THE INFLUENCE OF VISUAL ATTENTION ON AD VARIATION EFFECTIVENESS: A CROSS-CULTURAL INVESTIGATION ON RECALL AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS A BRAND

Ivanka Wong,Benjamin G. Voyer 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

This study explores the effect of ad variation effectiveness as a function of cultural differences, drawing from visual attention and encoding variability theory. Findings on HK and UK participants suggest that varying ad features may be most effective by changing those features that correspond to the intended consumer’s cognitive styles. Introduction Previous research suggests that showing varied ads can enhance brand recall, and result in more positive attitudes towards the brand (Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991). Following the encoding variability theory (Lee & Lee, 2016; Yaveroglu & Donthu, 2008), variations in encoded information improve recall because these variations provide additional memory representations for the target information, hence leading to more retrieval cues for the information to be recalled (Anderson & Bower, 1973). Transposed to an advertising context, each element of an ad (e.g., graphics, layout, backgrounds, products, brand logo, etc.) can serve as a retrieval cue for information recall. For instance, if a target product is embedded in two different backgrounds (e.g., a beer in a social event vs beach background), these two different contexts can serve as two different retrieval cues for the target product, compared to only one possible retrieval cue provided in same ad repetition. Since encoding variability theory relies on contextual changes and multiple memory paths to explain the ad variation effect, it may be affected by cultural difference (specifically, selective attention), which can act as a moderator of ad variation effectiveness. Western and East-Asian people have been found to have different visual attentional biases (e.g., Nisbett & Masuda, 2003), with Westerners being more attentive on focal objects (analytic perception) and Easterners focusing more on the whole picture (holistic perception). As such, the selective attention they paid towards the ad may enable them more susceptible to specific changes of an ad, thus increasing the available memory pathway towards brand information, i.e., brand recall. Brand attitudes are suggested to be formed through learning (e.g., Van Osselaer & Alba, 2000), i.e., consumers learn and process the information conveyed in an ad, which eventually affects their attitude towards a brand. This study therefore also tested the role of visual attention in moderating the effect of ad variation on brand attitude, since Eastern and Western customers learn differently due to their visual attentional styles. To examine the possible moderation of ad-variation effectiveness by visual attention in a cross-cultural context, this study exposed HK (Eastern) and UK (Western) participants with two different varied-ad executions, foreground-varied ads (ads that vary in focal object) and background-varied ads (ads that change in background features). Identical-ad execution was also included as a baseline. We hypothesized that, due to the difference in attentional bias in Eastern participants (holistic) and Western participants (analytic), different types of ad variations might results in different extents of effectiveness of the ad variation. Method A 2 (Culture: UK vs. HK) x3 (Ad type: identical vs. background-varied vs. foregroundvaried) between-subject factorial design experiment was used in this study. We used a fictitious Beer brand - Helga Brugge - for this study. In the identical-ad condition, the same target ad was repeated three times. We designed a target beer and two beer pints as foreground features and background features included a camping scene (in identical-ad condition), and a football stadium, camping scene and a social event scene (in background-varied condition). In foreground-varied condition, while keeping the background image constant (camping background), the foreground features differed, i.e., a bottle beer, a canned beer, and a bottle beer with two beer pins. See Figure 1 for the target ad stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three ad type conditions and watched the 20 advertisement slides (3 target ads with 17 filler ads), each of which was presented singularly for 3 seconds. Filler ads were chosen from real ads that were not used anymore at the time of the study. They included various product categories other than beer such as toy, beverage, and cosmetics. After being exposed to the advertisement, participants were asked to answer a series of questions measuring a number of variables in the following order: ad recall and brand recall (Lee & Lee, 2016), brand attitude (MacKenzie, Lutz & Belch, 1986) and demographic information. Data was collecting online using Qualtrics. Both Chinese and English versions of instructions were back translated (Miracle and Bang, 2002). Results After excluding incomplete datasets and participants whose nationality was not British or Hong Kong, the final sample comprised 117 UK (78 female) and 108 HK (63 female) participants. Cross-cultural Cognitive Differences in Perception To confirm the underlying assumption that HK participants tend to have holistic visual perception and UK participants tend to have analytical visual perception, participants’ responses were coded to identify the type of foreground information (e.g., beers, pints, foams) and background information (e.g., sunset, camping). The