The present study explores two relationships: first, between number of payment and payment option preference, and second, total sum and payment option preference, with pain of payment as a mediator variable. The analyses revealed that consumers who feel higher pain of payment preferred the pennies-a-day pricing to the aggregate pricing when the per-payment price is low. Consumers who experience higher pain of payment prefer to pay in small frequent installments because they feel the small per-payment price can be comparable to daily expense. Consumers who experienced higher pain of payment preferred aggregate pricing to pennies-a-day pricing when the per-payment price was high. When the per-payment price is high, it is no longer comparable to daily expense, thus leading to greater pain of payment among consumers. The study discusses the implications for mechanism of pain of payment on payment option preference.

이 연구는 파키스탄에서 9/11 테러 이후 외교정책 결정 과정을 추적하기 위해 4단계 "위기에서의 국가 행동 모델"을 적용했다. 그것은 알카에다의 미국에 대한 불길한 공격과 테러에 맞서 싸우기 위한 부시 대통령의 후속 선언이 t1 단계의 세계와 지역의 정치 안보 차원을 변화시켰다고 주장한다. 이웃 국가인 파키스탄의 지원은 테러와의 전쟁에서 불가피했고, 미국은 이슬람 바드의 협력을 얻기 위해 강압적인 외교를 취했다. 결과적으로, 미국의 요구를 수용하지 않을 경우 파키스탄은 국가의 기본 가치/목표에 대한 위협을 인식하고 동시에 시간 압박은 t2 단계에서 의사결정자들의 심리적 스트레스를 증폭시켰다. 따라서 의사결정 포럼은 t3 단계에서 시작되었고 파키스탄은 외교 정책 위기를 완화시킨 t4 단계로 미국에 합류하기로 결정했다.

Introduction Drawing from Kahneman and Tversky’s, (1979) prospect theory, this conceptual paper attempts to go beyond our knowledge of how consumers understand, perceive, use, and apply nutritional information on nutritional labels especially at the point of purchase (Cowburn & Stockley, 2005; Grunert & Wills, 2007; Miller & Cassady, 2015) to examine whether a health-conscious consumer’s food product choice decision will largely be based on negative or positive nutrients on the nutritional label. This has become necessary because of the criticality of consumers’ decisions regarding nutrition issues to marketers and policymakers (Chen, 2013; Clare & Burghardt, 2015; Ellison et al., 2013) which has resulted in a growing interest in nutritional information issues among researchers. A review of the extant relevant literature also shows that, studies examining how consumers place value on the positive nutrients (those that enhance and improve their health – e.g. Vitamins) and negative nutrients (those that have deteriorating effect on their health – e.g. Fats) and how they affect their purchasing decision are scarce. Conclusion This paper argues that, it is not enough to know how consumers understand, perceive, use and apply the nutritional information especially at the point of purchase etc. shown in the literature. There is the need to go further to examine the influence the nutrient content claim (both positive and negative nutrients) have on consumer nutritional choice decision when purchasing a food product. There is also a need to go beyond the dieting and ill consumers who because of their conditions seek specific nutrients in their foods and consider the larger consumer segment who are health-conscious by taking Burton and Andrews (1996) and Baltas’ (2001) research a step further. The study provides evidence for the use of prospect theory in nutritional label issues and go a long way to reinforce its application in this regard. The study enables marketers to: gain understanding of what nutrient content claim will cause a consumer to decide to purchase a food product when seen on a nutritional label; shape the format of the nutritional information on nutritional labels for easy use by consumers; and know what to emphasize in communicating nutritional information to their consumers.

The growth of capitalism plays the crucial role in consumers’ consumption that drive businesses to employ new technologies to increase the efficiency of production process. It is inevitable that consumers have to take responsibility for this movement, because they are the central of market system in which most businesses have to provide choices of purchasing. It causes the impacts to overconsumption in natural resources and also affects to social and environment problems. Sheth et al. (2011) provide alternative framework for developing sustainable consumption through the concept of mindful consumption. It is in line with the Consumer Culture Theory which consumers co-create the meaning of consumption, experience, or activity in all cycles of consumption – acquisition, consumption, possession, and disposition (Arnould and Thompson, 2005). Sheth et al. (2011)’ mindful consumption is demonstrated as the strategy how consumers can control their desires, behavior, and consumption. However, there is little interest to study how to develop mindful behavior. Therefore, this paper has shed the light on how consumption provides less impact to society whereby consumers are conscious and concerns the results of their consumption. The qualitative research was employed to collect data in regarding to mindful consumers who live in harmony with nature, environment, and mind. Participant observations and in-depth interviews were conducted to make understanding of mindful consumption in Thai culture. Practice of mind and body were found in Thai culture that play an important role in co-creating well-being and sustainable society.

