Contextual and Competitive Interference: Inhibition or Facilitation?

Existing literature has found two sources of advertising interference, competitive and contextual, that decrease the effectiveness of an ad in a cluttered environment. However, to date, the negative impact of competitive and contextual interference has been examined independently. This research explores advertising effectiveness when these sources exist concurrently. Contrary to the supposition concerning the additive effects of both sources of interference when simultaneously present, our findings indicate that viewing ads for the same product category with similar executional elements leads to the dissipation of interference effects (Study 1). Consistent with the process rationale, when a product-brand cue (versus a picture cue) is provided, this novel effect disappears (Study 2). The implications of these findings for advertising are highlighted in the discussion section.     

Relevant or redundant: Elite consumers' perception of foreign-made products in an emerging market

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of elite Pakistani consumers concerning their preferences for foreign-made products and how these preferences influence purchasing decisions. Data were collected from a sample of 250 buyers using a mixed methodology consisting of focus groups and a questionnaire survey. The results show a link between the country of origin (COO) of products and purchasing decisions. The nature and extent of this link vary across product class and purchasing decisions. A means-end chain (MEC) analysis revealed a close link between consumers' liking for foreign products connected with how they valued those products both psychologically and physiologically. The findings have implications for attaining a competitive advantage by using marketing strategies to target elite customers. As a pioneering study, this paper advances the theoretical knowledge, providing a framework as well as specific guidelines for practitioners to conceptualise the COO construct. The paper also suggests a strategic direction that successfully targets the elite consumer segment in Pakistan.     

Ethics and Economics in International Business Education: A Comparison of Kuwaiti and U.S. Students Using an Ultimatum Game Scenario

In the past 20 years a body of research in behavioral and experimental economics has challenged classical economic theory. Yet, this body of research seems relatively unknown in business education. One behavioral test with implications for international business education has been the use of ultimatum games, which has more recently expanded to cross-cultural studies. Yet, virtually no cross-cultural studies have been conducted for subjects in Middle Eastern countries. One of the central findings from ultimatum game research and other variations is that individuals place a high value on fairness in transactions, a fundamentally ethical concept. This article reports a preliminary study of Kuwaiti and U.S. business students. Results are consistent with previous studies, showing Kuwaiti subjects to be in line with subjects from developed economies. Discussion includes the implications for management and business educators.     

Federal Reserve Communications and Emerging Equity Markets

Work on the impact of U.S. monetary policy on emerging financial markets mostly focuses on official target rate announcements; empirical evidence using data on informal communication channels, such as speeches, is scant. Employing a unique data set covering formal and informal communication channels in a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model framework, we provide comprehensive evidence on the effects of U.S. monetary policy on 17 emerging equity market returns over the period 1998–2009. We find, first, that both monetary policy actions and communications have a significant impact on market returns. Second, target rate change surprises are an important driver of emerging market returns. However, informal communications—particularly when taking into account their higher frequency—have a larger (cumulative) influence on returns than do target rate surprises. Third, during the recent financial crisis, central bank communication played an even more pronounced role. Finally, American emerging markets react more to communications than do non‐American markets.     

Are Gay Men and Lesbians Discriminated against in the Hiring Process?

This article presents the first field experiment on sexual orientation discrimination in the hiring process in the Swedish labor market. Job applications were sent to about 4000 employers in 10 different occupations in Sweden. Gender and sexual orientation were randomly assigned to applications. The results show that sexual orientation discrimination exists in the Swedish labor market. The discrimination against the gay male applicant and the lesbian applicant varied across different occupations and appears to be concentrated in the private sector. The results also show that the gay male applicant was discriminated against in typical male‐dominated occupations, whereas the lesbian applicant was discriminated against in typical female‐dominated occupations. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Understanding consumers' perspectives on food labelling in India

This study aims at identifying the factors influencing consumers' perception on food labelling and its impact on food purchase decision making, through personal interviews of 631 respondents using a structured questionnaire. To analyse the consumers' perceptions on food labelling, factor analysis has been carried out to identify the underlying dimensions among a set of food labelling attributes using the principal component analysis. Based on factor analysis, four sets of components/factors have emerged, that is, (i) serving method; (ii) quality and nutrition; (iii) production and storage; and (iv) product identification, which explain 66.271% of the variance. Logit regression analysis indicates that among the socio‐demographic indicators, the estimated coefficients for gender, education, income and location of residence are statistically significant. Similarly, information on quality and nutrition, production and storage processes, and basic information of the product is found to be significant, implying that these factors are more likely to influence the use of food labels in making informed purchase decisions by the consumers. The findings of the study give practical insights on food labelling issues for the food processors and policy makers.     

