Power moderates the impact of desire for exclusivity on luxury experiential consumption

This research examines the effect of desire for exclusivity on evaluations of luxury experiences and proposes a boundary condition for the effect. The scarcity effect literature suggests that consumers prefer scarce products due to limited supply because they appeal to consumers’ desire for exclusive consumption. Building on this thesis, the current research argues that luxury experiences are intrinsically scarce enough to appeal to consumers’ desire for exclusivity: Consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity will evaluate luxury experiences more favorably than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. A pilot study confirms a positive correlation between consumers’ desire for exclusivity and attitudes toward luxury experiences. Study 1 demonstrates that consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity show more favorable attitudes toward luxury experiences than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. Further, Study 2 finds that consumers’ power state (powerful vs. powerless) moderates the effect of desire for exclusivity on their affinity for luxury experiences: Only when feeling powerful do consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity evaluate luxury experience more favorably than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. However, this is not the case when consumers feel powerless.     

When natural resources run out,market knowledge steps in: Lessons on natural resource deployment from a longitudinal study in a resource-scarce region of Ethiopia

With the increasing scarcity of natural resources, the ability to maintain quality standards during resource-scarce times becomes more critical for business performance. Theories on managing resource scarcity cannot be easily tested in contexts where resources are still abundant. This study therefore turns to an emerging market context in which natural resource availability naturally varies strongly between seasons, namely, that of Ethiopian pastoralists who for many generations learned to adapt to natural resource scarcity. Central to our theory is the natural resource deployment capability, which is the ability of a business to make efficient and effective use of available resources to maintain business performance during resource-scarce times. Using three-wave longitudinal data from 120 pastoral family-based livestock businesses, the study shows that when resources are scarce or extremely scarce, market knowledge helps to better deploy the scarce natural resources, leading to higher product quality. The findings imply that businesses with a better understanding of markets have stronger natural resource deployment capability. The lesson for businesses that are confronted with approaching resource scarcity is therefore to strengthen their ability to deploy resources efficiently and effectively by strengthening their market knowledge in which such capability is rooted.     

When less is more? The contingent effect of product supply limitation in the release of new electronic products

In the market of consumer electronics, firms often limit their product supply to create a scarcity effect to entice consumers to buy their product. However, the outcome of such a strategy is not always desirable. In this study, we propose the product configuration level as a contingent variable that works with the supply level to affect the outcome of a supply limitation strategy. With a vignette-based experiment, we find that for a product with a superior configuration, consumers' purchase intention is boosted only if the supply is very limited. For a product with an inferior configuration, however, the supply limitation strategy does not work at any supply level. Therefore, the supply limitation strategy works only for a superior product configuration and at a fine-tuned supply level.     

人口增长与我国的有效需求不足－兼论凯恩斯的“长期停滞论”在我国的适用性

从分析凯恩斯的“长期停滞论”在我国的适用性入手 ,说明人口增长趋势趋缓不是我国有效需求不足的根源 ,我国有效需求的根本性原因在于生活水平较低 ,从长期角度看 ,加大人力资本投资 ,提高人口质量将起到稳定低生育和提高生活水平的双重效果     

传统经济增长方式导致环境危机的经济学分析

环境资源是一种公共资源,传统经济增长方式带来了严重的环境污染问题,环境问题严重制约着我国经济增长和发展,因此传统的数量型经济增长方式已难以为继,转变现有的经济增长方式势在必行。从稀缺、欲望、市场机制和资源配置等经济学的重要范畴及其相互关系分析它们与资源环境危机之间的必然逻辑关系,结果表明传统经济学在基础层面上不适合指导人们的经济活动,应当建立新的经济学,把环境资源的稀缺性引入经济系统中,使其逐渐成为经济系统的内生变量,以拓宽经济学的研究视野。     

信息不对称与电子商务的发展

本文认为,信息不对称引致的信用缺失是制约电子商务发展的重要因素,发展我国电子商务除了继续加强基础设施建设外,建立和完善社会信用体系,提高信用度是必不可少的重要方面。文章提出,要建立良好的信息沟通渠道和机制,使信息公众化、公开化;提高企业组织化程度;制定企业信用评价制度:健全法制,约束企业交易行为,提高其信用度;消除信息不对称,促进我国电子商务健康发展。     

Water pricing reform analysis: alternative scenarios

This paper compares alternative transition paths to efficient water pricing. The analysis is based on representative agent model, where two sources of water supply exist: exhaustible groundwater stock and a renewable substitute. Two alternative water pricing reforms are considered: gradual tariff increase and multipart pricing with first block sold at the initial pre-reform tariff and additional water sold at higher prices (block pricing reform). Under block pricing reform, the amount of water offered at low price gradually diminishes. The results of comparative analysis prove that under the same reform time horizon block pricing is preferred to the gradual tariff increase.     

Information congruity in scarcity appeal: A structural equation modeling study of time-limited promotions

Although market scarcity such as time restriction is widely used in retail advertisements, its impact on product message processing and product evaluation is still subject to controversy. In this study, analyses through structural equation modeling indicated that (i) scarcity had no impact on product message processing, (ii) scarcity had a direct impact on product evaluation as a heuristic cue when the value inferred from scarcity was congruous with the worth derived from product message, and (iii) scarcity lost its impact on product evaluation when the value inferred from scarcity was incongruous with the worth derived from product message, and the incongruity prompted scrutiny of product message, resulting in a mediated impact of product message on product evaluation through product message processing. In conclusion, the results supported an information congruity theory of market scarcity.     

Latent vs. Observed Variables: Analysis of Irrigation Water Efficiency Using SEM and SUR

In this paper we compare conceptualising single factor technical and allocative efficiency as indicators of a single latent variable, or as separate observed variables. In the former case, the impacts on both efficiency types are analysed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM), in the latter by seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). We compare estimation results of the two approaches based on a dataset on single factor irrigation water use efficiency obtained from a survey of 360 farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, China. The main methodological findings are that SEM allows identification of the most important dimension of irrigation water efficiency (technical efficiency) via comparison of their factor scores and reliability. Moreover, it reduces multicollinearity and attenuation bias. It thus is preferable to SUR. The SEM estimates show that perception of water scarcity is the most important positive determinant of both types of efficiency, followed by irrigation infrastructure, income and water price. Furthermore, there is a strong negative reverse effect from efficiency on perception.     

Adoption of farm‐based irrigation water‐saving techniques in the Guanzhong Plain,China

This article analyses adoption of farm‐based irrigation water saving techniques, based on a cross‐sectional data set of 357 farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, China. Approximately 83% of the farmers use at least one farm‐based water‐saving technique. However, the traditional, inefficient techniques border and furrow irrigation are still prevalent whereas the use of advanced, more efficient techniques is still rather rare. We develop and estimate an adoption model consisting of two stages: awareness of water scarcity and intensity of adoption. We find that awareness of water scarcity and financial status enhance adoption of more advanced techniques whereas access to better community‐based irrigation infrastructure discourages it. We furthermore find both community‐based irrigation infrastructure and farm‐based irrigation water‐saving techniques have mitigating effects on production risk. From the results it follows that adoption can be stimulated via financial support and via extension aimed at enhancing awareness of water scarcity.