Gadget lovers

Marketers in firms that routinely produce high-tech innovations want rapid adoption of their products. Many believe the consumer segment that is targeted initially should consist of people who adopt innovative technology relatively early and are influential sources of information that others use as references for their own behavior. A set of adopters who might meet these requirements, but have not been the focus of prior scholarly research, are gadget lovers. This article provides insights into this segment, proposes a scale to measure its key characteristics, and reports the results of a group interview and four additional studies that support the validity of the scale (n ₁ = 1,655, n ₂ = 789, n ₃ = 1,366, and n ₄ = 188). The gadget lover scale explains adoption-related behaviors beyond the variance accounted for by technological innovativeness and key demographic variables.

Evidence on Hedging Effectiveness in Indian Derivatives Market

The hedging effectiveness for bank futures and CNX nifty are evaluated in this study. The study is based on 9,569 observations of the daily data for these index futures. For evaluation ordinary least square, co-integrated ordinary least square, generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity (1, 1), and constant correlation generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity (1, 1) hedging methods are estimated and compared. Result shows that constant correlation generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity (1, 1) is an efficient hedging method that maximizes investors’ utility function considering transaction costs. Therefore, investors can rely on this constant correlation generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity (1, 1) hedging method.     

Efficiency‐Seeking Emerging Market Firms: Resources and Location Choices

We study the efficiency‐seeking location choices of Indian software firms. In particular, we investigate the influence of heterogeneity in their resources on their location choices. The resource‐based view posits that firms face difficulties in transferring their resources in dissimilar host‐country environments. Prior research has investigated this phenomenon primarily for market‐seeking motives of multinational firms. With the help of hierarchical linear modeling, we analyze 650 location choices of Indian software firms and find that efficiency‐seeking firms face difficulties in locating in host countries with dissimilar and challenging labor environments. We find that the firms with core competence manifested through capability maturity model integration (CMMI) accreditation are able to overcome issues related to resource fungibility in dissimilar host‐country environments. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impacts of information on returns from farming: evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India

Using a nationally representative sample of farm households from India, this paper examines the impact of use of information on net farm incomes. Employing methodologies that mitigate potential biases in the estimation of the impact, the empirical results show that farmers who use information realize over 12% higher net returns per hectare. The paper also establishes a pecking order in access to information. Small farmers and those at the bottom of social hierarchy (based on caste) have access to fewer information sources, and they depend more on informal social networks and input dealers for their information needs. The larger farmers and those from upper caste rely relatively more on sources such as radio, television and newspaper.     

Do market characteristics impact the relationship between retailer characteristics and online prices?

We propose that market characteristics interact with retailer characteristics to determine online prices. The retailer characteristics examined include—service quality of a retailer, channels of transaction provided by a retailer and the size of a retailer. The market characteristics capture the level and nature of competition, and the price level of a product. We utilize a Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) framework for capturing and testing the proposed interactions. The better fit between the model and the online market structure is reflected by a twenty-five percent increase in explainable price dispersion over results from comparable studies. Our study demonstrates that while retailer characteristics do impact online prices, this influence is significantly enhanced or diminished by the accompanying market characteristics.     

Online information search termination patterns across product categories and consumer demographics

While accessing information online, consumers exhibit differences in their patterns of search, that is, time spent per search episode and search frequency. The search patterns vary across both consumer characteristics and product categories. We empirically investigate consumer online information search termination patterns, and relate the differences to product categories and consumer characteristics. Findings of such an empirical study would be useful for planning communication strategies, website design, etc. The model is calibrated on empirical data collected through online surveys. We find that consumer learning occurs when consumers search across search goods, but not when they search across experience goods.     

Economics, Psychology, and Social Dynamics of Consumer Bidding in Auctions

With increasing numbers of consumers in auction marketplaces, we highlight some recent approaches that bring additional economic, social, and psychological factors to bear on existing economic theory to better understand and explain consumers' behavior in auctions. We also highlight specific research streams that could contribute towards enriching existing economic models of bidding behavior in emerging market mechanisms. This paper is based on the special session at the 6th Triennial Invitational Choice Symposium, University of Colorado Boulder, June 2004 (co-chaired by the first two authors).     

Marketers' Norms and Personal Values: An Empirical Study of Marketing Professionals

This study explores the relationships among marketers' deontological norms and their personal values. Based on the review of theoretical works in the area of marketing, hypotheses concerning the relationships among marketers' norms and their personal values were developed and tested. Data were collected from 249 marketing professionals. Results from canonical correlation analysis generally indicate that marketers' norms can be partly explained by personal values. Marketers' pricing and distribution norms, information and contract norms, and norms pertaining to marketers' honesty and integrity were significantly related to the personal values emphasizing "excitement," "warm relationships with others," "fun and enjoyment in life," and "a sense of accomplishment."     

The Impact of User-Generated Content and Traditional Media on Customer Acquisition and Retention

Customer acquisition and retention are central components of customer relationship management (CRM) and the key drivers of a firm’s long-term profit. However, our understanding of the relative impact of user-generated content (UGC) and traditional media and their synergies on customer acquisition and retention is still underdeveloped. Thus, the purpose of this research is to address two key questions: What is the effect of UGC relative to that of traditional media on customer acquisition and retention? Is there any interaction effect between UGC and traditional media on both customer acquisition and retention? To understand the differential impacts of these media, we develop a conceptual framework and propose several hypotheses. We test our hypotheses using data from the automobile and mobile game industries. Our findings indicate that UGC is much more effective in acquiring customers, while traditional media is more important for customer retention. Moreover, the volume of UGC and traditional media have a synergistic effect on customer retention. This research therefore contributes to the acquisition-retention literature while also providing important insights to managers.     

Consumer ethical beliefs and personality traits: An exploratory analysis

The present study examines the relationships between consumers' ethical beliefs and personality traits. Based on a survey of 295 undergraduate business students, the authors found that individuals with high needs for autonomy, innovation, and aggression, as well as individuals with a high propensity for taking risks tend to have “less ethical” beliefs concerning possible consumer actions. Individuals with a high need for social desirability and individuals with a strong problem solving coping style tend to have “more ethical” beliefs concerning possible consumer actions. The needs for achievement, affiliation, complexity and an emotion solving coping style were not significantly correlated with consumer ethical beliefs.