A large body of word-of-mouth (WOM) research has shown that ratings, rating volume, and text comments function as determinants to assessing quality of products (Berger, 2014; Chen & Lurie, 2013). However, little attention has been paid to the reviewers as a significant source of product evaluation (He & Bond, 2013). To be specific, there is a lack of understanding whether a product is preferred because it was recommended by an associative group or because it was not preferred by a dissociative reference group (dissimilar to self). The results from Study 1 demonstrated that participants are more influenced by similarity-attraction than by dissimilarity-repulsion. To be specific, African American participants rated product a higher, which was recommended by their associative reference group. Similar pattern was revealed in the male group. In Study 2, we found an underlying mechanism to explain the effects from Study 1. We tested the perceived difficulty of processing as a potential mediator for this phenomenon and utilized a choice/reject task. The analysis of moderated mediation (Hayes, 2013) revealed that the significant indirect effect of the number of options on purchase intention was conditional on the deleting approach but not on the choosing approach. By rejecting multiple alternatives, participants were more likely to buy the product since it is easier to make decision. In conclusion, this finding provides insights regarding the decisionmaking process resulting from social influence based on a reference-dependence approach.

As a system complexity increases and technology innovation progresses rapidly, leasing the equipment is considered as an important issue in many engineering areas. In practice, many engineering fields lease the equipment because it is an economical way to lease the equipment rather than to own the equipment. In addition, as the maintenance actions for the equipment are costly and need a specialist, the lessor is responsible for the maintenance actions in most leased contract. Hence, the lessor should establish the optimal maintenance strategy to minimize the maintenance cost. This paper proposes two periodic preventive maintenance policies for the leased equipment. The preventive maintenance action of policy 1 is performed with a periodic interval, in which their intervals are the same until the end of lease period. The other policy is to determine the periodic preventive maintenance interval minimizing total maintenance cost during the lease period. In addition, this paper presents two decision-making models to determine the preventive maintenance strategy for leased equipment based on the lessor’s preference between the maintenance cost and the reliability at the end of lease period. The structural properties of the proposed decision-making model are investigated and algorithms to search the optimal maintenance policy that are satisfied by the lessor are provided. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed model. The results show that a maintenance policy minimizing the maintenance cost is selected as a reasonable decision as the lease term becomes shorter. Moreover, the frequent preventive maintenance actions are performed when the minimal repair cost is higher than the preventive maintenance cost, resulting in higher maintenance cost.

Selecting suppliers in the global supply chain is the very difficult and complicated decision making problem particularly due to the various types of supply risk in addition to the uncertain performance of the potential suppliers. This paper proposes a multi-phase decision making model for supplier selection under supply risks in global supply chains. In the first phase, the model suggests supplier selection solutions suitable to a given condition of decision making using a rule-based expert system. The expert system consists of a knowledge base of supplier selection solutions and an “if-then” rule-based inference engine. The knowledge base contains information about options and their consistency for seven characteristics of 20 supplier selection solutions chosen from articles published in SCIE journals since 2010. In the second phase, the model computes the potential suppliers’ general performance indices using a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) based on their scores obtained by applying the suggested solutions. In the third phase, the model computes their risk indices using a TOPSIS based on their historical and predicted scores obtained by applying a risk evaluation algorithm. The evaluation algorithm deals with seven types of supply risk that significantly affect supplier’s performance and eventually influence buyer’s production plan. In the fourth phase, the model selects Pareto optimal suppliers based on their general performance and risk indices. An example demonstrates the implementation of the proposed model. The proposed model provides supply chain managers with a practical tool to effectively select best suppliers while considering supply risks as well as the general performance.

