EXPRESS: How Marketer Actions Influence Persuasion Knowledge: Meta-Analytic Evidence of a Non-Linear Relationship

Persuasion knowledge development leads to better coping with marketplace persuasion, better consumer decision-making, and adds to consumer well-being. While significant knowledge exists on the impact that individual factors (e.g., age) and cues (e.g., sponsorship disclosure messages) have on consumers’ persuasion knowledge development, little is known about the influence of marketer actions, such as advertising spending. This is surprising, as marketer activities provide a major source of information for consumers’ persuasion knowledge learning and practice and can theoretically either support or hinder persuasion knowledge development. We develop several explanations for various types of relationships between advertising spending and persuasion knowledge and test these relationships by means of a meta-analysis of the persuasion knowledge literature based on 140 papers with 162 distinctive datasets that address persuasion knowledge measurements. We find that increasing advertising spending also increases consumers’ persuasion knowledge. The relationship follows an inverted-U curve, and, at a certain level of advertising spending, persuasion knowledge begins to decrease. The findings have theoretical and societal implications and, depending on the level of advertising investment, policy implications with the ultimate aim of ensuring consumer well-being and protecting consumer groups with low levels of persuasion knowledge.

Age-associated changes in cumulus cells and follicular fluid: The local oocyte microenvironment as a determinant of gamete quality

The ovary is the first organ to age in humans with functional decline evident already in women in their early thirties. Reproductive aging is characterized by a decrease in oocyte quantity and quality which is associated with an increase in infertility, spontaneous abortions, and birth defects. Reproductive aging also has implications for overall health due to decreased endocrinological output. Understanding the mechanisms underlying reproductive aging has significant societal implications as women globally are delaying childbearing and medical interventions have greatly increased the interval between menopause and total lifespan. Age-related changes inherent to the female gamete are well-characterized and include defects in chromosome and mitochondria structure, function, and regulation. More recently, it has been appreciated that the extra-follicular ovarian environment may have important direct or indirect impacts on the developing gamete, and age-dependent changes include increased fibrosis, inflammation, stiffness, and oxidative damage. The cumulus cells and follicular fluid which directly surround the oocyte during its final growth phase within the antral follicle represent additional critical local microenvironments. Here we systematically review the literature and evaluate the studies that investigated the age-related changes in cumulus cells and follicular fluid. Our findings demonstrate unique genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes with associated metabolomic alterations, redox status imbalance, and increased apoptosis in the local oocyte microenvironment. We propose a model of how these changes interact, which may explain the rapid decline in gamete quality with age. We also review the limitations of published studies and highlight future research frontiers.

Introduction

In 2020, for the first time in history, there were more people in the world aged 60 years and over than there were children below the age of 5 years. The population aged over 65 years is projected to increase from one billion in 2019 to more than two billion in 2050, and those aged over 80 years are projected to increase from 143 to 426 million, with the largest increase occurring in the developing world (UN World Population Prospects, 2019). This demographic trend constitutes the largest global health challenge, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The European Union has set it as one of the major challenges in Horizon 2020 and it has important societal implications (European Commission, 2020). The proportion of retired individuals will increase, leading to an increased ratio between those who have exited the workforce and those still active in the labour market. Thus, ageing represents a global societal and scientific challenge requiring integrated efforts, multidisciplinary translational research approaches and social innovations that build on ideas of potentials and capabilities, emphasising the value of old age.

Societal implications of smart cities

Inteligentne miasta są uważane za istotną koncepcję, stanowiącą pomost pomiędzy technologią a społeczeństwem. Przejmuje ona rezerwy zarządzania w społeczeństwie ludzkim, które mogą być wykorzystane przez różne narzędzia technologiczne, mogące uczyć się wzorców zachowań i odpowiednio dostosowywać różne aspekty życia. Jednak ta koncepcja społeczna napędzana technologią nie bierze pod uwagę jednego z najważniejszych elementów równania ulepszonego zarządzania: człowieka, ludzkiej natury i ludzkiego zachowania. W bardzo małym stopniu lub wcale nie uwzględnia ona również demokratycznych ograniczeń, które mieszczą się w kontekście praw obywatelskich i politycznych. Nie interesuje się też długoterminowymi skutkami wykorzystania inteligentnych technologii dla rozwoju ludzkich umiejętności. W ten sposób artykuł przybiera formę krytyki i dyskusji nad przeoczonymi elementami, które z jednej strony obniżają efektywność (inteligentnych) technologii, a z drugiej jednocześnie redukują potencjał twórczy ludzkiej codzienności. Mimo że idea inteligentnych społeczeństw wydaje się być korzystna, to generalnie, zwłaszcza w skali makro, uważa się, że ogranicza ona potencjał twórczy jednostek nawet do poziomu ich degradacji psychicznej.

