Does consumer knowledge affect consumer responses to advertised reference price claims?

As expected, internal reference prices (IRPs) and purchase intentions for two product categories (microwave ovens and disposable razors) differed according to whether consumers possessed a high or low level of consumer knowledge about the product in this factorial design experiment. Contrary to theory and expectations, neither internal reference points nor purchase intentions were affected by exposure to comparative price advertisements. Students were used as subjects in a before-after procedure with approximately two weeks between pre- and postmeasures of IRPs and purchase intentions. Postmeasures were taken immediately after exposure to ads containing three levels of advertised reference prices. t tests indicated differences between high and low knowledge group IRP means before ad exposure. However, no ANOVA differences were detected in change in IRP or purchase intention scores after ad exposure. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Land rents as a criterion for regionalization—The case of wheat growing in Croatia

The paper explores and tests one of the contemporary principles of economic regionalization of agriculture by using differential land rents in wheat production as a model. The analysis is based upon the assumption that differential rents could serve as a valid principle for regional planning, particularly differential rent I. On the basis of the food self-sufficiency principle declared by the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, the model assesses the economic justification of the Croatian wheat incentives system in relation to wheat production potentials in the counties, starting from those with high potential (the most favourable agroecological conditions for wheat production) towards the counties with low potential, to the level of self-sufficiency as a long-term Croatian strategic vision.The model shows that Croatia can meet its requirements for industrial wheat processing at the level of cumulative farmland areas of three counties, while total consumption can be covered by production of eight counties. This model compromises the fundamental principle of regional economics of wheat production, because up to 2003 incentives were given for 78,000 ha more than what was economically justified for wheat production intended for industrial processing, i.e. for 19,000 ha for total wheat demand. But, wheat production is practised all over Croatia—in all agricultural regions because of tradition on the one side and crop rotation requirements on the other side. This conclusion points to an uneconomic allocation of budget funds for wheat incentives to the counties, whose output results do not justify the incentives. The current subsidy model stimulates production by applying the criterion of a minimum three-hectare area required for wheat incentives. Consequently, a part of wheat production is excluded from the incentive system in the counties with high potential farmland, i.e. in the counties collecting a differential land rent for wheat production, which is uneconomical in terms of macroeconomics.Even though the model featured in this paper exemplifies wheat production in this particular situation, it can be easily used to evaluate the efficiency of incentives for all the crops included in the incentive system, while applying the standards of economics and agricultural regionalization. It can also be used to determine subsequent, more economical distribution of production incentives by channelling uneconomically allocated budget funds into implementation of other agricultural policies and measures.     

New firms and labor market entrants: Is there a wage penalty for employment in new firms?

In this paper, we explore the role of new firms as an entry point to the labor market. Because the vast majority of new firms are short-lived, it is a risky decision to accept employment in a new venture. It can be argued that individuals with little (or no) labor market experience are more willing to accept the high risks associated with employment in new firms. Hence, new firms may work as an entry point to the labor market. Nevertheless, some research concludes that one disadvantage of employment in a new firm is that new firms pay less (Shane in Small Bus Econ 33:141–149, 2009). However, this empirical conclusion is primarily based on literature on the wage penalty of small firms. In this paper, we study whether the wage penalty of employment in a new firm persists if we focus solely on labor market entrants. In the empirical analysis, we employ an employer-employee matched dataset that covers the Swedish population during the period from 1998 to 2008. We use the propensity score matching method to study the wage differences between labor market entrants employed in new and incumbent firms. We find an average wage penalty of 2.9 % for labor market entrants employed in new firms over the studied period.     

An exploration of consumers’ experiences in physical stores: comparing consumers’ and retailers’ perspectives in past and present time

Abstract

In this paper, we explore consumers’ in-store experiences and their components, from both a consumer and retailer perspective. This is a replication of a study we performed in 2006 and thus we also examine how the role of the physical store has changed over the last decade. We use the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to improve our understanding of consumers’ in-store experiences. Moreover, we conduct in-depth interviews with Swedish retailers to achieve an understanding of how retailers use aspects of the store environment to enhance the consumer experience. Interestingly, our results suggest that consumers’ in-store experiences to a large extent are created by the same aspects today as ten years ago (e.g. personnel, layout, atmosphere). Furthermore, while retailers today emphasize the importance of fulfilling new and more advanced consumer demands, they often still accentuate the weight and use of traditional values (e.g. personnel and layout) ahead of advanced technology.     

“It’s Just Business”: Understanding How Business Frames Differ from Ethical Frames and the Effect on Unethical Behavior

Journal of Business Ethics - Unfortunately, business is often associated with unethical behavior. While research has offered a number of explanations for why business might encourage unethical...     

Stage‐to‐Stage Information Dependency in the NPD Process: Effective Learning or a Potential Entrapment of NPD Gates?

The new product development (NPD) process is a sequence of stages and gates. Each stage consists of NPD activities that provide NPD managers with information input about the new product project progression. Information input is used for review decisions at gates. Over the course of an NPD process, managers learn about a new product project as to ensure successful launch. The view is that a new product project is shaped by the path of NPD activities it has traveled. Because learning is assumed to take place over the course of the NPD process, stage‐to‐stage information dependency is an assumption of NPD research. A concern raised is that development activities for each NPD stage are rigorously followed by NPD managers. In other words, stage‐to‐stage information dependency may potentially trap NPD managers rather than create effective learning from end to end of the development process. The purpose of this paper is to explore the assumption of stage‐to‐stage information dependency in NPD. The investigated research questions are whether the selection of NPD activities is linked between stages and whether these information dependencies strengthen NPD gate decisions. For the information dependencies identified in the study, the innovation experience characteristics of NPD managers pursuing them and the influence of information dependencies on NPD gate decisions are analyzed so as to provide insights for a discussion of information dependency versus information independency in the NPD process. The applied research method is an experiential simulation of NPD gate decision‐making—NPDGATES. One hundred thirty‐one NPD managers from international product development strategic business units (SBUs) situated in Denmark participated in the study. Logistic regressions were conducted as the basis for the calculation of stage‐to‐stage information dependency probabilities. Based on the study findings, the assumption about information dependency in the NPD process held by NPD research is found to be flawed. End‐to‐end information paths in the NPD process are rare. Further, market condition changes are found to significantly influence the stage‐to‐stage information dependencies demonstrated by NPD managers. It seems that competition becomes a reassurance of NPD efforts. Also, the results show that NPD experience creates inflexibility in relation to the selection of NPD activities. The need for strict process management is strong among experienced NPD managers. In relation to NPD gates, the results show that information dependencies increase priority given to financial decision criteria at gates and lower priority given to customer and market decision criteria. Overall, stage‐to‐stage information dependency seems to create inflexibility that hinders successful NPD process implementation.