Anticipatory Savoring and Consumption: Just Thinking about That First Bite of Chocolate Fills You Up Faster

Two laboratory studies examine how consumers adjust their eating to the size of the portion they expect to receive. Participants who knew in advance that they would receive six pieces of chocolate waited less time before eating each piece and ate more pieces than participants who expected to receive only two pieces when they started, even though both groups were ultimately offered six pieces. In the second study, natural variance in how long participants waited before tasting the chocolates was negatively related to how many additional pieces they thought they could eat after finishing the last piece. These results suggest that increasing the interval prior to taking the first bite of a piece of chocolate reduced overall consumption. When consumers focus their attention on eating, the interval before taking the first bite captures anticipatory savoring—psychologically looking forward to the actual consumption experience.     

Attribute Specific Impacts of Stated Non‐Attendance in Choice Experiments

In this paper, we generalise existing approaches to the treatment of stated attribute non‐attendance data in discrete choice experiments by allowing attribute specific impacts. We implement this approach by employing an extended hierarchical Bayes logit model specification. To illustrate this approach, we consider data collected to examine Indian consumers’ preferences for traditional aromatic rice varieties. Our results regarding stated attribute non‐attendance reveal that, our new approach shrinks marginal utilities of non‐attenders substantially compared to stated attenders, with significant differences in the shrinkage between some of the attributes. In addition, our results reveal the way in which non‐attendance of attributes interact with each other and the impact that this has on the distribution of willingness to pay estimates.     

Building the sustainable iMuseum: is the virtual museum leaving our museums virtually empty?

This case study offers a combination of content analysis of secondary sources web sites and annual reports to profile online behaviour and practice for the museum sector. Using case analysis of 12 international and domestic museums, the role of services and the online interfaces offered in a museum context are presented. The arts and cultural sector sustaining museums has long been an essential part of enriching and informing the community of historical, scientific and artistic pleasures. The reduction in museum budgets, and the implementation of performance measures based on customer satisfaction management, museums face increasing pressure to attract wider audiences. This requires an understanding of visitor expectations, and experiences, and the identification of opportunities such as online channels to improve awareness and visitation. This case through the collation of data and analysis of 12 museums will present an overall view of current operations of museums internationally and there approach to online channels. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Resilience Agenda in Neoliberalising Cambodia

The paper provides a critical assessment of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience strategies in Cambodia with reference to resilience. The paper argues that resilience is a part of and correlated to the localised practices of a specific form of neoliberalisation in and of Cambodia. As a result, disaster risk strategy is a potential means of managed neoliberal state-led intervention capacity in sub-regions to pre-empt and manage particular forms of land and social conflict. The paper links current state-led resilience policy to the Cambodian government’s increasing interest in ensuring land for infrastructure connectivity as its national development plan in the context of regional economic integration.     

Consumer law and structures of thought: A comment

Conclusion Consumer law seems to be a particularly post-modern form of law. It is pluralistic, its boundaries are more a matter of academic fiat than representing natural borders, it is neither obviously a prop for thestatus quo nor an instrument of social transformation, and it is, as Bourgoignie (1991) argues, resistant to grand narratives. It does not fit neatly into traditional visions of class politics but does raise questions of class, gender, and race (see further Ramsay, 1991b). Recent theoretical work has shown greater introspection concerning the assumptions and nature of consumer law and the competing political visions of consumer protection embedded in consumer law and protection. It is important that this theoretical dialogue continue as consumerism, consumer protection, and consumer law migrate to countries of the South and Eastern Europe. If, as Frances Fukuyama (1992) argues, the consumer society is the end of history, then it suggests that research on the consumer society as a cultural, economic, political, and social form and the role of law in this society is an important theoretical problematic.The author would like to thank Reuben Hasson, Norbert Reich, David Vaver, and Toni Williams for comments on an earlier draft.     

