Towards an alternative theory of the advertising communication process?

Several findings reported by researchers working in quite different areas suggest that individuals may be able to receive advertising in a way which is very different from the advertising communication process. Here, some of these findings are presented. They derive from studies of picture perception, of mere exposure, of brain lateralization, of emotion formation, of attention processes, and from new approaches to content analysis. Finally, the need for a revised view on how advertising works is emphasized.     

Ambivalent statements in contingent valuation studies: inclusive response formats and giving respondents time to think

A recent concern in the valuation literature is the uncertainty respondents feel when posed with willingness-to-pay questions for environmental amenities in hypothetical market scenarios. Using a multiple-bounded discrete-choice format, the results indicate that respondents become less ambivalent when allowed considerable time to think about the valuation task before a response is elicited. In particular they tend to reduce the reported willingness to pay associated with low certainty of paying, hence resulting in more conservative welfare estimates. Implications for the application of environmental valuation techniques are discussed.     

On the nature of credit demand and credit rationing in competitive credit markets

Conventional analyses of the credit rationing problem seek to explain that problem within the context of classic demand analysis. In this paper we demonstrate that it is generally inappropriate to apply the notion of classic demand to credit markets, consequently, conventional notions of credit rationing must be rejected. In providing a new definition of credit rationing we also establish the previously rejected characterized by credit rationing.     

Ecoefficiency: Defining a role for environmental cost management

This study investigates the relationship between environmental performance and productive efficiency in the United States electric utility industry before and after the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), cross-sectional examinations reveal lower polluting plants are more efficient than higher polluting plants. Longitudinal analyses indicate plants can simultaneously reduce pollution and increase relative efficiency. Collectively, these results are evidence that proactive environmental management can reduce environmental costs and thus, lends support for adopting an environmental cost management system.     

Identifying root causes of inefficiencies in road haulage: case studies from Sweden,Switzerland and Germany

ABSTRACT

Road haulage operations in general, and distribution in particular, are inefficient. Given the societal importance of road haulage and the low efficiency of the sector, road hauliers need to improve their operations and systematically tackle inefficiencies. However, the real causes of these inefficiencies, the ‘root causes’, have not been sufficiently examined in previous studies. This paper expands on prior research by adapting existing models that can be used to identify the root causes of inefficiencies, and to enable systematic improvements in road transport operations. Our research is based on a lean approach and an adapted version of Ishikawa’s model. It is shown as a matrix based on transport processes and the Ishikawa categories to identify the root causes of inefficiencies in road haulage that influence performance. The adapted model was tested in three road haulage case studies. Our findings suggest that most efficiency problems appear in the actual transport execution.     

Do auditors constrain intertemporal income shifting in private companies?*

This study investigates the association between private company auditing and intertemporal income shifting. Using a large reduction in the Finnish corporate tax rate as a strong incentive for income shifting and financial statement data coupled with proprietary information from the tax authorities, we analyse accruals and cost stickiness of small private companies. Our results reveal significant differences in accrual income shifting between audited and unaudited companies, but only among companies that on average could anticipate the tax reduction the most. Further, we find auditors to restrict sticky selling, general, and administrative cost behaviour that we hypothesise is associated with illegal actions. Additional tests expose a nontrivial number of incorrectly unaudited companies which are the ones mostly associated with income shifting. Taken together, our study highlights the effects of audit exemption and the importance of enforcement while also suggesting that the audit process is value adding for the tax authorities.     

Keeping others in our mind or in our heart? Distribution games under cognitive load

It has recently been argued that giving is spontaneous while greed is calculated (Rand et al., in Nature 489:427–430, 2012). If greed is calculated we would expect that cognitive load, which is assumed to reduce the influence of cognitive processes, should affect greed. In this paper we study both charitable giving and the behavior of dictators under high and low cognitive load to test if greed is affected by the load. This is tested in three different dictator game experiments. In the dictator games we use both a give frame, where the dictators are given an amount that they may share with a partner, and a take frame, where dictators may take from an amount initially allocated to the partner. The results from all three experiments show that the behavioral effect in terms of allocated money of the induced load is small if at all existent. At the same time, follow-up questions indicate that the subjects’ decisions are more impulsive and less driven by their thoughts under cognitive load.