Government‐sponsored lotteries: Exploring purchase and nonpurchase motivations

Although the consumption of government‐sponsored lotteries has grown considerably over the past 30 years, few researchers have considered the psychological motivations underlying lottery purchase behavior. The present research explicitly investigates this issue by examining not only the reported motives for playing the lottery, but the motives for not playing as well. Based on open‐ended surveys of lottery‐eligible individuals, a formal taxonomy of purchase and nonpurchase motivations is developed. Variations in lottery expenditures are examined with respect to the reported motivations, demonstrating the key role of nonpurchase motivations in understanding lottery consumption levels. Policy implications and avenues for future research are also discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Demand for Lottery Products in Massachusetts

The characteristics of demand are examined for the state lottery in Massachusetts, which leads the nation in per capita sales. Cross-sectional OLS regressions of sales per capita are calculated for 1983 and 1990 for each lottery product using explanatory variables representing education, income, race, ethnicity, and age. The results suggest that the lottery no longer exhibits the degree of tax progressivity it had in earlier years and is currently a regressive source of government revenue. While sales of all lottery products consistently decrease with increasing education levels, this inverse relationship has moderated over time. Ethnicity and race are also becoming less of a factor though race is perhaps still important for lottery products combining relatively small payoffs with a high probability of winning. From 1983 to 1990, the 65 and over age group became a significant factor in raising per capita sales of the Massachusetts lottery, thus raising issues of generational and distributional equity.     

A multi-category customer base analysis

Customer base analysis is an essential tool to measure and develop relationships with customers. While various models have been proposed in a noncontractual setting, they focus primarily on analyzing transactional patterns associated with a single product category or a firm-level activity, such as the times at which purchases are made at a particular retailer. This research proposes a modeling framework for customer base analysis in a multi-category context. Specifically, we model the time between a customer's purchases at the firm and the product categories that comprise her shopping basket arising from multi-category choice decisions. The proposed model uses a latent space approach that parsimoniously captures the dynamics of multi-category shopping behavior due to the interplay between purchase timing and shopping basket composition. We also account for interdependence among multiple categories, temporal dependence across category choices, and latent customer attrition. Using category-level transaction data, we show that the proposed model offers excellent fit and performance in predicting customer purchase patterns across multiple categories. The forecasts and inferences afforded by our model can assist managers in tailoring marketing efforts across categories.     

我国的互联网彩票：经营模式、发展策略与管制框架

彩票存在问题赌博、未成年人参赌、犯罪以及贫困问题等负外部性,需要政府的严格管制。我国互联网彩票一直采用竞争性经营模式,妨碍政府进行有效管制。我国应当采取垄断性经营模式,仅允许一至两家公司经营互联网彩票。同时,对互联网彩票发展采取谨慎而不是自由放任的态度,制定渐进展开、分阶段实施的互联网彩票发展战略,注意与实体投注店的分工合作,并对购彩者采取适当的保护措施。对于互联网彩票公司及相关人员,实行行政许可,督促其建立健全内部控制,并对其进行经常性的评估、检验。     

Motivation and ability as predictors of play behavior in state‐sponsored lotteries: An empirical assessment of psychological control

This research explores the interaction of motivation and ability to explain individuals' level of participation in state‐sponsored lotteries. The motivation–ability framework is considered from the perspective of perceived control wherein Rotter's (1966) locus of control serves as a perceived ability to influence lottery outcomes, and the Burger and Cooper (1979) desire for control serves as a motivation to play. With the use of a sample of adult consumers residing in a state with a government‐sponsored lottery, predicted results were found. Specifically, the consumers who played the lottery to the greatest extent were those with internal locus of control (high perceived ability) and high desire for control (high motivation). © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of retailer reputation on store patronage

Retailer reputation is an important factor that influences consumer's store patronage. A survey was conducted among 356 grocery store shoppers to study the effects of retailer reputation on their store choice patterns. A Structural Equation Modeling approach was used. Results show that retailer reputation has an effect on purchase frequency, travel time and expenditure levels only when its influence was moderated by demographic variables. This suggests that the mode of influence on the dependent variables is more complex than the literature suggests. Retailers must think of their reputation within specific target markets, as the payoff in terms of shopping expenditure differs per target group. We discuss implications for retailing research and practice.     

