Prelims

Half Title Page

Contemporary Issues in Behavioral Finance

Series Page

Contemporary Studies in Economics and Financial Analysis

Series Editors: Robert J. Thornton & J. Richard Aronson

Recent Volumes:

Title Page

Contemporary Issues in Economic and Financial Analysis Volume 101

Contemporary Issues in Behavioral Finance

Edited by

Simon Grima

University of Malta, Malta

Ercan Özen

University of Usak, Turkey

Hakan Boz

University of Usak, Turkey

Jonathan Spiteri

University of Malta, Malta

Eleftherios Thalassinos

University of Piraeus, Greece

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78769-882-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-881-9 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-883-3 (Epub)

ISSN: 1569-3759 (Series)

Contents

List of Contributors

Series Editor’s Introduction

The Emerald book series: Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, edition CSEF101 includes studies on Contemporary Behavioral Issues, mainly by authors invited from participants in the International Applied Social Science Congress (C-IASOS) held in Demre (Myra), Antalya, Turkey (hometown of Saint Nicholas – Father Christmas) between April 19–21, 2018.

The first authors (Chapter 1) study the relationship that exists between risk and control in consumer behavior. Herein the authors present the feeling of consumers when faced with different perceived risks, which in this context is defined as lack of control. They then show how businesses can adjust these perceptions to give a feeling of control to consumers and use this knowledge for marketing purposes.

Next in Chapter 2, the author analyzes the employment of Machine Learning techniques for predicting future states of economy data. He uses Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), Dynamic Boltzmann Machine (DyBM), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Hidden Markov Model (HMM), Bayesian Learning on Gaussian process model (BG) (Brahim-Belhouari & Bermak, 2004), Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Autoregressive Model (ARM) (Poggi et al., 2003), and K-Nearest Neighbor Algorithm (K-NN) for his prediction techniques. He reveals positive results in terms of predicting economy data.

Volatility spillover between the BIST100 Index and the S&P500 Index is the topic of the third chapter. The authors here carry out an assessment of the interdependence between stock markets with the aim of examining the shock and volatility spillover between the S&P500 index from the US Stock Exchange and the BIST100 index from the Stock Exchange Istanbul stock indices. Results using the variance causality test indicate that there is a bi-directional volatility spillover between S&P500 index and BIST100 index. When the return spillover between the markets is examined, a one-way spillover from the S&P500 index to the BIST100 index emerged. Diagonal BEKK model results show that each market is affected by its own news (unexpected shocks) and volatility. Furthermore, the volatility is persistent for both markets. These findings demonstrate that the US market and the Turkish market interact with each other.

The author of the fourth chapter carries out a literature review on brand reputation and discusses the way this influences consumer behavior. She highlights studies by Anholt – GMI Brand Index (2007), which evaluates the perception of countries as brands and measures the power and appeal of a nation’s brand image. She notes that this approach can be helpful to understand behavior and decisions of visitors to the destinations and to improve their competitiveness.

Authors in Chapter 5 investigate the augmented reality (AR) applications from the perspectives of brand trust and purchase intentions of customers. They note that with the development of information technologies and the increase in the number of new generations of technology-based consumers, significant changes in the promotion and positioning strategies implemented in consumer markets are needed and are carried out using applications such as AR. In fact, in this chapter the authors aim to determine whether there was a difference between customers’ brand trust and purchase intentions regarding real experiences of the consumers at the store, experiences about AR applications, and traditional advertisements. It is determined that it will be beneficial to develop strategies in AR applications to enrich the real experience.

In the sixth chapter the author aims to determine the effect of women cooperatives as an employment policy in Turkey. In this context, she carries out a literature review on the effects of women’s cooperatives movement on the social and economic development and participation of the labor force by also looking at sustainability development goals. She found that cooperatives are an opportunity for the employment of women and highlighted that women cooperatives are a contribution to the sustainable development goals. Moreover, she notes that women’s cooperatives can be regarded as an effective policy for increasing women’s employment in regions with traditional structures.

