Efficient Consumer Altruism and Fair Trade Products

Consumers have shown a willingness to pay a premium for products labeled as “FT” and a preference for retailers that are seen to be more generous to their suppliers/employees. A FT product is essentially a bundle of a base product and a donation to the supplier (e.g., a coffee farmer). An altruistic rational consumer will only choose this bundle if doing so is less expensive than buying the base product and making a direct donation. For FT to be sustainable either in a competitive equilibrium or in a monopolistic environment this bundling must yield an efficiency. This efficiency is generated in the following context. A supplier’s investment reduces the retailer’s cost or boosts the final product’s quality, but this investment is not immediately observable and cannot be enforced, hence there exists a moral hazard problem. In this environment, the altruism of the consumer can facilitate a more efficient contract: by paying the supplier more the retailer can both extract more consumer surplus and increase the level of contracted investment, while preserving the supplier’s incentive compatibility constraint. We assess our model in the context of the coffee industry.     

Initial Shelf Space Considerations at New Grocery Stores: An Allocation Problem With Product Switching and Substitution

Managing limited display areas is an increasingly challenging task in the grocery retail industry, especially given the current high levels of product proliferation. The decision of how to best allocate and manage shelf space is critical to grocery retail profitability. Moreover, this decision is escalated for initial shelf space considerations at new grocery stores. Without loss to generality, this paper presents a new approach to the shelf space allocation problem that could be applied to new grocery stores for determining their initial shelf space consideration by incorporating consumer behavior actions based on the consumer’s decision process.     

基于模糊偏序关系的消费者偏好测评

了解消费者偏好是企业营销活动的基础性工作。本文首先利用模糊偏序关系的排序方法,解决消费者偏好的心理测度的模糊性问题,论证了用模糊偏序关系对心理测度进行评价是一种较好的方法;然后利用决策理论中的condorect函数把个人偏好合成群体偏好;最后用实例验证了该方法对消费者偏好进行评价的可行性。     

Prosocial customer in the public sector: A PLS-SEM analysis applied to blood donation (active donors)

The act of donating blood creates social and public value (as a transformative service), but donors do not always repeat, so this study analyses the antecedents of attitudinal loyalty in donors. In addition, this research identifies active donor profiles to design personalised strategies to increase customers’ attitudinal loyalty. An online survey was conducted with 30,619 active donors who have donated blood at least once over the past two years. The study applies a quantitative modelling model called Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Analyses confirmed that motivations, obstacles and service quality influence satisfaction and donor attitudinal loyalty. Also, three active donor clusters were identified, as donation centres must adjust to each cluster to create value for society. This research contributes to understanding the factors that increase donor loyalty and closing a gap in the literature on prosocial consumer behaviour, and thereby other public services that depend upon the willingness of the individual. Furthermore, this approach enables the design of a more effective policy agenda and helps to focus public investment on developing strategies to engage willing and experienced donors.     

External motivators for donation of money and/or goods

This research sought to identify and group the external motivators that encourage individuals in emerging countries to donate money and/or goods. Therefore, 46 external variables were identified in the literature that motivate an individual to donate. They were grouped by similarity into five external donation motivating factors (environmental and/or political motivation, the cause or circumstances of the donation, the organisation's characteristics, influence from third parties, and personal rewards) that resulted in a proposed donation model. This model was supported by semi‐structured interviews with 22 individuals who donate money and/or goods frequently. The results supported the existence of the five proposed factors in the model and three new variables were identified: a “lack of government support,” “service for the donor” and “donation tuition with low value.”     

Investigating online recognition for blood donor retention: an experiential donor value approach

• Recognising that charitable behaviour can be motivated by public recognition and emotional satisfaction, not-for-profit organisations have developed strategies that leverage self-interest over altruism by facilitating individuals to donate conspicuously. Initially developed as novel marketing programmes to increase donation income, such conspicuous tokens of recognition are being recognised as important value propositions to nurture donor relationships. Despite this, there is little empirical evidence that identifies when donations can be increased through conspicuous recognition. Furthermore, social media's growing popularity for self-expression, as well as the increasing use of technology in donor relationship management strategies, makes an examination of virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition in relation to what value donors seek particularly insightful. Therefore, this research examined the impact of experiential donor value and virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition on blood donor intentions. Using online survey data from 186 Australian blood donors, results show that in fact emotional value is a stronger predictor of intentions to donate blood than altruistic value, whereas social value is the strongest predictor of intentions if provided with recognition. Clear linkages between dimensions of donor value (altruistic, emotional and social) and conspicuous donation behaviour (CDB) were identified. The findings provide valuable insights into the use of conspicuous donation tokens of recognition on social media and contribute to our understanding into the under-researched areas of donor value and CDB.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Online donation behavior in nonprofit organizations: The role of congruent processing styles

With the advent of technology, donors are increasingly donating via online channels. This shift deems it necessary for nonprofit organizations to better understand the online donor behavior. As such, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate if nonprofit organizations are perceived differently in terms of their cognitive and affective natures. Then, we examine how different consumer processing styles, i.e. cognitive and affective, interact with consumer perceptions of nonprofit cognitive/affective orientations in influencing their donation intentions. Our results indicate that consumers with a high need for cognition are more willing to donate to predominantly cognitive nonprofit organizations, while those with high need for emotion are more willing to donate to predominantly affective nonprofit organizations. Based on these results, we suggest that nonprofit organizations can garner more donations if they request funds from donors whose processing styles are congruent with the organization. Additional recommendations for future research are provided.     

