On Ethical Violations in Microfinance Backed Small Businesses: Family and Household Welfare

Journal of Business Ethics - The microfinance business model focuses largely on lending to the woman in the household, rather than the man. The belief is that women are more trustworthy borrowers...     

Understanding Indian Online Clothing Shopper Loyalty and Disloyalty: The Impact of E-Lifestyles and Website Quality

Understanding loyalty and disloyalty in conjunction can ensure comprehensive understanding of loyalty which is important for sustained profitability of online retailers. This study examines the simultaneous impact of consumer-related (e-lifestyles) and technology-related (website quality) dimensions on loyalty and disloyalty of Indian online clothing shoppers. Two survey-based samples of data were collected from 217 (Sample 1) and 644 (Sample 2) experienced online shoppers. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to validate e-lifestyle (three dimensions) and website quality dimensions (four dimensions). Sample 2 was divided into loyal and disloyal groups (based on loyalty scores) which were subject to logistic regression. While both e-lifestyle and website quality dimensions are significant in discriminating between the loyal and disloyal groups, the effect of website quality dimensions is more pronounced with website visual-engagement having the highest positive impact on loyalty. The study draws on conclusions for marketers and suggestions for future research.     

On the Viability of Fixing Leaky Supply Chains for the Poor Through Benefit Transfers: A Call for Joint Distribution

Supply chain managers have yet to solve the conundrum of profitably distributing and selling to the poorest consumers. Most prevailing methods of addressing this problem take one of two contrasting approaches—that is, (1) price subsidization or (2) benefits/cash transfers. The former has been heavily studied in the literature with the consensus being that it is highly inefficient and prone to leaks. We investigate the viability of the latter by focusing on how branching out to reach the poorest customers impacts the performance of banks. Results indicate that the impacts of this approach are deleterious, thereby questioning its commercial scalability. Therefore, we argue that this approach may also have only limited potential in terms of being an effective, large‐scale solution to the problem of access for the poor. Instead, a third approach to achieve scalable Bottom of the Pyramid growth and development needs to be considered—cultivating partnerships through joint distribution.     

Segmenting and Profiling the Chocolate Consumer: An Emerging Market Perspective

Psychographic segmentation has found higher merit among marketing scholars and practicing managers in designing effective marketing strategies to target and deliver better—especially for indulgence food such as chocolates. Hence, adopting a mixed method approach, 17 attitudinal statements were generated through focus group discussions and were used to segment a sample of 301 urban chocolate consumers. The survey data was subjected to a K-means cluster analysis, and it revealed the existence of three distinct clusters: the innovative national; the conservative patriot; and the global seeker. Chi-square analysis was conducted to profile the three groups. Though the study was exploratory in nature, the clusters exhibited such distinct buying patterns that the results hold tremendous value not only from an academic perspective but also for chocolate manufacturers and retailers. All three groups were buying chocolates for gifting purpose, while the young innovators liked to buy for self-gifts as well. Point of sales display had maximum impact on their purchase decision. The global seeker was buying more foreign brands versus the other two, who bought chocolate brands of national origin.     

FDI distribution within China: An integrative conceptual framework for analyzing intra-country FDI variations

The literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) has evolved in separate theoretical silos and a holistic conceptualization is yet to emerge. Research has focused mostly on inter-country differences and not much on explaining intra-country FDI variations. Traditionally FDI locations have been evaluated through country-level FDI determinants even though provinces differ widely in infrastructure and other attributes. Further, neither is the varying importance of FDI determinants to different industries factored in, nor are the differing FDI incentives from national and provincial governments integrated into a single framework. To address these gaps this study synthesizes insights from three streams of FDI research and develops an integrative conceptual framework that can comprehensively analyze intra-country FDI inflows. We demonstrate the usefulness of the framework by empirically analyzing FDI trends within China’s 31 provinces. The study thus makes a substantive contribution by offering scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners a holistic conceptual and methodological approach for understanding FDI trends within a country.     

Effects of Industry‐ and Region‐Specific Acquisition Experience on Value Creation in Cross‐Border Acquisitions: The Moderating Role of Cultural Similarity

Based on a sample of 222 cross‐border acquisitions by US firms in the service sector, our study examines the effects of acquiring firms' prior cross‐border acquisition experience in the same industry and geographic region as the acquired firm on shareholder value creation. Using the BHAR (buy‐and‐hold abnormal returns) methodology, we find that higher levels of industry‐specific and region‐specific acquisition experience translate into greater shareholder value creation for acquiring firms in subsequent acquisitions. In addition, our results indicate that the effects of industry‐specific acquisition experience on acquisition performance are contingent on the level of cultural similarity between the acquiring and acquired firm countries, with the benefits of prior experience being greater in acquisitions undertaken in culturally similar countries. We also find that the moderating effects of cultural similarity on the relationship between industry‐specific acquisition experience and value creation are contingent on the level of prior region‐specific acquisition experience possessed by the acquiring firm.     

An Empirical Model of Advertising Dynamics

This paper develops a model of dynamic advertising competition, and applies it to the problem of optimal advertising scheduling through time. In many industries we observe advertising “pulsing”, whereby firms systematically switch advertising on and off at a high-frequency. Hence, we observe periods of zero and non-zero advertising, as opposed to a steady level of positive advertising. Previous research has rationalized pulsing through two features of the sale response function: an S-shaped response to advertising, and long-run effects of current advertising on demand. Despite considerable evidence for advertising carry-over, existing evidence for non-convexities in the shape of the sales-response to advertising has been limited and, often, mixed. We show how both features can be included in a discrete choice based demand system and estimated using a simple partial maximum likelihood estimator. The demand estimates are then taken to the supply side, where we simulate the outcome of a dynamic game using the Markov perfect equilibrium (MPE) concept. Our objective is not to test for the specific game generating observed advertising levels. Rather, we wish to verify whether the use of pulsing (on and off) can be justified as an equilibrium advertising practice. We solve for the equilibrium using numerical dynamic programming methods. The flexibility provided by the numerical solution method allows us to improve on the existing literature, which typically considers only two competitors, and places strong restrictions on the demand models for which the supply side policies can be obtained. We estimate the demand model using data from the Frozen Entree product category. We find evidence for a threshold effect, which is qualitatively similar to the aforementioned S-shaped advertising response. We also show that the threshold is robust to functional form assumptions for the marginal impact of advertising on demand. Our estimates, which are obtained without imposing any supply side restrictions, imply that firms should indeed pulse in equilibrium. Predicted advertising in the MPE is higher, on average, than observed advertising. On average, the optimal advertising policies yield a moderate profit improvement over the profits under observed advertising.JEL Classification: L11, L66, M30 M37 R12     

Consumer Data Analysis and Its Managerial Application for the Grocery Industry

Consumer data is collected to understand the heterogeneity of consumer behavior and store competition in grocery shopping. Marketing research techniques are used to analyze consumers’ decision processes and their preference models. Initial modeling results are aggregated to search for substantial clustering patters. The demographic profiles are also examined for clustering interpretations. The derived research results can assist grocery industry to better understand its customers and the competition within the industry. Also, Consumers’ perceptions of competing stores are collected to create perceptual maps. Strategic analysis is conducted by studying the relative positions of competing stores.