When impediments make you jump rather than stumble: Regulatory nonfit, implementation intentions, and goal attainment

This paper examines the relative effectiveness of forming implementation intentions (i.e., making specific plans regarding how to go about achieving a goal) for increasing goal attainment under regulatory fit vs. nonfit. We discuss and empirically test the proposition that regulatory nonfit increases the effectiveness of implementation intentions. Extant research contrasts goals of differing difficulty (e.g., buying a textbook vs. finding an apartment) in order to test the relative effectiveness of implementation intentions. In contrast, the present study focuses on identifying the change in implementation intention effectiveness for the same goal (i.e., collecting and turning in receipts for a reward) under conditions of fit vs. nonfit. We empirically demonstrate that when faced with the same goal, people who experience regulatory nonfit perceive the task to be more difficult to complete than people who experience regulatory fit. In turn, when the task is perceived as being more difficult, implementation intentions prove more effective to enhance goal attainment. Our study provides insight into the interaction between regulatory fit and implementation intentions and subsequent effects on goal attainment.     

Consumers’ evaluation of allocation policies for scarce health care services: Vested interest activation trumps spatial and temporal distance

The allocation of scarce health care service resources often requires trade-offs between individual and collective outcomes (e.g., when some individuals benefit more strongly from a given policy than others). Based on construal level theory, one would expect that consumers cognitively represent the individual and collective outcomes of an allocation policy at different levels of abstraction and that they evaluate allocation policies more positively when there is congruency between the cognitive representation of the policy??s focal outcome and the spatial and temporal distance inherently present in the policy??s decision context (e.g., allocation decisions on a future policy). However, we hypothesize that this congruency effect can be overruled by a high vested interest mindset that is activated by an individual??s recent personal experience with a health care service provider. Since a high vested interest mindset increases the relevance of the allocation policy implementation for the individual because s/he perceives strong personal consequences, we propose that for consumers with recent experience the evaluation of an allocation policy that focuses on individual outcomes is higher than that of a policy that focuses on collective outcomes irrespective of the spatial and temporal distance in the decision context. Results of a hypothetical experiment among a representative sample of the general population confirm the congruency effects in the new domain of health care service allocation policies, and provide support for the proposed overruling effect of the activation of a high vested interest mindset by recent personal experience on spatial and temporal distance.     

Increasing choice satisfaction through goal-based labeling

Business practitioners increasingly seem to believe in the power of goal-based labels (i.e., labels that link assortment items to consumption goals). While previous literature has focused on feature-based approaches to increase choice satisfaction, we introduce goal-based labeling as a consumer-based approach to increase choice satisfaction. Since goal-based labels (e.g., a ??Family Trip?? camera versus a ??Professional?? camera) relate choice alternatives directly to consumption goals, they allow consumers to bypass translating product attributes into goal attainment. Quantitative and qualitative results of an experimental study indicate that novice consumers, but not experts, benefit from goal-based labeling in multiple ways. Novice consumers use goal-based labels as an important cue in their decision making. This can significantly increase their chances at making an optimal choice. Choosing from a goal-based labeled assortment also has a positive effect on the choice satisfaction of novices. Mediation analyses show that a decrease in the choice uncertainty drives the positive effect of goal-based labeling on choice satisfaction. Novices apparently do not blindly follow the labels that are provided but try to understand the link between labels and attributes. Hence, among novices, inaccurately labeled assortments not only result in suboptimal choice but also in higher uncertainty and lower satisfaction. For experts, goal-based labeling is largely irrelevant, as it does not have an effect on their choice satisfaction, nor on their likelihood to make an optimal choice.     