The authors of the seventh chapter study the impact of financial literature on cognitive biases of individual investors in relation to financial investments. They find that (i) financial literacy leads to differences in cognitive biases and (ii) that cognitive biases of individuals who do not receive finance education are different from individuals who receive finance education and professionals in the business world.

A literature review of retirement planning is carried out by the authors of Chapter 8. They highlight that proper retirement planning starts by looking at the level of income an individual is likely to continue receiving at retirement if they were to take no action, then compare this to what they would need to lead the lifestyle they desire. They review the traditional expected behavioral economic theories, which many are accustomed to when interpreting financial matters (i.e., rational behavior) and compare this to the various studies and articles found in literature. They then dig into retirement planning in Malta and the behavioral obstacles to proper planning and how they are tackled in different European countries.

The author in Chapter 9 used the data from a primary survey to analyze the consumer cash and cashless payments in Poland. They carried out a comparative analysis on the 2018 cash and cashless payments in Poland in the background of the previous surveys carried out in Poland and the other EU countries. Results show that although cashless payments are a dynamic group of products that Polish consumers use more and more often, the position of cash is still strong.

Marketing communications and experiential marketing in the context of AR is the topic of the 10th chapter. Authors here carry out an experiment using experimental AR mobile applications to market/communicate paint products and compare this with attitudes towards competing brands not using AR mobile applications. The targeted participants included consumers, painters, and interior designers in Istanbul. Their findings highlight the importance of digital applications on the influence of intention of buying consumers and marketing communication.

The author of the 11th chapter focuses on the dual relationship between export and import, export and foreign exchange rate, import and foreign exchange rate by using causality methods. He finds that there is only one causality relationship between export and import with the direction flow being from import to export.

A study of herd behavior on the Borsa Istanbul is the theme of Chapter 12. Here the authors investigated whether herd behavior, in the period between January 2011 and December 2017, was present in Stock Exchange Istanbul. Using regression analysis, they show that results obtained support previous works on the subject.

In Chapter 13, the author determines the factors affecting the internet banking preferences of the bank customers and the relationships between the demographic characteristics of bank customers and internet banking usage in the Usak city of Turkey. Seven factors were found to be effective in using internet banking. These are “effect of social circle,” “benefits of internet banking,” “the usefulness of internet banking,” “speed and time savings,” “ease of use and cost,” “the ability to use the internet and the advantages of internet banking,” and “the suitability to life and work style.” In addition, it was determined that there is a significant relationship between the demographic characteristics of bank customers and the internet banking usage.

The authors of Chapter 14 ask the question “who wants to be a millionaire?” and studied cognitive biases such as certainty effect, isolating effect and overconfidence effect on the Turkish version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? television show during the period between September 2013 and April 2015. They found evidence for both certainty and isolation effects.

In Chapter 15, herd behavior and its effects on the purchasing behavior of investors were studied. It is shown through cases exemplified, that investors do not act rationally in their financial decisions and take irrational decisions by following the majority.

In this penultimate chapter (Chapter 16) continues building on Chapter 8, with the same authors aiming to determine what affects Maltese individuals’ behaviors when it comes to retirement planning. With the use of a self-administrated online survey, they gathered data which was later analyzed using a mixed approach to determine that of the most prominent of behaviors, procrastination, myopia, and inertia were observed.

The final chapter (Chapter 17) studies how government governance helps world stock market development. This chapter offers an empirical examination of the impact of World Governance indicators (WGIs) on stock market development. The Empirical findings show that (a) a negative association exists between Voice and Accountability and stock market development; (b) a positive association exists between each of political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption, and stock market development for most World’s regions stock markets; (c) both Voice and Accountability and Political Stability indicators are the major influential indicators for the stock market development across world stock markets.

