The sales response to advertising: A reconsideration

The paper surveys briefly the literature on the shape of the sales-advertising response relationship. Knowledge of this relationship is an important requirement for optimal marketing decisions. The role of theory is to specify the structure of models for testing. The paper presents a plausible model of this relationship based upon the consumer's response to advertising when qualitative uncertainty exists in a market. The relationship is seen to contain a ‘catastrophe change’ or discontinuity when certain assumptions are made about optimizing behaviour. The implications for marketing strategy and optimal levels of promotional outlays are discussed.     

Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice

In regression discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a fixed threshold. These designs were first introduced in the evaluation literature by Thistlewaite and Campbell [1960. Regression-discontinuity analysis: an alternative to the ex-post Facto experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology 51, 309–317] With the exception of a few unpublished theoretical papers, these methods did not attract much attention in the economics literature until recently. Starting in the late 1990s, there has been a large number of studies in economics applying and extending RD methods. In this paper we review some of the practical and theoretical issues in implementation of RD methods.     

Customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing and customer satisfaction: An online field study

This paper investigates the customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing. We conceptualize customization relevant to the two constituent sub-processes in the online purchase process: (i) decision customization—the customization of the information content delivered to customers to help them in the decision-making sub-process; and (ii) transaction customization—the customization of the purchase transaction sub-process for each customer. We draw on and synthesize the theoretical perspectives of Website Usability, Technology Acceptance Model, and Transaction Costs, to triangulate and deduce hypotheses linking customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing and customer satisfaction. The hypotheses are tested by analyzing: (i) primary data on customization of the online purchase process collected from an online field study involving a direct observation and content analysis of the websites of 422 retailers; and (ii) secondary data on customer satisfaction with the online purchase process for the same set of 422 electronic retailers collected from a publicly available data source. The research method used for the empirical analysis is Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVA). The results indicate that decision customization that provides choice assistance by way of personalized product recommendations is positively associated with customer satisfaction with the decision-making sub-process; and transaction customization, oriented towards making the transaction sub-process personal, convenient, and interactive is positively associated with customer satisfaction with the purchase transaction sub-process. Additionally, the results indicate that both decision customization and transaction customization are associated with overall customer satisfaction with the online purchase process of electronic retailers. The contributions, managerial implications, and limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Loss functions for predicted click‐through rates in auctions for online advertising

We characterize the optimal loss functions for predicted click‐through rates in auctions for online advertising. Whereas standard loss functions such as mean squared error or log likelihood severely penalize large mispredictions while imposing little penalty on smaller mistakes, a loss function reflecting the true economic loss from mispredictions imposes significant penalties for small mispredictions and only slightly larger penalties on large mispredictions. We illustrate that when the model is misspecified using such a loss function can improve economic efficiency, but the efficiency gain is likely to be small.     

Do‐it‐yourself DRTV: a practical guide to making direct response television advertising work for charities

Direct response television advertising (DRTV) has been used by charities as a form of promotion for many years; in the case of the UK for over two decades. In that period many charities have tried the medium but only a handful have achieved consistent success. In the process, a layer of mystique has attached itself to DRTV and a number of outright myths have been perpetuated. DRTV should work for many more charities than currently use it. This is in contrast to other media which are in danger of being swamped by overuse by charities. Any charity raising or wishing to raise money from the general public should at least consider this medium. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

UK trading: A guide to charities and the tax implications

Due to the recession, the National Lottery and the increase in numbers of charities seeking funds to satisfy their objectives, charities are moving into new areas of fundraising which undoubtedly are leading towards the increasing role of trading. What this paper hopes to achieve is to define trading, discuss some of the major types of trading and their taxation aspects, and to point out some of the pitfalls and how they might be overcome.     

Learning and fatigue during choice experiments: a comparison of online and mail survey modes

This study investigates the effect of survey mode on respondent learning and fatigue during repeated choice experiments. Stated preference data are obtained from an experiment concerning high‐speed Internet service conducted on samples of mail respondents and online respondents. We identify and estimate aspects of the error components for different subsets of the choice questions, for both mail and online respondents. Results show mail respondents answer questions consistently throughout a series of choice experiments, but the quality of the online respondents' answers declines. Therefore, while the online survey provides lower survey administration costs and reduced time between implementation and data analysis, such benefits come at the cost of less precise responses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charity advertising: A literature review and research agenda

The authors present an overview of the academic literature on charity advertising. Through systematically reviewing 63 empirical studies on charity advertising, a synthesis of the body of work is framed in a general model. Predominant antecedents in the charity advertising literature include various appeal tactics and victim portrayals. Research streams on moderators and mediators include various ad characteristics and audience characteristics. The audience's intentions to donate were the most used outcome variable. Recommendations for continuing theoretical advancement in the field are presented. Managerial implications are also presented. This literature review contributes a knowledge base to guide future charity advertising research.     

R&D,concentration and advertising: A simultaneous equations model

This study employs a simultaneous equations model to test the relationships among industrial R&D spending, market structure and advertising. The R&D data employed are the Line of Business data collected by the FTC and published at the three- and fourdigit SIC level. The results are, in general, complementary to several other recent studies that used data sets involving different degrees of aggregation as well as different measures of research activity.     

Religious affiliations of Chinese people and prosocial behavior: evidence from field experiments

Review of Economic Design - In this study, the four Chinese religious groups of Chinese Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and nonbelievers were the participants, and an online field experiment was...     

A practical guide to corporate fundraising on a regional basis

Regional corporate fundraising has the potential to become a growth area as major companies move out of big cities and wish to become involved in supporting charities in the regions where they relocate. This paper gives ‘hands-on’ guidance to charities on the way to approach corporations; the importance of thorough research is stressed, as is the necessity for clear, professional proposals that point out the benefits to both charities and corporations. Much practical advice is given and many specific opportunities for fundraising are listed. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

ISO 9000: a guide to world-class quality standards

World standards for determining companies' commitment to continuous quality improvement (CQI) have been established. These standards are collectively known as ISO-9000. Prudent buyers of goods and services for health care organizations that are also committed to CQI should understand these standards and use them to facilitate supplier certification.     

Legacy fundraising: a practical guide to the basics

• Remember a Charity, the public awareness campaign run by over 130 charities in the UK, has stated that donations in wills are the largest single source of voluntary income for charities—currently worth £1.3 billion per year (April 2005).
• So can legacies to charity still be described as just windfall money? Should charities spend precious funds on promoting legacy giving when it is difficult to monitor results? It so, what is the message? Who are the target audiences? What form should legacy promotional literature take? What part could or should solicitors and funeral directors play in legacy campaigns? Patrick Wise looks back on his twenty plus years of experience in the world of charitable legacies, and gives his views on the answers to these questions, and why he thinks all charities should take legacy promotion very seriously.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.