During an audit, management frequently serves as an information source for auditors gathering evidence. Reliance on management's expertise requires auditors to exercise an adequate level of professional skepticism, because management is not an objective information source. In this respect, professional guidance urges auditors to maintain a skeptical mind-set since management's financial reporting incentives may lead to instances when it attempts to persuade the auditor into accepting a preferred accounting treatment. This study investigates how auditors' behavior when providing input on planning decisions common to an audit can influence an auditor's mind-set, and how this mind-set then influences the persuasiveness of subsequently encountered management information. My predictions are motivated by psychology theory on behavioral mind-sets, which indicates that in the course of completing a task, a mind-set can be activated that carries over and influences an individual's behavior in a subsequent, unrelated situation. In a 2x2 experiment, 83 experienced auditors participated in an update meeting with the engagement partner and then made preliminary internal control evaluations. I manipulated the activation of different mind-sets (bolstering or counter-arguing) during the audit update meeting; I also manipulated the severity of the control deficiency (high or low) during the subsequent internal control evaluation task. I hypothesized that the behavior of providing arguments either supporting or opposing common scheduling arrangements during a planning meeting with the engagement partner can activate a mind-set that then influences the persuasiveness of information subsequently received from the client. The increased severity of the deficiency was expected to mitigate the role of mind-sets in the audit environment. The results support my expectations. Auditors who developed a bolstering mind-set during a planning meeting rated the adequacy of management's internal control explanation higher and made internal control assessments indicative of lower risk than auditors who developed a counter-arguing mind-set. I also find that the impact of an auditor's mind-set is attenuated when auditors evaluate a control problem potentially indicative of a material weakness (i.e., higher severity). These results indicate that routine audit planning tasks altered an auditors' skeptical mind-set, which impacted the persuasiveness of management information, even though the update meeting was unrelated to the internal control assessment. However, as the severity of the identified deficiency increased, risk sensitivity mitigated the auditors' mind-set effects, as their professional skepticism was naturally heightened. These results have important audit implications given the importance of maintaining appropriate levels of professional skepticism throughout an audit, especially amid recent concerns that auditors, at times, fail to do so. The findings also inform the psychology and behavioral mind-set literatures by extending the generalizability of prior studies while also establishing the boundaries of this stream of research by examining different levels of severity. / Ph. D.

作為行銷的主要推廣工具之一，優惠券可同時使商家和消費者獲益，可謂是一個雙贏的行銷手法。然而在實務上，優惠券的總體發放數量巨大，但整體兌換率卻極低，如何提昇優惠券的兌換率成為企業的重要課題。為了吸引消費者，市面上林林總總的優惠券層出不窮，例如「好友分享券」與「買一送一券」；使用效期的表述亦有多種方式，例如「僅限1月1日可使用」與「1月1日任何時間可使用」。本文由此思考，優惠券上這些看似可隨意混用的文字訊息，也許在不知不覺中影響著消費者的思維模式，並對消費者的優惠券評價、兌換意願及兌換行爲產生作用。 本文結合解釋水平理論與框架效應理論，意圖釐清看似相同的優惠券文字訊息對消費者思維模式解釋水平的影響（實驗一），接著探討思維模式解釋水平與效期框架之適配對優惠券吸引力與兌換意願（實驗二子實驗a、b）及兌換行為（實驗三）的影響，並試圖以處理流暢性解釋此影響過程的心理機制（實驗二子實驗a、b）。 研究主要有兩點發現：（一）「好友分享券」與「買一送一券」文字訊息在影響消費者思維模式解釋水平上具有顯著差異，「好友分享券」文字訊息影響消費者處於高水平解釋思維模式；「買一送一券」文字訊息影響消費者處於低水平解釋思維模式。（二）「好友分享券」（高水平解釋）與「僅限」（限制性效期框架）、「買一送一券」（低水平解釋）與「任何時間」（開闊性效期框架）分別存在適配效果，比不適配的思維模式解釋水平與效期框架更能提升優惠券吸引力及增加消費者兌換意願。最後，本研究探討研究發現的意涵，並對未來研究方向提出建議。 / As one of the major promotional tools for marketing, coupons can benefit both consumers and retailers. Therefore, coupon marketing is considered to be a so-called win-win marketing approach. However, in practice, despite the massive number of coupons distributed, overall redemption rates remain extremely low. The question of how to raise redemption rates has become an important issue for corporations. In order to attract consumers, various coupons keep emerging in the market, such as “share with friends” coupons and “buy one, get one free” coupons. Moreover, the same redemption window can be expressed in different ways, for example, “the coupon can be used only on January 1” and “the coupon can be used anytime on January 1”. This research is interested in whether the seemingly interchangeable coupon messages exert an influence without people's realizing it on consumers’ mind-sets, coupon attractiveness, redemption intention and behavior. By combining Construal Level Theory with Framing Effect, this research attempts to explore the impact of the seemingly equivalent coupon messages on the construal level of consumers’ mind-sets (Study 1), and examine the effect of the congruency between the construal level of mind-sets and redemption window frames on coupon attractiveness, redemption intention (Study 2a & 2b) and behavior (Study 3). In addition, this research tries to draw on processing fluency to explain the mechanism underlying the effect (Study 2a & 2b). The main findings are as follows. First, “share with friends” and “buy one, get one free” influence consumers to construe their mind-sets at a high and low level, respectively. Second, the congruency between “share with friends” coupon (high-level construal) and the restrictive frame “only”, “buy one, get one free” coupon (low-level construal) and the expansive frame “anytime”, enhances coupon attractiveness and consumers’ intention to redeem. The research concludes with the implications of the findings and suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this research was to examine potential sustainable delivery methods for Oral Health Promotion (OHP) in developing populations in India, utilising non-dental rural community development groups, specifically those led by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) involved in community development. The focus of this research was based on a longitudinal cohort study experimental design for exploratory purposes conducted over a period of one year, using a randomised cluster sampling of community developmental projects within the rural-tribal villages of Ambernath, Maharashtra, India. The study was measured in 4 phases: oral health knowledge of village parents through a questionnaire, dental screenings of children, and integration of a ‘train-the-trainer’ type of Oral Health Awareness Programme (OHAP) for three test groups, followed by one-year comparison follow-up data. Findings show evidence of comprehension and dissemination of the information in the OHAP course. Screening data also showed a reduction in decay in primary and permanent teeth in the children, after one year, and a positive change in oral hygiene behaviours. The collaboration and utilisation of non-dental NGO teams and local participatory groups from a ‘grass-roots’ level was proven to be effective for disseminating information and activities for oral health awareness and promotional programmes within these populations. Evidence supports a collaboration of these groups can be recommended for introducing a structured and understandable oral health programme utilising non-dental NGO and local participatory groups.