Simon Grima

Series Editor

About the Contributors

Mehmet Oğuz Ademoğluis a Master’s student of the Department of Production Management and Marketing at Kocaeli University. He was born in 1992 in Yalova. He started his Business Administration education in Yıldırım Beyazıt University and completed at Yalova University. He was graduated from Yalova University in 2017. He still continues his education as a master student at the Kocaeli University.

Merve Aycanwas born in Balıkesir (Oct. 27, 1992). She received her Bachelor degree in Tourism and Hotel Management (2014) and MA in Tourism Management (2016). Now she is a PhD candidate in Tourism Management at the Institute of Social Sciences, Balikesir University. She is working as Academician at the Istanbul Arel University Vacational School. Her subjects of interest include office management, tourism, marketing, and tourist psychology.

Kenan Aydinis a Professor at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul Turkey. He is the Dean of Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals. His research interests are retail marketing, services marketing, brand perception, consumer behavior, and category management in retail.

Çağatay Basariris an Assistant Professor of Accounting and Finance at Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Bandirma-Balikesir-Turkey. Dr Basarir has a BSc in Business Administration from the Ege University (2003), an MBA from the Balikesir University (2006), and a PhD in Business Administration-Finance from the Balikesir University (2013). His research interests lie in behavioral finance, financial, and capital markets such as forecasting of stock prices, commodity prices, investment strategies in financial crises periods and in forecasting methodologies such as time series analysis and panel data analysis. He has taught capital markets, portfolio management, international finance, accounting, financial management, and financial statement analysis, among others, at both graduate and undergraduate levels.

Bilsen Bilgiliis an Associated Professor at Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management Kocaeli University, Turkey. She serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals. Her research primarily focuses on marketing (brand equity, brand management, tourism marketing).

Songül Bilgili Sülükis a Product Marketing Specialist at a leading company in the Information Technology sector in Turkey. She was graduated from Business Administration at the Dogus University, Istanbul. She studied Master degree in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Management at the Yıldız Technical University. Her research interests are brand personality, customer satisfaction, and innovation.

Hakan Boz is an Assistant Professor at the Usak University, School of Applied Sciences. Prior to joining academia, he has held various positions in the tourism and hospitality sector. He has over 10 years of experience in tourism and hospitality. He has published several journal articles and book chapters in tourism marketing with a specific emphasis on neuromarketing. His research focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of consumer and employee behavior in the tourism and hospitality sectors, especially by using equipments such as Eye Tracker, EEG, HR, GSR, FACE, and fMRI.

Reyhan Canis a Doctoral student in Accounting and Finance program in Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Social Sciences Institute. Can was graduated from Nigde University Social Sciences Institute Accounting and Finance MBA program after she finished undergraduate program in Business Administration at Anadolu University. She has been preparing a doctoral thesis “on Heuristic Decision Making Errors and Firm Value.” She graduated the thesis subject on “Pecking Order Theory and a research on Borsa İstanbul (BIST) 100 index.” She has written and published several articles and papers on the subject of behavioral finance and capital structure. She is married and has a son. She is living in Kırşehir, Turkey.

Işın Dizdarlar,PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Business Administration at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Nigde Omer Halisdemir University. She was graduated from Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences Finance Program. Dizdarlar worked as an Assistant in the Department of Finance at Istanbul University, Business Administration Faculty. Her PhD thesis subject is “a Research on Factors Affecting the Risk Premium of Euro Bonds in International Financial Markets.” Master’s thesis subject is “Capital Structure Theories and Empirical Findings.” Dizdarlar wrote many articles on finance. Dizdarlar has national and international publications on finance.

Tarek Eldomiatygot his PhD at the City University Cass Business School in London in 1998. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and International Trade. His research interests and publications cover the areas of corporate capital structure, corporate governance, and securities analysis. He published many papers in scholarly journals such as International Journal of Financial Engineering, Advances in Quantitative Finance & Accounting, Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance, International Journal of Emerging Markets, Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Asia-Pacific Journal of Business & Economics, International Journal of Revenue Management, International Business & Economics Research Journal, Applied Econometrics and International Development, International Journal of Accounting & Finance, European Business Review, Quarterly Review of Economics & Finance, Journal of Emerging Markets Finance, Corporate Governance: International Journal of Business in Society, Journal of Business Ethics, and Advances in Financial Planning & Forecasting.