Knowledge is power: why public knowledge matters to charities

• The nonprofit sector is grappling with public perceptions of trust, accountability, and transparency. From the perspective of the sector, public ratings of accountability and transparency are often lower than expected, and as a result, the public's trust and its ensuing support may be dwindling. What appears to be missing from these discussions, however, is the role of knowledge. Drawing on theories and frameworks from consumer behavior and advertising, this study anticipates knowledge will moderate the effects of trust, transparency, and accountability on public support. Using telephone survey data from 3853 members of the Canadian public, the findings of this study demonstrate that knowledge does in fact have a moderating effect—for those respondents who reported high levels of knowledge about the sector, measures of trust, accountability, and transparency reliably predicted donation amount and volunteer status over and above the effect of demographic variables. For those respondents who reported low levels of knowledge, donation amount and volunteer status were predicted by demographic variables alone.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

品牌个性吸引力研究

大量文献研究表明,产品具有良好的品牌个性大有裨益,比如能强化消费者的品牌态度和购买意向,促成更高水平的消费者信任和忠诚。然而现有的研究尚未充分评估品牌个性对消费者产生的吸引力。而正是这种吸引力能够影响目标消费者的购买决策。本文为评估消费者对品牌个性吸引力感知进行了概念化,提出了品牌个性吸引力的三个维度。     

对西方经济学中生产理论下厂商总收益最大化问题的探讨及思考

西方经济学按照研究对象不同分为微观和宏观经济学,并且认为微观经济学是宏观经济学的基础。但是在具体的内容安排上又把其严格分为两部分,两部分基本保持独立,内容上基本没有关系。例如:在生产理论中,只研究单个厂商的总收益最大化条件(资源利用问题),而没有同时联系宏观经济学考虑资源配置问题和联系消费者行为理论考虑消费者的效用最大化问题以及联系商品价格弹性问题考虑厂商的价格决策。本文拟就此问题作以探讨。     

Estimating surplus food supply for food rescue and delivery operations

Hunger remains a largely hidden social problem in many developed nations. The not-for-profit food rescue organizations, aid in alleviating hunger, by rescuing the surplus food from different food providers and re-distributing to people in need. However, surplus food donation is a random process which varies with regard to quantity, time and place. Understanding the dynamics of food recovery and forecasting food donations using historical information has significant importance in inventory management and redistribution, particularly in reducing operational costs and achieving a sustainable and equitable distribution of inventory incorporating uncertainties in supply. This paper uses different modelling techniques including multiple linear regression, structural equation modelling and neural networks to explore the patterns and dynamics of food donation and distribution process for one of the largest food rescue organization in Australia. A set of significant indicators has been identified to describe the current food donation process, to predict daily average food donated by different food providers and also to anticipate the potential donation from a new donor which may appear in the network in the future. Results suggest that structural equation modelling and neural networks provide improved demand estimation when compared to conventional multiple linear regression. We also discuss the usefulness of these models in sustainable and equitable management of food recovery and redistribution.     

中铁快运市场竞争状况研究

中铁快运自从重新组建后,对其业务进行了重组,发展迅速,但同时面对快递业激烈的竞争状况也出现了一系列的问题。本文采用对比分析,数据示例等研究方法,按照提出问题、分析问题、解决问题的研究思路对中铁快运所面对的竞争格局进行探讨并提出建议,希望对中铁快运今后的发展提供帮助。     

A processing fluency perspective on overhead aversion: How much is too much?

Overhead aversion has afflicted the nonprofit sector in recent decades. Yet, questions remain regarding how high is too high from a donor perspective and at what level overhead expenses just “feel right.” Using processing fluency as a theoretical foundation, the central purpose of this research was to investigate whether a nonprofit overhead ratio fluency level exists that significantly reduces both donation likelihood and nonprofit perceptions. Results from two studies show that a 25% overhead ratio appears to be the proximate ceiling regarding what fluently fits within a potential donor's schema for acceptance. Overhead ratios exceeding this threshold tended to decrease donation likelihood and nonprofit perceptions in a relatively stable manner. Moreover, the 25% threshold seems most relevant to human and animal causes and not as relevant to arts and cultural nonprofits such as museums. The results suggest that donors have a preconceived overhead ratio limit. Nonprofits that exceed that threshold are in danger of deterring donors. If nonprofit overhead ratios exceed the donor fluency threshold, nonprofit managers should consider distinct promotional strategies that entice donors and diminish overhead aversion effects.     

