본 연구는 애니메이션 <만약...헬라가 텐 링즈를 발견한다면?>을 사례 로 의상 기호의 의미와 의복 문화의 이데올로기가 내러티브에 미치는 영 향을 분석함으로써 기호가 애니메이션 서사에 미치는 지도적 역할을 탐 구하고자 하였다. 연구는 다양한 문화적 환경에서 의상의 색상, 스타일, 소재가 갖는 부가적 의미와 의상 기호가 갖는 이데올로기를 롤랑 바르트 의 기호학을 통해 분석하고, 애니메이션에서 의상 기호의 서사적 역할과 애니메이션의 주제적 아이디어 전달에 대해 연구하였다. 연구 결과에서 는 애니메이션 작가들은 의상 기호를 활용하여 시각적 서사적 도움을 주 고 있으며, 기호의 통합을 통해 작가가 표현하고자 하는 주제적 아이디 어를 설명하고, 관객이 애니메이션 속 플롯의 전개와 등장인물의 감정 변화를 이해하고 느낄 수 있도록 돕고 있다. 이 연구의 결론은 기호학이 애니메이션 서사와 통문화적 기호 사용에 대한 이야기를 전달하는 데 도 움이 되는 아이디어를 제공하고, 더 나은 애니메이션 작품 창작에 학술 적 지원을 제공한다. 그러나 기호를 의상 층면에만 한정함으로써 애니메 이션 전체의 시각적 의미 전달에 대한 지침으로서 많은 한계가 있다.

During reading instruction, sustaining learners’ reading motivation (RM) may be a challenge but a requisite when the goal is to keep learners reading. In the context of the present study, it was examined as to how RM may be sustained in a reading course. For this purpose, information on learners’ RM was collected in a semester-long university reading course with 118 Korean learners of English at the pre- and post-instructional stages of reading. RM was assessed with Motivations for Reading Questionnaire before and after reading instruction. Results indicated that reading involvement had decreased for all learners whereas the less skilled learners demonstrated an increase of reading efficacy and a drop in reading for grades. A linear multiple regression further indicated that reading efficacy was a significant predictor of reading proficiency only for the skilled learners. Implications are presented on how reading needs to be conducted by allowing learners to choose their own materials, which in turn may have an effect on developing more robust forms of RM.

“Cobranded endorsement”, i.e. the interactive partnership between a brand and a celebrity, seems to be the last frontier for endorsing a brand and increasing brand popularity. Indeed, the collaborations between a celebrity and a brand are increasing in number and growing in importance. Many new products or capsule collections are created and launched after these partnerships. The paper wants to investigate whether this cobranded endorsement has positive effects on brand equity. Findings from an experimental study carried out in the fashion segment reveal that cobranded endorsements foster a better attitude towards the brand and a higher purchase intention.

Many corporate brands are strongly associated with the person the companies are headed by (Argenti & Druckenmiller, 2004). Attention for corporate psychopaths (CPs), defined as individuals who show psychopathic traits and work successfully in corporations, has been growing lately (Boddy, 2005). Psychopathic traits (e.g. charm, lack of remorse and empathy) can easily be interpreted as leadership characteristics (e.g. charisma and decisiveness) and therefore boost the career of the psychopath allowing him/her to climb up the corporate ladder (Boddy, 2011). Empirical evidence—although limited—supports this assumption. It has been found that CPs more frequently have senior level positions in organizations than junior ones (Boddy, Ladyshewsky, &Galvin, 2010b) and that the chances of finding a psychopath among CEOs is four times higher than in the general population (Bercovici, 2011). A CP in a high level position (e.g. a CEO) can not only be assumed to have the largest leverage on how the company’s resources are deployed, but the way s/he is perceived by others also has a great impact on the company’s image (McGrath, 1995). The willingness to trust an entity is “based on the expectation that the other party will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party” (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). Therefore, the perception of negative/psychopathic traits in a CEO is of considerable importance to organizations because it influences the CEO’s public image and subsequently the level of trust placed in the top manager. This, in turn, can have far-reaching consequences for the company he works for because an executive’s greatest capital consists in the trust placed in him/her and a company cannot be successful in the long run without the trust from stakeholder groups (Hage, 2012). The perception of psychopathic traits can thus have severe consequences for the company’s attractiveness to its stakeholders. The current research investigates the effects of perceived psychopathy of CEOs for the attractiveness of any form of interaction with the company. Results of a structural equation model based on a survey among 670 participants show that perceived corporate psychopathy negatively influences perceived trust in the CEO. Perceived trust in the CEO, in turn, has a positive effect on perceived attractiveness of products, of shares, and of perceived employer attractiveness. Furthermore, if an individual considers sustainability to be of high importance, the ethical standards concerning sustainable behavior seem to be stricter because the trustor cares about them more than the economic aspects of how the CEO manages the company. Therefore, it was found that attitude toward sustainability moderates the relationship between perceived corporate psychopathy and perceived trust in the CEO.