Informal group influence among situationally/dispositionally-oriented consumers

Consumer susceptibility to reference group influence has been demonstrated for certain products and buying situations. This article reports a study designed to determine if reference group influence varies between consumers classified as situationally-oriented and dispositionally-oriented. Results indicate a considerable difference between the two groups. Independence Health Plan     

The development of a standardized student evaluation form

The original purpose of student evaluations was to provide feedback to the instructor to improve his/her teaching. However, the use of student evaluations in assessing promotion and tenure decisions is becoming increasingly apparent. Given that students represent one valuable source of evaluation data, the task involves gathering the information so as not to bias or influence the results. Thus, the objectives of this report are to discuss the methodology and pitfalls in the construction of a data collection instrument, and produce a “model” student evaluation form that may serve as the basis for establishing validity by having the academic community put it to the test.     

The effect of interstate highway on driving times and regional shopping center drawing power

Previous studies of the driving times of shopping center patrons have not examined the effect of limited access highways. This study analyzed the impact of interstate highways on the driving times of 204 shoppers at three medium-sized regional shopping centers. Those shoppers indicating usage of interstate highways to reach their shopping destinations were significantly more likely to incur travel times greater than fifteen and twenty minutes than those not using the available interstate roads. In predicting the drawing power of these shopping centers, factors besides mass were found to be useful. These include square footage of shopping goods, stores, and number of parking places.     

Relationships in business markets: Exchange episodes,value creation,and their empirical assessment

Conclusion David Wilson (1995) has provided us with much grist for thought with his integrated framework for customer-supplier relationship development. In focusing on which constructs are “active” and therefore most meaningful at each stage, he has opened a new vista for research in this area. Our models and empirical research ought to reflect this, but to date they largely have not. I have suggested qualitative, longitudinal research as a preferred next step in gaining the knowledge that we will need to make field-survey, longitudinal research worthwhile. Wilson also is to be lauded for drawing greater attention to value creation as a central undertaking in customer-supplier relationships. Understanding and actualizing value creation (and value sharing) are critical aspects of the market-sensing and customer-linking capabilities in market-driven organizations (Day 1994), yet the mechanisms underlying them and the methodologies for accurately assessing them remain largely unknown. Here, particularly for tool development research, it would seem to be an opportune time for business marketing academics and practitioners to form their own collaborative relationships for mutual gain. His research interests are in working relationships between firms in business markets and measurement techniques. His articles have appeared inHarvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Psychological Bulletin, andPsychometrika, among others. He has been vice president of the Business Marketing Division of the American Marketing Association and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association.     

Strategy in research design and hypothesis testing

The efficiency of a research design may be measured in terms of the degree to which knowledge is enhanced within given resource constraints. Thus, two different types of research design, even though they contain the same number of expected observations, may differ considerably in the amount of information provided. An example is the number N of 32 observations obtained with an analysis of variance witheither 2 factors, 2 levels per factor and a replication of 8or 4 factors, 4 levels per factor and a replication of 2. We analyze and compare the relative efficiencies of regression and variance analysis models and their implications to research strategy development. Three major considerations are evaluated: (1) short versus long time horizon (interval until effects of a decision are realized), (2) small versus large cost of erroneous rejection of the Null Hypothesis and (3) gross versus refined stage of development of the research study. A set of general guidelines towards improved designs is developed.     

On the theory of macroeconomic policy

Summary Jan Tinbergen originated the theory of policy in the 1950s. Here I apply it to contemporary macroeconomics. The two standard instruments of short-run demand management cannot achieve the two usual targets, full employment and price stability. With respect to those goals, these two instruments are collinear, except for small and transient effects on foreign exchange rates. But the mix of fiscal and monetary policies, relative to one another, does have important effects on the composition of national output, as between investment and consumption.I point out that policy-makers, like portfolio managers, should diversify the instruments they use when they are uncertain of their effects. I discuss some pitfalls in the empirical estimation of policy effects, especially possible misinterpretations of simple correlations, and I note that policy rules cannot be invariant to changes in macroeconomic structure. I argue that policy rules should involve responses to new information and in practice allow discretion. Finally, I suggest that Tinbergen's theory of policy needs to be extended to policy coordination among nations.Third Tinbergen Lecture delivered on October 20, 1989, in Utrecht for the Royal Netherlands Economic Association.