The economics of sustainability in the context of climate change: An overview

The emerging field of sustainable business has its roots in both science and economics—in particular the fields of environmental science and the economics of sustainability. This article provides an overview to the latter field with application to environmental damage due to climate change. The aim is to provide an economic context for the papers in this special issue. The article outlines four essential elements in what has become a vast literature in the economics of sustainability in the context of climate change. First is the dilemma in valuing the distant future which concerns the vexed issue of discounting outcomes that are expected to occur over a very long time horizon. The second is the related characteristics of uncertainty and irreversibility that create an option value in taking action. The third element is the peculiarities of natural capital (arising from the natural environment) compared with reproducible capital (things we make that are used to produce goods and services). The post-neoclassical notions of social capital and knowledge capital are also briefly mentioned. The fourth element is how to manage the global “commons”, the prime example of which is the climate. This article is written for the general business reader with an understanding of basic economic concepts and therefore avoids mathematics. References to more technical treatments are provided.     

The European influence on German consumer law

At the outset, the article compares the EC directives in the field of consumer protection and the corresponding German transposition acts which are the core of German consumer law. This is followed by a discussion on the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) and the Standard Contract Terms Act (AGBG). Although these were not designed as consumer protection acts, they are of great importance for consumer protection, as both include the right for consumer organizations to take action.The legislator does not transpose EC directives to sections of the Civil Code (BGB), not even if there are relevant provisions in the BGB, nor does he incorporate relevant case law into transposition acts. Case law plays a very important role in consumer protection. This makes German consumer law very confusing. In a given case not only is the transposition act applicable, but also the relevant judge-made law which is based on the BGB and its general clauses and may have a different scope of application.For many years, the German legislator has not passed any bills to protect consumers apart from the transpositions of EC directives. So good news for consumers in legal matters stem only from the EC and from the courts.

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Der europäische Einflu\ auf das deutsche Verbraucherrecht

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag geht von einer Gegenüberstellung der einschlägigen EG-Richtlinien und ihrer Umsetzung in deutsches Recht aus. Sie sind das Kernstück des deutschen Verbraucherrechts. Für den rechtlichen Verbraucherschutz sind darüber hinaus zwei Gesetze von gro\er Bedeutung, die nicht als spezifische Verbraucherschutzgesetze konzipiert sind, das UWG und das AGBG, die beide eine Verbandsklagebefugnis enthalten, die auch für Verbraucherverbände gilt.Der Gesetzgeber übernimmt Richtlinien regelmä\ig nicht ins BGB, auch wenn einschlägige Materien dort enthalten sind, und inkorporiert auch nicht von der Rechtsprechung entwickelte Regeln in die Umsetzungsgesetze. Dadurch wird das Verbraucherrecht unübersichtlich, weil neben den Umsetzungsgesetzen jeweils auch die Rechtsprechung zu beachten ist, die auf den Vorschriften des BGB und seinen Generalklauseln beruht und z.T. einen abweichenden Anwendungsbereich hat.Der deutsche Gesetzgeber verzichtet seit vielen Jahren auf eigene Anstö\e zum rechtlichen Verbraucherschutz und überlä\t dies der EG sowie den Gerichten.

     

网络直播对消费者行为的影响

在互联网不断发展的大背景下,网络直播的影响力逐渐扩展到各个领域,深入到人们生活的各个方面,其中对消费者行为的影响最为显著。为充分了解网络直播对消费者行为的影响,本文将对消费者选择、购买和使用三个方面的行为进行分析并提出相关建议。     

The influence of information about labour abuses on consumer choice of clothes: a grounded theory approach

This paper attempts to fill one of the gaps in the literature about ethical consumption, in particular about ethical purchasing of clothes. By using grounded theory and sampling University students, this study proposes a model to explain the influence of information about labour abuses on consumer behaviour when buying clothes. The model is built upon a core category labelled ambivalence. This category explains the differences in cognition, motivation and behaviour among participants. The ambivalence arises due to the interdependent relationship of three factors: should (ethical obligation), want (conflicting identities), and can (personal action to change).     

The influence of stated organizational concern upon ethical decision making

This experimental study evaluated the influence of stated organizational concern for ethical conduct upon managerial behavior. Using an in-basket to house the manipulation, a sample of 113 MBA students with some managerial experience reacted to scenarios suggesting illegal conduct and others suggesting only unethical behavior. Stated organizational concern for ethical conduct was varied from none (control group) to several other situations which included a high treatment consisting of a Code of Ethics, an endorsement letter by the CEO and specific sanctions for managerial misconduct. Only in the case of suggested illegal behavior tempered by high organizational concern were managers influenced by organizational policy to modify the morality of their actions. However, the responses to the illegal scenarios were significantly more ethical than the reactions given to the unethical (but not illegal) situations. The implications of these findings are then discussed. Gene R. Laczniak is Professor of Business at Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) and he is co-author of Marketing Ethics (with P. E. Murphy), Boston: Lexington Books, 1985. He has also written various articles on Business Ethics. Edward J. Inderrieden is Assistant Professor of Management at Marquette University.     

