leader's early actions while in office will matter more in assessments of his/her resolve, making initial reputations difficult to change. </p><p> To test my theory against alternative hypotheses, I employ a multi-methods research design using experimental surveys, statistical duration analysis, and a historical case study. The experiments focus on the internal causal mechanisms by which individuals process information to make predictions of a leader's resolve. To test the external validity of my theory, I employ a duration analysis to examine how the resoluteness of a leader's response to a crisis helps prevent that leader from being a target of future crises. Finally, the case study uses process tracing methods to investigate the extent to which individual leaders develop reputations for resolve over time. Through these multiple methods, I find robust evidence that leaders do develop reputations for resolve independently from their state's reputation. The experiments indicate that leader behavior is influential on perceptions of resolve even when accounting for state-based characteristics. Furthermore, I find that participants are more likely to seek out and prioritize leader-based information. I also find that early perceptions of resolve have a significant impact on later perceptions. The duration analysis indicates that the resoluteness of a leader's behavior can affect his/her risk of future crisis onset. Finally, the case study shows that potential challenger leaders do take leader-based information into account when making assessments of resolve and that a leader's early behavior is particularly influential to the development of his/her reputation for resolve. Based on this evidence I conclude that leaders can develop reputations for resolve. These reputations are primarily based on a leader's statements and behavior, even when controlling for state-based variables, and are resistant to change once formed.</p> / Dissertation

Today's cybercriminals must carefully manage their network resources to evade detection and maintain profitable businesses. For example, a rogue online enterprise has to have multiple technical and business components in place, to provide the necessary infrastructure to keep the business available. Often, cybercriminals in their effort to protect and maintain their valuable network resources (infrastructures), they manipulate two fundamental Internet protocols; the Domain Name System (DNS) and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). A popular countermeasure against cybercriminal infrastructures are Autonomous Systems (AS) reputation systems. Past research efforts have developed several AS reputation systems that monitor the traffic for illicit activities. Unfortunately, these systems have severe limitations; (1) they cannot distinguish between malicious and legitimate but abused ASes, and thus it is not clear how to use them in practice, (2) require direct observation of malicious activity, from many different vantage points and for an extended period of time, thus delaying detection. This dissertation presents empirical studies and a system that help to counteract cybecriminal infrastructures. First, we perform empirical studies that help to advance our understanding, about how these infrastructures operate. We study two representative types of infrastructures: (1) fast-flux service networks which are infrastructures based on DNS manipulation, (b) malicious ASes (hubs of cybercriminal activities) which are infrastructures that are primarily based on BGP manipulation. Second, we build on our observations from these studies, and we design and implement, ASwatch; an AS reputation system that, unlike existing approaches, monitors exclusively the routing level behavior of ASes, to expose malicious ASes sooner. We build ASwatch based on the intuition that, in an attempt to evade possible detection and remediation efforts, malicious ASes exhibit agile routing behavior (e.g. short-lived routes, aggressive re-wiring). We evaluate ASwatch on known malicious ASes, and we compare its performance to a state of the art AS reputation system.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The link between a favourable corporate reputation and business benefits is well established. Most executives recognise the importance of a favourable corporate reputation in building a competitive advantage for their organisations. However, the measuring of a corporate reputation, particularly in the service industry, has remained problematic. This study addresses this lingering gap in the literature and focuses on the development of an instrument to measure the client-based corporate reputation of organisations functioning in the service industry. This includes the identification of the factors (dimensions) that clients of large service organisations consider when they evaluate the reputations of organisations. Large organisations functioning in two sectors, the banking sector and the airline sector, were selected as the focus in this study. Groundwork for the design of a reputation-measuring instrument included the clarification of key terms (e.g. corporate identity, corporate image, corporate brand and corporate reputation). It also included a review of corporate reputation from various perspectives (e.g. organisational studies, economics, strategy and corporate communication). It also included discussions on scale development and the various approaches to the conceptualisation and operationalisation of corporate reputation. This study followed mainly a positivistic paradigm, involving quantitative