Impact of perceived value on the online purchase intention of base of the pyramid consumers

Despite the voluminous purchasing power of the consumers at the base of the pyramid (BOP), substantial research has not been carried out on their online buying behaviour. This study investigates the factors that trigger the online shopping intention of BOP consumers. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 52 BOP respondents from India. Our thematic analysis indicates four perceived benefits and five sacrifices influencing BOP consumers' perceived value for online purchases, subsequently determining their adoption behaviour. As a novel contribution to the literature, this study unfolds several unknown factors that motivate/demotivate BOP consumers to buy online using the Value-based Adoption Model (VAM). The findings of this study will help e-commerce marketers enhance BOP consumers' usage intention toward online purchases.     

Toward a method for the rapid collection of public concerns and benefits of emerging energy technologies

Abstract

The speed and scale with which new technologies emerge sometimes force decision makers to act without the benefit of thorough risk analyses and environmental and social impact analyses. Insights from interested and affected parties (IAPs) can be tapped to alert decision makers to expected risks and benefits associated with emerging technologies. One of the methodological challenges has been to identify IAPs with relevant knowledge of the emerging technology. Here we show how Facebook’s marketing tool can be employed to reach IAPs with experience and knowledge in a new energy technology and recruit them to a survey instrument. We demonstrate the approach in the context of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas in the United States. A $200 1-week Facebook ad produced a diverse sample of 379 IAPs from 36 states that identified 41 benefits and 80 risks. This knowledge can be used to steer the direction of analyses for impact assessments. Comparison to a similar study showed a surprising number of differences, suggesting that larger samples are needed.     

Modelling the predictors of young consumers' sustainable consumption intention

Sustainable consumption refers to consumers' socially and environmentally responsible consumption practices. The present study is the first to investigate possible individual, behavioural, and situational factors that predict sustainable consumption intention among young consumers in India. A survey was carried out on 325 young consumers. Structural equation modelling was applied to check the extent to which the considered variables predicted sustainable consumption. The results determined drive for environmental responsibility, subjective norm, and attitude towards sustainable consumption as key predictors of consumers' sustainable consumption intention. The paper offers a better understanding of the main predictors of consumers' sustainable consumption intention. Such understanding may enable managers to design effective marketing strategies to encourage sustainable consumption intention and behaviour.     

The SOX 404 control audit and the effectiveness of additional audit effort in lowering the risk of financial misstatements

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - We examine the effectiveness of additional audit effort in lowering the risk of financial misstatements for companies with internal control material...     

Revisiting the Purpose of Selling: Toward a Model of Responsible Selling

Selling as a profession and sales management as an organizational function have undergone major changes that were driven by the evolutionary journey of the marketing discipline. The extant value cocreation paradigm is recrafting the purpose of selling. This paper explores the conceptual development of a selling paradigm that is more responsible to its customers. Specifically, in Business-to-Business (B2B) context, the cost of any selling behavior that compromises customer interest could be of disastrous proportions. Building on the theoretical foundations of self-regulation and job demands-resources theory, this paper develops a conceptual model of responsible selling by integrating self-leadership literature with the emerging paradigm of value-based selling. The conceptual model outlines several research propositions for empirical validation and discusses its potential implications for sales managers and sales organizations.     

Development of Trust Scores in Social Media (TSM) Algorithm and Application to Advertising Practice and Research

Trust is an important factor, particularly in viral/social advertising, and computing trust scores for individual users of a social network is crucial for several applications in the advertising research and practice. However, research on trust in the advertising field has been limited, and the application of computational trust to advertising research using big data is rare. Addressing the gap in the research literature, this study proposed and empirically tested a new social media analytics method, the Trust Scores in Social Media (TSM) algorithm, for measuring individual users' trust levels in a social network. TSM proposes the concept of negatively reinforced trust scores and introduces two complementary measures of trust, trustingness, and trustworthiness. Another unique and important element in the TSM algorithm is the incorporation of trust-decision involvement to adjust trust scores depending on the level of trust-decision involvement of different networks. Using small survey data and big data from social networks, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the TSM algorithm. Various applications of the TSM algorithm to viral/social advertising research and practice are also discussed.     

Halo effect or fallen angel effect? Firm value consequences of greenhouse gas emissions and reputation for corporate social responsibility

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are perceived to have negative consequences for society at large by contributing to potential climate change and represent a potential cash drain from firms from exposure to future regulatory, abatement, and compliance costs. Beginning in 2010, US companies are required to report their GHG emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We utilize these data for 2010–2014 to examine whether the possible adverse firm value impact of these GHG emissions is alleviated or exacerbated by the firm’s reputation for corporate social responsibility. Our findings suggest that there is no halo effect, i.e., a firm’s reputation for social responsibility (as reflected in its CSR score) does not protect the firm from the adverse firm value effects of GHG emissions. Rather, our findings suggest a fallen angel effect, i.e., for any given level of GHG emissions, the higher the firm’s CSR score, the greater the adverse impact on firm value. In other words, the decline in firm value due to the adverse impact of GHG emissions is compounded by the hit to the firm’s reputation for corporate social performance. Our paper contributes to the sparse prior US literature on the firm value effects of GHG emissions. Further, by providing scholarly evidence on the existence of a fallen angel effect, our findings suggest that boards and managers of firms that provide voluntary CSR disclosures cannot afford to be complacent about their GHG emissions.     

Firm valuation, abnormal earnings, and mutual funds flow

We examine the valuation effects of overall demand for corporate equities combined with the influence of abnormal earnings and unexpected funds flow. Our results indicate that the expected and unexpected net new total flow of funds into all stock mutual funds do not by themselves have a meaningful effect on firm equity valuation. However, we find the combination of unexpected funds flow and realized abnormal earnings have significant and important valuation effects. Importantly, the valuation impact is greatest for those firms with high earnings growth potential that also operate in an environment characterized by high information asymmetry.

Undominated Nash Implementation in Bounded Mechanisms

We study implementation in undominated Nash equilibrium by bounded mechanisms. (An undominated Nash equilibrium is a Nash equilibrium in which no agent uses a weakly dominated strategy. A mechanism is bounded if every dominated strategy is dominated by some undominated strategy.) We identify necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for such implementation. These conditions are satisfied in virtually all economic environments, and are also satisfied by interesting correspondences from the social choice literature. For economic settings, we provide a particularly simple implementing mechanism for which the undominated equilibrium outcomes coincide with those obtained from the iterative elimination of weakly dominated strategies. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: 022, 025, 026.