This study explores the role of corporate involvement and brand perception in moderating the Cause Related Marketing on consumer purchase intention in the luxury product category among Japanese consumers. This research examines three core cause attributes - cause scope, cause type and cause acuteness developed by Vanhamme, Lindgree, Reast and van Popering (2012) as well as an additional component of duration – with corporate involvement and brand perception moderating the effect on purchase intention. The general public places judgment on a corporation based on how much of positive or negative impacts its business has on environment or society (Sheikh & Beise-Zee, 2011). In fact, more corporations have been developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, no matter how big their business sizes, big or small, are (Brinkvan, Odekerken-Schroder, & Pauwels, 2006). The general public loses its faith in corporations, especially after a financial crisis or malfeasances of big corporations and as a result, corporations are under stronger pressure to contribute to environmental or societal causes in order to reclaim lost faith from the general public (Sheikh & Beise-Zee, 2011; Berglind & Nakata, 2005). One way corporations contribute to society has been to employ marketing strategies that link product sales to the support of specific charities to create and maintain favorable brand images known as cause related marketing or CRM. CRM has been growing faster as a type of marketing that allow corporations to contribute to environment or society (Brinkvan et al., 2006). Various factors have been extensively researched on and identified as pertinent in the success of cause-related marketing campaigns such as brand-cause fit (Bigne-Alcanniz, Currase-Perez, Ruiz-Mafe and Sanz-Blas, 2011; Nan and Heo, 2007; Samu and Wymer, 2009), donation size (Dahl and Labvack, 1995; Pracejus, Olsen and Brown, 2003), types of causes (local causes are preferred to national ones) (Ellen, Mohr, and Webb, 1996; Smith and Alcorn, 1991) and product type with luxury products found to be more effective (Strahilevitz and Myers, 1995).

The bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mainly contributes to the structural integrity, survival and protection barrier against harsh environments. Therefore, the early stages in LPS or lipid A biosynthesis are attractive targets in the identification and development of inhibitors which would be effective against infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The bacterial outer membrane proteins (OMPs) meanwhile function as maintenance for structure, adhesion to other cells and substances, as well as development of resistance to antimicrobials. The LPS and LPS-related molecules, and OMPs are important immunogenic components of several important pathogens including Brucella, which have been extensively used in immunological studies and in the diagnosis of diseases. Here we review the importance, structure, functions and immunogenic aspects of LPS and OMPs particularly of Brucella which can be targeted for the prevention and diagnosis of brucellosis.

This research was conducted in order to examine the influence of corporate reputation in terms of as an employer towards both brand reputation and customer purchase decisions represented by brand perception, purchase frequency and category of items purchased. In this study, customers’ perception of the brand was also explored to identify the core blocks that form customers’ perception of the brand. The results indicate that corporate reputation did not have a strong influence on brand reputation, as customers viewed them as separate entities. Customers tended to form their brand perception based on the product features as opposed to the corporate reputation. In terms of purchase decision, the results showed that they were made and driven based on the customers’ brand perception with category of items purchased reflecting aspects of the brand perception. The study demonstrates that customers’ awareness of the corporate reputation does not affect purchase behavior, while brand perception is hardly impacted by the awareness of corporate reputation based on a survey focusing on a renowned domestic fashion-clothing retailer conducted among Japanese shoppers. Reputation is formed from a synthesis of the perception, opinions and attitudes of an organization’s stakeholders including employees, customers and community (Post and Griffin, 1997). It basically is a perceptual representation of a company’s past actions and future prospects that describe the firm’s appeal to all of its key constituents (Fombrun, 1966). Corporate reputations and brands are important assets in enabling organizations to exploit opportunities and mitigate threats (Argenti and Druckenmiller, 2004). A favourable reputation correlates with superior overall returns (Robert and Dowling, 1997; Vergin and Qoronfleh, 1998) as it encourages investments from shareholders, attracts good staff and retains customers (Markham, 1972). While corporate reputation is a stakeholder’s perception and evaluation of the organization over an extended period of time, corporate brands involve the organization’s efforts and initiatives in the form of corporate expression. Literature states that corporate brand comprises of two aspects: first corporate expression, which covers all mechanisms employed by the organization to express its identity and second, stakeholder images that are formed from interaction and experience with the brand (Abratt and Kleyn, 2011). Consumers judge brands based on trust that is developed from the way consumers view brand reputation, brand competence and brand constituent (Lau and Lee, 1999). The intricate relationship between reputation and brands leads to the heart of the study whether both are positively correlated, where the more positive the reputation, the stronger the brand is. In the fashion industry, labels play an important role hence among other aspects this study covers an interesting point where it looks at a fashion brand that has a fairly bad reputation and examines the extent of which the reputation is able to influence the brand perception as well as the customers’ purchase decisions.

