Effects of customer personal characteristics on the satisfaction-loyalty link: a multi-method approach

This study aims to examine the moderating effects of customer personal characteristics on the satisfaction-loyalty link in order to overcome potential response bias and common-method variance in the link by using both real-life purchasing behavior data and survey in a cross-method and panel data. Two separate data collection procedures dealt with survey and customer relationship management (CRM) data. A total of 391 members of restaurant loyalty program participated in the survey. Also, additional data were gathered on restaurant CRM. Data were analyzed using SEM and multi-group analysis. This study confirmed the nonlinear relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty due to the significant moderating effects of customers’ personal characteristics on subsequent stages of the link.     

Community-based development and poverty alleviation: An evaluation of China's poor village investment program

We conduct the first systematic evaluation of the world's largest community-based development program—China's flagship poverty alleviation program began in 2001 which finances public investments in designated poor villages based on participatory village planning. We use matching methods and a panel household and village data set with national coverage to compare changes from 2001 to 2004 in designated poor villages that began plan investments and in designated poor villages that had yet to begin plan investments. We find that the program significantly increased both government- and village-financed investments. While the program did not increase the income or consumption of poorer households, it did increase the income and consumption of richer households by 6.1 to 9.2%. We also find suggestive evidence that governance matters in the distribution of program benefits. Relative gains were greater for richer households in villages with more educated leaders, and higher quality village committees delivered greater benefits to both richer and poorer households.     

Effects of a regulatory match in sunk-cost effects: A mediating role of anticipated regret

People are more likely to invest their money, time, and efforts to attain a desired outcome if they have already devoted resources to its attainment than if they did not. This ??sunk cost effect?? is robust and has been demonstrated in a wide range of settings. Four experiments in the present research show that the effect is significantly smaller under regulatory mismatch, i.e., when there is a mismatch between the decision makers?? regulatory focus and the characteristics of the desired outcome, than under regulatory match. This difference is not attributable to the operation of value-from-fit but mediated by differences in future regret that people anticipate experiencing when they fail to devote additional resources to the attainment of the outcome, and consequently fail to realize it.     

Why Do Price Limits Exist in Stock Markets? A Manipulation‐Based Explanation

Numerous stock market regulators around the world impose daily price limits on individual stock price movements. We derive a simple model that shows that price limits may deter stock market manipulators. Based on our model's implications, we predict that regulators impose price limit rules for markets where the likelihood of manipulation is high. We present empirical evidence consistent with this hypothesis. Our study is the first to formally propose a manipulation‐based rationale for the existence of price limits in stock markets.