Self-monitoring,norms, and attitudes as influences on consumer complaining

Reactions of consumers to marketplace problems vary widely despite the frequent similarity of sources of dissatisfaction. The results of two studies designed to investigate the determinants of consumer inclinations to complain are presented. Two alternative social-psychological explanations of behavior employing self-monitoring, moral and social norms,and attitudes as predictor variables are examined.     

A modelling approach to planning product innovative research

Abstract . The generation of ideas for new products and their subsequent survival through a number of evaluation and development stages are—at least in part—random processes. To examine the implications of this for research planning and resource allocation a model has been constructed to simulate the progress of ideas through such an evaluation system using Monte Carlo methods. Use of the model on such typical product-innovative fields as a 'new venture' portfolio and effect-chemicals R & D has yielded valuable insights into variability in output of ventures suitable for commercialization, the degree of confidence which may be placed in achieving a desired objective, and its relation to costs and resource allocations at different stages of the process. The model also allows examination of sensitivities to the assumptions made in its construction and to data used as input.     

A survey of fortune 500 companies' interest in accounting faculty residencies

This paper examines the attitudes of members of the business community toward faculty residency programs by surveying top financial executives in Fortune 500 companies. The results of the study show that 31 percent of the 175 respondents either have a residency program in place or are interested in starting such a program. Conversely, 69 percent of the respondents stated they had little or no interest in a residency program.     

Bayesian estimation of manufacturing effects in a fuel economy model

The analysis of fuel economy data results in estimates of the technology utilization by manufacturer and vehicle line. The analysis employs a hierarchical Bayesian regression model with random components representing vehicle lines and manufacturers. The model includes predictor variables which describe vehicle features, such as type of transmission, and vehicle line specific measurements, such as compression ratio. Non-informative priors with novel modifications are used and the Bayes estimates are obtained by use of Gibbs sampling. The results show there is substantial variability among manufacturers in efficiently utilizing technology for fuel economy.     

International Evidence on the Predictability of Stock Returns

This article examines the predictability of stock returns using international stock market data from eighteen countries. The study finds that the ability of dividend yields to predict stock returns increases as the return horizon lengthens from one month to forty-eight months. These results add to earlier ones, based on U.S. data only, showing that predictability grows with the return horizon. The study also explores why the observed pattern of predictability arises and provides evidence supporting the reasons suggested by Fama and French.     

The effects of price on brand extension evaluations: The moderating role of extension similarity

This research explores the effects of price information on brand extension evaluations across different levels of similarity. Brand extension similarity is proposed as a moderator of the effects of price on brand extension perceived quality, perceived value, and purchase intentions. Specifically, price is hypothesized to have a larger positive impact on perceived quality evaluations of dissimilar extensions, but a larger negative impact on perceived value and purchase intentions for similar extensions. Results indicate that a high-price introductory strategy used to suggest a high-quality product will likely be more effective for dissimilar extensions than similar extensions. The results of this research suggest a number of implications for new product pricing. Directions for subsequent research are offered as well. Valerie A. Taylor is an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She received her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include product branding strategies, and consumer perception and use of quality cues and signals, and health communication issues. Her research has been published inAdvances in Consumer Research andAmerican Marketing Association Educator's Proceedings. Her teaching interests include marketing communications, marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and marketing research. She has also held positions in the telecommunications industry. William O. Bearden is the Bank of America Chaired Professor of Marketing in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He is on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research (JCR), theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, and theMarketing Education Review and is currently serving as an associate editor forJCR. He has published frequently in theJournal of Marketing Research andJCR, and has a number of publications in other marketing and consumer research journals. His teaching and research interests include consumer behavior, marketing research, and the evaluation of marketing promotions.     

Livestock pricing policy in sub-Saharan Africa: objectives,instruments and impact in five countries

Livestock pricing policies in many developing countries are often instituted without a good appreciation of the consequences of such policies for allocative efficiency, output and trade. This paper evaluates, in a comparative cross-country context, the objectives and instruments of livestock pricing policy in five sub-Saharan African countries: Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe during the period 1970-86. It assesses the extent to which pricing policy objectives have been attained, and also estimates the effects of price interventions on output, consumption, trade and government revenues in order to draw out lessons for the future. The empirical results indicate that in comparison with real border prices, a certain degree of success was achieved in stabilising real domestic producer prices in the study countries. The results also show that since the early 1980s, there has been a gradual shift away from taxation of producers. However, consumers still appear to gain as much as producers in three of the study countries, with negative consequences for foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic inflation and exchange rates as key variables for livestock pricing policies and highlights the need to address the macroeconomic imbalances that cause exchange rate distortions and high domestic inflation at the same time that direct price distortions are being tackled.     

Consumer usage of unit pricing

The aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which shoppers use unit price as a conventional piece of information to compare sizes and/or brands in supermarkets. Three-hundred and seventy-five shoppers were interviewed in a Kroger supermarket in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. About two-thirds of all respondents said they used the unit price information while shopping. Slightly over 84% of those who understand how the unit price information can be used to make more economical choices said they used it. Shoppers with lower levels of education used unit price less than those with higher levels of education. The same pattern was observed between low-income and high-income shoppers as well as between blacks and whites. The number of shoppers who recalled using unit price to compare sizes was about the same as the number of people who recalled using it to compare brands.