Recall of autobiographical memory: A longitudinal analysis of franchisee experts

In this longitudinal study, we investigate whether franchisees in their role as experts exhibit consistent recall of their perceptions of franchise value after a 3-year interval when a strong autobiographical instance association (i.e., the multiunit decision) is created. Paired-sample t tests and correlation analysis are used to examine recall accuracy. While the analysis reveals stability of recall for typical franchisee experts over both the recent and the distant past, the individual level data indicate that the precision of recall deteriorates over time. Implications for future research involving retrospective data are offered.     

Linear transformations of vector ARMA processes

Linear transformations of stochastic processes are used in many ways in economic analyses, for example when linear aggregates or subprocesses are considered. It is demonstrated that a linear transformation of a vector ARMA process is again an ARMA process and conditions for stationarity are given. Three different predictors for a linearly transformed process are compared. Forecasting the original process and transforming the predictions is superior to forecasting the transformed process directly and to transforming univariate predictions of the components of the original process. Conditions for equality of the three different forecasts are provided.     

Understanding consumers' in-store visual perception: The influence of package design features on visual attention

It is widely accepted that the human brain has limited capacity for perceptual stimuli and consumers' visual attention, when searching for a particular product or brand in a grocery store, should then be limited by the boundaries of their own perceptual capacity. In this exploratory study, we examine the relationship between abundant in-store stimuli and limited human perceptual capacity. Specifically, we test the influence of package design features on visual attention. Data was collected through two eye-tracking experiments, one in a grocery store using wireless eye-tracking equipment, and another in a lab setting. Findings show that consumers have fragmented visual attention during grocery shopping, and that their visual attention is simultaneously influenced and disrupted by the shelf display. Physical design features such as shape and contrast dominate the initial phase of searching. Time pressure and familiarity with the grocery store are studied and discussed.