Exploring Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) in The Consumer Purchase Decision-Making Process: The Case of Online Holidays – Evidence from United Kingdom (UK) Consumers

This study explores the role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the consumer decision-making process when purchasing a holiday. Using an ethnographic approach, it explores the role of eWOM on consumers’ attitudes toward online reviews (eReviews) and their subsequent behavior. Across the consumer decision-making processes – information search, evaluation, and purchase – the study develops a conceptual framework with three eWOM dimensions: (1) motivation, (2) source, and (3) content. Findings explore the variations of eWOM’s influence across the decision-making stages with implications for theory and practice. The study further highlights implications for segmentation practices in the tourism industry.     

How should we divide the pie? Equity distribution and its impact on entrepreneurial teams

Drawing on a multiple case study approach and data on eight entrepreneurial teams observed over six months this article develops a dynamic model of the consequences of equity distribution among team members. Perceived justice of equity distribution emerged as a key variable influencing entrepreneurial team interactions and important entrepreneurial outcomes. High perceived justice triggered positive team interaction spirals, whereas low perceived justice triggered negative interaction spirals. Teams exposed to external threats drifted from a positive spiral to a negative spiral despite high perceived justice. We discuss the implications of our study for research on entrepreneurial imprints, justice, and exit.     

Research note sport tourism versus event tourism: Considerations on a necessary distinction and integration

Abstract

Interest in sport-related tourism increased perceptibly around the millennium, however, a comprehensive conceptual framework for a classification of sport (event) tourism is still missing. The predominant focus of sport tourism encompasses event-related touristic endeavors, such as mega sport events; however, an holistic approach to sport tourism suggests the need for further integration of other sub-areas such as nonevent-related components. This research note, therefore, provides a sport tourism perspective and a methodological approach to establishing the sport tourism cube as a necessary tool for the further distinction and integration of sport and event tourism. The research aim is, therefore, to build a foundation for further scientific research in sport tourism.     

What patents are used as collateral?—An empirical analysis of patent reassignment data

Only anecdotal evidence exists that ventures use patents as collateral to access debt financing. In this paper, we use a novel dataset on patent reassignments with a security interest to explore quantitatively what patents are used as collateral. We analyze characteristics of patents to disentangle whether it is the technology underlying a patent or the patent's exclusion right per se matters for collateralization. We do find empirical support only for technology-related characteristics, suggesting that lenders use patents to collateralize high-quality technology that can, in case of default, be redeployed to ventures in similar technology fields. On the other hand, patent-related characteristics like scope, which are, in general, related to patent value and are particularly important for non-practicing entities, do not matter.     

Forecasting real estate prices in Germany: the role of consumer confidence

The aim of the paper is to analyse the forecasting ability of various potential predictors for real estate prices in Germany over the short term. In the wake of the financial crisis, real estate prices in Germany started to increase markedly and still did so by the end of 2013. Despite a number of fundamental reasons, e.g. favourable lending conditions and Germany’s rapid return to economic growth, this provoked a discussion on whether consumers have too gloomy expectations regarding real estate prices in future. To capture the role of expectations for predicting real estate prices, in our forecast evaluation, we put special emphasis on various components of consumer confidence. Using single indicator models, we find that households’ perceived financial situations as well as their intended consumption/saving plans serve as valuable real estate price predictors.     

The approximate solution of finite‐horizon discrete‐choice dynamic programming models

The estimation of finite‐horizon discrete‐choice dynamic programming (DCDP) models is computationally expensive. This limits their realism and impedes verification and validation efforts. Keane and Wolpin (Review of Economics and Statistics, 1994, 76(4), 648–672) propose an interpolation method that ameliorates the computational burden but introduces approximation error. I describe their approach in detail, successfully recompute their original quality diagnostics, and provide some additional insights that underscore the trade‐off between computation time and the accuracy of estimation results.     

Firm exit,technological progress and trade

The dynamics of export market exit and firm closure have found limited attention in the new heterogeneous-firms trade literature. In fact, several of the predictions on firm survival and exit stemming from this new class of models are at odds with the stylized facts. Empirically, higher productivity firms survive longer, most firm closures are young firms, higher productivity exporters are more likely to continue to export compared to less productive exporters and market exits as well as firm closures are typically preceded by periods of contracting market shares. The present paper shows that the simple inclusion of exogenous economy wide technological progress into the standard Melitz (2003) model generates a tractable dynamic framework that generates endogenous exit decisions of firms in line with the stylized facts. Furthermore, we derive the effects of faster technological progress and trade liberalization on export market exit and firm closure.     

Explaining the size differences of exporter premia: theory and evidence

Two decades of research have established pronounced exporter productivity premia (EPP) and exporter size premia (ESP). Yet, we do not know why such exporter premia differ so widely in magnitude across countries or sectors? We take this question to the theory and to the data. We derive the sectoral EPP and ESP in a standard heterogeneous firms trade model and apply the insights from the model to guide our empirical investigation of detailed Danish firm-level data. We show that a significant share of the observed variation in EPP and ESP across sectors can be accounted for by sector differences in the underlying variation in productivity dispersion, variable trade costs, the ratio of fixed export costs to fixed costs of production, and the elasticity of demand.