Determinants of website traffic: the case of European fashion apparel retailers

The globalization process together with the extraordinary growth in the use of Internet offer firms new growth opportunities. Retail firms are using a multichannel approach, involving the Internet, in their internationalization strategies. Website traffic as measured by unique users and online awareness is among the measures for assessing the success of the online channel. There is little evidence, however, linking website traffic and the characteristics of the retail multichannel internationalization process. In order to fill this gap, this paper analyses the factors explaining the retailer's international website traffic. Website traffic data for a sample of European fashion apparel retailers are modelled as dependent on characteristics of the organization and of its physical and virtual internationalization strategy. Following the results of several linear regression models, we infer the complementarity of online and offline channels in the international operation, as well as the contribution of social networks as traffic generators.     

The role of motivation in visitor satisfaction: Empirical evidence in rural tourism

Motivation and satisfaction are two concepts widely studied in tourism literature; the relevance of these constructs being derived from their impact on tourist behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between motivation and visitor satisfaction. A survey questionnaire was distributed to visitors at a rural destination in Spain and the data analysed by ANOVA, factor and cluster analyses. The results verified our hypothesis that motivation is a determinant of the visit assessment criteria and, as a direct consequence, of the level of satisfaction (specific factors) of the visitor. However, this investigation also detected the existence of certain elements, which are independent of the reasons that motivated the journey (general factors), but which affect general satisfaction. Based on our findings, implications for management and marketing are presented.     

Royalty licensing

Most patent licensing agreements observed empirically include either per-unit or ad valorem royalties. The theoretical literature generally focuses on per-unit royalties. We provide a simple justification for the presence of ad valorem royalties in licensing contracts.     

Economic Coordination across Divergent Institutional Frameworks: Dissolving a Theoretical Antinomy

Economic theory contains a significant theoretical antinomy. Markets are thought to secure coordination in self-organized fashion. In contrast, polities are portrayed as securing coordination through planning and administration. Doing this is to commit what Michael Resnick calls the ‘centralized mindset’, which is to attribute an observed order to some ordering agent. This article seeks to dissolve this theoretical antinomy by explaining how the same coordinative principles are at work throughout a society. All societies operate in generally coordinated fashion, due to the operation of transactional processes within societies. Markets and polities both operate through transactional relationships, though political transactions are constructed somewhat differently than market transactions. This article sets forth an approach to explaining coordination throughout a societal ecology where that coordination is achieved through different forms of transaction.     

An Empirical Assessment of Customer Satisfaction in Tourism

The goal of this project is to find out if Spain is undergoing a disinvestment process in foreign service companies which might be leading to offshoring. To achieve this – after tackling conceptual and methodological aspects – a company's total disinvestment has been estimated. Subsequently, its ratio to gross investment has been evaluated for the whole sector and for all the activities the company performed in the 1993–2004 period. The result does not show a worrying disinvestment process. Over the last year in the study, though, a significant change has been seen, which might suggest the beginning of a disinvestment process in some activities – as is happening worldwide.     

So heilen Narben nach Brust OP besser

Das kann die Plastische Chirurgie – Jedes Jahr erkranken in Deutschland etwa 55.000 Frauen neu an Brustkrebs. Vielen von ihnen bietet nur eine radikale Brustamputation die Chance auf Heilung – ein verstümmelnder Eingriff für die Betroffenen. Doch heute gibt es viele M?glichkeiten, diesen Frauen wieder zu einem positiven K?rperbild zu verhelfen.     

Quality evaluation and preferences of healthcare services: the case of telemedicine in Sardinia

Quality & Quantity - This paper explores preferences towards cardiological e-health services, assessed on a representative quota sample of potential users in Sardinia, Italy. By a mixture model...     

Hiding an inconvenient truth: Lies and vagueness

When truth conflicts with efficiency, can verbal communication destroy efficiency? Or are lies or vagueness used to hide inconvenient truths? We consider a sequential 2-player public good game in which the leader has private information about the value of the public good. This value can be low, high, or intermediate, the latter case giving rise to a prisoners? dilemma. Without verbal communication, efficiency is achieved, with contributions for high or intermediate values. When verbal communication is added, the leader has an incentive to hide the precise truth when the value is intermediate. We show experimentally that, when communication must be precise, the leader frequently lies, preserving efficiency by exaggerating. When communication can be vague, the leader turns to vague messages when the value is intermediate. Thus, she implicitly reveals all values. Interestingly, efficiency is preserved, since the follower does not seem to realize that vague messages hide inconvenient truths.     

Microfinance Traps and Relational Exchange Norms: A Field Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania

In interdependent social groups, microfinance traps occur when conflicts arise between borrowers’ affective ties related to family needs and instrumental ties related to obligations toward their loan group. Thus, the social capital that facilitates microfinancing can lead to conflicting obligations toward business needs and economic obligations toward family. Building on an inductive field study among female entrepreneurs in Tanzania, we conceptualize microfinance traps. By using relational contract theory to interpret the qualitative data, we argue that microfinance traps can be reduced by balancing role integrity, preserving norms and reciprocity, and harmonizing the social matrix toward the family and loan group.