methods. However, two qualitative methods were also used: a focus group discussion to identify patterns of thinking used by clients to assess corporate reputation and the expert-panel method to obtain the inputs of a panel of experts. Six large-scale surveys in three waves served as primary data sources. Large samples of the target population were used to obtain data that was statistically analysable. Secondary data sources included an extensive literature review. To develop the measurement scale, a series of steps was used to refine, purify and replicate the instrument. The process started with an exploratory factor analysis and concluded with an invariance analysis. The data was analysed during three waves of data collection. A variety of statistical techniques was used to assess the construct validity of the proposed instrument, including unidimensionality, convergent validity, reliability, discriminant validity, nomological validity, model fit and invariance. The outcome is a 19-item instrument using five dimensions to measure the client-based corporate reputation of large organisations in the service industry. These dimensions are Emotional appeal, Corporate performance, Social engagement, Good employer and Service points. This study contributes to the existing literature by the development of a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to measure a service organisation’s client-based corporate reputation before embarking on a reputation-enhancement programme. This study proposes that the measurement of an organisation’s client-based corporate reputation is a crucial starting point to assess the gap between where it is and where it wants to be in terms of its corporate reputation, and to manage its reputation accordingly. By using the proposed instrument, managers will be able to track their organisations’ corporate reputation over time, both overall and at the level of the five dimensions separately. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verband tusssen ’n gunstige korporatiewe reputasie en die voordele daarvan vir organisasies is goed gevestig. Die meeste bestuurders erken ook die belangrikheid van korporatiewe reputasie in die bou van ’n mededingende voordeel vir hul organisasies. Die effektiewe meting van korporatiewe reputasie is egter, veral in die dienstebedryf, steeds problematies. Teen dié agtergrond was die fokus van die proefskrif op die ontwikkeling van ’n instrument om die kliëntgebaseerde korporatiewe reputasie van organisasies in die dienstebedryf te meet. Dit sluit in die identifisering van die faktore (dimensies) wat die kliënte van groot diensteorganisasies oorweeg wanneer hulle organisasies se reputasies evalueer. Groot organisasies wat in twee bedryfsektore werksaam is, naamlik die banksektor en die lugrederysektor, is geselekteer as die fokus van hierdie studie. Die grondslag vir die ontwerp van ’n reputasiemetingsinstrument het die verduideliking van sleutelterme (soos korporatiewe identiteit, korporatiewe beeld, korporatiewe handelsmerk en korporatiewe reputasie) ingesluit. Dit het ook die bestudering van korporatiewe reputasie uit verskillende perspektiewe (soos organisatoriese studies, die ekonomie, strategie en korporatiewe kommunikasie) behels. ’n Bespreking van skaalontwikkeling en die verskillende benaderings tot die konseptualisering en operasionalisering van korporatiewe reputasie het deel van hierdie aanvoorwerk gevorm. Hierdie studie het hoofsaaklik ’n positivistiese paradigma gevolg wat kwantitatiewe metodes ingesluit het. Twee kwalitatiewe metodes is egter ook gebruik: ’n fokusgroepbespreking om die denkpatrone te identifiseer wat kliënte gebruik om korporatiewe reputasie te evalueer en die ekspertpaneelmetode om die insette van ’n paneel kenners te bekom. Daarby het ses grootskaal-opnames in drie golwe as primêre databronne gedien. Groot steekproewe van die teikenpopulasie is gebruik om data te bekom wat statisties analiseerbaar was. Sekondêre databronne het ’n omvattende literatuurstudie ingesluit. Om die metingsinstrument te ontwikkel, is ’n reeks stappe gevolg om die instrument te verfyn, te suiwer en te repliseer. Die vertrekpunt was ’n verkennende faktoranalise en die proses is afgesluit met ’n analise van die invariansie. Die data is ontleed in drie datainsamelingsfases. ’n Verskeidenheid statistiese tegnieke – soos eendimensionaliteit, konvergerende geldigheid, betroubaarheid, diskriminante geldigheid, nomologiese geldigheid, modelpassing en invariansie – is toegepas om die konstrukgeldigheid van die voorgestelde instrument te evalueer. Die uitkoms is ’n 19-item-instrument wat vyf dimensies gebruik om die kliëntgebaseerde korporatiewe reputasie van groot organisasies in die dienstebedryf te meet. Hierdie dimensies is Emosionele aantrekkingskrag, Korporatiewe prestasie, Sosiale betrokkenheid, Goeie werkgewer en Dienspunte. Hierdie studie dra by tot die bestaande literatuur deur die ontwikkeling van ’n geldige en betroubare instrument wat gebruik kan word om ’n diensteorganisasie se kliëntgebaseerde korporatiewe reputasie te bepaal voordat ’n reputasieversterkingsprogram in werking gestel word. Die studie stel voor dat die meting van ’n organisasie se kliëntgebaseerde korporatiewe reputasie ’n uiters belangrike vertrekpunt vorm vir die assessering van die gaping tussen waar die organisasie hom tans bevind en waar hy wil wees, en om hierdie reputasie dienooreenkomstig te bestuur. Bestuurders sal met behulp van die voorgestelde instrument hul organisasies se korporatiewe reputasie oor tyd kan navolg – oorkoepelend, sowel as op die vlak van elke afsonderlike dimensie.

