European Journal of Social Sciences

Volume 48 No 1
July, 2015
New Developments in the Middle East and Security Opportunities of Islamic Republic of Iran (Case study of Egypt)
7-18
Somayeh Ghanbari
 
Abstract:
Initiation of a wave of revolutions and political unrest in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa affected nearly all regional and international political actors. The mentioned developments have also been considered very important to Iran, especially regarding security aspect. By posing the question of what are the opportunities of Islamic awakening for Iran, this article has come to the conclusion thatfor Iran, the developments especially in Egypt are very importantfrom security aspect and have been the point of focus. On one hand, some of the pro-West and anti-Iran governments are either overthrown or destabilized, and on the other hand, by increase of thepossibility of Islamist groups rising to power, additional risk and engagement have been created to regional and international opponents of Iran in the political arena. Thus, 2011 Arab revolutions have been interpreted as the reduction of pressure on Iran through engaging anti-Iranian coalition, which creates a security chance and a golden opportunity for security and foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Also, another consequence of Islamic awakening isthe concern of the Zionist regime about the formation of Israel free West Asia and North Africa.
Keyword: Islamic awakening, national security, the Islamic Republic of Iran, foreign policy, the Middle East.

 
 
Consumers’ Perceptions and Reactions towards Private Label Brands
19-33
K. Sasirekha and Sathish A.S.
 
Abstract:
Private Label brands witnessed an inspiring growth in food, grocery and apparel segment. PLB’s gained importance and presence in the store. Many retailers started increasing the percentage of private label brands in their product group as store brands to enhance the store image. The current study intended to explore and understand the consumer’s perception towards private label brands with the related literature and an empirical research conducted among consumers in Vellore, Tamilnadu, India. A detailed survey was conducted in exploring the views of customers and with a sample size of 150 from Vellore with the help of a well-structured questionnaire. The collected data analyzed using statistical tools and the study found that good quality, price, convenient pack sizes, huge variety are the most influencing aspects that makes the customer to buy the private label brand. Thus boosts a retailer to stock more PLB’s and to assure values for an enhancement in the sales volume of PLB’s.
Keywords: Consumer perception, Private label brands, Purchasing behaviour, India
 
 
Oppositional Politics and the Internet in Iran: A Visual Semiotic Analysis of the Iranian Green Movement’s Website
34-48
Yousef Mostafalou and Hamedi M. Adnan
 
Abstract:
This article analyzes the Iranian Green Movement’s websites for promotion of their cultural and political struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s theocratic state’s oppressive policies. It analyzes the websites contribution in four different conditions that establish the movement: collective identity, networking, mobilization and direct expression of political protest. In particular, the goals of the study are to illustrate ways in which the Internet is utilized by the Iranian oppositional movement activists to promote and advance their cultural and political struggles. Toward this end, Roland Bartheses’s visual semiotic approach has been deployed to analyze the Iranian oppositional movement’s websites and texts. Findings of the study show that the Internet or websites have being extensively used by the Iranian Green Movement’s activists for the promotion of the alternative forms of information, culture and meanings for representation and reconstruction of collective identity and development of alliance and solidarity between oppositional movement’s activists.
Keywords: The Internet; Oppositional politics; Oppositional political movement; Collective identity; Alliance and solidarity; Visual semiotic analysis.
 
 
Trust and Culture and their Effects on Buyer-Supplier Relationships
49-62
Aline AL AM and Sami Naddaf
 
Abstract:
According to information in commonly available business search engines, more than 2000 scholarly articles have been written about the importance of buyer-supplier relationships in today’s international marketplace where the process for developing trust and culture between buyers and suppliers continues to be intangible and reveals different views about ethical responsibilities owed.
Thus the present research study aims to contribute to the development of knowledge in trust, culture and their impact on the buyer-supplier relationships. More specifically, it endeavors to clarify the concept of trust and culture, to understand and measure their outcomes on the success of buyer-supplier relationships. To achieve this goal, we built a theoretical framework in order to provide an original conceptualization of strategic alliances, trust, culture and their outcomes on the correlation between buyer and supplier. Next, we performed an application on the Lebanese industry based on four big companies working in the food sector.
Keywords: trust, culture, strategic alliances, buyer-supplier relationship.
 
