Eastern Germany's quality as a business location

Private investment has a key role to play in the “economic take-off” in Eastern Germany. Can the region attract sufficient investment? What factors stand in the way of a rapid improvement in the quality of the new Länder as a location?     

Steuerzerlegung, Wirtschafts- und Steuerkraft

The local breakdown of the German Länder shares of tax revenues is hardly considered as a political or legal problem. Its purpose is to correct the results of the technical procedures of tax collection in order to distribute the revenues among the Länder according to their economic strength. This objective is hardly achieved. On the contrary, the shortcomings of the breakdown considerably intensify the problems of fiscal equalisation among the Länder. The question has to be raised whether or not the breakdown of revenues according to their “true” local origin is still appropriate within a highly integrated economy.     

Die verbogene Verfassung — zur Neuregelung der Bund-Länder-Finanzbeziehungen ab 2020

The federal legislature has adopted a new system of intergovernmental fiscal relations from 2020 onwards which will change the federal structure of Germany considerably. In particular, the abolition of the horizontal equalisation among the Länder (Länderfinanzausgleich) and its replacement by an equalisation of fiscal power (Finanzkraftausgleich) within the distribution of the revenues of sales taxes changes the underlying structure of the German federal state fundamentally. The new legislation indicates this shift of the federal balance: the federation will take over the construction of motorways completely. Federal authorities also gain new powers in controlling the use of federal funds by the Länder. Instead of a balance of the federation and the Länder we will get a dominance of the federation.     

Nimmt der Länderfinanzausgleich den Anreiz zum Steuervollzug?

The German Länder are increasingly coming under criticism for insufficiently fulfilling their federal duty to enforce tax. A reason suggested for this is the lack of financial incentives: the Länder have to bear the staffing costs, but as a result of fiscal equalisation among Germany’s federal states, they are only allowed to keep a fraction of the additional income collected. The author shows that this is a myth: additional tax inspectors would still bring in good returns for the Länder. Moreover, it is the financially stronger states that are allowed to keep a larger share of their tax income, but which carry out fewer inspections. Thus, higher financial incentives are linked with poorer tax enforcement.     

Consumer Brand Hate: Steam rolling whatever I see

This study aims to investigate negative consumer‐brand relationships by developing a “Brand Hate” concept. A hierarchical Brand Hate model is theoretically discussed in light of the psychology and consumer behavior literatures. In Study‐I the Brand Hate concept was tested with two different types of consumer brand haters, true haters, and regular haters. The study found that in the study's proposed multidimensional Brand Hate hierarchy true haters display “Boiling Brand Hate” while regular haters reveal “Seething Brand Hate.” Two additional studies were developed to examine the relationship between consumer personality traits and Brand Hate, exploring which types of consumers are more prone to feel hatred toward targeted brands. Study‐II's findings revealed a relationship between consumers who are high in personality traits of “conscientiousness” and those who Brand Hate. Study‐III's findings indicated that “self‐confident” and “competitive” consumers might also be more prone to feel hatred toward those brands that perform poorly and unethically.     

Ein Risikostrukturausgleich für die Bundesländer

In Germany, a lively debate about the reform of the financial equalisation scheme between the member states (“Länder”) is under way. There is broad consensus that the member states’ financial responsibility has to be strengthened. A reduction of the transfer level of tax receipts from high-income to low-income states could achieve this objective, but at the cost of solidarity between states. To avoid this trade-off, the authors propose an indicator-based risk adjustment scheme. Their aim is to equalise different financial needs, not only differences in tax revenues across states. Risk adjustment schemes are a well-established instrument, especially in social health care systems.     

Consumer Culture and Political Ideology Plots in Social Media Campaigns

A number of studies are devoted to explicating global consumer culture and political ideology plots in traditional advertising. Nevertheless, studies of these plots in social media campaigns are scarce. In order to fill this gap, our study examines consumer culture and political ideology plots utilized by global brands in social media advertisements targeted to US Millennials. Employing semiotic analysis, a series of advertisements from automotive, food and beverage, electronics, personal care products, fast food, athletics and financial sectors were evaluated and interpreted. Our findings uncovered one unique main plot labeled “identity-of-self” and three subplots: 1) successful and young living, 2) Peter Pan syndrome, and 3) purposeful connectedness. Implications for practice and directions for future work are suggested.     

An Extended Search for Generic Consumer–Brand Relationships

Relatively few empirical studies address the question of generic relationships between consumers and brands. But a relationship‐oriented brand communication seems to have become increasingly important to companies. In this article, the authors present details of a study on generic consumer–brand relationships conducted in Germany. Based on the data of more than 900 consumers, four different types of consumer–brand relationships emerge, characterized as “best friendship,” “unemotional purpose‐based relationship,” “loose contact,” and “happy partnership.” An extended analysis of the data using advanced statistical methods supports these findings to a high degree. Furthermore, as the results of the extended analysis also suggest, numerous well‐known brands often appear within less favorable relationships like “unemotional purpose‐based relationship” and “loose contact.” These findings indicate important shortcomings of relationship‐oriented brand management in many companies and suggest the need for further work in this area.     