Burcu Enginwas born in Izmir. In 2013, she was graduated from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Tourism and Hotel Management. She worked at Gökçeada School of Applied Sciences Gastronomy Department in 2014. She started her Master’s degree at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Social Sciences Institute, and continues her graduate education. Her subjects of interest are accounting, finance, and behavioral economics.

Gürsel Ersoy was born in Usak (July 24, 1986). He was graduated from Usak Trade Vocational High School in 2003 with honorary degree. In 2010, he graduated from Gazi University, Department of Accounting and Finance, and in 2015, he was graduated from Anadolu University, Department of Business Administration. In 2017, he started his Master’s degree at Usak University, Social Sciences Institute and continues his graduate education. He has been working at Karacasu Multi-Program Anatolian High School since 2016. During his years of service, he worked as the Chief and Accounting Coordinator of the Accounting and Finance Department. Since 2016, he has been working as the coordinator of Accounting and Finance Field at Karacasu Multi-Program Anatolian High School and involved in the preparation of strategic plan of the school.

Simon Grima, PhD (Melit.), MSc (Lond), MSc (BCU), BCom (Hons) (Melit.), FFA, FAIA (Acad), is the Head of the Insurance Department, in charge of Bachelor of Commerce in Insurance, Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and master’s degree in Insurance and Risk Management, and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. He served as the President of the Malta Association of Risk Management between 2013 and 2015 and is the current President of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers since 2016. Moreover, he is among the first Certified Risk Management Professional, the Chairman of the Scientific Education Committee of PRIMO, and a Member of the Curriculum Development Team of PRIMIA in 2014. His research focus and consultancy is on governance, regulations, and internal controls (i.e., risk management, internal audit, and compliance) and has over 30 years of experience varied between financial services and with public entities in academia, Internal controls, investments, and IT. He acts as an independent director for financial services firms, sits on Risk, Compliance, Procurement, Investment, and Audit Committees, and carries out duties as a Compliance Officer, Internal Auditor, and Risk Manager.

Simon has acted as Co-chair. He is a Member of the Scientific Program Committee on some international conferences, and a Chief Editor, an Editor, and a Review Editor of some journals and book series. He has been awarded Outstanding Reviewer for the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance in the 2017 Emerald Literati Awards.

Rasha Hammam received the MA in Economics from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, in 2010 and the PhD in Economics from Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt, in 2014. Since 2015, she has been Assistant Professor of Economics at Faculty of Business Administration and International Trade, MISR International University, Cairo, Egypt. Her research interests are in international economics and macroeconomics.

Yonca İmerwas born in İzmir (July 29, 1992). In 2014, she was graduated from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Tourism and Hotel Management. She graduated her Master’s degree at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Social Sciences Institute, Turkey. She is still working as a freelance expert in tourism and doing her own business in tourism.

Duygu Kızıldağis an Associate Professor of Management Science at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Izmir Democracy University, Turkey. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and completed her MA degree with her thesis on the re-engineering of human resources processes according to competency-based perspective. During these periods she worked in large international automotive and textile companies in Turkey. She took part in different projects such as job analysis and descriptions, training management, performance management, quality management, and occupational safety. After returning to academia, Kızıldağ received her PhD in Management from Afyon Kocatepe University with her thesis titled “Problematic Behaviors in Organizations and Behavioral Risk Management.”

Dr Kızıldağ’s current topics of interest revolve around the intersection of organizational behavior, human resources management, entrepreneurship, and family business research. In particular, she is interested in the problematic behaviors in organizations, behavioral risk management and ISO 31000, the efficiency of human resources management processes, women entrepreneurship, and the dynamics of family businesses in Turkey.

