Pricing of Services: An Empirical Analysis from the Greek Service Sectors

The purpose of the present study is to explore the pricing objectives that service companies pursue along with the pricing policies that they adopt in order to price their services. Analyzing data from 170 companies operating in six different services sectors in Greece, the study found that the objectives, which are pursued, are fundamentally qualitative rather than quantitative in their nature with a particular emphasis given on the companies' customers. Regarding the pricing policies, the only policy that was found to be followed by the majority of the companies is the traditional price list perhaps due to the easiness associated with its implementation. Moreover, the pricing objectives were found to be, as we should expect, associated with the pricing policies.     

Price Knowledge for Services: An Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT

This study extends the price recall literature into the service sector. The authors surveyed 169 adults and asked them to recall the last price they paid for nine commonly purchased services. The findings indicate that most consumers (53%) cannot recall the last price they paid, 13% had an inaccurate price memory, and 34% remembered an accurate price. The findings also indicate that the ability to recall a price, and to recall an accurate service price varies significantly by service. Other mediating variables include frequency of usage, home ownership, and education. No other demographic variables were related to either price recall or recall accuracy.     

Use of Professional Journal Ads to Promote Accounting Services

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an examination of professional journal advertising by professional accounting firms. Advertisements in the three most widely distributed professional accounting journals were analyzed to ascertain the extent of advertising by accounting firms. Research questions included the following: (1) What is the message or purpose of the ads? (2) What size ads are preferred? (3) What is the information content (firm's location, phone number, etc.) of the ads? (4) Which firms advertise the most?

The findings indicate that the most common advertising message concerned selling computer software, followed by employee recruitment. The most common size ads were between a quarter of a page and a page. Information content ranged from phone number and address to professional credentials and specialized services. Advertisements were widely used by both Big Six and non-Big Six accounting firms. The extent of advertising among Big Six firms, however, is highly varied, with Arthur Andersen & Co. generating the most ads. Advertising allows firms the opportunity to reach consumers, provide useful information, and distinguish themselves from other firms.     

Ethical Exemplification and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct: An Empirical Investigation of Auditor and Public Perceptions

This research applies the impression management theory of exemplification in an accounting study by identifying and measuring differences in both auditor and public perceptions of exemplary behaviors. The auditors were divided into two groups, one of which reported self-perceptions (A-S) while the other group reported their perceptions of a typical auditor (A-O). There were two separate public groups, which gave their perceptions of a typical auditor and were divided based on their levels of accounting sophistication. The more sophisticated public group was comprised of bank loan officers (LO) while the less sophisticated public group consisted of investment club members (IC). Comparisons were made on 30 behaviors contained in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, which served as the basis for the research instrument. Profile analysis, a special form of MANOVA technique, was used to analyze the results. A-S perceptions were the highest of the four treatment levels and were significantly higher (i.e., more exemplary) than the perceptions of both the A-O and LO groups. The more sophisticated user group (LO) provided the lowest perceptions of the four treatment levels. For at least four of the six measures, the LO treatment group perceived the typical auditor to be less exemplary than both the IC and A-O treatments. There were no differences in perceptions between the A-O group and IC. Additional analysis revealed that auditors overrated the degree to which the public relied on financial statements. However, both public groups reported a reasonably high level of reliance on financial statements when making decisions. Philip A. Brown is an Associate Professor and Directtor of the Accounting Program at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He has a bachelor's degree from Harding University, an MBA from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. His research interests are in accounting ethics and in accounting education. He has published in Advances in Accounting, The Journal of Accounting and Finance Research, and others. He is a CPA in the State of Arkansas. Morris H. Stocks serves as the Dean of the Patterson School of Accountancy at the Universtiy of Mississippi. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Trevecca Nazarene University, his Masters degree from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Mississippi. He is a behavioral accounting researcher and has published in Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting Horizons, Behavioural Research in Accounting, Decision Sciences Journal, Advances in Accounting, Advances in Accounting Information Systems, Advances in Behavioral Accounting Research, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Advances in Taxation and others. W. Mark Wilder is KPMG Lecturer and Associate Professor of Accountancy at The University of Mississippi. His educational background includes a bachelor's degree in mathematics from The University of Alabama, an MBA from the University of South Alabama, and a Ph.D. in Accounting from Florida State University. He is a CPA in the State of Mississippi. Mark has published in Accounting Horizons, Advances in Taxation, the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, the Journal of Computer and Information Systems, the CPA Journal, and others. In the past 2 years he has received several awards, including the top two campus-wide faculty awards at Ole Miss and also the MSCPA Outstanding Educator Award. In 2004 he was inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame.     

