ABSTRACT
Interest in the impact of human presence on the behavior and well-being of zoo and aquarium animals is increasing. Previous work has conceptualized the presence of zoo visitors as having one of three impacts on the behavior of animals in zoos: positive, negative, or neutral. Research suggests the same species may exhibit all three responses under different conditions, calling into question whether the positive/negative/neutral framework is the most useful way of considering visitor impact on animal behavior. Here we present a model of visitor effects that unifies these three predictions. Our model suggests that zoo-goers may provide a "dither effect" for some animals living in zoos. We posit animals may show nonlinear behavioral responses over a range of visitor densities, effectively exhibiting changes in both comfortable and anxiety-like behaviors under different levels of human presence. We tested this model during two COVID-19 related closures at the San Francisco Zoo, studying seven species for evidence of nonlinear relationships between visitor numbers and animal behavior. Our results support the dither effect acting in several species observed.
ABSTRACT
'CoronaVirus' is a hard hit on both Millennial consumers and marketers. It forced consumers and marketers to do the usual activities of buying and selling differently. Panic buying and herd mentality was widely noticed among millennials. Their unusual buying behavior which reflects behavior during a crisis is highly influenced by environmental stimuli. From this study, it is found that there has been a significant buying behavioral shift of global millennials in emerging markets (BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India, China;CIVETS - Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa). It is evident that the initial marketing attempts of marketers failed during COVID-19 due to the lack of understanding of the significance of environmental and marketing stimuli in consumers' purchase decisions. This study brings out the various positive substantial changes brought about through internetization in marketing goods and services to millennial customers during the pandemic. The pandemic enabled a rapid digital revolution in buying and selling using digital/online platforms. The study suggests the application of the Black Box Model by marketers in marketing and selling decisions. The Internet has been the most important tool used by customers and sellers to access what they need. This study is useful to marketers and upcoming entrepreneurs to understand that it is the consumer's buying behavior that triggers and pushes marketers to sell differently. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 has changed the conventional learning mode for most students at schools all over the world, and the e-learning at home has become a new trend. Taking Chinese college students as the research subject and drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this paper examines the relationship between the peer referent, perceived closeness, and perceived control and the learning engagement. Using data from 377 college students who have used e-learning, this study shows that perceived closeness, perceived control, and peer referents in e-learning have a positive effect on the self-efficacy and well-being of students, thus improving students' enthusiasm for learning. Our intent is to assist researchers, instructors, designers, and others in identifying effective methods to conceptualize and measure student engagement in e-learning.