A Case Report on Schizophrenia with Autoimmune Encephalitis

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with a high death rate and significant societal implications. Curative treatments are not available due to a lack of understanding of its etiopathogenesis. The mild encephalitis hypothesis of schizophrenia, established primarily by Karl Bechter and Norbert Müller, is one of the new research hypotheses. According to this theory, a significant subset of schizophrenia patients suffers from a mild but persistent form of encephalitis caused by a variety of etiology ranging from viral infections to traumas to autoimmune illnesses. This inflammatory method is believed to occur in the start or during the course of the disease. The authors present case of a 65-year-old female got admitted in female psychiatric ward AVBR Hospital Sawangi Meghe, Wardha Maharashtra with chief complaint of forgetfulness, interest in environment decline, unable to communicate, poor performance at work, muttering to self, sleep disturbance, seeing people which are not seen other, fearfulness. all necessary investigation done, in mental status examination founded impairment in memory, disorientation cognitive function impairment, RBC count 3.82, WBC count 5300, Hb% 12, calcium 8.1, urea 26, creatinine 0.6, sodium 142, potassium 4.0. Alkaline phosphate 89. HIV, HBSAG non-reactive, A large number of white blood cells in the CSF An MRI that reveals evidence of brain inflammation. There was a slight increase in antinuclear antibody (1: 40 titer). Blood and CSF were positive for oligoclonal bands. The patient was received symptomatic treatment antianxiety, antipsychotic drug alleviates hallucinations and delusion. Disturbances of consciousness and orientation, catatonia, speech dysfunction, focal neurological signs, epileptic seizures/EEG abnormalities or autonomic dysfunction are warning signs in psychiatric patients which should always induce cerebrospinal fluid analysis with determination of antineuronal autoantibodies. Currently established immunotherapy strategies are summarised, taking into account international expert advice. Guided by clinical warning signs, our qualitative review enables rapid and reliable diagnosis of definite autoimmune encephalitis. This is of high relevance for the affected individuals, since early and sufficiently intense immunotherapy often leads to a good prognosis despite severe illness.

Cultural Influences on Artificial Intelligence: Along the New Silk Road

Applications of AI, in particular data-driven decision-making, concern citizens, governments, and corporations. China was one of the first countries to have identified AI as a key technology in which to invest heavily and develop a national strategy. This in turn has led to many other countries and the European Union (EU) to develop their own strategies. The societal investments and applications of AI are so far-reaching that looking only at the resulting technological innovations is insufficient. Instead, we need to be aware of the societal implications of AI applications—of which there are many—as well as the geopolitical role of business and academic players.

Linking Wise Organizations to Wise Leadership, Job Satisfaction, and Well-Being

Objective: Research shows that wisdom benefits individuals, but is this also true for organizations? To answer this question, we first delineated the characteristics of wise and not-so-wise organizations in the areas of goals, approach, range, characteristics of leaders and employees, and perception of aging, using a framework derived from comparing wisdom with intellectual knowledge. Guided by this framework, we then tested whether wise organizations have a positive effect on employees’ physical and subjective well-being mediated by wise leadership and job satisfaction.Method: We created a wise organization index for nine organizations from the 2007–2008 Age and Generations Study based on 74 to 390 average employees’ ratings of perceived work opportunities for training and development, flexibility at work, absence of time pressure at work, work-life balance, satisfaction with work benefits, job security, and job opportunities. A mediated path model was analyzed to test the hypothesis. The sample contained 821 employees (age range 19–74 years; M = 41.98, SD = 12.26) with valid values on wise (fair and supportive) leadership at the first wave of data collection and employee job satisfaction (career as calling, satisfaction with career progress, engagement at work, and organizational commitment) and physical and subjective well-being at the second wave of data collection at least 6 months later.Findings: Results confirmed that the positive associations between the organizations’ overall wisdom index and employees’ physical and subjective well-being scores at Wave 2 was mediated by employees’ perception of wise leadership at Wave 1 and employee job satisfaction at Wave 2.Originality/value: This study fills a gap in the organizational wisdom literature by 1) systematically contrasting the characteristics of wise organizations with not-so-wise organizations, 2) creating a novel wise organization index, and 3) testing the effects of wise organizations and wise leadership on employees’ job satisfaction and physical and subjective well-being.Practical and societal implications: The results suggest that wise organizations encourage wise leadership, and wise leadership, in turn, fosters job satisfaction, which benefits employees’ physical and subjective well-being. Hence, wise organizations ultimately enhance workers’ well-being, which likely contributes to the success and reputation of the organization through higher employee productivity and better customer service.

Investigating Algorithmic Misconceptions in a Media Context: Source of a New Digital Divide?

Algorithms are widely used in our data-driven media landscape. Many misconceptions have arisen about how these algorithms work and what they can do. In this study, we conducted a large representative survey (<em>N</em> = 2,106) in the Netherlands to explore algorithmic misconceptions. Results showed that a significant part of the general population holds (multiple) misconceptions about algorithms in the media. We found that erroneous beliefs about algorithms are more common among (1) older people (vs. younger people), (2) lower-educated people (vs. higher-educated), and (3) women (vs. men). In addition, it was found that people who had no specific sources to inform themselves about algorithms, and those relying on their friends/family for information, were more likely to have algorithmic misconceptions. Conversely, media channels, school, and having one’s own (online) experiences were found to be sources associated with having fewer algorithmic misconceptions. Theoretical implications are formulated in the context of algorithmic awareness and the digital divide. Finally, societal implications are discussed, such as the need for algorithmic literacy initiatives.