본 논문은 개인의 비합리적인 이타주의 행동을 설명하는 규범활성화모델을 활용하여 공정무역제품 구매행동을 촉진하는 개인적, 규범적, 문화적 요인을 통합적으로 다루고 있다. 모델 관련, 예기된 감정(예기된 자부심과 예기된 죄책감)과 두 가지 상충하는 개인가치(박애주의 가치와 권력 가치)를 공정무역 관련 개인규범 활성화 선행요인으 로 개념화 하였다. 그리고 활성화된 개인규범이 공정무역제품 구매행동에 영향을 주는 것으로 보았고 특히 이들 간의 관계를 문화 클러스터(유교, 라틴 유럽)가 조절하는 것으로 개념화 하였다. 구조방정식을 통해 얻은 실증결 과는 예기된 자부심이 개인규범에 미치는 영향력이 예기된 죄책감 보다 크고, 상충되는 두 가지 개인가치 중 이 타적 가치인 박애주의 가치만이 개인규범에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 활성화된 개인규범은 공정무역제품구매 행동에 유의한 영향을 주는 것으로 조사되었다. 문화 클러스터의 조절효과는 다집단비교 구조 방정식을 통해 분석하였다. 검증결과, 해당 경로에 대한 영향력이 라틴 유럽 클러스터 보다 유교 클러스터에서 더 강한 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 유교 클러스터가 라틴 유럽 클러스터에 비해 직접적인 비용지불에 따른 자기희생 정도가 더 크고, 사회 구성원 기대에 상응하는 도의적 의무감을 강하게 느끼기 때문에 공정무역제품 구 매 행위가 더 강하게 나타난 것으로 해석 가능하다. 본 논문은 규범활성화모델을 활용하여 공정무역제품 구매행 동을 비교 문화적 관점에서 접근하여 윤리적 소비자의 의사결정과정을 실증적으로 구명했다는데 의의가 있다.

As a system complexity increases and technology innovation progresses rapidly, it tends to lease a system rather than own one. This paper deals with a decision-making model to determine the preventive maintenance strategy for leased equipment. Various maintenance options are presented and formulated via the non-homogeneous Poisson process. During the lease period, the preventive maintenance strategy that minimizes the total cost among the presented maintenance options is selected. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed model.

Shopping at bricks-and-mortar stores is considered highly experiential. An ability to experience and physically interact with a product is a key benefit of shopping at offline stores. In an online shopping context where sensory experience is absent, researchers have looked at how mental imagery as an alternative to in-store sensory experience impact consumer decision-making (Yoo & Kim, 2014). However the role of mental imagery has been largely overlooked in the context of offline store shopping. While it is true that shopping at offline stores facilitates sensory experience, evidence from cognitive neuropsychology literature supports that visual perception impacts visual mental imagery (Bartolomeo, 2002). Therefore, it is reasonable to posit that sensory experience in stores is related to mental imagery. Yet the relationship between actual sensory experience and mental imagery in the context of store shopping has not been studied. To fill a gap in the current literature, this study aims to examine the process by which sensory experience and mental imagery facilitate purchase decision-making in the context of offline stores. Based on the model of recursive relationships among consumers’ emotional, cognitive, perceptual and behavioral responses (Scherer, 2003) and a review of previous literature, this study posits that actual sensory experience and mental imagery related. It is further posited that both actual sensory experience and mental imagery influence consumers’ affective (anticipatory emotion) and cognitive responses (e.g., decision satisfaction, perceived ownership and decision satisfaction). This study employed an online survey in Korea. Apparel shoppers who shopped and purchased apparel at brick-and-mortar stores during the last six months were recruited. To facilitate a retrieval of in-store experiences, a series of questions about their specific shopping trip and purchases were asked at the beginning of survey. The current study consists of measurements adopted from the existing literature with adequate reliabilities. All the items were measured using a 7-point Likert-type scale. A total of 455 respondents completed the online survey questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were examined to assess reliabilities of the measures, and reliability coefficients were acceptable for all constructs (.78 ~ .92). Results of the SEM revealed that all the model-fit indexes exceeded their respective common acceptance levels, suggesting that the proposed model fitted the data well (2 = 627.38, df = 175; NFI = .92; IFI = .94; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .075). All the direct relationships among variables were significant except for the effect of sensory experience on perceived ownership, the effect of mental imagery on decision confidence, and the effect of perceived ownership on behavioral intention. This study provides new insights into consumer in-store shopping experiences and theoretical and practical implications. Sensory experience and mental imagery are complementary in facilitating consumer in-store shopping experiences. In addition to the importance of sensory experience, this study provides empirical evidence to support the vital role of mental imagery in the context of in-store shopping. Visualizing a situation through vivid mental imagery combined with actual sensory experience will lead consumers to positive shopping outcomes. Further research is warranted to better understand how to optimize actual sensory experience and mental imagery to offer excellent in-store experiences.