The ethics of lottery advertising: Issues and evidence

After a discussion of the evolution and criticisms of state run lotteries, this article examines the ethics of lottery advertising. A discussion of the appeals used by lottery advertisers is followed by evidence concerning the impact of expected value information on lottery purchase intentions. Findings point toward less emphasis on the lottery as a solution to financial and job problems and more emphasis on information about the actual value of a lottery bet. Using accepted standards from the marketing literature, lottery advertising is found to be deceptive.Shaheen Borna is Professor of Marketing at Ball State University. He has a DBA. His articles have appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, Journal of Health Care Marketing, British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Accountancy, Akron Business and Economic Review, andProceedings of the American Marketing Associations.James M. Stearns is Associate Professor of Marketing at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Stearns is co-author ofThe Integration of Ethics into the Marketing Curriculum: An Educator's Guide andMarketing Ethics: An Annotated Bibliography. He is co-editor ofReadings in Marketing Ethics. Dr. Stearns' current research interests are the use and portrayal of the elderly in advertising, ethical and unethical behavior in academe, and the impact of technology on marketing curriculum.     

The Political Economy of State-Owned Lotteries

An incomplete contracts approach is applied to analyse the lottery industry. It is argued that lottery services are more efficiently provided by private enterprises than by public enterprises, even if the addictive potential of lotteries is taken into account and government is assumed to be benevolent. However, in most countries, state-owned enterprises provide lottery services. In Germany, the 16 states each own a monopoly lottery-providing enterprise. This apparent puzzle is resolved by dropping the assumption that members of government are perfectly benevolent. The narrow self-interest of members of the state governments and other influential stakeholders in Germany helps to explain the persistence of the current structure of the lottery industry.     

Does sustainability really matter to consumers? Assessing the importance of online shop and apparel product attributes

Although there is a shift in consumers' consumption behavior towards more sustainable patterns across a variety of different contexts, sustainable apparel has still not become a mainstream trend despite the textile industry's excessive usage of valuable resources. Albeit extant research found different potential barriers elucidating why consumers hesitate to purchase such apparel, it remains unclear whether sustainability really matters to consumers in a clothing context and further, which aspects are of relevance during consumers' purchase decision. We thus conducted two studies with four best-worst scaling experiments in which 4,350 online shoppers assessed the importance of both conventional and sustainable apparel attributes, as well as sustainable apparel attributes only, and the willingness to pay for sustainable product attributes. We further inquired the importance of conventional as well as sustainable online shop attributes. Our findings indicate that conventional apparel attributes such as fit and comfort, price-performance ratio, and quality are of higher relevance to consumers than sustainable attributes. The most important sustainable apparel attributes are the garment's durability, fair wages and working conditions, as well as an environmentally friendly production process. Consumers also indicated to prefer the latter three attributes to a 20% discount. Moreover, consumers demand less as well as sustainable packaging, free returns, and discount campaigns. Our findings reveal a gender gap regarding green consumerism with female respondents assessing most sustainable attributes as more important than male respondents do.     

Psychographic and Demographic Profiles of State Lottery Ticket Purchasers

Data from a national mail panel are used to develop psychographic and demographic profiles of heavier, lighter, and nonpurchasers of state lottery tickets. The research is limited to the sixteen states that offered a lottery at the time the study was completed. The resulting profiles indicate that each of the groups has identifiable characteristics. The findings tend to dispel some of the stereotyped characteristics of lottery players—that they are poor, uneducated, and unemployed.     