电子商务环境下基于消费者价值的行为决策研究

文章通过对电子商务环境下消费者行为决策过程的分析,建立了消费者行为决策理论模型,并从购前、购中、购后三个消费阶段分析影响消费者决策的主要因素。本文在定性分析的基础上,对消费者价值内涵给予数学定义,建立了基于消费者价值的行为决策模型,并对模型进行优化求解。文章重点研究了产品价格、质量、信息、时间等因素对消费者价值的影响,为电子商务环境下消费者行为决策分析提供了理论依据,并对于指导电子商务实践具有一定的现实意义。     

跨期决策中的消费者自我控制行为研究

跨期决策系指做出购买决策与获得产品之间存在时间距离的一种决策类型,随着电子商务的发展,产生这种决策类型的消费情景日渐增多,使得对这一问题的消费行为学研究成为必要.本研究采用行为学实验的方法对于跨期决策中的消费者自我控制行为进行了研究,并发现当消费者作出决策的时间点与能够真实获取商品的时间点之间若存在一定时间间隔的场合,消费者会较之可以现场获取产品的场合展示出较强的自我控制行为,具体地表现为对能提供更多长期有用性但在短期内效用较低的产品的较强偏好与支付意愿.这一发现为现有的消费行为学有关理论提供了有益的支持,同时在电子商务日益发达的今天具有一定的应用价值.     

Agent-based modeling simulation under local network externality

In general, consumer utility of network goods is affected by the entire network size. The socio-cultural-economic affinities of consumers influence the network externality processes. In this work, we treat a consumer decision as a consumer decision dynamic process. We then formulate a dynamic structural representation of a consumer network structure, structure of utility function and decision rule under the influence of local network externality concept. This formulation generates a mathematical model for a consumer decision dynamic process. The byproduct of the dynamic model leads to an agent-based simulation model. The simulation model is used to investigate different types of consumer decision dynamic market equilibriums. Moreover, prototype illustrations are given to exhibit the association between network attributes and its market equilibriums.     

产品属性对消费者产品选择影响效应分析——数码相机产品设计实证研究

面对中国市场的消费升级，消费需求出现多样化、复杂化。为了满足这样一种变化的需求，企业需要不断推出功能多样的新产品，来应对激烈的市场竞争。如何把握消费者对于产品属性的偏好、预测他们的选择行为，对于企业具有重大意义。文章选择了消费类数码相机（以下简称数码相机）市场，采用联合分析方法，对于数码相机产品属性对消费者产品选择影响效应进行分析。通过文章的研究可以发现，消费者在选择数码相机时，他们最关心的属性是价格，其次是像素、颜色、变焦倍数和品牌，最后是LCD大小，消费者对于数码相机各个属性的不同水平也表现出一定的规律。这一研究可以估计消费者对于不同属性组合的消费类数码相机的效用大小，从而为企业进行决策提供一定的依据。     

Toward an understanding of thrift store donors

• An increasing number of service organizations are developing thrift stores (or, second hand stores, charity shops) to raise resources to support their mission‐directed activities. Such stores seek donated merchandize…sell it …and use the proceeds to support their service efforts. The purpose of the study is to examine the processes by which thrift store donors: (a) determine that donation of pre‐owned merchandize is desirable, (b) get information about competing donation outlets, and (c) select which organization(s) are appropriate for their particular merchandize donation. A web survey was administered to assess these processes. The results will allow organizations to critically evaluate their existing thrift store practices against donor preferences in the interest of continuous improvement.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The optimal choice of internal decision‐making structures in a network industry: A multiproduct monopoly case

Focusing on the role of network compatibility effects between products of a multiproduct monopoly and on the form of consumer expectation for network sizes, we consider the optimal choice of internal decision‐making structures, that is, centralization and decentralization, and its welfare effect in a network industry. We demonstrate that if the degree of network compatibility effects is sufficiently large, the decentralized decision making is socially optimal. However, in the case of consumer ex post expectations, it is optimal for the firm's owners to choose the centralized decision making. We apply the model to the cases of price‐setting games, complementary products, and negative network externalities to examine the optimal choice of internal decision‐making structures.     

A social capital approach of market orientation in public non-profit organizations: The case of blood transfusion centers in Spain

In order to identify the determinants of market (donor) orientation in blood transfusion centers and services (BTCS), this study seeks to analyze whether connectedness and interpersonal trust represent a fundamental basis for interfunctional coordination that leads to market (donor) orientation. An empirical study was carried out with 147 participants from 14 Spanish BTCS. The measurement scales were validated through CFA and the proposed relationship model was tested using SEM. Both interpersonal trust and connectedness that exist among BTCS members foster interfunctional coordination and, ultimately, their donor orientation. Thus, BTCS must emphasize their internal relationship networks, rearranging them in favor of their donor orientation. This paper integrates social capital literature with market orientation literature, and it proposes empirical evidence on the role played by internal social links on interfunctional coordination, which leads to market orientation. This research proposes a reliable and valid measure of blood donor orientation, which could be useful for the future testing of theory and research in the non-profit context. BTCS should adopt an organizational design which allows the introduction of a new managerial paradigm. People in charge of different areas at BTCS must pay particular attention to the climate of trust and the level of connectedness in cross-functional relationships. The negative evolution of blood donation and the results of this research suggest that BTCS need to apply a management model focused on the donor, in order to achieve a sustainable donation system.