专业市场内银行服务的顾客价值构成要素分析

本文针对国内营销管理学领域关于分行业分客户群体的顾客价值构成要素缺乏实证研究的现状,提出了基于专业市场的银行服务的顾客价值构成模型,并通过调查温州专业市场内客户对银行服务的需求及其对建设银行服务感知来检验此模型的有效性和建设银行服务的不足。研究发现,专业市场内客户的银行服务顾客价值与顾客价值构成模型有所偏差,据此修正为由核心利益、服务利益、影响利益、形式利益、期望利益、延伸利益等六大因子共26个变量组成的顾客价值构成模型;专业市场内客户对建设银行的服务感知基本良好,但在员工服务态度、贷款便利、业务办理时间等方面存在诸多欠缺,需要银行服务的进一步改进和提高。     

公共租赁住房租金定价与补贴机制实证研究

在阐述公共租赁住房租金定价模式、定价方法、主要影响因素基础上,利用主成分分析法和灰色关联分析法对公共租赁住房租金定价模型进行了实证分析.研究结果表明,公共租赁住房租金定价应当充分考虑当地保障房建设实际情况,制定的价格既不宜过低但也不宜过高;公共租赁住房租金定价模型应当是分层次的阶梯定价模式,降低公共租赁住房建设成本是降低公共租赁住房租金的有效手段.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Dimensions of Service Quality in Australia Accounting Firms

No abstract available for this article.     

Pricing of Services: An Interdisciplinary Review

Basic theories and widely held beliefs about pricing in the fields of economics and cost accounting are reviewed, but found not to have total relevance to the pricing of services. Marketing principles reviewed offer some guidelines to the pricing problem, which is rooted in service characteristics. A pricing procedure is suggested. The purpose of this article is to show how the service price decision is uniquely constrained by environmental and product characteristics, and to review the price-related literature of several disciplines.     

公共基础设施服务均等化的理论辨析与实证考察

本文在对公共基础设施服务均等化的理论内涵进行剖析的基础上,着重以浙江省为例进行了实证考察。研究发现:(1)公共基础设施服务均等化本身具有财政、经济与政治等多重属性。(2)从10项公共基础设施服务指标来看,浙江省大多数指标的绝对值远远高于全国平均水平,尽管变异系数显示各指标之间波动明显,但基尼系数较准确地刻画了各指标基本处于绝对均等或较为均等状态。(3)运用泰尔指数方法,则发现浙西南地区的非均等化现象较浙东北地区要严重。(4)尽管浙江省各地区之间的单项指标均等化程度较高,但综合起来,各地区基础设施服务能力的区域落差相当大。上述分析对地方政府实施公共基础设施服务均等化政策具有重要的参考意义。     

Adaptive Selling to the Professional Services Market

Style flexing is the adaptation of communication style by the seller to enhance communication and marketing effectiveness. Client style categorization is an important and complex process. This study introduces the utilization of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in communication style categorization when marketing to service professionals. Applications of the MBTI in adaptive selling are discussed in the context of contacting, observing, and interviewing the client.     

Linking Purchasing to Ethical Decision-Making: An Empirical Investigation

The aim of this study is to examine the decision-making processes at work among French buyers—whether beginners or more experienced individuals, when confronted with a dilemma involving an ethical or non-ethical choice to be made. We go on to illustrate these dilemmas through the use of five original scenarios that reproduce typical situations that arise in a purchasing context in relation to the environment, physical integrity, conflict of interest, or paternalism. Based on 172 participants, the results of our study show that, ethical decision-making depends very clearly on two main factors: expertise and gender. The study also reveals that there is not always a coherent link between ethical choices made and the reasons and justifications given for those choices. Ethical options chosen are not exclusively justified on the grounds of purely ethical reasons but also on the grounds of commercial or economic reasons, or else reasons of avoidance.     

