nep-mkt New Economics Papers
on Marketing
Issue of 2014‒05‒17
eight papers chosen by
Joao Carlos Correia Leitao
Universidade da Beira Interior and Universidade de Lisboa

  1. Can consumer complaints reduce product reliability? Should we worry? By Joaqu?n Coleff
  2. Market Structure, Reputation, and the Value of Quality Certification By Daniel W. Elfenbein; Raymond Fisman; Brian McManus
  3. A conceptual framework to understand retailers'logistics and transport organization-illustrated for groceries'goods movements in France and Germany By Corinne BLANQUART; Saskia SEIDEL; Barbara Lenz
  4. Une étude implicite de la dualité marque/région d'une marque-région By Sonia Capelli; Bruno Ferreira; Charlotte Lecuyer; Pierre Mathieu
  5. Market Structure and Market Performance in E-Commerce By Franz Hackl; Michael E. Kummer; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer; Christine Zulehner
  6. Banning Foreign Pharmacies from Sponsored Search: The Online Consumer Response By Matthew Chesnes; Weijia (Daisy) Dai; Ginger Zhe Jin
  7. Causality between consumer price and producer price: Evidence from Mexico By Aviral Kumar Tiwari; Suresh K.G.; Mohamed Arouri; Frédéric Teulon
  8. Corporate Social Responsibility Boosts Value Creation at the Base of the Pyramid By Thomas André