Erdogan Kocis a Professor of Marketing at Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He specializes in services marketing and management, particularly in tourism and hospitality. His research primarily focuses on the human element (both as consumers and employees). His scholarly works have been published in top tier international journals. He also serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals and acts as an ad hoc referee for several journals.

Utku Kosereceived his BS degree in 2008 from Computer Education of Gazi University, Turkey as a Faculty Valedictorian. He received his MS degree in 2010 from Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey, in the field of computer and DS / PhD degree in 2017 from Selcuk University, Turkey, in the field of computer engineering. Between 2009 and 2011, he has worked as a research assistant in Afyon Kocatepe University. Following, he has also worked as a lecturer and Vocational School – Vice Director in Afyon Kocatepe University between 2011 and 2012 and as a lecturer and Research Center Director in Usak University between 2012 and 2017. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey. He has more than 100 publications including articles, authored and edited books, proceedings, and reports. His research interest includes artificial intelligence, machine ethics, artificial intelligence safety, optimization, the chaos theory, distance education, e-learning, computer education, and computer science.

Erdoğan Kotilis an Assistant Professor of Economics at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey. His teaching interests largely focus on international economics. His research interests include econometrics, economic aspects of tourism, and natural resources.

Marica Mazurek (MSc., PhD candidate)’s research interest is competitiveness of tourism destinations, branding, marketing, place marketing, place branding, and innovations in tourism. She participated in several academic exchanges and research activities, and she is a visiting Professor in Canada (Brock University, University of Waterloo). She is the author of several academic publications, for example, in the International Journal of Emerging Markets, Journal of Internet Commerce, the book chapter in Tourism Marketing: On Both Sides of the Counter edited by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (edited by Prof. Metin Kozak et al.), Kybernetes. Recently she participated at the international conferences in Turkey, Fethiye (2nd Interdisciplinary Conference in Tourism Research), 4th ATMC international conference in Maribor, Slovenia, the 5th ATMC international conference in Algarve, Portugal and the Multidisciplinary International Conference in Porvoo, Finland (Haaga-Helia University), the 5th International Conference of Marketing in Algarve, Portugal, the International Conference of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation in Poznań, Poland, and the 3rd Interdisciplinary Tourism Research Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, conferences in Taipei, Taiwan, and Joensu, Helsinki and the 2nd EATSA (The European and Asian Tourism Association) conference in Lisbon, Peniche and Coimbra, etc. She teaches Marketing, Digital Marketing, Economics and Management at the University of Zilina, Slovakia.

Letife Özdemirreceived her BSc in Business (2002), MSc in Business (2005), PhD in Business Finance (2011) from University of Afyon Kocatepe. Now she is an Associate Professor of Finance in the Department of Logistics Management, School of Applied Sciences, University of Afyon Kocatepe, Turkey. Her current research interests include different aspects of finance. She has authored 19 papers and more than 10 conferences participation. She has been involved in two scientific projects and has awarded third prize in the 21st Finance Symposium. She is a member of TEMA (Turkey Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Resources Foundation).

Ercan Özen (born on April 11, 1971) received his BSc in Public Finance (1994), MSc in Business-Accounting (1997), PhD in Business Finance (2008) from University of Afyon Kocatepe. Now he is an Associate Professor of Finance in the Department of Banking and Finance, School of Applied Sciences, University of Uşak, Turkey. His current research interests include different aspects of finance. He has (co-)authored three book chapters and more than 30 papers, more than 20 conferences participation, member in International Program Committee of three conferences and workshops. Dr Özen is also a certificated accountant, a member of Agean Finance Association and a member of TEMA (Turkey Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Resources Foundation).

Emrah Özkulis an Associate Professor of Tourism at School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Kocaeli University, Turkey. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals. His doctorate and associate professorship field is tourism. His research primarily focuses on the tourism sociology, CRM in tourism.