Aim: The aim of this research is to investigate whether CSR can be used as a marketing tool by the readymade garment suppliers in Bangladesh to attract international buyers. Method: This study is conducted by applying qualitative method. The data has been collected through semi-structured interview and using secondary data.   Result and Conclusions: The study reflects that that CSR implementation generates various benefits such as, creates good corporate image, reputation and opportunity for innovation and offers competitive advantage.  As international buyers’ foremost requirement is to verify suppliers’ social compliance, the CSR practices and benefits act as marketing instrument by the garments suppliers to attract international buyers and grab more business. Suggestions for future research: This study considered multiple large (1st tier) garments suppliers and multinational buying organization which calls for further research such as, a comparative study on taking both large and small scale suppliers as well as more international buyers. One of the findings indicates that buyers’ support is important in CSR implementation which can also be considered for further investigation. Contribution of the thesis: This study investigates suppliers’ CSR practices from the marketing perspective in relation to buyers in business to business context which has not been considered in previous literature. Further CSR as marketing tool has not been addressed in developing country context while this study includes empirical study on garment suppliers of Bangladesh. This study suggests that managers need to be aware of the significant role of CSR as marketing tool while designing and implementing CSR programs effectively to increase business. Moreover, CSR activities benefit both the company as well as other stakeholders (customer, employee, public, shareholder, government) of the society by way of meeting those stakeholders’ interest.

過去認為賣家評價對於價格是正、統計上顯著地影響價格，但是這影響卻不大，我們建立一個模型去解釋是兩種正負關係互相抵消，造成觀察到的結果是很小的情況。具體的說，賣家需要高評價分數去銷售高單價商品，而累積評價分數快速又低成本的方法就是利用低單價商品，利用降低低單價商品價格，讓銷售量增加的更快，銷售量增加快，評價就會增加快速。所以評價對於低價商品是一種負的關係，對於高單價商品才是正的關係。 / It has been recognized empirically that in internet auctions, seller's reputation has a positive, statistically significant, but small impact on the price. We construct a model on internet auctions and delineate this small impact with two opposite forces. To be specific, it needs higher reputation for sellers to sell high-price goods and a cheap way to achieve this objective is to lower the price of low-price goods. By this way one can raise the sale volume of low-price commodities to increase reputation score quickly, which benefits the sale of high-price goods. Therefore, reputation imposes positive impact on prices of "expensive" goods and negative impact on prices of "cheap" ones.

Lietuvos Respublikos Švietimo įstatyme teigiama, jog švietimas – veikla, kuria siekiama suteikti asmeniui visaverčio savarankiško gyvenimo pagrindus ir padėti jam nuolat tobulinti savo gebėjimus. Tačiau nereikia pamiršti, kad tik kokybiškų švietimo paslaugų įvairovė gali užtikrinti geras mokymosi galimybes. Nepaisant to, kad nuo Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės atkūrimo mokslo kokybė sparčiai žengė į priekį (mokyklų bei aukštojo mokslo reorganizavimas, didėjančios pedagogų kompetencijos, gerėjanti ugdymo kokybė ir pan.), tačiau negalima nepaminėti, jog švietimo sistema susiduria ir su tam tikromis problemomis. Vienokį ar kitokį įspūdį dar labiau sustiprina žiniasklaidos skleidžiama informacija. Savo darbe stengiausi išsiaiškinti, kokį švietimo įvaizdį šalies spaudoje kuria žiniasklaida. Teorinėje dalyje apžvelgiau švietimo, švietimo kokybės, įvaizdžio sampratas įvairiuose literatūriniuose šaltiniuose, analizavau žiniasklaidos darbo principus ir funkcijas. Empirinėje dalyje analizavau atrinktas publikacijas švietimo tema, siekiau išsiaiškinti, kokį švietimo įvaizdį formuoja tradicinė ir specializuota spauda. Tyrimo metu buvo analizuojami 2008 metų sausio – 2008 metų gruodžio mėnesiais publikuoti straipsniai apie švietimą tradicinėje (laikraščiuose ,,Lietuvos rytas“, ,,Respublika“, ,,Kaišiadorių aidai“) ir specializuotoje spaudoje (,,Dialogas“). Galutinė publikacijų imtis – 2331. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad šalies žiniasklaida kuria neigiamą švietimo įvaizdį. Išsiaiškinta, kad... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the state law of education it is claimed that education is an activity aiming to provide a person with the foundations for a fulfilling independent life and help him to improve his abilities. However, it is not to be forgotten that decent learning opportunities can only be ensured by a variety of quality education services. Despite the fact that the quality of education was improved significantly since the regaining of Independence in Lithuania (reorganisation of schools and higher education system, improving competences of teachers, better quality of teaching, etc.), still some problems in education system can not be underestimated. The reputation of education with its improvement on one hand and its problems on the other, is also shaped by the media. The aim of the thesis is to find out what image of education is formed in the media. In the theoretical part there is an overview of concepts of education, quality of education, reputation in various literature sources, analysis of media principles and functions. In the empyrical part there is an analysis of selected publications about education, with a focus on traditional and specialized media. Publications dated from January, 2008 till December, 2008 were taken for the analysis. The traditional newspapers included ,,Lietuvos rytas“, ,,Respublika“, ,,Kaišiadorių aidai“, while specialized media was represented by a newspaper ,,Dialogas“. Total amount of publications – 2331. The results of the analysis show that the... [to full text]