  1. By: Joaqu?n Coleff
    Abstract: Abstract: We analyze a monopolist’s pricing and product reliability problem when consumers are entitled to product replacement but have heterogeneous cost of exercising this right, and we assess the implications of a decrease in consumers’ claiming cost on reliability, pro?t, and welfare. We ?nd that reducing consumers’ claiming cost may reduce reliability and increase pro?t. Additionally, the model can explain why some ?rms encourage consumers to complain while others discourage consumers can explain why some ?rms encourage consumers to complain while others discourage consumers sumers’ claiming cost are relatively low and the ?rm prefers to promote complaints; consequently we ?nd that encouraging complaints will eventually increase welfare.
    Keywords: Product reliability, consumer complaints, liability cost, warranty
    JEL: K41 D42 D21 L10
    Date: 2013–12–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:011038&r=mkt
  2. By: Daniel W. Elfenbein; Raymond Fisman; Brian McManus
    Abstract: Quality certification programs help consumers to identify high-quality products or sellers in markets with information asymmetries. Using data from eBay UK’s online marketplace, we study how certification’s impact on consumer demand varies with market- and seller-level attributes, exploiting quasi-experimental variation in sellers’ certification status. The positive effects of eBay’s “top rated seller” certification are stronger for categories with relatively few other certified sellers, in more competitive markets, and for sellers with shorter records of past performance. These findings indicate certification provides its greatest value when certification is rare, the product space is crowded, and for sellers lacking established reputations.
    JEL: D82 L15 L25 L86
    Date: 2014–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20074&r=mkt
  3. By: Corinne BLANQUART (IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail - IFSTTAR - PRES Université Paris-Est); Saskia SEIDEL (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt - -); Barbara Lenz (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt - -)
    Abstract: The article proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing the key drivers for retailers’ transport demand more systematically. Certainly, a better understanding of the reasons behind the growth in transport demand is crucial in formulating effective measures to manage and reduce emissions. Regarding to retailer-led supply chains, analyzing the retailers’ transport demand and its key drivers seems to be indispensable. This issue is even more important on an urban scale as retailers have a high share of urban freight transport. The authors’ main assumption is that retailers’ transport strategies are dependent to non-transport-related context, both internally to the non-transport strategies and also externally to the company’s environment. A classification of the context in three layers is suggested: The macro-context represents retailers’ upstream context which includes the competitive and regulatory framework of retail industry, as well as consumers’ consumption patterns. The meso context refers to the retailer’s sectorial dynamic. It includes aspects such as the vertical integration of distribution of wholesale stage or new relationships with suppliers e.g. through the development of own-brand products. The micro context is related to the strategy of the individual retailer and encompasses economic strategies (type of retail format, marketing area etc.). Furthermore, the paper illustrates the chains of interdependencies between different layers of context and their consequences for logistics and transport organization, using the example of food retailers in France and Germany. As one result, the influence of retailers’ sales related strategies on logistics and transport can be demonstrated.
    Keywords: LOGISTIQUE;TRANSPORT DE MARCHANDISE;ECONOMIE
    Date: 2014–01–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00985969&r=mkt
  4. By: Sonia Capelli (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III : EA3713); Bruno Ferreira (CRCGM - Centre de Recherche Clermontois en Gestion et Management - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I : EA3849 - Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand); Charlotte Lecuyer (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III : EA3713); Pierre Mathieu (CRCGM - Centre de Recherche Clermontois en Gestion et Management - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I : EA3849 - Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand)
    Abstract: La technique du marquage régional est relativement récente en France : le recours à la création d'une marque pour promouvoir la région semble théoriquement à l'interface entre le marketing classique des biens et des services et le marketing territorial tel que porté jusqu'alors par les collectivités locales. Notre étude s'interroge donc sur la perception des consommateurs de cette dualité. Autrement dit, le consommateur perçoit-il la marque-région comme une marque commerciale ou comme une marque territoire relevant du domaine public ?
    Keywords: marque régionale ; marketing territorial ; tests implicites
    Date: 2014–05–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00987843&r=mkt
  5. By: Franz Hackl; Michael E. Kummer; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer; Christine Zulehner
    Abstract: We analyze the interaction between market structure and market performance and how it varies over the product cycle. To account for the potential endogeneity in this relation, we use an instrumental variable approach. We combine data from the largest Austrian online market for price comparisons with retail data on wholesale prices provided by a major hardware producer for consumer electronics. Our results show that instrumenting is important for estimating the empirical effect of competition on the markup of the price leader. One more firm in the market is associated with a reduction of the price leader’s markup which is equivalent to competition between existing firms for an additional three weeks in the product life cycle. Our results support search theoretic models and contradict models of monopolistic competition. Moreover our results support the existence of price dynamics over the product cycle. They also highlight the substitutability between newly innovated and old expiring technologies and how it varies with respect to competitors’ and own brand innovations.
    Keywords: Retailing, Product Life cycle, Market Structure, Market Performance, Markup, Price Dispersion
    JEL: L11 L13 L81 D43
    Date: 2014–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2014_04&r=mkt
  6. By: Matthew Chesnes; Weijia (Daisy) Dai; Ginger Zhe Jin
    Abstract: Increased competition from the Internet has raised a concern of product quality for online prescription drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibits the importation of unapproved drugs into the US and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) emphasizes their illegality and cites examples of unsafe drugs from rogue pharmacies. An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that Google was allowing unapproved Canadian pharmacies to advertise on their search engine and target US consumers. Because of heightened concern to protect consumers, Google agreed to ban non-NABP-certified pharmacies from their sponsored search listings in February 2010 and settled with the DOJ in August 2011. We study how the ban on non-NABP-certified pharmacies from sponsored search listings affects consumer search on the Internet. Using click-through data from comScore, we find that non-NABP-certified pharmacies receive fewer clicks after the ban, and this effect is heterogeneous. In particular, pharmacies not certified by the NABP, but certified by other sources (other-certified sites), experience a reduction in total clicks, and some of their lost paid clicks are replaced by organic clicks. These effects do not change significantly after the DOJ settlement. In contrast, pharmacies not certified by any of the four major certification agencies suffer a greater reduction in both paid and organic clicks, and the reduction was exacerbated after the DOJ settlement. These results suggest that the ban has increased the search cost for other-certified sites, but at least some consumers overcome the search cost by switching from paid to organic links. In addition to search cost, the ban may have increased concerns for uncertified sites and discouraged consumers from reaching them via both paid and organic links.
    JEL: D83 I18 K32 L81
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20088&r=mkt
  7. By: Aviral Kumar Tiwari; Suresh K.G.; Mohamed Arouri; Frédéric Teulon
    Date: 2014–05–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-292&r=mkt
  8. By: Thomas André (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X)
    Abstract: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have embraced the possibility to find growth or strategic opportunities by targeting the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) segment, while contributing to alleviate poverty. Taking stock of the notorious early BoP initiatives shows that the bet made upon this responsible commitment is not yet won. Indeed, some were relegated to philanthropic programmes or simply dismantled, highlighting a tension to combine both societal and financial sustainability. The paper questions why and how MNEs reposition the value creation of their current BoP initiatives in regards of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. We provide an empirical analysis of present BoP initiatives, based on an embedded multiple-case study of seven MNEs' initiatives and seventeen of their field projects. The paper highlights three levels of CSR engagement at the firm level, which will translate into different strategies, organisations and types of value creation for BoP initiatives. We deliver novel insights for the study of the "business cases" of BoP strategies, which aim at gaining legitimacy, incubating strategic change and reaching profitable growth.
    Keywords: Multinational Enterprises, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Base of the Pyramid (BoP), business case
    Date: 2014–05–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00989791&r=mkt

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