Does money matter?: Wealth attainment as the motive for initiating growth-oriented technology ventures

The desire to attain personal wealth has long been regarded as the foremost motive for entrepreneurship. Other goals and values, however, may also contribute to entrepreneurial motivation. Thus, the extent to which money matters relative to other motives is an empirical question. In this study we examine the role of wealth as the motive for the decision to found new ventures. Three focal questions guide our research: 1) does money matter more relative to other decision dimensions in deciding to start a new high-technology venture? 2) does money matter more to entrepreneurs compared to non-entrepreneurs? and 3) does money matter in absolute terms, that is, does a decision model that focuses solely on the motive of wealth attainment parsimoniously predict entrepreneurs' start-up decisions?We conducted in-depth interviews with 51 entrepreneurs and a control group of 28 senior managers who decided not to start ventures (non-entrepreneurs) in the high-technology industry in British Columbia to address our research questions. The motives we examined are wealth attainment and an aggregate of other dimensions identified by entrepreneurs and managers. We considered three components of values: participants' ratings of the importance of various decision dimensions, their rating of the salience of these dimensions, and their satisfaction with prior levels of attainment on those decision dimensions. We assessed beliefs as participants' perceived probability of attaining their desired level of a particular decision dimension in each of three alternatives: the position held at the time the venture decision was made, the venture itself, and the next best career alternative at that time. The data were analyzed to compare entrepreneurs' values and beliefs regarding wealth with an aggregate of other decision dimensions (our relative hypotheses), and with those of non-entrepreneurs (our comparative hypotheses).Our findings do not support the common perception that money is the only, or even the most important, motive for entrepreneurs' decisions to start new ventures. Wealth attainment was significantly less important to entrepreneurs relative to an aggregate of 10 other decision dimensions, and entrepreneurs did not rate wealth as any more important than did non-entrepreneurs. Non-entrepreneurs rated wealth as no more important than other motives. Wealth attainment was also significantly less salient to entrepreneurs' decisions to venture than were other motives. Non-entrepreneurs reported that wealth was significantly more salient to their decision against founding a venture than other dimensions. In fact, non-entrepreneurs rated wealth attainment as significantly more salient to their decision against founding than entrepreneurs rated it for their decision to proceed with starting a high-technology business. A significant number of entrepreneurs started businesses even when they believed that doing so offered them a lower probability of obtaining their most desired level of wealth than did one of their other alternatives.Satisfaction ratings and stated beliefs also dispute classical predictions. Just prior to making the decision to venture, the entrepreneurs in our study were as satisfied with wealth as they were with other decision dimensions. The non-entrepreneurs were actually more satisfied with wealth attainment than with other dimensions. A comparison of the groups revealed no difference in satisfaction with wealth attainment levels. Entrepreneurs did believe that their chances of attaining their desired level of wealth were much greater through founding a new high-technology venture than through their other alternatives. This difference in beliefs, however, was not significantly greater than their optimistic beliefs about chances of attaining desired levels of other dimensions. It was significantly higher compared to the non-entrepreneurs' belief difference measures for wealth. In fact, the entrepreneurs' stated beliefs regarding the chances of attaining their desired levels of all dimensions were higher than those of the non-entrepreneurs, suggesting that entrepreneurs were simply more optimistic at the time of their decision than non-entrepreneurs.Salience findings suggest that these optimistic beliefs about wealth did not motivate the founding decision alone.We can distinguish those people who successfully started ventures by their regard for wealth as a less salient factor, and their beliefs in higher chances of a venture producing monetary and other returns. Other motives, such as innovation, vision, independence, and challenge were more important and much more salient to this sample of entrepreneurs.Our findings have implications for practice, teaching, and research. Venture capitalists who partially base their assessment of entrepreneurs on the extent to which they are motivated to make a great deal of money may benefit from reconsideration of this criterion. We have evidence of one group of high-technology entrepreneurs who achieved success without placing much decision weight on attainment of personal wealth. Nascent entrepreneurs and those who teach entrepreneurship can use this empirical finding to argue two main points: 1) not all entrepreneurs found a business for personal wealth reasons, and 2) one need not be motivated by personal wealth attainment to be a successful entrepreneur. Similarly, theoretical models that assume money is the primary motive for entrepreneurial activity require re-examination. Future research in entrepreneurship should focus less on wealth attainment and more on other motives for the venturing decision. A multiple-attribute decision model may be able to more fully explain venturing decisions.     