coding processes were independently performed by two coders; Cohen’s κ analyses showed a moderate agreement (Sim & Wright, 2005) between the two coders' judgments on both foreground information (κ = .781, p < .001, 95% CI, .716 to .846) and background information (κ = .775, p < .001, 95% CI, .706 to .843). Two 2(Culture: UK vs. HK) x 3(Ad type: identical, background-varied and foregroundvaried) analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. Results support our assumption: UK participants elicited more comments on foreground information (M= 1.56, SD= 1.20) than HK participants did (M= 1.05, SD= 1.03; F(1, 219)= 11.80, p= .001, =.051), and HK participants elicited more comments on background information (M= 1.69, SD= 1.19) than UK participants did (M= 1.09, SD= 1.03; F(1, 219)=16.22, p<.001, =.069). There was no statistically significant main effect on ad type or any statistically significant interaction effect. Brand Recall For UK participants, we hypothesized that their selective attention towards focal objects would enable them more susceptible to changes in the foreground-varied ad conditions, but not in the background-varied ad conditions. Chi-squared analyses revealed that UK participants’ brand recall scores in foreground-varied condition (M=89.2%) was significantly higher than those in both background-varied (M=53.7%): X^2 (1, N=78) = 11.80, p<.001, ? =.39, and identical conditions (M=43.6%): X^2 (1, N=76) = 17.5, p<.001, ? =.48. There was no difference in brand recall between identical and background-varied conditions. Conversely, we hypothesized that both background- and foreground-varied ads would be equally effective for HK participants due to their holistic attention towards both foreground and background objects. Multiple chi-squared tests revealed that, HK participants’ brand recall scores in both foreground-varied condition (M=59.5.%) and background-varied condition (M=58.3%) were significantly higher than that in the identical condition (M=34.3.%; foreground-varied vs. identical,X^2 (1, N=72) = 4.57, p=.032, ? =.25; background-varied vs. identical, X^2 (1, N=71) = 4.13, p= .042, ? =.24). The difference between the two varied ad conditions was not significant. Brand Attitudes We hypothesized that HK and UK participants’ brand attitudes also differ to different extents in the three conditions, following a similar pattern found in measuring brand recall. Consistent with this, independent-sample t-tests on UK participants revealed that the mean scores for brand attitude in both foreground-varied ads condition (M= 4.64) was higher than that in both identical ads condition (M= 3.71; t=-4.09, p<.001, d=0.94) and background-varied ads condition (M=3.98; t=3.49, p=.001, d=0.80). No significant difference was found between the identical-ad condition and background-varied condition. For HK participants, results of t-tests revealed that the mean scores for brand attitude in both foreground-varied condition (M= 4.18) and background-varied condition (M=4.33) were both significantly higher than that in identical ads condition (M= 3.53; foreground vs identical: t=-3.19, p=.002, d=0.51; background vs identical: t=4.87, p<.001, d=0.80). No significant difference was found between the two varied ads conditions. Discussion This research provides supporting evidence that visual attentional biases initiated by cultural differences can moderate the effectiveness of ad variation. Specifically, for UK participants, ad variation appeared to be effective only in foreground-varied ads. Conversely, both foreground-varied and background-varied ads were effective for HK participants. These findings have both theoretical and managerial implications. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first cross-cultural research in the domain of ad variation. It addresses a gap in the ad variation literature, by identifying the moderating effect that cultural differences can have on the ad variation effect. This opens up new research directions including considering other forms of cultural variations (e.g., language) and cognitive differences (e.g., reasoning styles) to better understand individual differences in the domain of ad-variation. This study also offers insights for international marketers looking at tailoring their advertising strategies for different target audiences to maximize ad- and cost-effectiveness. Besides varying features that correspond to the intended consumer’s cognitive styles, marketers could also consider priming consumers’ cognitive styles when determining advertising strategies, as previous research has shown that consumers’ cognitive styles are relatively malleabile (Lin & Han, 2009). For example, when executing foreground-varied ads, inserting them into an article that could induce an analytic cognition (e.g., bibliography programs about a successful life story of a person) would be an effective strategy. This study has two main limitations. First, it only included data from nationals of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Non-cognitive cultural differences such as language and geographical mobility can affect cognitive styles (e.g., Rhode & Voyer, 2015). Future research should replicate and expand findings by looking at more countries (e.g., US, South Korea), with increased level of control on relevant non-cognitive crosscultural factors. Second, this study only looked at one hedonic product category: beer. Future research can replicate and expand findings, by looking at different product categories (e.g., utilitarian products, such as toothbrushes).

