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AbstractPrevious research has shown that social exclusion can lead individuals to engage in conspicuous consumption, but these studies did not focus on the relationship between the excluder and the excluded, that is, whether they were friends or strangers. The present research aims to address this gap by taking relationship orientation as a boundary condition between social exclusion and conspicuous consumption. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that individuals who are communal relationship oriented (e.g., friends) will prefer conspicuous consumption more when they are socially excluded than when they are socially included. In contrast, there is no significant difference for exchange‐oriented individuals (e.g., strangers). Experiment 2 further confirms the hypothesis and establishes the underlying mechanism by showing that self‐esteem plays an intermediary role in the effect of social exclusion and relationship orientation on conspicuous consumption. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

BACKGROUND: The emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), poses a serious threat in China and worldwide. Challenged by this serious situation, China has taken many measures to contain its transmission. This study aims to systematically review and record these special and effective practices, in hope of benefiting for fighting against the ongoing worldwide pandemic. METHODS: The measures taken by the governments was tracked and sorted on a daily basis from the websites of governmental authorities (e.g. National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China). And the measures were reviewed and summarized by categorizations, figures and tables, showing an ever-changing process of combating with an emerging infectious disease. The population shift levels, daily local new diagnosed cases, daily mortality and daily local new cured cases were used for measuring the effect of the measures. RESULTS: The practices could be categorized into active case surveillance, rapid case diagnosis and management, strict follow-up and quarantine of persons with close contacts, and issuance of guidance to help the public understand and adhere to control measures, plus prompt and effective high-level policy decision, complete activation of the public health system, and full involvement of the society. Along with the measures, the population shift levels, daily local new diagnosed cases, and mortality were decreased, and the daily local new cured cases were increased in China. CONCLUSIONS: China's practices are effective in controlling transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Considering newly occurred situations (e.g. imported cases, work resumption), the control measures may be adjusted.

As a result of urban housing reform in China, it has become increasingly difficult for low and middle income families to purchase a house. In response to the growing demand for affordable housing, the Chinese Government has developed a specific housing policy to enable families to purchase properties from the private sector. The pricing mechanism of such housing is completely based on the family affordability and the profit margin of developers. To ensure the provision of housing for low and middle-income families, the future trend of affordable housing prices has become a concern for developers, consumers and may adversely influence the implementation of the current national housing policy. In this paper a systematic analysis of affordable housing development and its pricing structure is undertaken for the city of Shenzhen. As information pertaining to the factors influencing house prices is imperfect, a Grey model, which requires a limited amount of data to reflect unknown behavior, is constructed to provide a forecast for affordable house pricing. The analysis indicates that the government should adjust their current affordable housing policy to accommodate the forecasted upward trend in house prices.