Cross-sectional determinants of bank performance under deposit dollarization in emerging markets

Dollar-denominated deposits and loans could increase financial fragility in emerging market banking systems. This currency mismatch does not only increase banks' currency risk when the proportion of dollar-denominated loans with respect to local-denominated loans increases but also it increases their clients' default risk if depreciation occurs. This paper investigates the profitability of 36 dollarized banking systems. Results suggest that after controlling for some macroeconomic and institutional variables, dollarization, as the currency mismatch hypothesis suggests, depresses bank performance and lowers bank profitability. Results also show that the effect of institutions more than offsets the negative impact of dollarization on banks' profitability.     

Distribution Channel Management in an Internet Age: Equilibrium and Social Welfare

This paper considers the conditions under which a monopoly manufacturer selling through independent retailers in a spatial market will add an Internet distribution channel (an e-channel), and analyzes the effect this would have on consumer surplus and social welfare. We find that an e-channel will be added only if consumer??s travel costs are high and the e-retailer??s delivery costs are low. Such double-channel operation will decrease consumer surplus if in the pre-entry case the market is fully covered by brick-and-mortar retailers. If instead the market is partially covered and delivery costs are sufficiently high, it will not decrease any consumer??s surplus. When delivery costs are low, social welfare will be improved by profitable double-channel operation even if consumer surplus is harmed by it. Finally, double-channel operation could be Pareto superior even if delivery costs are high.     

Maximum-Revenue and Optimum-Welfare Tariffs in International Mixed Duopoly: Does the Order of Firms’ Move Matter?

This paper examines the effect of privatization on the priority of the maximum-revenue tariff and the optimum-welfare tariff in a mixed oligopoly with partial privatization and foreign competition. Major findings of this paper are that: firstly, in a mixed duopoly with partial privatization and asymmetric marginal costs, when the marginal cost of the privatized firm is higher than a critical value, the optimum-welfare tariff will be lower than the maximum-revenue tariff regardless of the order of firms?? move; secondly, if the degree of privatization is sufficiently high and cost is symmetric, the optimum-welfare tariff will be higher than the maximum-revenue tariff; thirdly, if the degree of privatization is sufficiently high and the domestic firm is highly ineffective in production, under Stackelberg public leadership, the optimum-welfare tariff is low and then it is more possible that the optimum-welfare tariff is lower than the maximum-revenue one.     

Situational and trait interactions among goal orientations

Regulatory focus theory has been used to describe and explain a wide range of consumer responses. This goal orientation has been examined both as a chronic difference and a situational variable. Yet, it is unclear how a situational manipulation interacts with the individual??s chronic goal orientation. The present research investigates the potential for interactions and suggests that typical outcomes of regulatory focus are likely to emerge more clearly under circumstances in which promotion focus is manipulated. The studies demonstrate asymmetric effects in the interactions of chronic and situational manipulations of regulatory focus using different manipulations and outcome variables. The implications of these findings are significant for any research involving the manipulation of variables that can also be considered as chronic tendencies.     

A tale of two exits: nascent entrepreneur learning activities and disengagement from start-up

This article explores entrepreneurial exit defined as disengagement from the start-up process. It addresses two questions: (1) is disengagement a negative outcome? and (2) are all cases of disengagement homogeneous? The literature identifies two types of disengagements based on the degree of learning by nascent entrepreneurs. Intelligent exit refers to proactive or strategic disengagement precipitated by entrepreneurs?? learning that concluded the business opportunity would not be successful. From this perspective, entrepreneurs could adopt discovering or enacting modes and their related causal or effectual approaches to learning. Reactive or uninformed exit results from lack of planning and an inability to solve problems. Results suggest two different disengagement clusters??the intelligent and reactive exit clusters??but the distinction between discovering and enacting approaches to learning is not supported. Cases of intelligent exit are found to be more similar to cases of operating businesses than they are to cases of reactive exit.     

