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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2009‒04‒05
twelve papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Rosa Branca Esteves (Universidade do Minho - NIPE) |
| Abstract: | Economists have long been interested in understanding the profit, consumer surplus and welfare effects of an ancient marketing strategy: Price Discrimination. While it is not new that firms try frequently to segment customers in order to price discriminate, what has dramatically changed, with recent advances in information technologies, is the quality of consumer-specific data now available in many markets and how this information has been used by firms for price discrimination purposes. Specifically, thanks to information technology it is nowadays increasingly feasible for sellers to segment customers on the basis of their purchasing histories and to price discriminate accordingly. This form of price discrimination has been named in the literature as Behaviour-Based Price Discrimination (BBPD). For a long time economists have been concerned in understanding the economic effects of price discrimination in monopolistic markets. However, because imperfect competition is undoubtedly the most common economic setting, recent research on the field has been concerned with the following issues. Firstly, how are profit, consumer surplus and welfare affected when firms practice some form of price discrimination in imperfectly competitive markets? Secondly, in which circumstances may competitive firms have an incentive to price discriminate or rather to avoid it? As we will see, conclusions regarding the profit and welfare effects of price discrimination are strongly dependent upon the form of price discrimination, which in turn depends upon the form of consumer heterogeneity and the different instruments available for price discrimination. Basically, the aim of this survey is to clarify the two aforementioned issues in imperfectly competitive markets. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:5/2009&r=mkt |
| By: | Canavari, Maurizio; Lombardi, Pamela; Riedel, Bettina; Spadoni, Roberta |
| Abstract: | The research field is marketing of quality food products for the introduction and promotion of innovative and differentiating products in distribution places far and culturally different by the country of origin/production. In an international trade context, environmental elements (e.g. the introduction of organic agriculture) and the role of the country of origin/production could influence the consumers’ perception of the distribution places. This study is aimed at deepening the knowledge about European consumer attitudes towards Thai organic rice and tapioca. In particular, the purpose was to explore relevant attributes for the quality product perception, motivations for purchasing, limiting factors, reasonable price brackets, trust elements. In this first phase of research, a qualitative approach was used. Four focus groups were administered (in Germany, in Greece, in Italy and in Scotland) by one or two investigators and the participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method (6-8 persons each). The discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed through a qualitative approach. Finally, an exhaustive list of semantic categories was created, explained and supported by parts of the discussions. Participants still do not know much about these products, especially about tapioca. They tend to favour the product’s nutritional aspects, followed by its taste and smell, which in any case were not deemed satisfactory; however, they want also that a series of social and environmental benefits are satisfied. In general, Thai organic rice is perceived as a “different type†of rice and tapioca as a “new productâ€Â. The most important critical issues affecting participant’s opinions include: the lack of trust in the certification process by foreign countries and the low attitude towards trying food novelties seemed due to a sense of loyalty to (or affection for) local food traditions. One of the most important trust elements is represented by the brand of the distributor, the producer and the EU and national certification bodies; in particular, participants associate some parameters of guarantee and safety to brand’s name. The information obtained could be useful in further exploring of this topic and it needs to be tested with a quantitative approach. |
| Keywords: | Marketing of Quality Food Products, Differentiating Elements, International Trade Context, Focus Group, Semantic Categories, Q13, |
| Date: | 2009–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:isae08:48300&r=mkt |
| By: | René Van Den Brink (Tinbergen Institute - Tinbergen Institute); Agnieszka Rusinowska (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines); Frank Steffen (ULMS - University of Liverpool Management School - University of Liverpool Management School) |
