Factors that influence manufacturer and store brand behavioral loyalty

This study examines the factors that are linked to consumer goods brands having unusually high or low behavioral loyalty, after controlling for the association between brand size and loyalty that occurs due to the ‘double jeopardy’ effect. Behavioral, or repeat-purchase loyalty is measured as the brand's average share of category requirements (in volume) among its buyers over a 12-month period. We examine a range of factors that theory or past evidence suggests are associated with higher or lower behavioral loyalty, including brand type (store brand/manufacturer brand), price level, promotion intensity, as well as average brand volume per occasion and pack size. Using extensive US panel purchasing data, we find that store brands exhibit relatively higher behavioral loyalty than manufacturer brands. We explain the theory behind this result. We also find that the brand's average pack size and volume bought per occasion has a markedly positive association with behavioral loyalty. Finally, we find that the effect of low price on excess loyalty is moderated via a positive association with average volume purchase per occasion. These findings add to the body of knowledge relating to patterns in behavioral brand loyalty for both manufacturer and store brands, as well as the marketing-mix factors that influence it.     

The effect of arrival time of travelers at the airport on consumption in commercial establishments

In the last decade, several Brazilian airports were privatized, bringing initial investments to airport infrastructure, including improvements in commercial facilities. This research analyzes the commercial activities of the São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport regarding the airport layout, number of stores and opening hours, and scheduled flights. In addition, this research addresses as a main study a survey carried out with travelers to verify consumer behavior in the restaurant and/or shopping segments in relation to the traveler's arrival time at the airport through a multinomial logistic regression model. The results show that as for the concentration of stores at the airport, there are more stores in Passenger Terminal 2 in the public area for the dining segment, while in Passenger Terminal 3 most stores correspond to the restricted area in the shopping segment. The main contribution to the literature was the finding that travelers who arrive around 9 a.m. and between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. are more likely to consume higher amounts than other groups throughout the day.     

Online personalized recommended product quality and e-impulse buying: A conditional mediation analysis

Consumer lifestyle and purchasing behavior have been significantly transformed over the past few years. At present, internet technologies make it possible for consumers to order goods and services on a go or in real-time without physically visiting traditional store outlets. This phenomenon calls for a change in marketing strategy to be able to reach consumers wherever they are. Accordingly, online marketing techniques such as personalized product/service recommendation, which makes products available to consumers, optimizing their interests and buying experience, are primal to market development.Therefore, this study examines whether or not online consumers' (1) E-impulse buying (EIB) behavior is influenced by personalized recommended product quality (RPQ), (2) affective image (IMAGE) of, and satisfaction (SAT) with recommended products mediate the RPQ-EIB link, and (3) online review stimulus (ORS) moderated the direct RPQ-EIB and indirect PRQ-EIB through affective image and satisfaction. Data was collected from consumers on five (5) online shops in China (N = 947). The Results showed that (i) RPQ had significant positive influence on EIB, (ii) the RPQ-EIB relation was partly explained by consumers' affective image of, and satisfaction with recommended products, and (iii) the direct and indirect relations between RPQ and EIB were sensitive to consumers’ ORS. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and direction for future studies were also discussed in this study.     

中国研发人员性别结构分布演变、关联影响与差异来源——基于半参数核回归与Oaxaca分解的研究

激发女性研发人员创造活力，对于中国创新经济发展具有重要意义。然而，科研领域性别结构失衡是长期以来科学共同体内外所面临的问题。基于2010-2019年中国内地30个省份面板数据，围绕企业、研发机构、高校等创新主体，在对创新全要素生产率指数（以下简称创新TFP）进行测度的基础上，运用核密度估计对三大创新主体的性别结构、创新TFP分布的演进进行描绘。其次，采用半参数核回归法探析科研人员性别结构与创新投入、产出和创新TFP间的关联。最后，选用Oaxaca分解法探究STEM研究生性别差异对R&D人员性别差异的解释程度。结果表明：相比研发机构和高校，企业研发人员性别失衡更为严重，相比人口大省、经济发展落后地区，发达地区对研发人员性别结构的“兜底作用”更显著；创新投入、产出与性别结构之间存在非对称关系，在研发人员女性占比越高的地区，区域全要素生产率指数越高；STEM领域研究生数量上的性别差异可以解释约6成的研发人员性别差异，且解释程度呈逐渐增提升势。     

Colours and price offers: How different price communications can affect sales and customers’ perceptions

It has been studied that colours are important pieces of information in everyday life and that they ‘boost memory, engage participation, attract attention, convey messages, and create feeling’. Despite the awareness of the importance of colours also for marketers, academic research is not abundant and there is a lack of studies that link colours to the management of the marketing mix. The present work tries to understand how colours may affect price perceptions and how the effectiveness of different price mechanisms may vary using different colours in the FMCG market.A 2x2 (red vs yellow special display/discount vs LPG price deal) experiment has been conducted in a real store environment thanks to the collaboration of a leading italian chain.The results obtained from a three-way analysis (instore observations, instore questionnaires and sales data) can add valuable pieces of information regarding the effectinevess of colours in improving the performance of instore marketing strategies.     