When consumers follow their feelings: The impact of affective or cognitive focus on the basis of consumers' choice

The authors assumed that automatic preferences based on lower‐order affective processes have a greater impact on choice when people focus on their affective response to choice options (affective focus) than when they try to find reasons for their preferences (cognitive focus). They further supposed that the impact of the focus during decision making is less important when the cognitive resources of consumers are constrained. In an experiment, participants had to choose between two options while the cognitive or affective focus and processing resources were manipulated. Measures of automatic preferences correlated with choice under an affective, but not under a cognitive, focus. In contrast to expectations, this effect of focus was not moderated by the manipulation of processing resources. Interest‐ingly, the automatic measures contributed to the prediction of choice under an affective focus independently and apart from self‐report measures. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How Affirmational versus Negational Identification Frames Influence Uniqueness‐Seeking Behavior

This research tested the proposition that consumers presenting under a negational identification frame are more likely to choose unique products than when they present themselves affirmationally. Study 1 demonstrated this main effect in a real‐choice setting. Study 2 underlined temporary accessibilities to one's desired (undesired) identities when an affirmational (negational) identification frame is adopted. Study 3 further demonstrated that identity valence interacts with identification frames in driving uniqueness‐seeking tendency. Additionally, this effect was found to be mediated by self‐other distinction in Study 4. The research implications for both the “what” and the “how” aspects of identity‐driven consumption are discussed.     

The impact of retail out-of-stock options on preferences: The role of consumers’ desire for assimilation versus differentiation

This study tested the hypothesis that retail customers’ drive to assimilation or differentiation moderates the effect on their initial preference for a particular product of their discovery in the store of a previously unconsidered comparable alternative, which happens to be presently out of stock. The results revealed that new awareness of alternative options has an impact on customers’ preferences, even if they are unavailable when the choice is being made. Participants who were more concerned with differentiation exhibited a stronger preference for the option originally under consideration if they were told that the alternative was out of stock due to heavy demand rather than short supply. By comparison, those more concerned with assimilation had a weaker preference for the initial product when they learnt that its unavailability was said to be due to heavy demand, not supply shortfall. The article concludes with theoretical implications and areas for future research.     

Shopping Motivation: Investigating the Shopping Process and Outcomes of the Retail Experience at a Craft Fair

The research addresses the question of when people succeed or fail to achieve shopping goals that bring them to a retail outlet, in this case a craft fair, and the consequences of this for customer satisfaction. A quantitative study, carried out with 398 craft fair shoppers, revealed that dimensions of in-store behaviour had various but significant influences on the relationships between prior intentions to pursue certain types of shopping goals and attainment of those goals. Further, the attainment of important shopping goals had a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of the shopping experience and the craft fairs as well as their future behavioural intentions. The main implication of the research is that attempts should be made to facilitate the shopping process and account for consumers with multiple goals.     

Overcoming informal barriers to trade: Immigrant educational attainment vs. network competence

Focusing on developed countries as the destination of both migrants and traded goods, we adopt a contingent perspective to examine the efficacy of immigrant resources in the promotion of international trade. We find that only immigrants with a low level of education facilitate trade when they originate from a developing source country (south→north trade), whereas only highly educated immigrants facilitate trade when they originate from a developed source country (north→north trade). This difference emerges from the immigrant’s role in helping overcome two distinct informal barriers to trade based on their different resource endowments in terms of network competence vs. educational attainment.     

Methods of Pre-testing Advertising

Copy-testing methods must be both valid and informative if they are to assist in the selection and revision of advertising content. Current methods often fail to fulfil one or both of these requirements. Tests are likely to be valid when they measure purchase behaviour in natural settings using completed advertisements. Such market tests are valuable for choosing between alternative copy but at this stage they are often made too late to be of help in modifying advertisement content. Some tests based on responses to the advertisement appear to be informative but fail to predict purchase or purchase intention. Theories of advertising effect are reviewed. Whether advertisements work informatively, through persuasion or through post-purchase reinforcement, it is likely that intention to buy will indicate advertising effectiveness better than other subjective criteria will. A method of belief analysis is proposed, based on attitude-behaviour theory. In this procedure, intention to buy is used to predict purchase, and measures of beliefs about purchase are used to reveal the likely determinants of purchase intention. Experimental tests show which purchase-related beliefs change when potential consumers are exposed to product information via storyboards, videotapes, group discussion, product presentation or completed commercials. This method identifies the relevant factors most closely related to buying intention and measures their potential for change.     

