The Developmental Impact of Asian Drivers on Ethiopia with Emphasis on Small‐scale Footwear Producers

(1252) Tegegne Gebre‐Egziabher This paper examines the developmental impact of China and India on Ethiopia by examining macro‐level trade, investment and aid relation, and micro‐level impacts on local micro and small‐scale footwear producers. Both secondary and primary data were used. At macro level there are clear evidences of an increase in trade between Ethiopia on the one hand and China and India on the other, though the trade balance disfavours Ethiopia. China has displaced other countries as export destinations for Ethiopia. Similarly, the presence of China and India is also felt in the areas of investment and aid. At local level, Chinese imports of footwear have forced local enterprises to downsize their activity and lose assets and money. At the same time, however, firms have followed both the high road of competition (design and quality improvement, investment in machinery, product specialisation) and the low road of competition (lowering price and profit, reducing raw materials and inputs, and joining the informal sector) to withstand the impact of Chinese imports. The long‐term effect of Chinese imports is to crowd out local efforts of using the sector as the basis for industrialisation. Government, non‐government organisations and local producers should work together in order to withstand the negative impacts of footwear imports by raising the competitiveness of the local producers.     

Cultural value,consumption value,and global brand image: A cross‐national study

In expanding their market to the global level with clear and consistent global brand images across nations, marketers are ever confronting the issue of how to deal with different cultural values. Cultural value is identified as an influential factor on brand image and is widely accepted as one of the crucial concepts in understanding consumer consumption value, which determines choices of consuming everyday products and services. Most firms endeavoring to establish and maintain consistent global brand images, however, adopt a standardized brand image strategy that usually does not consider individual target markets” characteristics, including the concepts of cultural value and consumption value. This study developed a conceptual framework which incorporated cultural value not only as a direct antecedent of brand image, but also as an indirect antecedent of brand image through consumption value, and empirically tested it using the category of apparel. Following this framework, this study hypothesized the differences in brand image, cultural value, and consumption value between the U.S. and South Korea. Data were gathered through surveying university students residing in the San Francisco and Seoul metropolitan areas using a convenience sampling method. A total of 329 completed questionnaires were used in factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results provide insights into standardized brand image strategies and suggest some implementable tools that might prove effective in both countries. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

VIX option pricing

Substantial progress has been made in developing more realistic option pricing models for S&P 500 index (SPX) options. Empirically, however, it is not known whether and by how much each generalization of SPX price dynamics improves VIX option pricing. This article fills this gap by first deriving a VIX option model that reconciles the most general price processes of the SPX in the literature. The relative empirical performance of several models of distinct interest is examined. Our results show that state‐dependent price jumps and volatility jumps are important for pricing VIX options. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:523–543, 2009     

Measurement Characteristics of Aaker's Brand Personality Dimensions: Lessons to be Learned from Human Personality Research

By referring to research on the measurement of the Big Five personality factors, this article investigates measurement characteristics of brand personality (BP) dimensions. The authors apply a meta‐analysis and investigate the intercorrelations and reliabilities of the BP dimensions of Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness, as suggested by Aaker (1997). Similar to the Big Five personality factors, the measurement of BP reveals interdependence of the dimensions and one General Personality Factor. Furthermore, the reliabilities reveal instability across method characteristics, for instance, the use of facets as opposed to traits in measuring BP drives up the reliabilities of those dimensions with a larger number of items (e.g., Sincerity). Finally, as with the Big Five, the BP dimensions show differential effects on performance measures (as assessed by brand attitude) and thus support the predictive power of the single dimensions. The findings provide insights into the dimensional structure of BP and its stability, and support the transferability of the Big Five personality factors to nonhuman domains. Importantly, the article outlines relevant avenues for future research on BP measurement.     

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN SHOPPING FOR LUXURY GOODS: WESTERN,ASIAN, AND HISPANIC TOURISTS

This study examines the significant differences in shopping for luxury goods among Western, Asian, and Hispanic tourists and, in particular, the perceived importance of different types and characteristics of the luxury consumer and travel goods tourists buy on vacation. The results show that Western, Asian, and Hispanic tourists‐shoppers significantly differ in the perceived importance of luxury consumer and travel goods and their characteristics. Western and Asian tourists attach more importance to buying “gifts for others” than Hispanic tourists. Asian tourists attach more importance to buying “golf equipment,” “health spa/wellness treatment,” “luxury cruises,”and “luxury yachts/rentals” than Hispanic tourists. Western tourists attach more importance to “fine dining” than Hispanic tourists. Implications of the study results and recommendations for future studies are discussed.     

The Impact of the Interaction of Utilitarian and Informational Reinforcement and Behavior Setting Scope on Consumer Response

The influence of the environment on the emotional responses and behaviors of consumers has been well established in the consumer behavior literature. The Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) assumes that utilitarian reinforcement, informational reinforcement, and consumer behavior setting scope are independent dimensions of environmental influence, which can combine in particular consumption situations to produce consumer behavior. This paper empirically examines the possibility of interactions among these dimensions by means of the pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) emotional variables. The PAD variables have been shown to mediate consumer behaviors such as the desire to stay or escape from the setting, to affiliate with others, and the willingness to spend money and consume. The results, showing an interaction between pleasure and arousal in high‐pleasure environments, which then leads to increased approach behavior, seem to confirm the synergistic effects of utilitarian reinforcement and informational reinforcement on behavior. This study appears to be the first to find and investigate a three‐way interaction between pleasure, arousal, and dominance in the context of purchase and consumption. This interaction suggests that the three structural dimensions of the BPM combine to produce consumer behavior. It also highlights the important role of consumer behavior setting scope in consumer situations maintained by intermediate patterns of reinforcement. The implications of these findings for theory and marketing management are discussed.     

Beyond convenience: the future for independent food and grocery retailers in the UK

The UK's independent food and grocery retail sector's competitive advantage of 'convenience' has been eroded in recent years as major retailers increase opening hours and develop their own convenience trading formats. As a result, large numbers of independent retailers are closing. A UK-wide survey was undertaken to identify other sources of competitive advantages, and the changes needed to stop or reverse the decline in this sector. Exploratory semi-structured interviews led to the development of a questionnaire on six major issues affecting the sector. 'Snowball' sampling, using industry partners, provided 142 respondents. The provision of a 'social shopping experience' emerged as a key competitive advantage that could be developed. Improving vertical and horizontal trading alliances, and the wider use of information technology, provided other options.