The concept of „Sustainability‟ has become as major concern and it used by consumers and corporations to convey the concept of taking care of the environment. Environmental concern has led to sustainable consumption in a variety of product categories, such as electricity, textiles, apparel, food, and grocery products (Chan, 2001; Harrison, Newholm, & Shaw, 2005; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006a, 2006b). Interest of the negative environmental impacts are rapidly increasing in present fashion business and consumer behavior has become a rising concern of the consumption and fashion supply chain to apply sustainable consumption (Birtwistle & Moore, 2007; Fineman, 2001). The environmental and social concern recognized in fashion industry from 1990‟s. However, the complexity of conceptual definition of sustainability and ecologically responsible consumer generates different and mistaken perception to consumer. In addition, in fashion industry, the terms of „eco-fashion‟, „environmentally friendly fashion‟,„green fashion‟, „ethical fashion‟, and „sustainable fashion‟ are frequently used interchangeably to describe the same concept. These interchangeable terminology is leading to confusion of the readers by the non-unified terminology (Choi et al., 2012). Also, consumers seem to have narrow scope and little understanding of sustainable fashion. In general, consumers focuses on environmental aspect not the wide-range of complexity of environment, social, and economical concern (Cervellon, Hjerth, Ricard, & Carey, 2010). The growing number of fashion brands are leveraging on green branding initiatives. Green marketing is increasing rapidly in corporate aspects and for a consumer perspective, global consumers are recognizing a personal accountability to take responsibility for social and environmental issues. Despite the fact many of individuals‟ willingness to purchase green products has increased in the last few years, however, there is limited studies suggest that purchase of green or sustainable products. Consumer research on sustainable fashion has mainly focused on consumer behaviors towards sustainable fashion products (SFPs); however, relevant studies that examined the whole process of the predicting proenvironmental behavior cross nationally value and the eWOM are still scarce. The purposes of research model are 1) to identify the determinants of eWOM intention on consumers' purchase intentions, 2) to examine the information adoption process as precursors of purchase intention of sustainable fashion, and 3) to testify different message types effects to information adoption process.

HNS사고는 대규모 화재와 폭발을 수반하며, 다수의 인명사고와 주변지역에 극심한 환경오염을 야기함으로 신속한 의사결정을 통하여 광범위한 확산을 막아야 한다. 본 연구는 국내 HNS사고사례를 해상이라는 특수성이 반영된 표준코드를 바탕으로 고품질, 표준화, 디지털화된 HNS사고 데이터베이스를 구축하여 사고발생 시 신속하고 합리적인 의사결정을 지원하고, 체계적인 통합관리 및 공유가 가능한 HNS사고이력관리시스템(HATS)을 설계하고 구현하였다. 또한 개발된 시스템을 활용하여 23년간 수집된 국내 HNS사고데이터 76건에 대해 각 항목별로 통계분석을 수행하여, 국내에서는 매년 평균 3.3건의 사고가 일어나며, 주요 HNS사고요인은 춘계기간 (41%), 계류장 (51 %), 케미컬운반선 (49 %), 승무원에 의한 과실 (45 %), 자일렌류 (12 %)인 것으로 확인되었다. (괄호안 : 사고분류기준별 해당 사고요인의 퍼센트 비율임)

The tobacco cutworm, Spodoptera litura(Fabricius), is a major pest of tomato and frequently demands control measures. The timing of insecticide application is a key factor in determining its efficiency, so an experiment was designed to investigate this. Application of insecticide was based on three criteria: (i) the number of trap-caught moths in a Delta-type trap with a commercial sex pheromone lure placed in the center of the target area, soon after plant emergence; (ii) the percentage of plants exhibiting pinhole-type damage (10% or 20%) and (iii) the percentage of plants exhibiting shot hole-type damage (10% or 20%) compared to a check plot without any control measures. We found that the number of trap-caught moths was, compared to the other methods, the best means of deciding on insecticide application in tomato plant to control the tobacco cutworm. Using pheromone traps, we obtained the best performance of the insecticide Shinnago, causing > 90% larval mortality. Without insecticide application, tomato yield reduction due to the tobacco cutworm larva damage was 27%.