Sara Paviaserves as Business Development Manager at MAPFRE MSV Life, where she started her insurance career in 2009 while reading for her Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) degree in Insurance and Finance at the University of Malta. Her dissertation was concerned with the role of private insurance companies in the introduction of second and third pillar pension schemes in Malta. After obtaining her degree at the top of her class in 2011, she was awarded top student by the Institute of Financial Services (UK) on obtaining her Certificate for Financial Advisors (CeFA) in 2013. In her 14 years in the insurance and financial services industry, she has been focused on the life insurance and investments area and has been developing and contributing to the business within her role, authoring articles, focusing on financial literacy, developing products (among which was the first insurance-based third pillar pension product in Malta) among other things. In 2013, Sara started reading for her Masters in Financial Services at the University of Malta. Again, her studies focused on the issues around retirement planning, this time focusing on behavioral finance to determine factors which influence the Maltese market. Sara is today co-­lecturing at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy (FEMA). She continues to work toward increasing financial literacy locally, particularly with respect to retirement planning, through her work and studies.

Alaa Safwatis an Assistant Lecturer at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport. She is currently involved in research in financial markets and financial institutions.

Yasmeen Saidis an Assistant Professor of Finance. She got her PhD in Finance at the University of Nottingham. She has research interests in financial markets and Investments in financial securities and published in scholarly journals such as Journal of Economics Finance and Administrative Science.

Beata Świeckais a Professor of Economics at the University of Szczecin. She is the Director of Household and Behavioral Finance Center, a member of the Finance and Banking Association, and the Chairman of Scientific Council in the Social Cluster. Her research interests are focused in the areas of household and behavioral finance. She awarded for the best scientific publication by the Foundation for the Development of Cashless Transactions. Multiple times she was winner of the Rector of the US Award for achievements in science and teaching. She was awarded for scientific publication “Contemporary problems of personal finance.” She is the winner of the prize Amicus Scientae at Veritatis by Polish prestigious organization – Polish Economic Association. She is an expert of European Consumer Debt Network. She is a reviewer of many Polish and foreign journals.

Çağatan Taşkınis a Professor of Marketing in Bursa Uludağ University, Turkey. He was graduated from the Industrial Engineering Department, Uludağ University in 1999. He completed his Master’s degree in Production Management and Marketing and his PhD degree in Business Administration. Çağatan Taşkın currently works at the Department of Business Administration (Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences), Bursa Uludağ University. His research focuses on brand management and destination branding.

Ekrem Tufan (Aug. 12, 1968) received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (1991), MSc in Finance (1995), PhD in Business Finance (1999) from University of Anadolu. He is a Professor in Finance and working for Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. He is studying on Behavioral Finance and Behavioral Economics. His main duties involved in teaching General Accounting, Accounting Applications, Cost Accounting, and Finance to students from year 1 to 4 classes at the Department of Health Management. He is also been delivering Financial Management, Corporate Finance, Behavioral Economics, Behavioral Finance and EU and Tourism lessons for both graduate and post-graduate levels (MBA, PhD) and international program students who come from EU countries.

Serap Vururreceived her BSc in Economy (2002), MSc in Business-Accounting (2004), PhD in Business Finance (2009) from University of Afyon Kocatepe. Now she is an Assistant Professor of Finance in Department of Accounting, School of Applied Sciences, “University of Afyon Kocatepe, Turkey. Her current research interests include different aspects of finance. She has (co-) authored more than 15 papers, more than 20 conferences participation. She is a member of TEMA (Turkey Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Resources Foundation).

Eser Yeşildağwas born in Hatay City (Turkey) in 1983. In 2005, he was graduated from Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration. He holds a Master’s degree in 2008 and PhD degree in Business Administration in 2013. He wrote his theses on Finance. Between 2006 and 2010, he worked as investment expert in Evgin Securities, Şeker Investment and Anadolu Investment Brokerage houses. Between 2010 and 2013, he worked as a lecturer in Çivril Vocational School of Pamukkale University. In 2013 he started to work with the title of Assistant Professor in the School of Applied Sciences of Uşak University. In 2014, he was appointed as the Deputy Director of the School of Applied Sciences. He teaches finance courses such as Financial Mathematics, Financial Management, and Derivative Markets.