服务贸易出口对我国经济增长贡献的实证分析

本文以1985～2005年数据为样本,通过统计分析与计量经济分析,对服务贸易出口与我国经济增长间的关系进行了实证研究。结果表明：服务贸易出口与经济增长存在长期均衡关系,服务贸易出口促进了我国经济增长,服务贸易出口是经济增长的Granger原因。本文进一步分析了发展服务贸易,提高服务贸易出口对我国经济增长贡献度的政策和措施。     

上市公司成长性的实证研究

上市公司的成长性与广大投资者、公司债权人、证券监管机构等都有着十分密切的关系。从某种意义上来说,公司的利润增长率比其利润本身更为重要。投资于某公司的股票,实际上是投资于公司的未来。因而,上市公司的成长性问题成为证券投资分析理论与实践中的一项十分重要的内容。运用相关分析、回归分析和方差分析等方法对上市公司的成长性与上期多项财务指标的关联性进行了探讨。     

明码实价是广告业走向规范服务的必经之途

从2006年1月1日起，由国家发展改革委员会和国家工商行政管理总局联合发布的《广告服务明码标价规定》开始实施。对于该规定的制定和实施，广告界微起波澜，却又波澜不惊。业内虽有微词，但从总体上看，多数从业者还是接受了这个规定。     

会计管制和盈余质量关系的实证研究

本文从稳健性的角度首次考察了中国的盈余质量水平以及2001年准则变革的影响.研究发现,2001年前后盈余的稳健性和及时性发生了结构性的提升,说明2001年的准则变革有效改进了盈余质量;但改进的幅度是较为有限的,与普通法国家相比,中国的盈余质量仍处于很低的水平.文章提供了会计管制能在一定程度上提升盈余质量的经验证据,并指出在加强准则建设的同时,还应加快推进公司治理改革、资本市场改革等制度变革,努力培育公司层面形成对高质量盈余的有效需求.     

知识密集型服务的定价困惑与解惑

作为当今服务行业的一个重要分支,知识密集型服务因在服务提供过程中溶入大量专业知识而饱含特色.特色的产品总会引发一系列的特殊管理难题,如何科学定价就是其中之一.文章在简介知识密集型服务的内涵与特征的基础上,剖析其所面临的定价困惑,并推荐了基于成本的、基于竞争的及基于顾客价值的定价法等,这些行之有效的定价策略将对定价决策者有所启示与帮助.     

Strategic and Functional Orientation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Professional Services: An Analysis of Public Accountancy

This study examines how SMEs in public accountancy remain competitive, promote and deliver their services. The association among strategic planning, functional diversification (services and markets), methods of promotion and delivery is also examined. These SMEs face considerable difficulty in overcoming both in-house and external barriers in accessing clients requiring non-traditional services (e.g. management consulting), and clients involved in international business (broadly defined). The results show that the proactive, functionally diversified, and/or internationally oriented firms outperform the reactive, functionally concentrated, and local market oriented firms. The competitive advantage for the former categories is based on flexible specialisation such as customisation of services for specific groups of clients, speed of delivery collaboration with other producer service firms, and specialised skills. These firms utilise informal networks to promote their services with minimal investments in sponsorships or media selling. Face-to-face interaction with clients continues to be the preferred mode of service delivery despite the increased adaptation of local area networks and other modes of internationally technology by the proactive, functionally diversified or internationally oriented firms.     

Factors Affecting Managers' Decision to Bribe: An Empirical Investigation

In recent years, global corporations, especially in the oil and mining sectors, have been speaking the language of development. While corporations are increasingly being imputed a major development role by multilateral organizations, this remains a controversial topic. Even more controversial is the question of whether corporations make a meaningful contribution to development in conflict situations or the absence of democratic government. Some firms, however, such as Talisman Oil, do try to justify their operating in conflict zones such as Sudan on this very basis. This paper contends that Talisman has not contributed to development, but rather is a part of the problem. The paper also develops a more general argument as to why this situation is not particular to Talisman, but is likely to hold for any corporation operating under similar circumstances.