본 연구에서는 상품과 배경음악이 사람들의 충동적인 의사결정에 미치는 영향을 지연 할인의 쌍곡선 함수를 이용하 여 알아보았다. 구체적으로 상품과 배경음악에 따라 유의미한 이원 상호 작용이 존재했다. 명품 조건에서는 모차르트의 피아노 콘체르토 5번 장조 음악을 들었을 때, 20번 단조 음악을 들었을 때보다 충동성이 유의미하게 높았다. 하지만 실용 상품에 노출된 참가자들에게선 음악의 종류에 따라 충동성의 차이는 유의미하지 않았다. 추가 연구를 통해 음악을 더 세분화하여 빠르기를 조절하여 그 영향을 알아보았으며 동시에 정서가 위와 같은 결과를 매개 했는지 알아보았다. 결과적으로 정서의 매개효과와 빠르기의 주효과 모두 유의미하지 않았지만, 빠르기와 장단조 조건 간의 유의미한 이원 상호작용이 나타났다. 구체적으로 알레그로(allegro) 빠르기에서는 장조음악일 때가 단조 조건일 때보다 충동성이 높은 경향성이 나타났으며 안단테(andante) 빠르기에서는 장조 음악을 들었을 때가 단조 음악을 들었을 때보다 유의미하게 충동성이 낮게 나타났다. 우울한 정서를 예측 변수로 하고 미래 시간 길이 지각을 매개 변인으로 하여 추가 연구를 진행한 결과, 시간 길이 지각은 우울한 정서가 충동성에 미치는 영향을 부분 매개함을 알 수 있었다.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the influences of channel assessments on the usage of multi-channels by product types, and the differences in the usage of multi-channels among product types in buying decision making process for fashion products. Data were collected from 510 consumers in their 20s to 50s with purchasing experiences through multi-channel distribution system and living in Seoul and Kyunggi province; 491 were analyzed after deleting incomplete questionnaires. Factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis by using SPSS 18.0. The results were as follows: 5 factors were extracted for channel assessment: utility, accuracy, risk, price benefit and sharing information. Price benefits, utility and sharing information for online channel tended to influence positively on the usage of online channel and online+offline channels. Accuracy and low perceived risk of offline influenced positively on offline and on+offline channel usages. The usage levels of on-line and off-line channels for cosmetics were significantly lower than the usage levels for clothes and accessories on information search, evaluation of alternatives, and purchase stages. Significant differences were also found in the usage levels of multi-channels (on+off-line) on information search and evaluation of alternatives stages. The usage levels of the multi-channels for clothes were the highest followed by those of accessories and cosmetics in order.

Background: Deficiencies in the ability to maintain balance are common in elderly. Augmented feedback such as knowledge of results (KR) can accelerate learning and mastering a motor skill in older people. Objects: We designed this study to examine whether one session of Wii-Fit game with self-regulated KR is effective for elderly people, and to compare the effect of two different timings of self-regulated KR conditions. Methods: Thirty-nine community-dwelling elders, not living in hospice care or a nursing home, participated in this study. During acquisition, two groups of volunteers were trained in 10 blocks of a dynamic balancing task under the following 2 conditions, respectively: (a) a pre-trial self-regulated KR (n1=18), or (b) a post-trial self-regulated KR (n2=21). Immediate retention tests and delayed retention tests of balancing performance were administered in 15 minutes and 24 hours following acquisition period, respectively. Results: In both groups, significant improvements of balancing performances scores were observed during the acquisition period. Regardless of the group, mean of balancing performance scores on retention tests were well-maintained from the final session. There were no significant differences between groups in balancing performance scores during the acquisition period (p>.05); however, the post-trial self-regulated KR group exhibited significantly higher balancing performance scores in both the immediate retention test and delayed retention test than that of the pre-trial self-regulated KR group (p<.05). Conclusion: Therefore, subjects who regulated their feedback after a dynamic balancing task, during the acquisition period, experienced more efficient motor learning during the retention period than did subjects who regulated their feedback before a dynamic balancing task. Accordingly, in case of presenting the KR of motor learning in clinical settings to elders who reduced dynamic balance abilities, the requesting time of KR is imperative according to self-estimation processes as well as types of KR and practice.