Olympic-themed Lottery to Be Issued

Beijing is ti issue an Olympie-themed lottrey in May,according to Beijing Sport Lottery Center,And the Olympic-themed lotteries have been issued in Shandong Province as the first trial place,     

Assessing the demand for value‐based organic meats in Canada: a combined retail and household scanner‐data approach

We apply sets of weekly retail and household scanner data to estimate consumer demand of selected organic and conventional fresh beef products in the Canadian retail market. The main contribution of our study stems from the application of a two‐stage procedure that provides new and deeper insight into consumers' responses to changing retail environment and pricing for organic and conventional meat products. Combined knowledge of point‐of‐sale consumer behaviour for value‐based products, such as organic products, and distinct socio‐demographic profiles of buyers vs. non‐buyers of meat is especially interesting for retail managers and meat industry stakeholders. First, household meat consumption patterns are investigated based on household scanner data that track household's meat purchases in the period 2006–2007. The second step of analysis then involves the estimation of an almost ideal demand system for selected organic and conventional fresh beef products using retail scanner data for the period 2000–2007. The introduction of greater selections in organic product lines across mainstream supermarkets in Canada in response to consumer health concerns is expected to spur retail competition in an otherwise saturated Canadian retail market. The analysis of socio‐demographic profiles in beef consumption using individual household's purchase data reveals that besides regional differences in preferences, household size and resource characteristics are major determinants of point‐of‐sale beef purchase decisions. Our demand system results indicate that organic beef is highly dependent on price and expenditures, whereas demand for conventional beef is mostly driven by income, habits and ‘typical’ Canadian seasonal beef consumption patterns. Altogether, our conclusions on organic beef vs. conventional beef buyers may have further implications for institutional regulations.     

The Devil might wear Prada,but Narcissus wears counterfeit Gucci! How social adjustive functions influence counterfeit luxury purchases

People buy counterfeit luxury goods for a range of reasons, including status and belonging. Previous research has shown these stem from an individual's value-expressive or social-adjustive attitudes. However, there appears to be limited research identifying a clear causal relationship between these and intention to purchase counterfeit goods, or how these attitude functions might be used to inhibit purchase of counterfeit luxury products. Using a mixed (survey/experiment) design, in two studies this research demonstrates an individual's social adjustive function has a positive influence on purchase intent for counterfeit luxury goods. However, the use of value expressive ad appeals can limit this effect on consumer decision making. The findings also demonstrate the existence of contingent effects across different levels of product involvement and product knowledge. The contingent effects help better understand the inconsistent findings in the literature regarding the influence of value-expressive and social-adjustive functions on counterfeit purchase intention, and shed light on the interplay among these variables.     

Segments of sustainable food consumers: a literature review

Sustainable food consumption is an important aspect of sustainable development. When adopting a sustainable food lifestyle, consumers are confronted with complex choices. Today's food consumption is too complex to be explained by socio‐demographic factors exclusively. A broader perspective is needed. In order to explain behaviour across different consumer segments better, relatively homogenous segments of food consumers were identified by segmenting food consumers based on a wide range of variables. The current study aims to provide an overview of published studies that have segmented consumers with regard to sustainable food consumption. The literature review has been conducted by searching SciVerse Scopus for all relevant articles available until November 2010. The main criterion for including a specific study was the inclusion of empirical analyses of primary data, resulting in consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption. Sixteen articles were incorporated in the final analysis. First, the variables used for segmentation and profiling in the included articles have been categorized into three levels of abstraction: personality characteristics, food‐related lifestyles and behaviour. The three levels of abstraction proved to be helpful in categorizing the segmentation studies. The findings indicate that variables on all three levels were efficient in differentiating consumer segments regarding sustainability. In addition, the importance of price and health differed across the segments, although these variables are only indirectly related to sustainability. Second, the three most frequently identified consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption were: ‘greens’, ‘potential greens’ and ‘non‐greens’. These segments differed from one another on all three levels of abstraction. This implies that future segmentation studies should include variables on all levels of abstraction to get a complete picture of existing sustainable consumer segments. Marketers should be aware that targeting specific segments based on socio‐demographic variables exclusively is not sufficient. Personality characteristics, lifestyle and behaviour are all important to take into consideration. Attempts at stimulating sustainable consumption might be most effective when differences across consumer segments are taken into account. Future research is needed to explore the characteristics of different sustainable food consumer segments with respect to their potential contributions in promoting sustainable development.     