Policy and practice in Germany

Abstract: In Germany, EU directives have been the primary source of consumer protection legislation in banking and financial services, especially legislation on consumer credit and investment services. Otherwise, there is little significant statute law, either at federal or provincial (Länder) level, apart from a recent Consumer Bankruptcy Law. Most consumer problems have to be solved within the framework of the very general Civil Code or the law on unfair contract terms. This means that there is strong emphasis on the role of the courts in interpreting the law in specific cases. In recent years consumer organizations have played an important part in bringing class action cases in the courts – notably on issues concerned with value dating, bank charges and the early termination of mortgage and insurance contracts. There is virtually no tradition of securing consumer protection through codes of conduct. Banking ombudsman schemes have been set up in recent years, but are subject to some criticisms by consumer organizations.     

Consumer‐Generated Representations: Muslim Women Recreating Western Luxury Fashion Brand Meaning through Consumption

The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of consumer‐generated representations on symbolic brand meaning. The term consumer‐generated representation is used in this research to refer to the image created for a brand based on the defining characteristics of a consumer or group of consumers. A preliminary qualitative study consisting of 12 in‐depth interviews was conducted in Kuwait, specifically exploring Muslim female consumers as consumers of western luxury fashion brands. The findings show that Muslim female consumers generate “Modestly Sexy” representations that recreate meaning for western luxury fashion brands in Kuwait. Thus, marketers need to recognize the importance of managing consumer‐generated representations on a global scale.     

Impact of U.S. Consumer Motivations to “Buy or Not Buy American”

Abstract

This study explores the impact of U.S. consumer motivations on cognitive and affective bases of purchasing or not purchasing American made products. Four motivational components were identified related to national pride, perceptions of product superiority, views regarding global economy, and product availability. Consumers' feelings associated with national pride/stronger economy and the disbelief that foreign products are better were found for the most part to be major reasons driving loyalty of U.S. consumers to purchase U.S. made products. However, support exists for cognitive acceptance of a global economy as evidenced by owning a foreign produced product and reduced feelings about national pride. Retailers should capitalize on these consumer beliefs if employing a “buy American” promotional by avoiding strong appeals to consumer ethnocentric tendencies. As such, promotional efforts by retailers should appeal to American pride in being able to compete on quality without crossing over into blatant flag-waving appeals that could backfire.     

Why Consumers Like Facebook Brands: The Role of Aspirational Brand Personality in Consumer Behavior

In total, the top five brands on Facebook have more than 500 million fans through the “like” Facebook button feature and yet research shows that about only 1% engage with the top brands on Facebook. This suggests that individuals have other underlying reasons for liking brands' Facebook pages. To address the question of the latent motivations for liking brands on Facebook, a conceptual model proposing that individuals liked Facebook brands to achieve specific virtual identities was developed and tested. The results demonstrate the significance of brand personality in determining consumer behavior. Self-congruity was also revealed to be an important moderator in the relationships theorized between brand personality and consumers' online behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are outlined and discussed.     

‘Better safe than sorry’: consumer perceptions of and deliberations on nanotechnologies

Although nanotechnologies are considered key technologies that can drive growth‐generating innovations in well‐saturated markets, worldwide investment in nanotechnologies has to date focused largely on technology‐related development programmes and little effort has been expended to research associated risks. As a result, even though prior discourses have sensitized western consumers to potential health‐related dangers, solid knowledge on, for example, the toxicological and eco‐toxicological risks and unintended side effects of nanotechnology are scarce. This paper therefore presents an overview of the current evidence on consumer knowledge and perceptions of nanotechnology and public engagement with it, with a focus on the US, the UK and Germany. Overall, even though survey data suggest that awareness of the term ‘nanotechnology’ has risen slightly, today's consumers are generally ill informed about its nature and its applications in consumer‐related products. Hence, based on our analysis of these data, we argue that early political engagement in the nanotechnology issue – for example, consumer policy options that support consumer interest in the marketing of ‘nanos’– would facilitate objective public discourse.     

Die Schuldenbremse der Bundesländer: eine Fehlkonstruktion?

The debt brake for the German Länder, which forbids them from taking on new net debt beginning in 2020, has two major shortcomings. First, the Länder do not have tax autonomy. In fiscal crises, they can only adjust on the expenditure side, not on the revenue side. Given the fact that most expenditure is predetermined by law, in such a crisis, a balanced budget without new debt would hardly be feasible. Second, it is not taken into account that, in particular in small regional units, large investments can hardly be financed by current expenditure. Thus, there is a very high probability that at least some Länder will still take on new net debt after 2020 and, therefore, violate the rules of the debt brake.     