Farmer Compensation and its Consequences for Environmental Benefit Provision in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme

The Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ESS) provides payments to farmers for the provision of environmental services based on forgone agricultural income. Consequently, farmers with a relatively low opportunity cost of agricultural land will be particularly attracted to apply for entry into the ESS within a given payment region. This article tests whether there exists a significant relationship between Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Scheme entry and agricultural yields. Empirically, HLS participation is found to be negatively related to cereal yields at the farm level. This could be associated with ‘auspicious selection’ of land into the Scheme, with greater ‘value for money’ provided by the higher entry of land with lower agricultural forgone income but higher environmental benefit within the region.     

Traffic lights and food choice: A choice experiment examining the relationship between nutritional food labels and price

In this paper we investigate how consumers respond to the UK nutritional food label Traffic Light System (TLS). Employing a choice experiment (CE) we find that consumers appear to behave in a manner consistent with our expectations regarding the impact of the TLS. We identify a strong preference on the part of respondents to avoid a basket of goods containing a mix of foods with any “Red” lights. In addition, we find that consumers have a hierarchy of importance in terms of perception of the various nutrients examined and there are clear behavioural differences associated with particular socio-economic characteristics confirming early research on the use of nutrition labels. Overall our results indicate significant heterogeneity in the attitudes and responses of consumers to the TLS nutritional food labels within and across socio-economic strata.     

Patents, Thickets and the Financing of Early-Stage Firms: Evidence from the Software Industry

Legal changes in the patentability of software since the mid 1990s have resulted in a substantial increase in the number of patents on software inventions. We focus here on the impact of transactions costs associated with patent "thickets" on new entrants' interactions with the capital markets. Using data on the financing of entrants into 27 narrowly defined software markets, we show that start-up software companies operating in markets characterized by denser patent thickets saw their initial acquisition of VC funding delayed relative to firms in markets less affected by patents after the mid 1990s. The relationship between patent thickets and subsequent financing activity such as IPO or acquisition is more complex, but there is weak evidence that firms without patents became less likely to go public if they operated in a market characterized by patent thickets. Firms with patents are more likely to be funded or experience a liquidity event. However, the application for a patent appears to matter more than its grant.     

Steps to Space; opportunities for astrotourism

Recent years have seen the emergence of the astrotourist following the $20 million trip by Dennis Tito to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001. Although this is the preserve of the hyper-elite, within the next decade it is likely that there will be more affordable opportunities on sub-orbital reusable vehicles pioneered by the Virgin group. This paper offers an overview of recent developments in the space tourism industry as a whole and offers definitions for the new sector of astrotourism. Drawing on motivational theory, the study examines the motivations and experiences that astrotourists have demonstrated through interviews reported through the media. However, parallels are demonstrated with the existing terrestrial space tourism industry, which has been largely ignored to date. Consequently the paper also examines the management of these sites and the challenges this niche presents. There is also evidence of a travel career being marketed by space tourism travel agents, dubbed by one interviewee as ‘steps to space’. This builds on potential tourists' existing aspirations for space experiences allied to these companies' credentials in adventure tourism. Whilst sharing parallels to the work of Pearce (1982), the focus of this career on one particular theme is of interest. This theoretical bridging is useful for observing tourism organisations at work, and furthermore uncovers the massive potential that developments in space tourism present for the tourism industry as a whole.     

Measuring the impact of R&;D on Productivity from a Econometric Time Series Perspective

In this paper we argue that the standard sequential reduction approach to modelling dynamic relationships may be sub-optimal when long lag lengths are required and especially when the intermediate lags may be less important. A flexible model search approach is adopted using the insights of Bayesian Model probabilities, and new information criteria based on forecasting performance. This approach is facilitated by exploiting Genetic Algorithms. Using data on U.K. and U.S. agriculture the bivariate time series relationship between R&D expenditure and productivity is analysed. Long lags are found in the relationship between R&D expenditures and productivity in the U.K. and in the U.S. which remain undiscovered when using the orthodox approach. This finding is of particular importance in the debate on the optimal level of public R&D funding.JEL Classification: C22, C51, Q16