사회적기업에 대한 전 세계적 관심은 다양한 영역에서 확산되고 있으며, 우리나라 역시 사회적기업에 대한 정책적, 실무적 및 학문적 관심이 증가하고 있다. 그럼에도, 기존연구는 조직관리 혹은 인적자원관리 이슈들을 다루는데 소홀해왔고, 종사자를 대상으로 한 실증연구와 논의 역시 초기 단계이다. 사회적기업 은 영리조직보다 종업원의 동기를 유발시키는 것이 더 중요할 수 있고, 자기결정이론(Self determination theory)은 사회적기업 종업원들의 직무동기와 조직 유효성 관계를 설명하는데 유용한 틀을 제공할 수 있 다. 이에 본 연구는 사회적기업 종업원의 직무동기가 조직몰입 및 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향과 이 관계 에서 민주적 의사결정의 조절역할을 분석하고자 한다. 실증분석결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 직무동기(외재 적, 투사적 및 내재적 동기)는 조직몰입과 조직시민행동에 모두 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 내재적 동기는 조직몰입과 조직시민행동에 모두 유의적인 정(+)의 영향을 미쳤다. 반면, 투사적 동기는 조직시민행동에 유의미한 영향을 미치지만 조직몰입에는 한계적 수준으로 영향을 미쳤고, 외재적 동기는 조직몰입에 유의미한 영향을 미치지만 조직시민행동에는 한계적 수준으로 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났 다. 둘째, 민주적 의사결정의 조절역할과 관련하여, 민주적 의사결정은 내재적 동기와 조직 유효성(조직몰 입, 조직시민행동) 간 관계를 조절하였으나 외재적 동기와 투사적 동기와 조직 유효성 간 조절효과가 나 타나지 않았다. 사회적기업가들은 종업원의 내재적 동기를 강화시키기 위한 다양한 비금전 인센티브 등 이 중요함을 시사하였다. 결론에는 연구결과, 시사점 및 연구의 한계점 등이 논의 되었다.

Moral licensing is a non-conscious effect that provides a moral boost in the self-concept, which increases the preference for a relative immoral action by dampening the negative self-attributions associated with such behavior. Applied to a marketing context, moral licensing explains why a purchase of a green product (a positive moral act) is likely to increase the likelihood of subsequently purchasing a luxury good (a negative moral act). This study addresses the question how big this effect typically is and which factors influence its size by conducting a Meta-Analysis and a Meta-Regression. Based on a random effects model, the point estimate for the generalized effect size Cohen’s d is 0.365 (SE=0.047; p=0.000). Results of a Meta-Regression indicate, for the first time, that the three moderators cultural background, type of decision and type of comparison explain a substantial amount of the total variation of moral licensing effect’s size.

