The Optimal Speed of Transition: A General Equilibrium Analysis

We present a benchmark model for the optimal speed of transition from a state-owned to a private market economy, based on the consumption-savings decision in a closed economy. We abstract from frictions to focus on the macroeconomic conditions for accumulation of private capital and closure or restructuring of state-owned enterprises. It is shown that hard budget constraints compensate for too slow speed of enterprise closure but that an excess speed of closure may slow down transition because of output contraction effects. This will especially be the case if such a deviation occurs at early stages of transition.     

Advertising “like a girl”: Toward a better understanding of “femvertising” and its effects

This paper investigates the impact of femvertising (female empowerment advertising). More specifically, it hypothesizes that femvertising (vs. traditional portrayals of females in advertising) will reduce ad reactance among a female target audience, and that this in turn will enhance ad and brand attitudes. The results of three experimental studies indicate that this is indeed the case, and that the results hold across print and digital media, for five different product categories, and for femvertising focusing on challenging female stereotypes in terms of physical characteristics as well as the roles and occupations used to portray women in advertising. Although previous studies of the effects of female portrayals tend to focus on social comparison and self‐identity, the current paper considers the role of psychological reactance to (more or less) stereotypical portrayals in explaining these effects. The results suggest that marketers have much to gain from adapting a more proactive and mindful approach to the female portrayals they use in their ads.     

Headlights on tobacco road to low birthweight outcomes

Low birthweight outcomes are associated with considerable social and economic costs, and therefore the possible determinants of low birthweight are of great interest. One such determinant which has received considerable attention is maternal smoking. From an economic perspective this is in part due to the possibility that smoking habits can be influenced through policy conduct. It is widely believed that maternal smoking reduces birthweight; however, the crucial difficulty in estimating such effects is the unobserved heterogeneity among mothers and the fact that estimation of conditional mean effects seems potentially inappropriate. We provide a unified view on the estimation of relationships between prenatal smoking and birthweight outcomes with quantile regression approaches for panel data and emphasize their differences. This paper contributes to the literature in three ways: (i) we focus not only on one technique, but provide evidence from several approaches and highlight a variety of statistical issues; (ii) the performance of the methods are thoroughly tested in a simulated environment, and recommendations are given on their appropriate use; (iii) our results are based on a detailed data set, which includes many relevant control variables for socio-economic, wealth, and personal characteristics.     

The impact of creative media advertising on consumer responses: two field experiments

Abstract

Creative media (CM) advertising is an advertising strategy wherein a non-traditional medium is creatively used for advertising purposes. This novel advertising strategy is gaining marketers’ interest; however, little is known about its persuasive effects on consumers’ cognitive, affective and behavioural responses and the processes that underlie them. Therefore, to convey a genuine experience to consumers, two field experiments with a one-factor (advertising type: creative vs. traditional) between-subjects design were conducted within a supermarket context. Results showed that creative (vs. traditional) media ads not only improve consumers’ affective and behavioural responses but also consumers’ cognitive responses. Even though no mediations were found through perceived surprise or perceived persuasive intent, results do provide evidence for the notion that perceived humor and perceived value are the underlying mechanisms through which affective and behavioural responses to creative media advertising can be explained.     

Call for papers: Special issue on Latin America

In green advertising research, images of pleasant nature scenery have been classified as vague, unspecific and possibly ineffective green claims, as opposed to substantive, informational claims. In this study, the concept of virtual nature experiences is introduced to point out a perceptual mechanism through which the association of a brand with nature imagery may indeed lead to significant advertising effects. Consumers’ exposure to specific nature imagery in green brand communications may lead to pleasant feelings analogous to those experienced in ‘real’ nature. If adequately conditioned, these ‘virtual nature experiences’ may enhance the consumer’s attitude towards a given brand. The perceptual and attitudinal effects of substantive green claims and nature imagery are analysed in the scope of an experimental study. The field study consisted of a national survey, allowing for the relative statistical representativeness of the sample. Results of the study confirm significant perceptual and attitudinal effects of both informational claims and virtual nature experiences. The latter are identified as a distinct perceptual dimension of green brand associations, and turn out to wield additional positive influences on the consumer’s attitude towards the brand.     