Places as authentic consumption contexts

Consumers build social capital through purposeful consumer–place interactions. Airbnb claims that consumers want to “experience a place like [they] live there.” Previous research concentrates primarily on authenticity of objects, brands, and people, with limited development of place authenticity as a concept. But place authenticity represents an increasingly important marketing concept as consumers today, particularly millennials (Schulz, P. (2015, August 8). Not just millennials: Consumers want experiences, not things. Adage. Retrieved from https://adage.com/article/digitalnext/consumers-experiences-things/299994/ ), value experience over “stuff.” Authenticity provides an important place characteristic that if perceived, potentially unlocks a truly valuable consumer experience. Consequently, the research presented here develops an auxiliary theory of place authenticity (PA). The theory proposes a second‐order factor indicated by three coordinate subdimensions. Phase I of the research consists of five studies that develop PA, explore its dimensionality, and confirm the PA scale's construct validity. Phase II of the research involves a sixth study, which examines a set of hypotheses that begin to establish PA's nomological net. The results shed light on the psychology by which consumers extract value from experience and into ways marketing efforts can build effective place–value propositions.     

Group Buying: A Strategic Form of Consumer Collective

Existing literature on collective consumption focuses on passionate consumers of particular brands. This research examines group buying (GB), a multi-phase consumer collective activity, that creates value prior to, during and after the acquisition of products and services. Through a two-year, multi-sited, qualitative study, we examine both retailers’ and consumers’ motivations for participating in GB. GB is essentially a consumer collective that centers on consumer needs across brands, activities and lifestyles. This consumer collective is not initiated by brand affiliation or a consumption subculture, but by the need to discover desirable brands and obtain optimal products and services at favorable prices. Furthermore, GB empowers consumers to better protect their rights in an under-regulated market.     

An Empirical Investigation of Composite Product Choice

Prior ingredient branding research has examined the influence of “stated” factors such as fit between partner brands on composite product (e.g., Tide with Downy fabric softener) attitudes. This research focuses on choice of composite products, and addresses three managerially relevant questions: Which consumer segments are more likely to adopt the composite product? Will the choice of the composite product have positive or negative reciprocal effects on partner brands? Will the introduction of the composite product benefit the primary or the secondary brand more? The authors use a brand choice model to investigate the “revealed” choice of complements-based composite products. Study results indicate that (i) despite high fit between the composite product and the primary brand, consumer segments may have different choice likelihoods for these products, whereas prior research suggests equal likelihood; (ii) the choice of a composite product may not provide a positive reciprocal effect to the secondary brand; and (iii) the introduction of a composite product may benefit the primary brand more than the secondary brand, whereas prior research suggests a symmetrical benefit for the partner brands. Finally, the finding that introducing a composite product may not cannibalize the sale of the primary brand extends the ingredient branding literature, which has been silent on this issue.     

Consumer Readings of Green Appeals in Advertisements

This study evaluates consumers’ interpretation of green advertisements. The overarching theme that surfaced from the findings was that of “convenience.” The themes brought out by respondents of “not compromising your lifestyle,” a “simple-fix,” and a “collective participation/minor changes” all reiterated the theme of convenience. This suggests that the environmental initiatives of many companies/brands are focusing on minor green activities rather than sustainable activities. Additionally, all advertisements alluded to anthropocentric considerations, a human-centered system of values that regards nature as subject to the demands of human-utility, as opposed to ecocentric considerations that provide a non-contingent basis for protecting the natural world.     

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Local Designations: Brand Effects and Heterogeneity at the Retail Level

This study examines consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for packaged ice cream with local, private label, and national brands at the retail level. Data were collected through in-person surveys conducted at retail grocery outlets in Utah in 2012. Study results suggest that shoppers are willing to pay significantly more for the national and local brands over the retailer’s private label brand. In fact, the local brand with the state-sponsored designation (Utah’s Own) had a WTP equal to that of the national brand. The use of local designations or labels is important as shoppers were not willing to pay a premium for the local brands in absence of the locally produced or state-sponsored designation label. Additionally, consumer WTP for different brands and the degree of response to local designations varies substantially by consumer attributes. These differences suggest that locally designated products do not compete directly with private label products in the market. This study provides clear evidence of the value of state-sponsored designations, as well as locally produced labeling for food products marketed in a traditional retail setting.     

Ausgaben der Länder in zukunftsorientierten Aufgabenbereichen

In recent years, the German federal states (Länder) have increased their engagement in many policy areas at the centre of current public debate (e.g. public safety, education and infrastructure). However, this cannot be confirmed using official data from the statistical office, since the annual statistics of expenditure and revenue — the only data source with this task reference — is current only through 2011. The author has tried to close this gap using data for the core budgets of the Länder which the national agency has not yet published. The results show that the Länder are more involved than widely perceived in all three functions of government examined here.