마카오 체류 외지인의 라이프스타일 이동성

최서희,Benjamin Iaquinto,Cora Un In Wong 대한지리학회 2019 대한지리학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2019 No.6

Proposed Data-Driven Approach for Occupational Risk Management of Aircrew Fatigue

Seah Benjamin Zhi Qiang,Gan Wee Hoe,Wong Sheau Hwa,Lim Mei Ann,Goh Poh Hui,Singh Jarnail,Koh David Soo Quee 한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원 2021 Safety and health at work Vol.12 No.4

Background: Fatigue is pervasive, under-reported, and potentially deadly where flight operations are concerned. The aviation industry appears to lack a standardized, practical, and easily replicable protocol for fatigue risk assessment which can be consistently applied across operators. Aim: Our paper sought to present a framework, supported by real-world data with subjective and objective parameters, to monitor aircrew fatigue and performance, and to determine the safe crew configuration for commercial airline operations. Methods: Our protocol identified risk factors for fatigue-induced performance degradation as triggers for fatigue risk and performance assessment. Using both subjective and objective measurements of sleep, fatigue, and performance in the form of instruments such as the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, Samn-Perelli Crew Status Check, Psychomotor Vigilance Task, sleep logs, and a wearable actigraph for sleep log correlation and sleep duration and quality charting, a workflow flagging fatigue-prone flight operations for risk mitigation was developed and trialed. Results: In an operational study aimed at occupational assessment of fatigue and performance in airline pilots on a three-men crew versus a four-men crew for a long-haul flight, we affirmed the technical feasibility of our proposed framework and approach, the validity of the battery of assessment instruments, and the meaningful interpretation of fatigue and work performance indicators to enable the formulation of safe work recommendations. Conclusion: A standardized occupational assessment protocol like ours is useful to achieve consistency and objectivity in the occupational assessment of fatigue and work performance.

Editorial : Short Segment Hiatal Hernia-The Long and the Short of It

( Victoria PY Tan ),( Benjamin CY Wong ) 대한소화관운동학회 2010 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.16 No.1

Protein kinase G type Ialpha activity in human ovarian cancer cells significantly contributes to enhanced Src activation and DNA synthesis/cell proliferation.

Leung, Elaine L,Wong, Janica C,Johlfs, Mary G,Tsang, Benjamin K,Fiscus, Ronald R American Association for Cancer Research 2010 Molecular Cancer Research Vol.8 No.4