Emotional and the normative aspects of customers’ reviews

The goal of the current research is to investigate the link between the emotional aspects of hotel and travel organization customers' reviews and their normative (e.g., star rating) rankings. After filtering, the Yelp dataset generated 3,47,803 hotel and travel company reviews. Following the purification of user reviews, we used an unsupervised machine learning technique-based NRC Emotion Lexicon to study the relationships between various emotional aspects of reviews and their normative values (e.g., star rating) for the review. Customers express different sorts of feelings for different types of emotional aspects, forcing them to assign different stars, according to the study's findings. The study is the first to use a lexicon-based unsupervised learning approach to look into the emotional aspects of hotel and travel organization reviews and associated normative (e.g., star rating) rankings.     

Using instant refunds to improve online return experiences

In the online return context, offering the consumer a satisfactory return experience is critical to an online seller's success. However, little is known about how online sellers can improve consumers' online return experience. This research examines whether an instant refund service can improve the online return experience. To obtain a comprehensive view of the outcomes of using an instant refund service, this paper also examines how the use of an instant refund affects several pivotal consumer responses. Study 1 analyzed the effects of an instant refund service on consumer responses in a post-purchase pre-return scenario, and Study 2 analyzed the effects of instant refunds on a set of key variables in a post-purchase post-return scenario, including satisfaction with the online return experience. For each study, the hypotheses of the effects of an instant refund on consumer responses were discussed, and a one-factor (instant refund service, yes vs. no) between-subject scenario experiment (with an additional related experiment in study 1) was conducted, using online panel data from Wjx.cn. One-way ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses. It is concluded that an instant refund service increases consumer satisfaction with the experience and improves other consumer responses. In terms of potential side-effects, instant refunds are not significantly associated with stronger product return intentions. These findings can help online sellers decide whether to evolve their conventional refund mode to a new instant refund mode.     

Choice deferral: The interaction effects of visual boundaries and consumer knowledge

Choice deferral is a common and lousy phenomenon for companies and consumers. This research examines how visual boundaries (by-alternatives vs. attributes) interact with consumer knowledge to influence choice deferral. Five studies (N = 1,245) and two single-paper meta-analyses demonstrate that by-alternative (vs. attribute) visual boundaries reduce choice deferral and that choice difficulty mediates this effect. The research also shows that these effects are stronger for less knowledgeable consumers. However, the interactive effect of visual boundaries and consumer knowledge on choice deferral depends on task and context characteristics. We discuss future research about choice deferral moderators and how to facilitate consumer choice.     

The role of mobile value and trust as drivers of purchase intentions in m-servicescape

Building on the premises of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), this study introduces the concept of mobile servicescape (m-servicescape) and explores the drivers of purchase intentions in the mobile service environment. Data were collected from a sample of 284 service mobile users and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results show that the dimensions of m-servicescape (i.e., aesthetic appeal, perceived security, and layout and functionality) generate mobile value (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian), which in turn, leads to user purchase intentions. Utilitarian value was found to have a higher effect on purchase intentions than hedonic value and trust was found to enhance this effect. We highlight theoretical contributions and offer managerial insight for mobile marketers and designers on the specificities of consumer behavior in the service mobile environment.     

A study on promotion with strategic two-stage customized bundling

In order to enhance both purchase willingness and consumer satisfaction, firms may sell products in a customized bundling way, with which consumers are allowed to select their preferred products to form a bundle. However, such a way needs to be carried out with an efficient strategic tool. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a two-stage customized bundling strategy with the aims of maximizing the firm's profit and satisfying the consumers' demands. The proposed strategy may assist managers in enhancing consumer satisfaction and loyalty under consideration of consumer heterogeneity. Consumers can select one main product with the greatest utility from the main product category at the first stage, and then, at the second, consider the associations between the chosen main and possible add-on products in the add-on product category, and finally select an add-on product to form a customized bundle with the greatest overall utility. Pricing strategies are investigated and compared for the customized and other traditional bundling strategies. The results show that when consumers are highly sensitive in their preferences, the use of a customized bundling strategy would be more profitable. However, in an extreme case when the consumer's perceived value of the add-on product and product association are both high, the traditional individual sales strategy would earn more profits than the customized bundling strategy.