The effects of emotion and need for cognition on consumer choice involving risk

Building upon previous research, this article proposes that the effect of mood on risk-taking is moderated by the individual’s need for cognition. The hypothesized effect of mood and the need for cognition are tested with different types of consumer choices in three studies. Consistent with the hypotheses, the results indicate that the subjects in happy mood tend to be risk-aversive while the subjects in sad mood incline to take risks. Furthermore, the mood affects risk-taking behavior more for the low-NFC subjects than for the high-NFC ones. Finally, implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

组织信任氛围对任务绩效的作用途径

This paper explores the mechanism by which trust climate influences individual performance. From the perspective of psychological dynamics, we investigate the relationship among perceptions of organizational climate, motivation and individual behaviors to crystallize how a trustworthy organizational environment favors superior individual performance. 203 employees and their supervisors participated in this study, the results show that trust climate benefits individual performance through fostering psychological safety, which in turn influences individual performance via two mutually complementary pathways, namely ability to focus and organizational learning. Psychological safety is conducive to increasing individual ability to focus and improving job performance. Moreover, it is also instrumental in enhancing individual willingness to learn and experiment with new methods as an effort to achieve superior performance. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. __________ Translated and revised from Xinli kexue xuebao 心理科学学报 (Acta Psychologica Sinica), 2007, 39(6): 1111–1121     

The effects of a consistent ad series on consumer evaluations

While academics and practitioners alike appear to widely hold the idea that consistent advertising campaigns can be effective in creating a positive and lasting image for a brand, little empirical evidence of these effects and their nature has been provided in the literature. In this study, we conducted two experiments in South Korea to examine the impact of the use of a consistent ad series versus (a) an inconsistent ad series and (b) multiple exposures to a single ad. We used the repetition–variation hypothesis as a theoretical basis for predicting that a consistent ad series will be more effective in enhancing the brand’s image on key brand personality dimensions, attitude towards the brand (A-Brand) and purchase intention. Results provide support for the notion that a consistent message enhances A-Brand, purchase intention and brand personality in comparison to an inconsistent ad series, and also provide initial support for the repetition–variation hypothesis.     

适应消费需求变化的农业发展战略

近年来,我国农业综合生产能力不断提高,农产品供给状况初步实现了供求总量基本平衡,丰年有余,并普遍出现卖难现象,农业的发展从资源约束转变为越来越受到市场消费需求的约束,农产品消费需求的变化,对我国农业发展战略提出了新的要求。]     

The effects of in-store themed events on consumer store choice decisions

Retailers are increasingly using in-store events to provide shoppers with unique experiences that will enhance shopping value and help differentiate their stores from competitors. However, relatively little is known about how consumers respond to experiential retail events in terms of their store choice decisions. The purpose of this research was to find out how in-store retail events affect consumers in terms of their store choice decisions. The paper presents findings from a discrete choice experiment that manipulated the presence of different types of in-store themed events in a do-it-yourself (DIY) category. Participants were 312 randomly recruited residents of Melbourne, Australia, who had recently shopped at a hardware store. The experiment was implemented as a mail-back survey. Using logit models the authors assess the effects of the in-store events along with those of various traditional store attributes, including store appearance, price image and distance, on consumer store choice decisions.     

The effects of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses

This experiment examined the influence of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Scenarios were created to manipulate corporate social responsibility and price across two domains (environment and philanthropy). Results from a national sample of adults indicate that corporate social responsibility in both domains had a positive impact on evaluation of the company and purchase intent. Furthermore, in the environmental domain corporate social responsibility affected purchase intent more strongly than price did.     

Consumers between supermarket shelves: The influence of inter-personal distance on consumer behavior

Recent research underlines the important influence on consumer behavior of the mere presence of consumers on other consumers in retail businesses. While these results mainly relate to overall behavior, it is largely unknown how consumers behave in stores and how they react to customers present around them. This study examines the impact of an encounter between two consumers, directly in front of the same shelf row, on diverse consumer behavior. By means of two pilot studies we gained initial insights into the mutual influence. An image-based scenario study shows that the proximal distance is important for consumers' emotional state. In addition, the results indicate that these triggered negative and positive emotions mediate the effects of the distance on shopping satisfaction, aversive behavioral tendencies, willingness to buy, and number of alternatives considered.     