| Abstract: | A well known and established model in communication policy in sociology and marketing is that of opinion leadership. It is based on the idea of a two-step flow of communication. Opinion leaders are actors in a society who are able to affect the behavior of other members of the society called followers. Hence, opinion leaders might have a considerable impact on the behaviorof markets and other social agglomerations being made up of individual actors choosing among a number of alternatives. For marketing purposes it appears to be interesting to investigate the effect of different opinion leader-follower structures in markets or any other collective decision-making situations in a society.We study a two-action model in which the members of a society are to choose one action, for instance, to buy or not to buy a certain joint product, or to vote yes or no on a specific proposal. Each of the actors has an inclination to choose one of the actions. By definition opinion leaders have some power over other actors, their followers, and they exercise this power by influencing the behavior of their followers, i.e. their choice of action. After all actors have chosen their actions, a decision-making mechanism determines the collective choice resulting out of the individual choices. The structure of the relations between the actors can be represented by a bipartite digraph. We analyze such digraphs investigating satisfaction and power distributions within societies with and without the opinion leaders. Moreover, we study common properties of the satisfaction and power measures and illustrate our findings and some marketing implications for a society with five members. |
| Keywords: | Bipartite digraph; influence; inclination; collective choice; opinion leader; follower; satisfaction; power |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00371813_v1&r=mkt |
| By: | M. GEUENS; B. WEIJTERS; K. DE WULF |
| Abstract: | In response to criticism on brand personality measures that embrace other aspects besides brand personality, we developed a new brand personality measure consisting of personality items only. 12,789 Belgian respondents participated in a study on 193 brands. The new scale consists of five factors that show an affinity with the Big Five of human personality. Unlike existing scales, this new measure proved to be reliable for between-brand between-category comparisons, for between-brand within-category comparisons, and for between-respondent comparisons. Moreover, the scale showed high test-retest reliability and cross-cultural validity (in the US and nine other European countries). |
| Keywords: | Brand personality, brand attitude, scale development, scale reliability, scale validity. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:08/545&r=mkt |
| By: | B. VANDECASTEELE; M. GEUENS |
| Abstract: | The objective of this follow-up paper was to further validate the new Motivated Consumer Innovativeness (MCI) scale of Vandecasteele and Geuens (2008), which takes four encompassing motivations to buy innovations into account. A combination of six studies (with about 2,500 respondents in total) confirmed the dimensionality, reliability and internal validity of the scale and its four dimensions. MCI did not suffer from social desirability bias. Moreover, the results of the studies indicate nomological and predictive validity for every MCI dimension. The final 4-dimensions MCI scale consists of 20-items and proves to measure more than existing Consumer Innovativeness scales: (1) it disproves the general consensus that older people are always significantly less innovative than younger people; (2) the different MCI dimensions fit into a different network of relationships (i.e., nomological network); (3) differently motivated innovative consumers attach greater importance to different values, and finally, (4) differently motivated innovative consumers have a different media usage. |
| Keywords: | Consumer innovativeness, Motivation, Scale validation |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:09/550&r=mkt |
| By: | Pignatti, Erika; Spadoni, Roberta; Canavari, Maurizio |
| Abstract: | Since some decades, agrifood products exchanges can be carried on using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. Anyway, their adoption in the agrifood sector appears to be hindered, both because of con-solidated dynamics in developing B2B transactions, and of the peculiarities of the agrifood products themselves. The lack of direct relationships be-tween partners heighten problems connected with food safety assessments, and with the definition of standardized production practices able to match business partners’ needs. Standardization is the key point in the relationship between e-commerce and agrifood sector. As for some products it is possi-ble to define standardized requirements, it is hard to find a collocation for the wide range of agrifood differentiated and quality products in e-commerce B2B relationships. Moreover, existing e-marketplaces are not always able to convey properly the degree of differentiation and the peculi-arities of agrifood products. The study aims at analyzing the barriers connected with the adoption of e-commerce in B2B relationships in agrifood sector, defining the factors which affect the interaction between the two areas. The attitude towards e-commerce showed by potential ICT tools users, chosen between Italian agrifood operators, has been analyzed; moreover, an overview on the evo-lution of agrifood e-marketplaces in the last 5 years has been carried on. The results describe the main problems concerning the adoption of e-commerce in agrifood sector, deeply connected with the agrifood products specifics. In spite of positive outcomes about efficiency and transactions for standardized products, the interaction between ICT tools and agrifood sec-tor’s needs becomes problematic in case of high quality levels and differen-tiation, which can’t be properly conveyed by e-marketplaces. Results also highlight the role of trust and reputation in e-environments. |
| Keywords: | E-commerce, B2B Transactions, Agrifood Products, Standardization, Quality Requirement, Q13, |
| Date: | 2009–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:isae08:48175&r=mkt |
| By: | C. DEFEVER; M. PANDELAERE; K. ROE |