Exogenous information and input-output updating: An evaluation

Input-output coefficients' intertemporal instability, costs, and time lags involved in the construction of survey-based tables necessitate employment of nonsurvey updating techniques. Analysts, however, may want to include exogenous information in the updating process. The issue, then, is whether this inclusion ameliorates or aggravates the results. This paper attempts to assess the wisdom of incorporating exogenous information into the updating procedure. First, using the naive, RAS, and LaGrangian techniques, the 1966 table of the former Soviet Union was updated to 1972. Next, treating the top 10 percent largest 1972 coefficients as exogenous estimates, the remaining coefficients were updated via the same three methods. Comparison of the results indicates that exogenous determination of the largest coefficients does not change the methods' rankings while yielding substantial improvements in the forecasts. This paper was presented at the Forty-Sixth International Atlantic Economic Conference, Boston, MA, October 8–11, 1998.     

From greening to sustaining: Transformational challenges for the firm – a case study of pollution abatement from tanneries in Kasur,Pakistan

This case study of tanneries in Kasur presents an account of industrial transformation of an agrarian society in a developing country, Pakistan, with its effects, efforts to rehabilitate and the difficulties faced in abatement of pollution. The research attempts to respond to the question of the social and economic cost of achieving pollution abatement in Kasur and develop a viable model. The research methods adopted include reviews of secondary data, personal interview and sample survey of tanneries in the study area. The results reveal how people have grappled with the problem of pollution abatement from the tanneries in Kasur and in creating decisive awareness at the local, national and international levels. The transformation of the city from a commercial centre to a semi-industrial tanning centre has led to a loss of 30% cultivable area due to contamination. It is reported that crop yield has dropped by 50% over the past 10 years. The total loss of agricultural income is estimated to be $450 thousand US per annum. The environmental impact of tanneries is highly pronounced in the urban areas around the leather tanning industrial units. Strong protest by the affected population has to some extent forced industrialists to rehabilitate the environment. NGO and the Government are also contributing to this effort. The case study of Kasur presents an example of the community's efforts to mobilize its local, financial and political resources to overcome the environmental hazards, with the associated problems and dilemmas.     

Economic modeling for the US of the cost-efficiency and associated expanded treatment access of conversion to biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez from reference pegfilgrastim

Abstract

Aims: For this economic analysis, we aimed to model: (1) the cost-efficiency of prophylaxis with biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez for chemotherapy-induced (febrile) neutropenia (CIN/FN) compared to reference pegfilgrastim, and (2) the expanded access to CIN/FN prophylaxis and anti-neoplastic treatment that could be achieved with biosimilar cost-savings on a budget-neutral basis.

Methods: In a hypothetical panel of 20,000 cancer patients receiving CIN/FN prophylaxis and using the average sales price (ASP) for the second quarter of 2019 for reference pegfilgrastim, we: conducted an ex ante simulation from the payer perspective of the cost-savings of 10–100% conversion from reference to biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez using drug price discounting ranging from 10–35%; estimated the budget-neutral expanded access to biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez enabled by these cost-savings; and estimated the budget-neutral expanded access to anti-neoplastic treatment with pembrolizumab. The simulations were replicated using fourth quarter 2019 wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) for reference pegfilgrastim and biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez in a post facto analysis.

Results: In ASP simulations, cost-savings of using pegfilgrastim-bmez over reference pegfilgrastim in a 20,000 patient panel range from $1.3?M (at 15% price discount) to $3?M (35%) at 10% conversion rate and from $6.4?M to $14.9?M, respectively, at 50% conversion. These savings could provide prophylaxis with pegfilgrastim-bmez to an additional 352 (15% discount) to 1,076 patients (35%) at 10% conversion or 1,764–5,384, respectively, at 50% conversion. Alternatively, savings could be reallocated for anti-neoplastic treatment with pembrolizumab to 3 (15% discount) to 9 (35%) patients at 10% conversion or 19–45, respectively, at 50% conversion. When utilizing WAC, cost-savings range from $4.6?M (10% conversion) to $23.1?M (50%) which could provide pegfilgrastim-bmez to an additional 1,174 (10% conversion) to 5,873 patients (50%).

Conclusions: Prophylaxis with biosimilar pegfilgrastim-bmez increases the value of cancer care by generating significant cost-savings that could be reallocated to provide expanded access to CIN/FN prevention and anti-neoplastic therapy on a budget-neutral basis.