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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2011‒09‒05
eight papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Nilsson, Jonas (Umeå School of Business at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden); Jansson , Johan (Umeå School of Business at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden); Isberg, Sofia (Umeå School of Business at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden); Nordvall, Anna-Carin (Umeå School of Business at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Although much research has been published on green/ethical consumer behaviour, the question of how consumers evaluate pro-socially positioned products in the post-purchase stage is still virtually unexplored. This is troubling given the significance of post-purchase evaluations within general marketing theory. To address this gap in the literature, this study examines how a set of technical and functional quality attributes contribute to customer satisfaction in a socially responsible investment (SRI) setting. The results of the study show that perceived financial quality of the SRI mutual fund is the most important predictor of customer satisfaction. However, perceived social, ethical, and environmental (SEE) quality is also positively related to satisfaction for the SRI mutual fund. Based on these results, it is argued that although SEE quality is important to customers, marketers of pro-socially profiled products should primarily focus on conventional quality attributes, as a good SEE record unlikely to generate customer satisfaction alone. |
| Keywords: | Customer satisfaction; ethics; perceived quality; socially responsible investment; mutual funds |
| Date: | 2011–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhb:sicgwp:2011_002&r=mkt |
| By: | Fabio Sabatini |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first empirical investigation into the effect of e-shopping on subjective well-being. The analysis relies on a nationally and regionally representative dataset from Italy (n = 4,130) drawn from the 2008 wave of the Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) carried out by the Bank of Italy. Probit, OLS regressions and instrumental variables estimates show that e-shopping is strongly and positively associated with subjective well-being. |
| Keywords: | Happiness, subjective well-being, Internet, business-to-consumer e-commerce, B2C, e-shopping, instrumental variables, Italy. |
| JEL: | I31 E2 Z19 L86 |
| Date: | 2011–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_12&r=mkt |
| By: | Ferdinand Rauch |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of a change in the marginal costs of advertising on advertising expenditures of firms and consumer prices across industries. It makes use of a unique policy change that caused a decrease of the taxation on advertising expenditures in parts of Austria and a simultaneous increase in other parts. Advertising expenditures move immediately in the opposite direction to the marginal costs of advertising. Simultaneously the price reaction to advertising is negative in some industries (food, education) and positive in other industries (alcohol, tobacco, transportation, hotels and restaurants), depending on the information content of advertising. The paper reconciles these findings using a model that contains informative and persuasive forces of advertising. |
| Keywords: | Advertising, taxation of advertising, effects of advertising |
| JEL: | H25 M37 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1073&r=mkt |
| By: | Benjamin Mandel |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the propensity of exporters in certain primary commodity sectors to innovate and then attempts to measure the associated gains. The high degree of differentiation in metal products is giving rise to the potential for vertical upgrading for a substantial portion of Latin American export sales. Estimation of a demand system for U.S. imports shows that relatively high-priced new varieties tend to gain market share, which suggests a correspondingly large increase in the relative quality of those varieties. Breaking down the types of metal products by order of their value-added in production reveals a pattern of specialization away from low-value ores and toward high-value intermediate and finished products. Upgrading varieties and shifting specialization to downstream outputs account for the vast majority of Latin America’s increasing market share in metals over the past thirty years. |
| Keywords: | Exports ; Mineral industries ; Primary commodities |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:508&r=mkt |
| By: | Shriver, Scott K. (Columbia University); Nair, Harikesh S. (Stanford University); Hofstetter, Reto (University of St Gallen) |
| Abstract: | We use variation in wind speeds at surfing locations in Switzerland as exogenous shifters of users' propensity to post content about their surfing activity onto an online social network. We exploit this variation to test whether users' online content generation activity has a causal effect on their social ties. Under weak monotonicity assumptions, we also estimate nonparametric bounds on the causal effect of user's social ties in turn on their content generation activity. Economically significant causal effects of the type above can produce positive feedback that generates local network effects in content generation. We find evidence for such network effects. We argue this feedback generates a multiplier effect on interventions that subsidize tie formation. We use our estimates to measure the ROI from such interventions and discuss implications for the site's monetization strategy. Our empirical strategy provides one way to address a significant identification challenge with online social network data that the observed network structure is endogenous to the actions taken by agents on the network. Augmenting the model of agent's actions with a model for the network structure requires solving a formidable network formation game. Our approach to this problem is to conduct inference with an incomplete model of network formation under weak assumptions that deliver informative bounds on the causal effects of interest, while avoiding taking a strong stand on a specific model of network formation. |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:2083&r=mkt |
| By: | Bathaee, Atieh |
| Abstract: | -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:grewdp:022011&r=mkt |
| By: | Itai Sher; Jeremy T. Fox; Kyoo il Kim; Patrick Bajari |
| Abstract: | We study a variant of a random utility model that takes a probability distribution over preference relations as its primitive. We do not model products using a space of observed characteristics. The distribution of preferences is only partially identified using cross-sectional data on varying budget sets. Imposing monotonicity in product characteristics does not restore full identification. Using a linear programming approach to partial identification, we show how to obtain bounds on probabilities of any ordering relation. We also do constructively point identify the proportion of consumers who prefer one budget set over one or two others. This result is useful for welfare. Panel data and special regressors are two ways to gain full point identification. |
| JEL: | C25 L0 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17346&r=mkt |
| By: | David P.Byrne |
| Abstract: | This paper measures the impact of consolidation on cable television prices, product quality,profits and consumer welfare. I estimate a multi-product monopoly model using panel data on cable menus and costs in Canada from 1990 to 1996. Using counterfactual simulations, I find mean consumer welfare rises with acquisitions, as does welfare inequality across consumers. Scale economies are the primary driver of consolidation effects quantitatively, with firm heterogeneity in demand and costs having a smaller impact. Regional consolidation yields non-negligible welfare gains, particularly in rural markets where potential cable quality improvements and cost reductions are the largest. |
| Keywords: | Consolidation; Price Discrimination; Economies of Scale; Firm Heterogeneity; |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:1118&r=mkt |