Guilt and giving: A process model of empathy and efficacy

This research develops a model of consumer response to charity appeals. Using the Extended Parallel Process Model from the fear appeal literature as a foundation, the current model proposes that empathy and self‐efficacy generate guilt and reduce maladaptive responses, which, in turn, shapes donation intention. The results demonstrate that the impact of empathy on charitable donation intention is fully mediated by guilt and maladaptive responses. The impact of self‐efficacy is partially mediated by guilt and maladaptive responses. Therefore, both empathy and self‐efficacy determine whether guilt or maladaptive responses result. This model clarifies the process through which guilt appeals operate, by identifying the roles of empathy and self‐efficacy. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Environmental participation in the U.S. sulfur allowance auctions

The 1990 Clean Air Act established a sulfur emissions-trading program among utilities. This was the first large scale adoption of this type of emissions-trading program and the program’s success has attracted international attention. An interesting aspect of this program is that in addition to trades among the polluting firms and brokers or investors, individuals and groups have been participants, buying allowances to retire them and reduce sulfur emissions. This provides a relatively unique way to examine the “willingness to pay” for further reductions of sulfur emissions. I examine environmental participation in the sulfur allowances market, focusing on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowance auctions which have been conducted annually since 1993. The existence of groups purchasing these allowances in order to retire them suggests that the overall cap on sulfur emissions may be higher than the optimal emissions level. The marginal benefits from the first ton of emissions reduction appear to be significantly larger than marginal abatement costs. Total spending to retire sulfur emissions allowances, while small in relation to the total market, is sizeable in terms of the alternate purchases these groups and individuals could have made.      

Service Delivery Encounters in Business-to-Business Contexts as a Source of Innovation – A Conceptual and Explorative Study

This article offers a conceptual and empirical view on the potential for innovation impulses stemming from the supplier-customer interface as a more or less unplanned by-product of customer contact of service companies. The empirical findings support the existence of a considerable innovation potential at the supplier-customer interface. Determinants of this source of innovation are identified and suggestions are made as to how companies can tap this potential. A translation of all German literature titles is provided in parentheses     

The Market for New Ph.D. Economists

Multinomial logit analysis, based on survey questionnaires, shows that graduate program ranking, length of time in the Ph.D. program, publications, and marital status are important determinants of occupational outcome for new Ph.D. economists.     

Adding consumer behavior insights to category management: Improving item placement decisions

Although practitioners attribute significant sales growth to category management, many believe more potential lies untapped. This paper suggests improvements through the use of consumer behavior research as a supplement to point-of-purchase scanner information. In particular, we outline several concepts and theories with special promise in six decision areas of category management, suggesting opportunities for both future research and industry application. An empirical demonstration of one such opportunity is presented showing how two consumer behavior concepts - context effects and categorization theory - reveal insights relevant to item placement decisions within category management that would not be revealed by scanner data.     

Amazon Mechanical Turk and the commodification of labour

Crowd employment platforms enable firms to source labour and expertise by leveraging Internet technology. Rather than offshoring jobs to low‐cost geographies, functions once performed by internal employees can be outsourced to an undefined pool of digital labour using a virtual network. This enables firms to shift costs and offload risk as they access a flexible, scalable workforce that sits outside the traditional boundaries of labour laws and regulations. The micro‐tasks of ‘clickwork’ are tedious, repetitive and poorly paid, with remuneration often well below minimum wage. This article will present an analysis of one of the most popular crowdsourcing sites—Mechanical Turk—to illuminate how Amazon's platform enables an array of companies to access digital labour at low cost and without any of the associated social protection or moral obligation.     

Understanding the role of retail store service in light of self‐image–store image congruence

The relationships among a consumer's service experience, the servicescape, and perceived value for the money spent on the service are important theoretical as well as practical issues. Little effort has, however, been devoted to understanding these in the context of the effects of consumer image–store image congruency. Image congruency has not only been shown to be valuable in relation to product choices, but has also been shown to contribute to our understanding of retail store choice and preferences. This study examines the effect of retailer service provision and the retail store environment (servicescape) on the customers' perception of value for money. The study also examines the role of self–store image congruence in the above relationships. The findings confirm the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model (except for servicescape effects). The findings also indicate that the effects are stronger for those individuals experiencing high self–store image congruence. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Child Labor: A Normative Perspective

Examining child labor through the lenses of weak agency, distributiveinequality, and harm suggests that not all work performed bychildren is equally morally objectionable. Some work, especiallywork that does not interfere with or undermine their healthor education, may allow children to develop skills they needto become well-functioning adults and broaden their future opportunities.Other work, including child prostitution and bonded labor, isunambiguously detrimental to children. Eliminating these formsof child labor should be the highest priority. Blanket banson all child labor may drive families to choose even worse optionsfor their children, however. Moreover, child labor is oftena symptom of other problems—poverty, inadequate educationsystems, discrimination within families, ethnic conflicts, inadequatelyprotected human rights, weak democratic institutions—thatwill not be eliminated by banning child labor.     

Diversificationas a Strategic Preemptive Weapon

This article examines the role that multimarket operations play in a firm's ability to preempt entry into new markets when presence in a market does not commit the firm to remain there. Success in one market affects a firm's incentives and, in turn, strategic power, to fight a rival fur survival in a related market. This is modeled as a way of attrition, and the risk-dominant equilibrium is derived. The model supports brand proliferation as a credible preemptive strategy for an established firm and also has implications regarding the strategic role of economies of scope and "deep pockets."