We find that about 25 percent of our sample of 171 Japanese multinationals' stock returns experienced economically significant positive exposure effects for the period January 1979 to December 1993. The extent to which a firm is exposed to exchange-rate f luctuations can be explained by the level of its export ratio and by variables that are proxies for its hedging needs. Highly leveraged firms, or firms with low liquidity, tend to have smaller exposures. Foreign exposure is found to increase with firm size. We also find that keiretsu multinationals are more exposed to exchange-rate risk than nonkeiretsu firms.

We examine the conceptual difference between consumer electronic word-of-mouth on online social sites (sWOM) such as Facebook and traditional face-to-face word-of-mouth (WOM). We find that consumers are less willing to engage in sWOM than WOM. Such a difference in willingness to offer word-of-mouth can be explained by social risk associated with different communication modes. We show that the difference between people's desire to engage in sWOM and WOM is mediated by perceived social risk and amplified when social risk is made salient. Furthermore, we show that consumers' need to self-enhance mitigates the difference in willingness to offer sWOM versus WOM.

The separate variance‐ratio tests under homoscedasticity and heteroscedasticity both provide evidence rejecting the random walk hypothesis, using five pairs of weekly nominal exchange rate series over the period from August 7, 1974 to March 29, 1989. The rejections cast doubt on the random walk hypothesis in exchange rates, which has received support in the existing literature. Furthermore, since the rejections are robust to heteroscedasticity, they suggest autocorelations of weekly increments in the nominal exchange rate series, which may be consistent with the exchange rate overshooting or undershooting phenomenon.

This research draws on regulatory focus theory to examine the asymmetric effects of regulatory focus (promotion focus versus prevention focus) on expected desirability and feasibility of using self‐service technologies (SSTs) in a retail setting. To study consumers’ SST trial intention from the perspective of regulatory focus theory, this research first integrates the attributes of SSTs explored in prior studies into a desirability–feasibility framework. The proposed asymmetric effects of regulatory focus (promotion focus versus prevention focus) lie in both scope (on desirability, feasibility, versus both desirability and feasibility) and valence (positive versus negative): The promotion focus facilitates consumers to recognize both desirability (consumption value) and feasibility of using SSTs, whereas the prevention focus inhibits consumers from understanding the feasibility‐related attributes of SSTs. In addition, it is proposed that the promotion focus contributes to the easement of consumers’ technology anxiety, whereas the prevention focus has a reverse effect. Furthermore, expected desirability (consumption value) and feasibility both positively influence consumers’ intention to adopt SSTs, whereas technology anxiety negatively affects consumers’ trial intention. Structural equation modeling is used to test the overall model, and the results support the hypotheses in general.