| Abstract: | The current paper explores the impact of value-laden advertisements on consumer values and behavior. Study 1 revealed that participants who were exposed to ads that strongly communicated self-direction acted more in a way that was congruent to openness to change values in different scenarios and choose more often a candy bar that was perceived as unpopular. In study 2, exposure to advertisements featuring benevolence (versus exposure to achievement-oriented ads) increased participants’ interest in blood donation and decreased their endurance in a difficult word puzzle task. The influence was even stronger for participants who perceived advertising as a source of information. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:08/548&r=mkt |
| By: | ELENA REVILLA (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | In today´s more complex multinational and technologically sophisticated environment, the group has re-emerged in importance as the project team. Work teams are important to organizations in general, but are especially critical in product development because they span many functional areas including engineering, marketing, manufacturing, finance, etc, and new product teams must frequently be composed of individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. In these circumstances, this paper addresses the contingency role that knowledge strategy plays in explaining the relationship between team vision and product development performance. After studying the team vision on 78 new product deve |
| Keywords: | Product development , Team vision, Knowledge strategy |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp09-02&r=mkt |
| By: | Suchánek, Petr |
| Abstract: | Fruitfulnes of contemporary companies rests on new business model development, elimination of communication obstacles, simplification of industrial processes, possibilities of responding in real-time and above all meeting the floating custom needs. Quite a number of company activities and transactions are realized within the framework of e-business. Business transactions are supported by e-commerce systems. One of the e-commerce system part is web interface (web sites). Present trend is putting the accent on security. E-commerce system security and web sites security is the most overlooked aspect of securing data. E-commerce system security depends on technologies and its correct exploitation and proceedings. If we want e-commerce system and e-shops web sites with all services to be safety, it is necessary to know all possible risks, use up to date technologies, follow conventions of web sites development and have good security management system. The article deals with definition and description of risk areas refer to e-commerce systems and e-shop web sites and show fundamental principles of e-commerce systems and e-shop web sites security. |
| Keywords: | E-commerce system; e-shop web sites; security; security proceedings; web technologies |
| JEL: | Q55 Y90 Y80 D80 C80 C89 |
| Date: | 2009–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14259&r=mkt |
| By: | Vieira, Pedro Cosme da Costa |
| Abstract: | This textbook supports undergraduate microeconomics students. In Chapter 1, it presents the market as three Laws of Nature: i) that supply function is the result from the decision of the sellers, ii) that demand function is the result from the decisions of buyers; iii) that the market balance the decisions of buyers with that of sellers. This chapter motivates chapter 2, which rationalizes the existence of the demand function from the Consumer Theory that assumes that consumers maximize a utility function under the income restriction and market prices. |
| Keywords: | Indifference curve; income restriction; utility maximization |
| JEL: | A22 D11 |
| Date: | 2009–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14248&r=mkt |
| By: | Geza Sapi; Irina Suleymanova |
| Abstract: | We propose a duopoly model of competition between internet search engines endowed with different technologies and study the effects of an agreement where the more advanced firm shares its technology with the inferior one. We show that the superior firm enters the agreement only if it results in a large enough increase in demand for advertising space at the competing .rm and a relatively small improvement of the competitor's search quality. Although the superior firm gains market share, the agreement is beneficial for the inferior firm, as the later firm's additional revenues from a higher advertising demand outweigh its losses due to a smaller user pool. The cooperation is likely to be in line with the advertisers' interests and to be detrimental to users' welfare. |
| Keywords: | Search Engine, Two-Sided Market, Advertising, Strategic Complements, Technology |
| JEL: | L13 L24 L86 M37 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp870&r=mkt |
| By: | Cusmano, Lucia; Morrison, Andrea; Rabellotti, Roberta |
| Abstract: | From a development perspective an investigation of the changes that have occurred in the wine industry is of particular interest because it provides evidence on how emerging economies have been able to acquire significant shares of the international market in a dynamic sector. Based on novel empirical evidence as well as secondary sources, this paper shows that emerging countries with diverse institutional models and innovation strategies, have been driving the process of technological modernization and product standardization. Newcomers in the wine sector have responded particularly effectively to changes in consumption habits, and in aligning emerging scientific approaches with institutional building efforts and successful marketing strategies. |
| Keywords: | wine, South Africa, Chile, Italy, emerging economies, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aawewp:48299&r=mkt |