Escaping the interpersonal power game: Online shopping in China

The increasing popularity of online shopping is now a global phenomenon, and China has become the largest internet market in the world. The reasons behind this preference for online shopping are examined in this study through 63 in-depth interviews and 5 years of virtual ethnography of a major online shopping website in China called Taobao.com. Chinese customers prefer Taobao not only because of price and convenience, but also because they enjoy the interactional process, during which they obtain more information, feel less pressured to put on a status performance in comparison to physical stores, and pay less affective labor. Chinese customers tend to believe that interaction with sales clerks in physical shops is a burden, and try to avoid this form of contact. This is related to the fact that consensus on status hierarchy is still yet to be established in a society that is undergoing rapid transition. Consequently, online shopping entails social interaction that attributes more power, autonomy and freedom to customers than otherwise possible in brick-and-mortar shopping. This study shows how both the online interactional environments afforded by technology and the broader social contexts (the service quality and related aspects of status competition among different social groups in contemporary China) affect interpersonal interaction.

Wages for Soundwork

Over the past decade, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has emerged from whisper-quiet corners of the Internet to become a bullhorn of speculation on the human sensorium. Many consider its sonically induced “tingling” to be an entirely novel, and potentially revolutionary, form of human corporeality—one surprisingly effective in combating the maladies of a digitally networked life: insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Complicating these claims, this article argues that ASMR is also neoliberal repackaging of what Marx called the reproduction of labor power. Units of these restorative “tingles” are exchanged for micro-units of attention, which YouTube converts to actual currency based on per-1,000-view equations. True to the claims of Silvia Federici and Leopoldina Fortunati, this reproductive labor remains largely the domain of women. From sweet-voiced receptionists to fawning sales clerks (both of whom are regularly role-played by ASMRtists), sonic labor has long been a force in greasing the gears of capital. That it plays a role in production is a matter that ASMRtists are often at pains to obscure. The second half of this article performs a close reading of what might be considered the very first ASMR film: Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Through this film, the exploitative dimensions of ASMR can be contrasted with its potential for creating protected spaces of financial independence and nonnormative corporeal practices.

An Effective Training Program for Registered Sales Clerks Who Sell Over-the-Counter Drugs in Japan: A Preliminary Study

Purpose: The Japanese healthcare system has designated registered sales clerks to sell over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.Because of this, the AEON HAPYCOM Comprehensive Training Organization implemented an education programto train registered clerks in 2014. The program is unique; it consists of both lectures and hands-on workshopcomponents. We conducted this study as part of a self-evaluation designed to improve the program.Methods: Program participants were asked to respond to an evaluation form upon completion. The form wasdesigned to ascertain student perceptions of the program’s components (e.g., themes, lecturers, materials, and thehands-on workshop) as well as its applicability to their practice of selling OTC drugs.Results: We obtained a total of 6,776 responses from 3,388 participants. On average, each of the program’scomponents were rated highly, with the hands-on workshop being rated the highest. There was a weak relationshipbetween the scores for program preparation and its applicability to OTC sales practices.Conclusion: The program (especially the hands-on workshop component) was highly evaluated by participants.However, we determined that enhancements could be made to the hands-on workshop and other mechanisms toencourage participants to prepare before attending the program.

(How) Does 360-degree feedback benefit the field of entrepreneurship?

Purpose Most of the studies in entrepreneurship depend on single-source rating methods to collect data on both predictors and criteria. The threat to effect sizes as a result of using single-source ratings is particularly relevant to psychology-based entrepreneurship research. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the prospects of applying 360-degree feedback to the field of entrepreneurship and to discuss a set of cases regarding how 360-degree feedback may boost effect sizes in entrepreneurship research. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative review of current literature was performed. Findings The review indicated that the effect sizes in psychology-based entrepreneurship research are mostly small and the use of single-source ratings is prevalent; some preliminary findings supported the utility of 360-degree feedback in entrepreneurship research; entrepreneurial orientation (EO) research may benefit from 360-degree feedback; and members of top management teams, employees from research and product development, sales agents, retail buying agents, store sales clerks, and consumers are all valid informants to provide ratings of EO. Originality/value The present study provided theoretical explanations and used empirical evidence to elucidate how 360-degree feedback may benefit the field of entrepreneurship. In addition, recommendations for future research using 360-degree feedback in entrepreneurship research were offered and discussed. A sample research study on EO using 360-degree feedback was delineated.

Rethinking student success

In today’s education, occupational (economic) life is the focus of our attention. We want every child to succeed, and this has come to mean that every child should be pre­pared for college and the sort of work that requires a col­lege education. What of all the children who will become bus and truck drivers, retail sales clerks, appliance repair people, construction workers, materials handlers, heavy equipment operators, railway engineers and conductors, house painters, plumbers, bakers, farm workers, beauti­cians, postal workers, cooks, waiters, hotel clerks, house and office cleaners, auto mechanics and sales people, dog and horse groomers, telephone/ electric line work­ers, prison guards, hospital attendants, grounds keepers, maintenance workers, managers of laundromats and dry cleaning shops, installers of burglar alarms, carpet layers, window washers, steel workers, fishermen, sailors, cater­ers, cashiers, chimney sweeps, roofers, makers of china and glassware, decorators, musicians, florists, entertainers, moving men . . . and what would happen to our society if no one were willing to do this work? Do these people represent failures of schooling, or do we fail them when we lead them to believe that only economic success is suc­cess? Teachers and parents can lose perspective when achievement is narrowly defined. What messages are we sending students when grades, test scores, and academic achievement are the criteria for “success” during their twelve plus years of schooling? Many students who struggle in school thrive in their families, communities, and jobs once they leave school. For some, leav­ing school may be the first time they experience real success and a sense of personal, task- related satisfaction. As we teach them and before they leave us, have we given these “non- achieving” students hope that they will have the tenacity to excel? Confidence that they will find their path? Courage to trust their ability to figure it out? Many students struggle with undiagnosed anomalies that limit their capacity to learn school subjects. For those students whose minds cannot adjust to the “book learning” of schools, do we still communicate that we want the best for them? Do we let them know that they are worthy of our support and encourage­ment for their future? Do we let students know they are valued whether or not they meet our academic expectations?

Relevance and Speed of Message Delivery Trade-Offs in Augmentative and Alternative Communication

This report is the first in a series of investigations designed to test a theory identifying the effects of conversational trade-offs between selected maxims on public attitudes toward augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system users and their communication. In the current study, the trade-offs between the relevance of a prestored message and its speed of delivery were examined. Participating were 96 sales clerks. Twelve scripted videotaped conversational conditions, involving an AAC customer and a clerk at a checkout counter, were used to manipulate message relevance, speed of message delivery, and participant/AAC user gender. Following each assigned viewing, participants completed a questionnaire designed to assess their attitudes toward the AAC user and his or her communication. Significantly higher mean ratings were found for the conditions involving the slowly delivered relevant messages (both preceded by a conversational floorholder and without a floorholder) when compared to the quickly delivered partly relevant message condition. In addition, the condition involving the slowly delivered relevant message with a floorholder yielded significantly higher mean ratings than that without the floorholder. There was no effect for participant/user gender. Modifications of the theory and technological implications are discussed.