To date, most serodiagnostic methods for brucellosis screening are based on antibodies against lipopolysaccharides of Brucella spp. However, this approach has the drawback of yielding false-positive results due to cross-reactivity with lipopolysaccharides of other related pathogens, especially Yersinia enterocolitica O:9. In this study, Brucella abortus AspC was cloned and expressed by PCR amplification into a pCold TF expression system to obtain recombinant AspC (rAspC). The immunogenicity of rAspC was confirmed by western blotting of Brucella-positive bovine serum. rAspC-based ELISA was performed to determine whether rAspC could be used in the serodiagnosis of bovine brucellosis. rAspC reacted strongly with anti-Brucella antibodies in positive sera in the tube agglutination test (TAT), but did not show strong reaction with most negative samples. In particular, the average OD492 value at the highest TAT titer showed a 1.4-fold increase with respect to the cutoff value. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of rAspC were 71.88%, 78.33%, and 68%, respectively. These findings suggest that rAspC might be valuable for the serological diagnosis of bovine brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a notorious zoonotic disease with global implications. Efforts to control the spread of the disease have been restricted to the agricultural livestock. Increasing incidences of accidental human infection have motivated researches to start working on alternative vaccines. At present, live attenuated vaccines are the only accepted type of vaccines used in developed countries for the prevention of brucellosis. Although serodiagnosis is occasionally unreliable, some countries have already claimed to have eradicated the disease, based on this testing. Live attenuated vaccines are not suitable for use in pregnant and immune-depressed animals. Moreover, these vaccines are not tolerated in humans. Therefore, many researches have been striving to discover alternative methods of vaccination. Most research has focused on the generation of subcellular, subunit, and DNA vaccines that are as efficient as the live attenuated vaccines. At present, none of the available vaccines has been able to replace the live attenuated vaccines. Therefore, additional research is necessary in order to discover a new brucellosis vaccine that is suitable for human use.

Related research on artificial cultivation of the edible fungi in modern China can be traced back to 100 years ago. The earliest article about the cultivation techniques of the edible fungi was published in 1897 on Agricultural Study Newspaper sponsored by Shanghai Agricultural Society. From the late 1800s to 1940s, the elder generation of scholars including Zou Bingwen, Hu Changzhi, Pan Zhinong, Li Shiyi, Sun Yunwei, and Yu Xiaotie, etc. not only introduced many foreign techniques in edible fungi cultivation a nd disseminated scientific knowledge and cultivation techniques, but also held various edible fungi talents training courses, set up experimental bases, and conduct edible fungi cultivation experiments. Those have laid a preliminary foundation for the modernization of China’s edible fungi cultivation techniques. After the founding of the PRC, the edible fungi cultivation industry has gained more space for development, and has achieved many milestone achievements, mainly including the tremella artificial cultivation technique, the hedgehog hydnum artificial cultivation technique, the Xianggu artificial cultivation with crushed-wood material technique, the white mushroom fine breed selection and breeding and cultivation technique improvement, the black fungus cultivation with crushed-wood material and fine breed selection and breeding, and the golden needle mushroom find breed selection and year-round cultivation technique innovation, as well as the acclimatization of wild edible fungi and the development of new varieties of edible fungi. These inventions and innovations have provided solid technical support to the development of the edible fungi industry in China. The reform and opening-up starting 1978 has provided a favorable policy environment for the development of the edible fungi industry in China. In the period of more than 30 years thereafter, the edible fungi industry in China has been developing rapidly, with the annual yield rocketing from 60,000 tons in 1978 to 20.2 million tons in 2009, and the proportion of the yield against total world yield growing from 5% in the past to more than 70% at present. During this historical period, many research institutions and scientific research staffs have made important contributions to the development of the edible fungi industry in China. Among them, the most important achievements are made by Researcher Chen Meipeng from the Institute of Edible Fungi of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Yang Xinmei from Huazhong Agricultural University, Researcher Huang Nianlai from Fujian Sanming Mycological Institute, and Professor Zhang Shuting from Chinese University of Hong Kong. When we look back, we treasure the outstanding achievements made by the elder generation of scholars on the development of the edible fungi industry in China. When we look into the future, we are geared with enthusiasm and confidence, and we will work hard to achieve higher in the edible fungi industry in China.