Özer Yilmazis an Assistant Professor of Marketing as Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Bandirma-Balikesir-Turkey. Dr Yılmaz has a BS in Business Administration from Balıkesir University (2003), MBA and PhD in Business Administration from Balikesir University (2014). His research interests are customer behavior and marketing research. Dr Yılmaz has taught marketing research, principles of marketing, international marketing, service marketing, etc. at both graduate and undergraduate levels.

About the Editors

Hakan Boz is an Assistant Professor at the Usak University, School of Applied Sciences. Prior to joining academia, he has held various positions in the tourism and hospitality sector. He has over 10 years of experience in tourism and hospitality. He has published several journal articles and book chapters in tourism marketing with a specific emphasis on neuromarketing. His research focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of consumer and employee behavior in the tourism and hospitality sectors, especially by using equipments such as Eye Tracker, EEG, HR, GSR, FACE, and fMRI.

Simon Grima, PhD (Melit.), MSc (Lond), MSc (BCU), BCom (Hons) (Melit.), FFA, FAIA (Acad), is the Head of the Insurance Department, in charge of the undergrad and postgrad degrees in Insurance and Risk Management, and a senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. He is the outgoing President of the Malta Association of Risk Management and the Current President of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers. Moreover, he is among the first Certified Risk Management Professional, is the Chairman of the Scientific Education Committee of PRIMO, and a Member of the curriculum development team of PRIMIA. His research focus and consultancy is on internal controls (i.e., risk management and internal audit and compliance) and has over 25 years of experience varied between Financial Services and with public entities in Internal Controls, Investments, and IT. He acts as an Independent Director for Financial Services Firms sits on Risk, Compliance, Procurement, Investment, and Audit Committees, and carries out duties as a Compliance Officer, Internal Auditor, and Risk Manager. Simon has acted as Co-chair in various international conferences and is a Reviewer of a number of journals. He has been awarded Outstanding Reviewer for Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance in the 2017 Emerald Literati Awards.

Ercan Özen(born on April 11, 1971) received his BSc in Public Finance (1994), MSc in Business-Accounting (1997), PhD in Business Finance (2008) from University of Afyon Kocatepe. Now he is an Associate Professor of Finance in the Department of Banking and Finance, School of Applied Sciences, University of Uşak, Turkey. His current research interests include different aspects of finance. He has (co-)authored three book chapters and more than 30 papers, more than 20 conferences participation, member in International Program Committee of three conferences and workshops. Dr Özen is also a certificated accountant, a member of Agean Finance Association and a member of TEMA (Turkey Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Resources Foundation).

Jonathan Spiteri is a Resident Academic within the Department of Insurance at the University of Malta and a Visiting Lecturer in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with Honours in Economics (First Class) from the University of Malta, a Master of Science in Economics (with Distinction), and, as an ESRC Scholar, a PhD in Economics, both from the University of Edinburgh. Jonathan’s current research interests include behavioral economics, environmental economics, and health. He is currently involved in the R2Pi Horizon 2020 project which examines the shift from the concept of Circular Economy to one of Circular Economy Business Models in Europe. He also forms part of the Nudge-It FP7 project which aims to develop and implement novel scientific approaches across various disciplines to better understand people’s nutritional choices and health outcomes.

Eleftherios I. Thalassinos, PhD, (UIC, Chicago), MBA, (De-Paul U Chicago), BA, (University of Athens), is a Jean Monnet Chair Professor experienced in European economic integration and international finance. He is the Editorin-Chief of European Research Studies Journal, a 21-year-old international publication, International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, a 5-year-old international publication, and is International Conference on Applied Business and Economics, a 15-year-old international conference and Editorial Board Member in various journals. His professional experience includes, quantitative analysis, technical and financial analysis, banking, business consulting, project evaluations, and international business financing and shipping.