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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2013‒06‒09
six papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | The spread of broadband, mobile devices and online and mobile payments usage are driving the expansion in digital content products. These can be downloaded, streamed or accessed through Internet Protocol (IP) TV on a range of channels including online retail platforms and social media. While consumer demand for these products has increased rapidly in recent years, a number of challenges undermine confidence in the market. Issues requiring policy attention include: inadequate disclosures about product usage or interoperability limitations; product access and quality problems; unclear rules on the collection, usage and sharing of data provided by consumers as a condition for purchasing products; and inadequate dispute resolution and redress mechanisms. |
| Date: | 2013–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:219-en&r=mkt |
| By: | Clifton, Judith; Díaz-Fuentes, Daniel; Fernández-Gutiérrez, Marcos |
| Abstract: | Augmenting consumer welfare was a key justification behind the reform of utilities from the 1980s. But, three decades later, evidence is mounting that consumer satisfaction with household utilities is quite uneven. Moreover, governments, regulators and international organizations are increasingly recognizing that consumers from specific socio-economic backgrounds may be less satisfied than those from other backgrounds. To attend to this, instances of demand-side regulation have been implemented, but there remains a lack of empirical research on the precise links between consumers’ socio-economic background and their satisfaction. This article contrasts consumers’ stated and revealed preferences for three major household utility services (electricity, gas and telecommunications, including internet) across twelve European countries. Contrasting stated and revealed preferences has been applied to policy on transportation, marketing and the environment: this article pioneers the application of this technique to the analysis of satisfaction with household utilities across multiple countries. We find strong evidence that consumers’ socio-economic category matters: consumers with lower levels of education, the elderly and those who are not employed exhibit particular expenditure patterns and lower satisfaction levels vis-à-vis some of or all the services under analysis. We conclude by highlighting how our findings may be of use to regulators in the ongoing quest to improve the quality of utility regulation. |
| Keywords: | Utilities, regulation, satisfaction, socio-economic background, consumers, stated and revealed preferences. |
| JEL: | D12 D18 L9 L97 L98 |
| Date: | 2013–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47271&r=mkt |
| By: | Guillaume Monchambert (ENS Cachan - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan - École normale supérieure de Cachan - ENS Cachan); André De Palma (ENS Cachan - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan - École normale supérieure de Cachan - ENS Cachan) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the two-way implication between punctuality level of public transport and commuter behavior. We consider a modal competition between public transport and an alternative mode. Commuters may choose different strategies to minimize their journey cost. In particular, when the bus becomes less punctual, more potential bus users arrive late at the bus stop. We show that punctuality increases with the alternative mode fare through a price effect. This specificity can be viewed as an extension of the Mohring effect. In the general case, the punctuality of a bus is lower at equilibrium than at optimum. According to the alternative mode operating cost, the bus attracts too many (small cost) or too few (large cost) customers. |
| Keywords: | public transport; reliability; duopoly; welfare; Mohring e ect; schedule delay |
| Date: | 2013–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00827972&r=mkt |
| By: | Luis Aguiar (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Bertin Martens (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to analyze the behaviour of digital music consumers on the Internet. Using clickstream data on a panel of more than 16,000 European consumers, we estimate the effects of illegal downloading and legal streaming on the legal purchases of digital music. Our results suggest that Internet users do not view illegal downloading as a substitute to legal digital music. Although positive and significant, our estimated elasticities are essentially zero: a 10% increase in clicks on illegal downloading websites leads to a 0.2% increase in clicks on legal purchases websites. Online music streaming services are found to have a somewhat larger (but still small) effect on the purchases of digital sound recordings, suggesting complementarities between these two modes of music consumption. According to our results, a 10% increase in clicks on legal streaming websites lead to up to a 0.7% increase in clicks on legal digital purchases websites. We find important cross country difference in these effects. |
| Keywords: | Digital Music, Copyright, Downloading, Streaming, Piracy on the internet |
| JEL: | K42 L82 L86 Z1 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2013-04&r=mkt |
| By: | Joan Calzada (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Fernando Martínez (Competition Commission and Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the determinants of broadband Internet access prices in a group of 15 EU countries between 2008 and 2011. Using a rich panel dataset of broadband plans, we show the positive effect of downstream speed on prices, and report that cable and fibre-to-the-home technologies are available at lower prices per Mbps than xDSL technology. Operators’ marketing strategies are also analysed as we show how much prices rise when the broadband service is offered in a bundle with voice telephony and/or television, and how much they fall when download volume caps are included. The most insightful results of this study are provided by a group of metrics that represent the situation of competition and entry patterns in the broadband market. We show that consumer segmentation positively affects prices. On the other hand, broadband prices are higher in countries where entrants make greater use of bitstream access and lower when they use more intensively direct access (local loop unbundling). However, we do not find a significant effect of inter-platform competition on prices. |
| Keywords: | Telecommunications, Broadband prices, European Union, Competition, Regulation. JEL classification: L51, L86, L96. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201309&r=mkt |
| By: | Maria Antónia de Jesus; Raul M. S. Laureano; Daniel A. Fernandes |
| Abstract: | The non-profit sector assumes growing relevance in different countries economies, with an increasing demand for services provided by these sector entities. The non-profit sector includes sport federations, with a decisive role in the population’s integration and social development. These entities are obliged to accomplish specific requirements regarding financial information provided and respective quality of disclosure. Consequently, it is important they adopt rules of accountability to provide annual reports with greater transparency and integrity. The present study aims to assess whether the Portuguese sports federations comply with the good practices of accountability, in particular through the disseminating on their websites of relevant information for their stakeholders. The findings point out to a medium degree of global compliance disclosure requirements relating compulsory and optional information, much higher in the first case. Moreover, the overall quality of the disclosed information was found low regarding the overall quality, although higher in terms of usability. |
| Keywords: | Accountability, Transparency, Not-for-profit organisations (NPO), Non-profit sector, Websites, Sport federations . |
| Date: | 2013–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isc:iscwp2:bruwp1304&r=mkt |