<P>Previously, we showed that basal activity of nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP (cGMP)/protein kinase G (PKG) signaling pathway protects against spontaneous apoptosis and confers resistance to cisplatin-induced apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells. The present study determines whether basal PKG kinase activity regulates Src family kinase (SFK) activity and proliferation in these cells. PKG-Ialpha was identified as predominant isoform in both OV2008 (cisplatin-sensitive, wild-type p53) and A2780cp (cisplatin-resistant, mutated p53) ovarian cancer cells. In both cell lines, ODQ (inhibitor of endogenous NO-induced cGMP biosynthesis), DT-2 (highly specific inhibitor of PKG-Ialpha kinase activity), and PKG-Ialpha knockdown (using small interfering RNA) caused concentration-dependent inhibition of DNA synthesis (assessed by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation), indicating an important role of basal cGMP/PKG-Ialpha kinase activity in promoting cell proliferation. DNA synthesis in OV2008 cells was dependent on SFK activity, determined using highly selective SFK inhibitor, 4-(4'-phenoxyanilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline (SKI-1). Studies using DT-2 and PKG-Ialpha small interfering RNA revealed that SFK activity was dependent on PKG-Ialpha kinase activity. Furthermore, SFK activity contributed to endogenous tyrosine phosphorylation of PKG-Ialpha in OV2008 and A2780cp cells. In vitro coincubation of recombinant human c-Src and PKG-Ialpha resulted in c-Src-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of PKG-Ialpha and enhanced c-Src autophosphorylation/activation, suggesting that human c-Src directly tyrosine phosphorylates PKG-Ialpha and the c-Src/PKG-Ialpha interaction enhances Src kinase activity. Epidermal growth factor-induced stimulation of SFK activity in OV2008 cells increased PKG-Ialpha kinase activity (indicated by Ser(239) phosphorylation of the PKG substrate vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein), which was blocked by both SKI-1 and SU6656. The data suggest an important role of Src/PKG-Ialpha interaction in promoting DNA synthesis/cell proliferation in human ovarian cancer cells. The NO/cGMP/PKG-Ialpha signaling pathway may provide a novel therapeutic target for disrupting ovarian cancer cell proliferation.</P>

Perforated Early Gastric Cancer: Uncommon and Easily Missed a Case Report and Review of Literature

Lim, Raymond Hon Giat,Tay, Clifton Ming,Wong, Benjamin,Chong, Choon Seng,Kono, Koji,So, Jimmy Bok Yan,Shabbir, Asim The Korean Gastric Cancer Association 2013 Journal of gastric cancer Vol.13 No.1

Gastric carcinoma rarely presents as a perforation, but when it does, is perceived as advanced disease. The majority of such perforations are Stage III/IV disease. A T1 gastric carcinoma has never been reported to perforate spontaneously in English literature. We present a 56 year-old Chinese male who presented with a perforated gastric ulcer. Intra-operatively, there was no suspicion of malignancy. At operation, an open omental patch repair was performed. Post-operative endoscopy revealed a macroscopic Type 0~III tumour and from the ulcer edge biopsy was reported as adenocarcinoma. Subsequently, the patient underwent open subtotal gastrectomy and formal D2 lymphadenectomy. The final histopathology report confirms T1b N0 disease. The occurrence of a perforated early gastric cancer reemphasises the need for vigilance, including intra-operative frozen section and/or biopsy, as well as routine post-operative endoscopy for all patients.

Stabilization and improved functionality of three-dimensional perfusable microvascular networks in microfluidic devices under macromolecular crowding

Ho-Ying Wan,Jack Chun Hin Chen,Qinru Xiao,Christy Wingtung Wong,Boguang Yang,Benjamin Cao,Rocky S. Tuan,Susan K. Nilsson,Yi-Ping Ho,Michael Raghunath,Roger D. Kamm,Anna Blocki 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Background There is great interest to engineer in vitro models that allow the study of complex biological processes of the microvasculature with high spatiotemporal resolution. Microfluidic systems are currently used to engineer microvasculature in vitro, which consists of perfusable microvascular networks (MVNs). These are formed through spontaneous vasculogenesis and exhibit the closest resemblance to physiological microvasculature. Unfortunately, under standard culture conditions and in the absence of co-culture with auxiliary cells as well as protease inhibitors, pure MVNs suffer from a short-lived stability. Methods Herein, we introduce a strategy for stabilization of MVNs through macromolecular crowding (MMC) based on a previously established mixture of Ficoll macromolecules. The biophysical principle of MMC is based on macromolecules occupying space, thus increasing the effective concentration of other components and thereby accelerating various biological processes, such as extracellular matrix deposition. We thus hypothesized that MMC will promote the accumulation of vascular ECM (basement membrane) components and lead to a stabilization of MVN with improved functionality. Results MMC promoted the enrichment of cellular junctions and basement membrane components, while reducing cellular contractility. The resulting advantageous balance of adhesive forces over cellular tension resulted in a significant stabilization of MVNs over time, as well as improved vascular barrier function, closely resembling that of in vivo microvasculature. Conclusion Application of MMC to MVNs in microfluidic devices provides a reliable, flexible and versatile approach to stabilize engineered microvessels under simulated physiological conditions.