Valuing New Varieties: Trade-Offs between Growers and End-Users in Wheat

Variety release decisions usually involve trade-offs between growers and end-users as well as substantial uncertainties about agronomic, quality, and economic variables. In this paper, methodologies were developed to value grower and end-user characteristics for individual wheat varieties and to evaluate trade-offs. The models capture effects of variability in agronomic, quality, and economic variables and were applied to experimental and hypothetical varieties. Results indicate two experimental varieties provide improvements in grower and end-use value over most of the incumbents. Though applied to a specific grain and region, the approach is applicable to other grains and oilseeds that have multiple agronomic and quality attributes.     

Visualizing the Self: Exploring the Potential Benefits and Drawbacks for New Product Evaluation

This study examines the role of visual processing in new product evaluation. The primary goal of this research was to provide insights into the role of visualization content (self‐related versus others‐related images) in product evaluation as it differentially relates to two separate types of products—incremental products and really new products. This study's results show that for incremental products, visualizing with self‐related images (versus others‐related images) led to higher evaluations. In this context, it seems that familiarity with the product category from which an incremental product extension is generated enables individuals to produce images easily where they can see themselves using the new product. In some sense, self‐related visualization might be thought of as a form of surrogate experience with the new product. The ability to self‐reference during evaluation provides positive benefits to the evaluation outcome. Contrasting this result, this study's findings showed that for really new product introductions the previously identified benefits of self‐visualization were not realized. Confirming this study's prediction, the advantage of self‐visualization over others‐related visualization was lost. This is attributed to consumer difficulty in visualizing the full application of a really new product to their current consumption behavior. Of further interest, this study's results also showed that in the case of really new products others‐related visualization facilitated higher evaluations than self‐visualization. The mediating role of visualization‐based evaluation difficulty provides further explanation for these findings. Self‐related images are shown to be difficult to imagine in a really new product context, whereas imagining others utilizing the really new product is shown to be significantly easier. Perhaps individuals can see the benefits and better understand the novel applications of a really new product when visually simulating someone else using it but have more trouble imagining the applicability of the innovation in their own life. These findings are integrated into a discussion of the managerial implications and the potential avenues for future research in the area.     

The impact of a sales team’s perceived entitativity on customer satisfaction

This research investigates the impact of a sales team’s entitativity—the extent to which a group of individuals is perceived as a unified single entity—on customer satisfaction. Four studies demonstrate that a sales team entitativity cue, either based on appearance (e.g., wearing the same outfit) or based on behavior (e.g., explicit coordination in service), leads to heightened perceptions of service quality, which subsequently enhances customer satisfaction. Further, these two entitativity cues are shown to have interactive effects. Specifically, when both cues indicate high entitativity, customer satisfaction with the sales team exceeds the average evaluation of individual team members. However, if at least one cue suggests low entitativity (e.g., different outfits or no explicit coordination), the positive influence of the entitativity cue is undermined and customer satisfaction with the team’s service is mitigated. Product category is identified as an important moderator of the main effect.     

A Code of Ethics for Social Marketing? Bridging Procedural Ethics and Ethics-in-Practice

We consider the role of codes of ethics in social marketing, distinguishing between “procedural ethics” and “ethics-in-practice” (after Guillemin & Gillam, 2004). We review foundations for “procedural ethics”—formal systems for ethical oversight—including moral and political philosophy, existing codes of ethics, and previous proposals for codes of ethics for social marketing. We then discuss “ethics-in-practice,” the ethical dimensions of the small moments that comprise everyday life. We connect this idea to Aristotle’s concept of phronesis, the practical wisdom to respond in just the right way to particular situations. Supporting the ethical practice of social marketing will require both procedural ethics and ethics-in-practice, iteratively related to one another. We conclude with three tasks for the profession: (1) develop and apply norms, standards, and sanctions; (2) develop formal, procedural ethics, in a just way (e.g., codes of ethics); and (3) support social marketers to develop ethics-in-practice, or phronesis.     

Applying Tax Policy Models in Country Economic Work: Bangladesh, China, and India

Three examples from the World Bank's country economic work showhow models can complement general principles in guiding thedesign of a tax reform package. The Bangladesh model highlightsthe sensitivity of judgments about desirable tax bases to assumptionsabout the labor market and substitutability in production. TheChina model quantifies the losses from recommending a singlerate value added tax when prices are controlled and public capitalis freely provided to state enterprises. The India model showswhat fiscal adjustment is consistent with tariff reductionsundertaken to promote an outward-oriented development strategy.Most of the costs of constructing tax policy models are relatedto the need to establish a consistent data set and to calibratethe model in a way that allows its behavior to be consistentwith what good economic analysis would lead one to expect.