The deformation behavior under three-point bend test was found to depend on the loading uniformity and the macrostructure for SiC reticulated porous ceramics (RPCs). However, this dependence of loading uniformity is alleviated by improved macrostructure with fewer flaws and clogged pores. Even, this dependence becomes less important as the struts become thicker and stronger. The bend result of RPCs with highly uniform macrostructure is in excellent agreement with the GA (Gibson and Ashby) model, but the one with un-uniform macrostructure deviates from the GA model, suggesting that the macrostructure plays an important role in deformation behavior of RPCs under bend.

Capital mobilization is a traditional business of commercial banks and is one of the core foundations for the development of a bank. Capital mobilization is the main input in the operation of a bank, and this is also the basis for generating output for credit activities as well as other banking activities. This study aims to determine the main factors that affect the decisions of individual customers to put savings deposit in Vietnamese commercial banks. Survey data collected from 403 individual customers were analyzed to provide evidence. The results from the multiple regression analysis by using SPSS software revealed that all scales in this study were reliable, and there were six components impacting the savings deposit decision of individual customers from the strongest to the weakest in the following order: the form of promotion, bank brand, service quality, interest rate policy, and employee knowledge and attitude. Besides, the finding showed customers who have high income tend to have a stronger decision on savings deposits in commercial banks. The main findings of this article provide some empirical implications for marketers in banks and serve as a suggestion to improve these factors in order to retain and attract individual customers’ savings deposit decisions.

The paper examines social entrepreneurial intention through outcome expectations. The proposed model incorporates outcome expectations from social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behaviors. The study also introduces a scale for outcome expectations in social entrepreneurship, including solving social problems, innovation, family tradition of social involvement, meaning in life, prestige and social recognition, competitive and favorite job and wealth. A survey of 279 students was conducted through face-to-face structured interviews. The confirm factor analysis and technique of structural equation modeling were used to explore relationships among latent constructs. Research results show that the outcomes impact only through three determinants of theory of planned behavior and do not have significant impact to social entrepreneurial intention. It suggests that outcome expectations may be a flexible factor. Individual outcome expectations can shift to motivations when facing favorable conditions such as family support, government support, etc. The findings suggest that the ability to predict social entrepreneurial intention of attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The proposed model in this study contributes importantly to the emerging literature on entrepreneurial intention, particularly to social entrepreneurial intention. This study is also the first quantitative study to measure the impact of outcome expectations on social entrepreneurial intention.

The study of environmental pollution plays an important role in controlling emissions in the production activities of FDI enterprises as well as export goods. Vietnam is a country with a large proportion of FDI contribution and high export value. Therefore, there should be studies to assess the actual effects of FDI and the openness of the economy (trade) on the environment. Therefore, the authors conduct research on the role of FDI and trade on environmental quality in Vietnam. With data collected from 1990 to 2018 (from the period of Vietnam's economy opening up) through the ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) model, the results show that FDI has a positive impact on CO2 emissions in the short term but has no impact on the long-term (In this study, CO2 is considered to represent environmental quality). The trade has a positive impact on CO2 emissions in both the short term and long term. The results of the study show the actual shortcomings of FDI as well as production activities in the export enterprises in Vietnam. From the results of this research, the author also provides the causes and remedies to control of CO2 emissions from two activities of foreign direct investment and trade.

This paper aims to discover factors and their influences degree to repurchase organic cosmetic in Vietnam. In addition, this research also discloses the main segments that have high demand re-buying intention based on demographic groups of gender, age, income, educational level, job, type of products, and place of production. Twenty-eight scale was designed based on previous studies and adjusted to match the 5-point Likert scale to conduct measurement. By using survey method to test hypotheses and set up conceptual models to collect 295 Vietnamese consumers who have experience in consuming organic cosmetic by explain the results through Smart PLS software. The findings show that there is positive attitude of customers to the intention of acquiring organic cosmetics, green perceived and customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction, knowledge of products, safety values, and environmental protection consciousness also play important roles to form a positive attitude of customers for products. Moreover, the consciousness of green living of consumers accounts for a high proportion in creating customer satisfaction for organic products. The results show useful information for current premises to determine the factors that influence the decision to repurchase organic cosmetic product, that provide business strategies.