Effects of cognitive resource availability on consumer decisions involving counterfeit products: The role of perceived justification

In four experiments, participants made a purchase decision about a counterfeit product under either constrained or unconstrained cognitive resource conditions. Participants were less likely to purchase the counterfeit when their cognitive resources were constrained than when they were not. However, this difference was evident only when individuals had strong (vs. weak) moral beliefs, or when they had low (vs. high) accountability for their decisions. These and other results suggest that the effect of cognitive resource availability on counterfeit purchase was mediated by participants’ perceptions of justification about the purchase.     

Consumer Cynicism toward Collective Buying: The Interplay of Others’ Outcomes,Social Value Orientation,and Mood

This research examines whether consumer cynicism about collective buying depends on consumers’ observations of fellow buyers being treated unfairly in a cobuying context. Prosocial consumers should differ from proself consumers in their level of cynicism, because they value equality in outcomes. Study 1 reveals that prosocials become cynical if others receive an unfair outcome and therefore do not repatronize the provider. This effect does not occur for proselfs. Study 2 shows that mood mediates this effect. Specifically, when prosocial consumers are in a positive mood, the others’ outcomes no longer influence their cynicism. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An investigation of hindsight bias in nascent venture activity

We posit that individuals who are actively engaged in activities to develop their own venture will exhibit hindsight bias when recalling their startup experiences. We observe that those who fail to develop their startup activity into an operating business demonstrate substantial hindsight bias concerning the probability of venture formation. In particular, the recalled probability of success, reported after their decision to quit, is lower than the probability of success solicited during the nascent process. We argue that the systematic distortion of the past has important implications for individuals involved in the venturing process. Specifically, we suggest that these individuals are at risk of overestimating their chances of success when starting future nascent activity if they do not correct for their optimistic tendencies. The evidence from this study suggests it is important to recognize that what nascent entrepreneurs believe they experienced, and what they actually experienced, may not be equivalent.     

Does banner advertising affect browsing for brands? clickstream choice model says yes, for some

This paper investigates how exposure to Internet display advertising affects the subsequent choices users make of brand-specific pages to view within a website. Using individual-level clickstream data from a third-party automotive website, we tracked the web pages selected by users as they browsed the site and their exposures to premium placement display ads for different vehicle makes (e.g., Ford, Toyota). Pages on the site were classified into those that displayed information about a specific vehicle make (a ??make page??) versus those that did not (a ??non-make page??). For each ??make-page?? viewed, the specific automotive make selected (e.g., Ford, Toyota) was also recorded. We use these data to develop a model of users?? make-specific page choices as a function of prior banner ad exposure on the site. Consumer heterogeneity is captured using a Bayesian Mixture approach. We find that banner ads influence subsequent choices of which make-specific pages to view for ads, served during the current browsing session but not for ads served in previous sessions. The effect of banner ads is also segmented: users in one segment (54%) reacted positively, users in a second segment (46%) were not influenced. Using a standard continuous approach to heterogeneity, we would have concluded?Cincorrectly?Cthat banner advertising has no effect on the subsequent selection of make-specific pages. For the positively reacting segment, we estimate that the elasticity of make-page choice with respect to banner ad exposure is just under 0.2. Users in this segment appear less focused in their site browsing behavior and tend to stay longer than users in the non-reacting segment.     

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

ABSTRACT

The key to improving pricing methods lies in establishing a clear relationship between the price paid by customers and the value received. A company's understanding of how a decision in its pricing policy will affect the perceptions its potential consumers will have of these prices, is fundamental if it wishes to make sure that its offer is properly perceived. Thus, if companies identify the rules used by purchasers to price their products, they will be successful in getting the objective signal they send via their communication strategies to be perceived in the desired manner. This analysis shows that both monetary and non-monetary costs are considered by consumers when determining the final cost perception associated with the acquisition of a good, and that the understanding of the internal reference price is essential for determining the nominal price effect on the monetary component of total sacrifice.