Evaluating the potential of agent-based modelling to capture consumer grocery retail store choice behaviours

Evolving consumer behaviours with regards to store and channel choice, shopping frequency, shopping mission and spending heighten the need for robust spatial modelling tools for use within retail analytics. In this paper, we report on collaboration with a major UK grocery retailer to assess the feasibility of modelling consumer store choice behaviours at the level of the individual consumer. We benefit from very rare access to our collaborating retailers’ customer data which we use to develop a proof-of-concept agent-based model (ABM). Utilising our collaborating retailers’ loyalty card database, we extract key consumer behaviours in relation to shopping frequency, mission, store choice and spending. We build these observed behaviours into our ABM, based on a simplified urban environment, calibrated and validated against observed consumer data. Our ABM is able to capture key spatiotemporal drivers of consumer store choice behaviour at the individual level. Our findings could afford new opportunities for spatial modelling within the retail sector, enabling the complexity of consumer behaviours to be captured and simulated within a novel modelling framework. We reflect on further model development required for use in a commercial context for location-based decision-making.     

The impact of weather on consumer behavior and retail performance: Evidence from a convenience store chain in China

Despite extensive use of weather data to adjust replenishment and inventory strategies in the retail industry, these companies do clearly know the effect of weather on consumer behavior and retail performance. How does weather affect consumers' purchasing behavior and thus retail performance? We study empirically these questions by analyzing more than 6 million transactions made by more than 1.62 million unique consumers at 146 convenience stores in a convenience store chain in China. We choose sun, rain, temperature, and air quality index as the main weather variables. We use the average number of items per order and the average price of each item in each order as indicators of consumer behavior, and use store daily sales as an indicator of retail performance. We found that under rainy weather, people will buy more products with higher item prices in one order. When temperature rises, people will buy fewer products with a lower item price in one order. In addition, sunny weather and rainy weather have a positive impact on daily sales than cloudy weather. Air quality has a negative impact on daily sales, while temperature has a positive impact on sales. Finally, we study the impact of weather on different product categories. We find that the results depend on the product category characteristics.     

The impact of store hours and redistributive income effects on the retail industry: some projections for Germany

In this paper, the impact of the relaxation of Blue Laws on the retailing industry structure will be examined with regard to the 1996 store-hour expansion in the Federal Republic of Germany.The first part will deal with the historical development of Blue Laws in the US, Canada and the UK. The assessment of Germany's trading time situation and proponents' and opponents' previous arguments about whether or not to implement the proposed legislation will lead to an analysis of relevant conceptual and empirical research to evaluate expected restructuring effects on the German retailing industry.The impact of redistributive effects is determined, predictions with regard to the projected development are established, and directions for future research are generated.     

When worlds collide: The implications of panel data-based choice models for consumer behavior

Panel data, both diary and scanner, have been analyzed by marketing scientists for over thirty years. One of the important uses of panel data is to better understand consumer behavior by developing and testing hypotheses using the revealed preference data rather than experimental data that uses only self-reported behavior or behavior in a simulated choice environment. The purpose of this paper is to suggest areas of research where panel data can be used to better understand the underlying behavior of the panel members.     

Externalised vs. internalised consumption of luxury goods: propositions and implications for luxury retail marketing

This study conceptualises the dichotomy of luxury goods consumption (‘externalised luxury’ vs. ‘internalised luxury’) in terms of six dimensions: on the one hand ostentation, materialism and superfluousness (which refer to luxury as a social statement) and, on the other hand individual lifestyle, emotions/hedonism and culture (which refer to luxury as individual style). Through this literary framework, it presents a series of propositions that might be tested in future research, one for each dimension, about retail strategies and operations for fashion luxury brands. Implications for retail managers of luxury companies are discussed for each proposition, considering the main aspects of retailing strategies and tools (e.g. assortment, sales force, in-store experience and atmospherics) together with possible theoretical developments.     

The effect of culture on consumer choice: the need for conformity vs. the need for uniqueness

This paper investigates whether East Asians are more likely than Westerners to purchase a brand presented as a best‐seller given that East Asians tend to have a higher need for conformity and Westerners tend to have a higher need for uniqueness. Results show that East Asians are more likely than their Western counterparts to purchase such brands when the perceived risk is low. However, when the perceived risk is high, both East Asians and Westerners tend to prefer a brand presented as a best‐seller. Results also show that, in a three‐option set in which the C option is dominated by the B option but not by the A, both East Asians and Westerners are more likely to select option C when it is presented as a best‐seller than when it is not. Managerial implications and the study's limitations are also discussed.     

Building new roads for entrepreneurship research to travel by: on the work of William B. Gartner

This article takes the awarding of William B. Gartner as a winner of the FSF-Nutek Award (in 2005) as a reason to engage more thoroughly with his production. From the perspective of a European School of Entrepreneurship, we focus in particular on the hermeneutic/phenomenological side of Gartner’s research output and seek to operate as inspired readers of this work as we identify its central tendencies (presence of organization theory and literary inspiration). The aim is thus to situate Gartner’s influence on the entrepreneurship research community based on the lead provided by these tendencies and from there to provide a vision of a future of entrepreneurship research. Bengt Johannisson was a member of the Prize Committee for The International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research when the prize was awarded to William B. Gartner. The prize is awarded by the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF) and the Swedish Board of Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK). An important aim with this prize is to attract broader attention to this research field. A precondition for choosing the winner of the award is that his/her research is a significant contribution to the theory and empirical understanding of entrepreneurship and the importance of entrepreneurship, new firm formation and small businesses in economic development. Besides the honor, the prize consists of SEK 0.5 million. It has been awarded annually since 1996. More information about the prize and previous winners is available at .     

Review of Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society by James R. Otteson

Journal of Business Ethics -     

美国总统以国家安全为由否决外资并购 令可诉性分析 ——兼析中国三一集团告美国总统否决并购侵权案

中国三一集团关联公司罗尔斯公司诉美国外国投资委员会及奥巴马总统案,经过美国哥伦比亚特区联邦地方分区法院的两次开庭审理,原告的所有诉讼请求均被驳回。本案主要涉及中国企业跨国并购遭遇美国国家安全审查壁垒的问题。本文在概述基本案情基础上,结合美国法院的思路,就美国总统外资并购国家安全审查否决令可诉性进行法律分析。本文还就中国企业应对的策略、中国政府需完善的法规提出了相关建议。     

湖北葛洲坝三联公司向美国法院申请执行中国法院就美国罗宾逊公司所供直升机产品责任损害判决案评析

湖北葛洲坝三联实业股份有限公司向美国罗宾逊直升机有限公司购买的直升机因产品质量问题而坠毁。中国公司先在美国起诉,美国公司以法院不方便管辖为理由,要求移交中国法院审理。中国法院作出不利于美国公司的判决,中国公司向美国法院申请执行中国法院的判决。美国公司企图以法律文书送达不当、超过诉讼时效为由,要求美国法院驳回执行请求。美国联邦地区法院认为中国判决超过时效,驳回中国公司的请求。但美国联邦上诉法院则根据《海牙公约》和美国法律,认为中国法院判决没有超过时效,从而支持了中国公司的请求。本文在概述案情、法院推理的基础上,就本案涉及的法律问题进行了评析,以便对今后中国企业在类似的涉美诉讼中有所借鉴。