Perforated Early Gastric Cancer: Uncommon and Easily Missed a Case Report and Review of Literature

Raymond Hon Giat Lim,Asim Shabbir,Clifton Ming Tay,Benjamin Wong,Choon Seng Chong,Koji Kono,Jimmy Bok Yan So 대한위암학회 2013 Journal of gastric cancer Vol.13 No.1

Gastric carcinoma rarely presents as a perforation, but when it does, is perceived as advanced disease. The majority of such perforations are Stage III/IV disease. A T1 gastric carcinoma has never been reported to perforate spontaneously in English literature. We present a 56 year-old Chinese male who presented with a perforated gastric ulcer. Intra-operatively, there was no suspicion of malignancy. At operation, an open omental patch repair was performed. Post-operative endoscopy revealed a macroscopic Type 0~III tumour and from the ulcer edge biopsy was reported as adenocarcinoma. Subsequently, the patient underwent open subtotal gastrectomy and formal D2 lymphadenectomy. The final histopathology report confirms T1b N0 disease. The occurrence of a perforated early gastric cancer reemphasises the need for vigilance, including intra-operative frozen section and/or biopsy, as well as routine post-operative endoscopy for all patients.

Epidemiology of Uninvestigated and Functional Dyspepsia in Asia: Facts and Fiction

( Uday C Ghoshal ),( Rajan Singh ),( Full Young Chang ),( Xiao Hua Hou ),( Benjamin Chun Yu Wong ),( Udom Kachintorn ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회(구 대한소화관운동학회) 2011 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.17 No.3

Dyspepsia is a syndrome consisting of epigastric pain, burning, fullness, discomfort, early satiety, nausea, vomiting and belching. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is diagnosed if upper gastrointestinal endoscopy does not show structural abnormality explaining these symptoms. 8%-30% and 8%-23% of Asian people suffer from of uninvestigated dyspepsia and FD, respectively. Most patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia are found to have FD. Patients with FD are usually young and there is no predilection to any gender. Overlap of FD with other functional bowel diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and gastro-esophageal reflux disease is common in Asia. Cultural difference in reporting of symptoms of dyspepsia is well-known. Moreover, dietary factors, socio-cultural and psychological issues, gastrointestinal infection including that caused by Helicobacter pylori, frequency of organic diseases such as peptic ulcer and gastric cancer responsible for dyspeptic symptoms in the study population may also influence epidemiology of dyspepsia. There is considerable heterogeneity in the above issues among different Asian countries. More studies on epidemiology of FD are needed in Asia.

Effect of Ionic Strength on Soluble Protein Removal from Giant Squid Mantle (Dosidicus gigas) and Functional Evaluation of Protein Recovery

Jose de Jesus Encinas-Arzate,Josafat Marina Ezquerra-Brauer,Victor Manuel Ocaño-Higuera,Benjamin Ramirez-Wong,Lorena Armenta-Villegas,Wilfrido Torres-Arreaola,Enrique Marquez-Rios 한국식품과학회 2014 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.23 No.2

Myofibrillar protein are the principally responsibleof gelling properties in fishery resource, hence, during proteinconcentrate or isolated proteins preparation, sarcoplasmicprotein are discarded; however, myofibrillar protein cansupport low levels of sarcoplasmic proteins without affectingthe gelling property. Therefore, the aim of this study was togradually remove sarcoplasmic proteins from giant squidmantle by means of different ionic strengths (I). Solutionsof NaCl with different ionic strengths (I=0.0, 0.1, and 0.3)were used to obtain 3 protein concentrates. The electrophoreticprofile in SDS-PAGE showed differences in protein removalwith a high solubility of mantle proteins. The texture profileanalysis showed that hardness increased in mantle proteinwashed with higher I. The total reactive sulfhydryls showedsignificant changes (p<0.05) detecting major formation ofS-S bonds with protein removal at an I of 0.3. Differentialscanning calorimetry showed a minor denaturation temperatureof the actomyosin complex when protein removal wasperformed with an I of 0.3. The present study indicates thatremoval of sarcoplasmic protein as a function of I results inbetter quality gels.