The study aims to investigate corporate social responsibility (CSR) best practices of the world automotive industry - Peugeot, BMW, Ford, Hyundai and Toyota among others – and recommend that they plan their business strategies and managerial responses accordingly. Based on the comparative research and case studies, this research finds that all five automobile manufacturers have taken very similar measures and actions in order to establish and maintain a high level of CSR practices. Sustainability was a core value in all five companies and served as a guiding principle in every aspect and approach of their business. This study finds that all five companies have CSR strategies in place to increase energy efficiency as well as reduce the usage and wastage of water in their production and plants. This research also finds that all companies monitor their suppliers and their own production process to ensure that they maintain their CSR standards. More impressively, this sustainable management practice is transferred along the companies’ supply chain through education and training. Their suppliers and business partners are closely monitored to make sure that their high CSR standards are respected and followed. However, we find that there also are some differences in terms of their CSR deliveries and activities.

The study aims to identify Service Quality factors that affect purchase decision on Click and Collect service through the mediating variable of customer emotions at Mobile World stores in Ho Chi Minh City. This study employs a mixed methods research design. Data were collected through online self-completion questionnaire distributed to 316 customers who used to experience Click and Collect service at the Mobile World stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The theoretical model was tested through two-stage regression analysis (PATH model). The findings show that factors of service quality such as Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, Tangibility, and Emotions affect the decision to purchase online and receive products directly at Mobile World stores in Ho Chi Minh City. Responsiveness and Assurance have a significant positive impact on the customer's emotions. Consequently, these factors should be considered and addressed when conducting multi-channel services. Obviously, employees must first be trained to be able to deliver the promise of the retailer to their customers. Based on the results of the study, the authors provide managerial implications for retailers in Vietnam in the multi-channel retail environment to develop Click and Collect at retail stores across the country and the world.

This research examined the alternatives of Jensen’s alpha (α) estimation models in the Capital Asset Pricing Model, discussed by Treynor (1961), Sharpe (1964), and Lintner (1965), using the robust maximum likelihood type m-estimator (MM estimator) and Bayes estimator with conjugate prior. According to finance literature and practices, alpha has often been estimated using ordinary least square (OLS) regression method and monthly return data set. A sample of 50 securities is randomly selected from the list of the S&P 500 index. Their daily and monthly returns were collected over a period of the last five years. This research showed that the robust MM estimator performed well better than the OLS and Bayes estimators in terms of efficiency. The Bayes estimator did not perform better than the OLS estimator as expected. Interestingly, we also found that daily return data set would give more accurate alpha estimation than monthly return data set in all three MM, OLS, and Bayes estimators. We also proposed an alternative market efficiency test with the hypothesis testing Ho: α = 0 and was able to prove the S&P 500 index is efficient, but not perfect. More important, those findings above are checked with and validated by Jackknife resampling results.

Social entrepreneurship is increasingly gaining interest in developing countries for the great benefits of society. In Vietnam, the concept of social entrepreneurship is still quite new. Entrepreneurial intention is regarded as a useful and practial approach for understanding actual entrepreneurial behavior. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated model based on planned behavior to examine the direct and indirect effect of perceived access to finance on social entrepreneurial intention. The confirm factor analysis to study the latent constructs underlying determinants of planned behavioral theory, perceived access to finance and social entrepreneurial intention. Then, it applies the technique of structural equation modeling to explore relationships among latent constructs. There is no direct relationship between perceived access to finance and social entrepreneurial intention. Perceived access to finance only indirectly increases entrepreneurial intention through attitude towards behavior and perceived behavioral. This study focuses on the perceptual factor of financial access that affects entrepreneurial intentions. The study does not cover other in-depth issues of social entrepreneurship such as decision making, leadership, personality traits, social capital, and human capital. To establish an environment with a strong social entrepreneurial intention, a focus on developing perceived access to finance is an extremely important factor. This study also suggests that attitude towards behavior and perceived behavioral have a strong impact to social entrepreneurship

This research examines the alternative ways of estimating the coefficient of non-diversifiable risk, namely beta coefficient, in Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) introduced by Sharpe (1964) that is an essential element of assessing the value of diverse assets. The nonparametric methods used in this research are the robust Least Trimmed Square (LTS) and Maximum likelihood type of M-estimator (MMestimator). The Jackknife, the resampling technique, is also employed to validate the results. According to finance literature and common practices, these coecients have often been estimated using Ordinary Least Square (LS) regression method and monthly return data set. The empirical results of this research pointed out that the robust Least Trimmed Square (LTS) and Maximum likelihood type of M-estimator (MM-estimator) performed much better than Ordinary Least Square (LS) in terms of eciency for large-cap stocks trading actively in the United States markets. Interestingly, the empirical results also showed that daily return data would give more accurate estimation than monthly return data in both Ordinary Least Square (LS) and robust Least Trimmed Square (LTS) and Maximum likelihood type of Mestimator (MM-estimator) regressions.