Search Results (7)

This study examined the impact of males’ facial and vocal attractiveness, as well as social interest in females’ decision-making in a trust game. The results showed that trustees with attractive faces or expressing positive social interest were more likely to receive initial investments. Trustees with attractive voices also received more initial investments than unattractive ones in most conditions, except when they had attractive faces and positive interest. Moreover, participants reinvest in trustees with attractive faces or voices, even if they withheld repayment. However, trustees with positive interest would receive more reinvestment only when they reciprocated. In addition, trusters expressing positive social interest were expected to invest and earn repayment at higher rates. Nonetheless, trusters with attractive faces (or voices) were only expected to invest at higher rates when they had attractive voices (or faces) and negative interest. These findings suggest that beauty premium is modulated by participants’ roles, such that the effect of beauty would be stronger when participants encounter trustees rather than trusters. Positive social interest is a perk in most conditions, except when trustees withheld repayment. Full article

This review explores the evolving role of the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii, in the tea industry, transitioning from a recognized pest to a significant enhancer of tea quality. Recent research highlights how its feeding behavior stimulates the production of desirable secondary metabolites, thereby improving the flavor profiles and market value of premium teas, particularly varieties like Taiwan’s “Oriental Beauty”. As consumer demand for unique and artisanal teas rises, the economic benefits associated with E. onukii are becoming increasingly evident, prompting farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices that often involve reduced pesticide use. Furthermore, the dynamic interplay between climatic factors, E. onukii population dynamics, and tea cultivation practices necessitates integrated pest management strategies that balance the beneficial and detrimental impacts of this leafhopper. Understanding these complexities not only fosters sustainable production methods but also opens niche markets, benefiting local economies and promoting both economic viability and environmental sustainability in the tea industry. Full article

Facial attractiveness, vocal attractiveness, and social interest influence two-person decision making. However, it remains unclear how these three factors jointly influence three-person bargaining. We investigated the impact of facial attractiveness, vocal attractiveness, and social interest on fairness decisions in a three-person ultimatum game and a third-party punishment dictator game. The results of the ultimatum game showed that in the condition of positive social interest, the acceptance rate of unfair/fair offers was higher when third players had attractive faces or attractive voices. Attractive faces of third players also increased acceptance rates of unfair/unfair offers than unattractive faces when third players expressed negative social interest. In the third-party punishment game, participants rated unfair allocations from unattractive-voice proposers with attractive faces (compared to unattractive faces) and proposers who expressed negative social interest (compared to positive social interest) as more reasonable. Regarding the punishment intentions, among the three factors, both the effect of vocal attractiveness and social interest were modulated by the combinations of the other two factors, while the effect of facial attractiveness remains robust across all conditions. These findings suggest that fairness decisions in three-person bargaining games are affected by beauty premium and social interest, while these effects vary across different decision contexts. Full article

As a booming branch of online retailing, live-streaming e-commerce can present abundant information dimensions and diverse forms of expression. Live-streaming e-commerce has enabled online retailers to interact with customers face-to-face, resulting in widespread instances of emotional and impulse buying behavior. Prior research in live-streaming e-commerce has suggested that live streamers’ characteristics, especially the live streamer’s face, can affect customers’ purchase intentions. The present research used questionnaire surveys and an eye tracking experiment to investigate the impact of live streamer’s facial attractiveness on consumer purchase intention for search-based and experience-based products. The questionnaire survey analyzed 309 valid questionnaires and revealed that attractive faces are the key influencing factor driving consumers’ impulse purchase intentions. Moreover, consumers’ emotional experience plays a partial mediating role in the process of live streamers’ faces influencing purchase intention. The eye tracking experiment further explored the mechanism of a live streamer’s facial attractiveness on consumers’ purchase intentions of search-based products and experience-based products from the perspective of visual attention by analyzing 64 valid sets of data. The results showed that attractive faces attract more consumers’ attention and, therefore, increase their purchase intention. Furthermore, there is a significant interaction between product type, the live streamer’s facial attractiveness, and consumers’ purchase intentions. In the case of unattractive live streamers, consumers are more likely to buy search-based products than experience-based products, while the purchase intention does not vary between search-based products and experience-based products in the case of attractive live streamers. The present study provides evidence for ‘beauty premium’ in live-streaming e-commerce and sheds light on the design of the match between live streamers and different types of products. Full article

The present research investigated the role of sex in the effect of vocal attractiveness on fairness judgment in a two-person Ultimatum Game. Each participant in the game decided whether to accept offers from a proposer who was either associated with an attractive or unattractive voice. The results showed that while participants were more likely to accept fair offers, they would also accept some unfair offers that were associated with an attractive voice. This effect of vocal attractiveness was more clearly shown by female participants, although all male and female participants took longer to make a decision when an attractive voice was associated with an offer, regardless of whether the voice was from the same sex or the opposite sex. Overall, the results inform the role of sex in the effect of vocal attractiveness and further confirm the beauty premium effect on economic bargaining, where people with an attractive voice would benefit. Full article

Herbal cosmetics are gaining popularity over chemicals for beauty products. However, natural products are often prone to deterioration. Therefore, stability and compatibility testing are the main examinations of the safety and reliability of herbal cosmetics. Liquid crystal structures provide better application performances than conventional emulsion systems in terms of stability, controlled release, and moisturizing. Rice is the most profitable crop in Thailand, and the skin healing benefits of rice have been reported. Thus, the current study aimed to develop a liquid crystal cream containing germinated brown rice extract (GBR) or biological cosmetic active ingredients, to study its efficacy on hydration effects and moisturizer, to identify the active ingredient content, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), phenolic content, and to evaluate the physical properties and stability of the product. Results revealed that GBR contained GABA and a total phenolic content of 273.28 mg GABA/100 g of rice and 2.58 mg GAE/100 g of rice, respectively. The GBR-liquid crystal cream had good stability and moisturizing effect. The developed products were statistically significantly in hydrating more than a counter brand product. The product that increased moisture the most was the GBR-liquid crystal cream. The GBR-liquid crystal cream provided a high-efficiency moisturizing effect and reliability enabling it to be a premium commercial product shortly. Full article

In the context of fair trade and protection of consumer rights, the aim of this study was to combat adulteration, counterfeiting, and fraud in the tea market, and rebuild the image of high-quality Taiwan teas. Experts at the Tea Research and Extension Station, Taiwan (TRES), are engaged in promotion of the systems of origin identification (AOC) and grading for authentication of Taiwan’s premium teas. From tea evaluation competitions (bottom-up quality campaign), the flavor descriptions and consumers’ perceptions were deconvoluted and characterized for the eight Taiwan specialty teas, namely, Bi-Luo-Chun, Wenshan Paochong, High-Mountain Oolong, Dongding Oolong, Tieh-Kuan-Yin, Red Oolong, Oriental Beauty, and Taiwan black tea. Then, according to the manufacturing processes, producing estates and flavor characters, the specialty teas were categorized into six sensory wheels. The flavor descriptors of the sensory wheels were also recognized in consumers’ feedback. In recent years, the performance of international trade in tea also demonstrates that the policy guidelines for authentication of specialty teas are helpful to the production and marketing. Furthermore, the development of sensory wheels of Taiwan’s specialty teas is the cornerstone to the establishment of the Taiwan-tea assortment and grading system (TAGs) for communication with the new generation consumers, enthusiasts, sellers, and producers. Full article