A PROPERTY TAXATION MECHANISM WITH SELF‐ASSESSMENT

This paper analyzes a variant of the classic idea for property taxation based on owner's self‐assessment. To induce reporting of market values tax authorities announce to purchase some of the properties randomly at declared values under certain conditions. These conditions are based on properties of the distribution of declared values. It is proven that a unique Nash equilibrium of this taxation game among tax payers exists in which all of them report market values and tax authorities do not purchase any property.     

The medical expense deduction and income levels: Progressive or regressive?

The medical expense deduction (MED) allows taxpayers to deduct from taxable income a proportion of their out-of-pocket medical insurance and health care expenses. Because the rate of subsidy is equal to the marginal tax rate previous studies have found MED to be a regressive tax mechanism biased toward benefiting higher-income taxpayers. The authors demonstrate, using GINI coefficients, that MED makes the tax structure more progressive than it would otherwise be and increases equality of after-tax incomes.     

Modeling inflation-induced adaptive behaviors

Predicting consumers' responses to inflationary pressures has been a dominant research area in psychology, economics, and marketing. The present study attempts to model consumers' inflation-induced adaptive behavior using demographic, shopping patterns, and attitudes as predictors. Also, the present study is not limited to purchase behaviors. Rather, inflation-induced adaptive behaviors are examined for the purchase, preparation, and consumption of necessity goods (food items) involving a relatively low expenditure per purchase but a relatively high annual expenditure.     

Marketplace attributions and consumer evaluations of discount claims

Two studies were conducted in which respondents were exposed to test advertisements in which the amount of savings implied by a reference price discount claim was manipulated. Respondents' attributions concerning the advertiser's motives for making the reference price discount claim were measured, along with dependent variables that assessed the respondents' evaluations of the price offer. Results across both studies indicated that the attributions about the advertiser's motives for the price discount offer had a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of the offer. Furthermore, across both studies, a person-stimulus-circumstance taxonomy appeared consistent with the structure of the attributions that respondents made when presented with reference price claims.     

CONSUMER RESPONSE TO RETAIL STOCKOUTS

Understanding consumer reaction to stockouts is a key step in measuring the cost of a stockout, which remains one of the fundamental concepts in logistics that still lacks a usable measure. Accordingly, the goal of this research is to explore how consumers react to a retail stockout. Three types of reactions were considered: substitution of the item sought, delaying the purchase or leaving the store. Results show that consumers are apparently able to insulate a recent stockout experience from their perception of other dimensions of a store's image. In addition, a multinomial logit modeling approach is used to show that (1) no significant results were found linking demographic variables to consumer response, (2) the greatest impact on the Delay and Leave behaviors is concentrated on two variables (perception that the store offers good prices and consumer surprise with the stockout) and (3) situational variables are predominant among correlates of consumer response behavior.     

What Drives Household Choice of Organic Products in Grocery Stores?

This paper studies how households choose organic products on a given store visit. We develop a three-stage purchase incidence/brand choice/purchase quantity model for organic products. Shared random effects parameters link the three stages of the model. We empirically quantify the effects of category variables, marketing mix, and demographic variables on the purchase of organic products using a unique household panel dataset that includes actual organic purchase data from two markets, by over 4,500 households in 25 stores for the period between January 2004 and June 2009. First, we find that the purchase of organic products is greater among the high income, college educated, and older families as well as among consumers holding high-level occupations. Second, households tend not to purchase organic products when buying in concentrated categories. Third, on average, households tend to buy organic store brands more than the organic national brands. Promotions of organic brands (feature ad and display) are less likely to drive households to buy organic brands and so does the organic brand's distribution breadth. Finally, price has an inverted U-shaped effect. We discuss the implications of these results for retailers, manufacturers and researchers.