Although the internationalization decision making process amongst managers from developed nations has been extensively studied, this phenomenon has been sporadically explored among managers from newly opened and transition economies. Given the risks and commitment inherent in international market entry, a thorough understanding of the decision making process of managers in such dynamic markets becomes crucial in charting the firms’ future direction. Hence, drawing on concepts from cognitive science, this study aims to explore cognitive biases and mental models for international market entry decision making among managers from a transition economy, namely Myanmar. Myanmar is recognized as Asia’s last large economy to become globally linked. Myanmar has long posted a negative trade balance, with the import value nearly double that of exports. The country’s population of 54 million, its abundance of natural resources, and its economic integration in the fastest growing region of the world have attracted firms of global brands such as KFC and VISA, who strive to gain market access. After decades of military rule, Myanmar’s ‘open’ economy is dominated by state-run enterprises in heavy industries, with growing opportunities for the private sector to aid in the growth of the domestic market as well as to exploit foreign market opportunities. Scholars from a diverse range of disciplines have argued that elements of an organization’s international strategic abilities stem from managers’ cognitive processes that balance national, industry, organizational and functional issues (Prahalad & Doz, 1987). This study explores Myanmar decision-makers’ strategic cognition, which describes the information-filtering or sense-making process by which strategic issues are interpreted (Finkelstein, Hambrick & Cannella, 2009). The fact that management and marketing research in Myanmar contexts is virtually nonexistent, understanding the strategic decision making processes of managers in Myanmar is warranted, given the significant business opportunities for and within this country in transition. Strategic cognition describes the how cognitive structures relate to the decision process in terms of strategy formulation and implementation (Narayanan & Zane, 2011). Cognitive structures refer to the manager’s beliefs about the environment, the state of the organization, and the business portfolio. The strategic cognition perspective presumes that managers rely on their belief structures when undertaking a strategic decision task (Hambrick & Mason, 1984). According to Finkelstein et al. (2009), managers’ ability to deal with complex decisions is inhibited by cognitive biases as well as interpretive frames. Such biases, in part, influence which information is attended to and how it is interpreted. ‘Biases’ and ‘frames’ in decision making receive considerable attention in the strategic decision making literature because they often lead to committing decision errors. While there are a number of cognitive biases, our interest lies in framing bias (Kahneman & Tversky, 1984) because the interpretation of economic gains and losses are highly relevant for strategic decision making. Framing bias occurs when modifications in the way a decision problem is presented, focusing either on the potential gains or on the potential losses of alternatives, result in a change in the decision-makers’ initial preference, such as when a decision maker becomes risk-averse when gains are highlighted while becoming more risk-taking when losses are. Two propositions are tested in this study. First, if we assume that framing bias influences strategic decision making under complex and uncertain contexts, we should discover substantive differences in managers’ risk preferences. More specifically, differences should be found when managers are presented with alternative versions of elaborated problem scenarios that are the same in all aspects except for the fact that the alternatives have been systematically manipulated in terms of (1) the potential gains (positive presented version) or (2) the potential losses (negative presented version). Second, prior research reports that strategic cognition is influenced by personal characteristics (e.g. educational background) and values as well as organizational characteristics (e.g. firm size, firm age) (Finkelstein et al., 2009; Hambrick & Mason, 1984). With this in mind, we should observe significant differences in risk preferences between participants of different demographic and trait groups. This study implemented an experimental investigation into the potential framing and priming effects arising from a strategic marketing decision problem of whether to develop a new marketing plan to serve the home market or to commit marketing resources to the export market. The stimuli were adapted from those developed by Hodgkinson et al. (1999), which were crafted to solicit responses to a case scenario that described a convincing strategic investment decision encountered by a firm that provides innovative automotive vehicle fast paint-drying systems. This scenario was deemed appropriate for the Myanmar context given that the participants were familiar with automobiles and auto painting services. The scenario was moderately adapted to suit the Myanmar context, with a fictitious local firm, Yannawa Co., which was faced with domestic intensified competition and up-and-coming advanced technology product substitution. The case scenario was explained with about 260 words that describe Yannawa’s 10-year history, the domestic industry environment and Yannawa’s objective to achieve a profit of $3 million. A photo of a modern fast-drying automotive painting system was included in the stimuli. Participants were instructed to assume the role as one of Yannawa’s board of directors and were asked to choose one option between a ‘less-risky’ alternative (focus on the domestic market) with a higher likelihood of occurrence and a ‘riskier’ alternative (invest in overseas markets) that had two possible outcomes that had different likelihoods of occurrence. Framing effects were manipulated as positively and negatively worded versions. In the negatively framed version, participants had to choose between (A) developing a new marketing plan to serve its home market with a 100% chance this option will lead to profits of US$1 million below management’s targeted level or (B) committing its marketing to the export market overseas, with a 33% chance to reach the targeted level and a 66% chance to earn profits of US$3 million below management’s targeted level. In contrast, in the positively stated version, participants were asked to choose between (A) developing a new marketing plan to serve its home market with a 100% chance to earn profits of US$1 million or (B) committing to the export market with a 33% chance for profits of US$3 million and a 66% chance to make no profits at all. To control for potential priming effects, the presentation order of the alternatives varied, with the ‘less-risky’ higher likelihood of occurrence alternative presented first in the stimuli followed by the ‘riskier’ alternative, and vice versa in the other versions. Altogether, we developed four experimental conditions: positively versus negatively framed decision scenarios, with lower risk versus higher risk in alternate sequence. The research instrument also included items asking participant demographic characteristics. The decision task was also accompanied by a free-elicitation method to capture a