The influence of negative marketplace information on consumer attitudes toward a service establishment

Market information about service providers and retailers can significantly influence how customers view firms. Prior research indicates that the impact of such information (especially when it is counter to consumers’ initial views of a firm) is dependent upon the nature of the customers’ evaluations, as well as the nature of the information itself. The current study examines these issues in the context of attitudes toward, and negative reviews about, a service provider (a new restaurant chain). An experimental study partially supports prior research findings and suggests a new process using a validated measure distinguishing between hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of attitude. Implications of our results are provided for theory and practice.     

The effects of role strain on the consumer decision process for groceries in single-parent households

Single-parent families are becoming a larger part of American society. But what is known about their decision-making processes? Role strain is of particular interest when studying single parents because of their need to serve multiple family roles otherwise carried out by dual-parent families. In this study, the consumer decision process for single parents is empirically examined in the context of grocery shopping. Role strain was found to have a significant effect on problem recognition style and reactive shopping behaviors. Advertising positively influenced proactive shopping behaviors and had a negative relationship with reactive shopping behaviors. Implications for food retailers are provided.     

Spontaneous selection: The influence of product and retailing factors on consumer impulse purchases

Our research examines the effect of product characteristics and retailing factors on the likelihood a consumer makes an impulse purchase. We present a framework for understanding the impulse buying process and use it to explain our findings. Our nested logit model uses data from an adult panel of grocery shoppers over three major household grocery shopping trips. The results indicate that product characteristics have a fifty percent greater influence on impulse buying than do retailing factors. Of the three product characteristics investigated, the hedonic nature of the product has the greatest influence on impulse buying. Of the three retail factors, a store environment with a high–low pricing strategy influences impulse buying the most. Our findings suggest that retailers who want to encourage impulse buying behavior utilize promotional activities and merchandising tactics that attract consumers' attention to emotionally appealing products.     

Product bundling strategies in Swedish markets: links to business orientation and perceived effects on consumer influence

Product bundling is an increasingly important marketing strategy within many industries, and consumer influence on companies' ranges of product bundles is, thus, becoming an important issue. The aim of this study was to investigate product bundling strategies consumers are exposed to by some selected companies in the Swedish automobile, travel and banking industries. Bundling strategies were considered in relation to business orientation as well as the consumer's potential to influence the product bundles offered by these companies. Fourteen qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with senior representatives from the three sectors. Interview respondents were selected in cooperation with their respective companies. Results underwent interpretative analysis, and the findings indicated that business orientation is linked to product bundling techniques and to the type of customer influence on product bundling. Consumers were exposed to mixed and complementary bundling strategies, and customers of companies that apply a market orientation were found to have greater opportunities to influence product bundles directly, whereas companies that apply a production‐oriented approach were less able to respond to their customers' wishes. Consumer influence on the product bundles of production‐oriented companies was found to be of a more indirect nature.     

The influence of ethical climate on marketing employees' job attitudes and behaviors

In this study, two data sets were used to test the validity of the Babin, Boles, and Robin (Babin BJ, Boles JS, Robin DP. Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees. J Acad Mark Sci 2000;28(3):345-358.) measure of ethical work climate and its relationship with role stress, pay satisfaction, supervisor satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The results indicated that ethical work climate is a multidimensional construct and that its dimensions influence marketing employees' job attitudes and job behaviors. Facets of job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediated the relationship between ethical work climate and turnover intentions and turnover.     

The response of the UK's eight largest grocery retail organizations to growing environmental concern

Environmental issues have had an impact on grocery retailing in the UK, with all the large organizations responding to growing public concern for the environment. The proposition of ‘choice’ availability in large retail outlets is such that the demands of the greener consumer have led to the sourcing and supply of greener products and the provision of a greener retail environment.     

The effects of demographic characteristics on consumer information periodical readership and financial knowledge

A telephone survey of French- and English-speaking households in Quebec was conducted to obtain information about money management practices, of use information sources and knowledge of personal finance terminology. Correlations and regressions were performed on data from 234 interviews. An index of consumer periodical readership was related positively to variables for female respondent, English-speaking, urban residence, income and education in the correlations. A financial knowledge index was related positively to variables for income, education, and the periodical index in the correlations. The knowledge index peaked for the 41–55 years of age category. A two-equation recursive model for periodical readership and financial knowledge was tested. A regression on the periodical index had positive effects for income, education and variables for age 56–64 and 65 and over, and a negative effect for rural location. A regression on the knowledge index had positive effects for the periodical index, income, French-speaking and the variable for age 41–55, and a negative effect for female respondent. The needs of lower income consumers may not be met well by consumer periodicals. In terms of financial knowledge, English-speaking consumers in Quebec may be at a disadvantage relative to French-speaking consumers with similar income levels.