 
The Relationship between Work Alienation and Job Satisfaction among the Academic Staff in the Iraqi Technical Colleges and Institutes
63-72
Rusinah Bt Siron, Ahmed Kh. Muttar and Zainal Ariffin Ahmad
 
Abstract:
Pragmatically studying the association between work alienation as independent variable and both intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction as dependent variables among the academic staff in Iraqi technical colleges and institutes is the major goal of this research study. In technical colleges and institutes of Iraq, the academic staff was the population of the study and a quantitative approach through survey instruments design was adopted by the study. The total number of usable questionnaires was 419. The predicted relationships were tested through the SEM (Structural equation modeling). According to the findings, a significant relationship has been found between work alienation and both intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction.
Keywords: Technical Colleges and Institutes, Work Alienation, Intrinsic Job Satisfaction, Extrinsic Job Satisfaction
 
Managing Tourism Effects for Attitudes of Jordanians Towards Tourism: The Case of Petra
73-84
Omar A.A. Jawabreh, Omar Abedalla Alananzeh and Hakam Salem Awad Shatnawi
 
Abstract:
The present study aims to managing tourism effect for attitudes of Jordanians toward tourism in the historical city of south of Jordan, Petra. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire was constructed, with four sub-scales; cultural, economical, political, and social scales. The new questionnaire was administered to (500) Jordanians who live in Petra. Results showed high level of attitude toward tourism and subjects showed the highest level of attitude in social sub-scale and the lowest in the political sub-scale. Also, the results showed a significant effect of number of visits to tourist sites on the attitudes toward tourism. However, no effect was found for age, income, gender, educational status and profession.
Keywords: Tourism, attitude, culture, host community, negative impacts, Petra, political impact, social impact.
 
A Study on the Effect of Word of mouth on Brand Equity and Consumer Purchase Intention (Case Study Dell Laptops)
85-93
Hojat Vahdati, Neda Shahsiah and Forozan Kazemi Chamsourak
 
Abstract:
Purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Word of mouth on brand equity according to the intention of the consumer as a mediator role. This research is functional and descriptive. The population of this research is students of Lorestan University of Economics students. The sample size was estimated to be 205 people. Data in this study is a questionnaire. In this study, structural equation approach was used to examine hypotheses and conceptual model. Results assumptions showed that oral propaganda has positive impact on brand equity and Purchase Intention ion ion. In addition, results showed that oral propaganda has a significant positive impact on Purchase Intention and brand equity.
Keyword: Word of mouth, brand equity, to buy consumer products Laptop Dell
 
 
Child Temperament, Gender, Parental Level of Education and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder among a Nigerian Sample
94-103
Lawrence O. Amazue, Nwanneka H. Echezona and Charity N. Uzuegbu
 
Abstract:
The research investigated child temperament, gender and parental level of education as predictors of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among primary school pupils. Five hundred primary school pupils (210 males and 290 females) were rated by their teachers in relation to the degree to which they exhibit some behavioural tendencies of child temperament and ADHD. The pupils’ ages ranged from 6 years to 10years, with mean age of 8 years. Swanson, Nolan and Pelham’s (SNAP) Questionnaire and the Sutter-Eyeberg Student Behaviour Inventory were responded to by the pupils’ teachers. The results showed that child temperament, gender and parental level of education significantly predicted ADHD among primary school pupils. It was concluded that professionals such as Psychologists and Counselors should be made available in schools to assist teachers and parents identify and manage pupils with some maladaptive behaviours like ADHD.
Keyword: Child temperament, gender, education, ADHD and Nigerian sample
 
 
The Effect of Natural Gas Imports on GDP from a Financial Perspective: Evidence from Turkey
104-113
Cem Berk
 
Abstract:
The paper analyses the relationship between natural gas imports and GDP in Turkey. Natural gas is the major source of energy consumption for Turkey. Turkey’s GDP is in a middle income trap, and most of the problems with the economic growth can be associated with the natural gas imports. This paper has the goal of modelling this relationship, with Ganger causality of vector autoregression (VAR) and vector error correction models(VECM). The author also propose financial and policy suggestions based on the outcomes.The data used in the research is GDP which obtained from Turkish Statistical Institute and Natural Gas Imports which is obtained from BOTAS. The research period is between 1987 and 2013. The paper provides models – VAR and VECM to analyse long term and short term causality between natural gas imports and GDP. According to VECM, no causality is detected at 5% level of significance. In other words, Natural gas imports and GDP does not Granger cause each other. This is to say, there is no significant relationship between natural gas imports and GDP in the short run. In the long run, according to VAR model, it is found that Natural gas imports and GDP does Granger cause each other in both directions. That is to say, an icrease in GDP would increase Natural Gas Imports and an increase in Natural Gas Imports would increase GDP.
Keyword: Natural gas; Energy modelling; Energy finance; Foreign trade

 
 
Youths Professional Socialization
114-118
V.V. Orlova and Y.F. Luts
 
Abstract:
The article dwells upon the research of professional socialization within university study environment, student body motivation and employment and its value for professional identification process. The article sets forth forcefully thesis about structure, financial interest and job security –the main motives of secondary employment. There are studying process improvement recommendations as well as students’ organizational conditions recommendations addressed to employers.
Keyword: Youths, secondary employment, motives, structure