mental model of the variables that the participant considered while making the decision. In other words, participants were asked in an open-ended question, “Please write in sequence the variables that you thought about while making your decision.” Unlike the stimuli of Hodgkinson et al. (1999), which provided a list of 18 variables, which participants could rely on to complete the cognitive mapping task, our free-elicitation method was deemed necessary in order to gain better insights to Myanmar managers’ thought processes. Both studies involved Myanmar professionals who were enrolled in a global MBA program being offered at campuses in Yangon and Mandalay where English is used as the medium of instruction. Study 1 comprised a sample of 118 students enrolled in the Marketing Management course, which is the first course taken in the program. The sample comprises 35 (29.7%) males and 83 (70.3%) females, with a majority (72%) within the age range of 22 to 31 years, and 62 (52.5%) with a Science education, 26 (22%) in Economics/Business and 21 (17.8%) in Arts/Language. A count of 46 (39.0%) occupy top/senior management positions, 36 (30.5%) are business owners, and the remaining 36 (30.5%) hold entry-level organization positions. Each participant was assigned randomly one of the four stimuli versions. The task was administered in class and participants were given 30 minutes to provide their responses. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings on a sample of 81 final semester MBA students in the same program. The sample composition of Study 2 is similar to that of Study 1. Data were analyzed using nonparametric approaches to test the significance of joint frequency distribution of cases. The statistical analyses indicate that the distribution of risk preferences are consistent in both Study 1 (i.e. participants new to the MBA program) and Study 2 (i.e. more experienced MBA students) (χ2 = 0.64, p = 0.27), which is similar to the findings of Bateman and Zeithaml (1989). Also, the risk preferences are consistent in both Yangon and Mandalay subgroups (χ2 = 0.00, p = 0.57). Thus, the data collected from both studies were pooled for further analyses. As for the control of priming effects, we find a significant difference in risk preferences (χ2 = 5.32, p = 0.04, 113 vs. 86), with a larger proportion of the second listed marketing alternative (i.e. more recent) being selected, irrespective of whether that alternative is higher-risk or lower-risk. With respect to a test of our first proposition of a framing effect, we found no support (χ2 = 0.32, p = 0.35) of a systematic association between framing and decision choice. The distribution of decisions shows that irrespective of whether the alternative was positively framed or negatively framed, a larger proportion of the participants chose to higher-risk alternative to focus on exporting. As for testing our second broad proposition that there would be significant risk preference differences between demographic groups in the sample, we found no support for sex (χ2 = 0.58, p = 0.27), age (χ2 = 0.29, p = 0.96), education background (χ2 = 2.40, p = 0.30), and no support for occupation (χ2 = 7.33, p = 0.11). The qualitative responses obtained from the free-elicitation section of the instrument, were analyzed by categorizing responses as either concrete, i.e. a greater focus on specific details (e.g. mention of numbers, such as ‘a 100% chance’, ‘a 33% chance’ and ‘$1 million below’, ‘profits of US$3 million’) or abstract, i.e. focus on the bigger picture (e.g. such as ‘more competition’, ‘threat of new products’). Based on this approach, we find that 138 (69.3%) of the participants began their mental model with an abstraction and 105 (52.8%) of those participants relied on a mental model that was entirely abstract, absent of specific details. In contrast, 33 (16.6) of the participants constructed mental models that were completely concrete, while the remaining 61 (30.7%) of the participants developed mental models comprising both abstract and concrete information inputs. Interestingly, a statistical test of an association between these three different mental models and risk preference show no significant association (χ2 = 2.80, p = 0.25). This exploratory study contributes to the management and international marketing literature by providing initial evidence and insights of the strategic cognition of Myanmar managers. The fact that there were no framing effects nor any differences in the risk preferences between different demographic groups suggest that participants in our study may be relying on a common heuristic (i.e. rule of thumb) that guides them towards the option to seek foreign market opportunities. The marketing doctrine concept introduced by Challagalla, Murtha and Jaworski (2014), is indicative of the influence of institution-wide principles that guide all decision-makers throughout the institution. In the case of Myanmar, national trade policies emphasizing export initiatives and increased export promotion activities may be regarded as fundamental drives for economic growth. As such, managers may be adopting this national principle to simplify their decision task and therefore prefer to pursue foreign market opportunities. Relatedly, it is worth noting that among the participants that opted to focus on the home market, nearly half were employed by a non-government organization (NGO) operating in Myanmar. This reiterates earlier findings of the influence of organizational characteristics on the strategic cognition of managers (Finkelstein et al., 2009; Hambrick & Mason, 1984). From our sample, we found that managers working for a NGO may be accustomed to adhering to their own organizational principles, which emphasize the needs of the domestic market. From a practical perspective, caution should be taken when decision managers rely largely on a heuristic approach to decision making. Although recent studies report that heuristics can be a valuable approach in the wake of overwhelming data and information (e.g. Patterson et al., 2012 ), others show that accurate mental models bring about better decision rules (e.g. Gary & Wood, 2011). To ensure that the decisions made by managers align both their personal preferences and the logic of rational choice, a deliberate model designed to compare the underlying costs and benefits of the decisions must be carefully developed in such a way to prevent decision makers from minor distractions. To date, our study is the first to gain insights on the ‘black box’ of decision making among a sample of managers from Myanmar. Despite the valuable insights provided from our exploratory study, it is not without limitations. Although our sample comprises businesspeople from two major cities in Myanmar and represents businesspeople from a diverse range of industries and demographic characteristics, the generalizability of our findings is still limited. In addition, we only designed and implemented one hypothetical business scenario in our study due to the complex nature of the decision task. Using one hypothetical case may further limit the generalizability. Moreover, our results revealing the absence of framing effects but the presence of priming effects seem inconsistent with prior studies that have reported that such effects alter individual perceptions. Based on our preliminary findings, future studies are called upon to verify, confirm, and extend this current study to other contexts in Myanmar and other emerging and transition economies.