Increased international competitiveness to host sport mega-events indicates their perceived value in stimulating regional and national economic, social and cultural development. In the context of broader governmental public opinion management strategies, sport mega-events hold the potential to mobilize soft power resources of the host country, expressed in values, culture and policies, and engage with and influence the publics of other countries. This thesis investigates the significance of sport mega-events for the host country’s public diplomacy strategies and practice by exploring the concepts of public diplomacy, sport mega-events, soft power and national image within a multi-disciplinary conceptual framework. The analysis of scholarly literature, official and media reports reveals how aspects of reputation, credibility, and legitimacy guide both foreign public opinion and the practice of public diplomacy in conjunction with sport mega-events. Moreover, international reputation of the host nation, including status, prestige and image, appeared to benefit the most as a result of strategic application of sport mega-events to public diplomacy. This can be achieved by proving functional reputation though demonstration of financial and organizational success. Alternatively, social reputation of the host is at risk of sustaining considerable damage as a result of resistance from social activists groups, thus requiring extensive damage control efforts of the host country's image. The conclusions drawn from this study raise significant questions about the potential of sport mega-events being effectively used for public diplomacy and the experience of the host governments, revealing functional competence as having the greatest potential to influence public diplomacy strategy built around hosting sport mega-events.

Internet and Social Networking Services have made accessing information as easy as lifting a finger and consumer can easily ‘Google’ the cheapest airlines, find reviews and opinions online or look up the restaurant whose name was on the tip of their tongue (Sparrow et al., 2011). Organisations must focus on developing methods of reaching and servicing customers that appeal to a new generation and utilise the advantages of new media (Moutinho et al., 2011). Social networking services, (mobile) websites, location-based services, and group bargaining are among the most recent forms of brand building and reputation management used by organisations to appeal to their stakeholders. Considering reputation management as a strategic necessity of building and sustaining competitive advantage, this thesis applies the discourse of the postmodern branding, Integrated Marketing Communications and Brand Tribalism within the context of online tourism and hospitality. No previous study has covered and combined the fractured knowledge of reputation management, brand tribes and integrated marketing communications within the hospitality industry, and therefore this work is an original and systematic study of the possibilities and pitfalls of the research area. Combining non-participant netnographic method and semi-structured management interviews, 164 hotels and 43 restaurants from seven countries were studied with the aim to find evidence on four different problem settings; (a) the general challenges found in the hospitality SNS presence and activities; (b) the formation of an online tribe within the hospitality context; (c) the effect of peer reviews, tribal activism, and entertainment provision in SNS, and (d) the means and effects of managing SNS’s interactions and implementation of IMC into the reputation management process. The findings of this study suggest that the management of the hospitality reputation is continual, and requires resources and well-articulated integration to overall strategy and vision of managing strategic relationships. The study concludes that by adapting the recommended Ambient Reputation Management framework it is possible to expand the exposure, and enhance the general feelings towards the company and its products and services. Furthermore, the study postulates that providing entertainment and non-factual conversation topics, besides responding to customer needs, are the most effective stimuli in the brand-related engagement enhancement process. These findings enable management to define the service brand’s promise in terms of how the practical and emotional tenets should be blended to grow brand personality in the minds of potential stakeholders. Finally this study accentuates the generation of brand awareness through the growing rapport between the brand and the consumers towards the formation of a brand tribe, and materialisation of an active tribal loop; and that taking advantage of the web analytics from the actions to measure the resultant brand awareness is a key element of Ambient Reputation Management.