An Approach for Determining Optimal Product Sampling for the Diffusion of a New Product

Free samples are an effective means for introducing and promoting a new product. However, product sampling is also expensive. As a result, careful consideration must be given to the question of how many samples should be distributed. To encourage product adoption in any target market, a company needs to determine the “right” amount of sampling. In other words, a firm needs to determine the optimal number of samples that must be available for trial by the innovators, early adopters, and other key consumers who influence the adoption rate of the new product. With too few samples, the product might not reach enough of these key consumers to generate the word-of-mouth recommendations necessary for market success. On the other hand, offering too many free samples is a waste of a company's resources. Dipak Jain, Vijay Mahajan, and Eitan Muller propose a framework for determining the optimal levels of product sampling. In addition to identifying the upper bounds for the sampling levels of both durable and nondurable products, their model identifies the optimal size of product sampling based on such parameters as the coefficients of innovation and imitation, market potential, discount rate, and gross margin. Several observations are made regarding the relationships between the optimal sampling level and the various parameters used in the model. For example, a high sampling level is not appropriate for a product with a high coefficient of innovation. On the other hand, if a product has a high coefficient of imitation, the sampling level should be high because a significant number of trials are necessary for word of mouth to be effective. High sampling levels are also indicated by a high discount rate or gross margin. For durable goods, the optimal level of neutral sampling (i.e., sampling that does not specifically target innovators and early adopters) rarely exceeds 5%, and the maximum level is 7%. The optimal target sampling level is always higher than the corresponding neutral case, but, in most cases, only marginally so. For the parameter ranges chosen in this article, the maximum level for target sampling is approximately 9%. However, it is important to note that the theoretical upper bounds are no more than benchmarks for the maximum possible level of sampling. In practical situations, the optimal level may be considerably lower than these upper bounds. In such cases, the actual values will depend on the values for the various parameters used in the model.     

Bidding Strategies and Consumer Savings in NYOP Auctions

We investigate how bidding strategies of successful bidders influence the savings they derive from a Name Your Own Price (NYOP) retailer relative to buying the same product from a retailer who posts prices. Utilizing bidding data for hotel room purchases we demonstrate that consumer savings rate depends positively on consumer decision to haggle (# bids ≥3) and on the shape of the bid function. Relative to non-hagglers (# bids ≤2), hagglers who employ a constant bid increment (i.e., a linear) strategy and a decreasing bid increment (i.e., concave) strategy save more, while those who employ an increasing bid increment strategy (i.e., convex) fare no better. A post hoc analysis also shows that hagglers place many bids in the pursuit of higher quality products, while non-hagglers save friction costs by sacrificing quality (e.g., targeting lower star hotels and adjusting the days of travel).     

BANK REGULATIONS,CAPITAL STRUCTURE,AND RISK

The joint influence of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) discount window credit and reserve requirements and FDIC's deposit insurance on a bank's optimal capital structure and asset risk choices is analyzed. The specific seniority of such regulatory claims, and potentially strong negative correlation between bank asset classes, significantly alters our traditional view of such regulatory influences on bank behavior. I find that the discount window's presence does not always prompt bank risk taking and leverage, but it does partially offset such incentives under certain conditions. In addition to its cost, a reserve requirement provides the bank with an indirect subsidy that may encourage deposit funding. Thus, regulatory reforms, such as the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991, which curtail banks' access to the discount window, may not always be appropriate to resolve a bank's incentive for moral hazard behavior. The Fed's presence needs to be more comprehensively examined to design effective regulatory policy.     

An Analysis of Causal Flow Between Social Development and Economic Growth:

This is an attempt to examine whether there is any causal relation between social development and economic growth. Social development in this context is measured by a social development index, which is a weighted composite index formed with eight social indicators of life representing various spheres of social life. Economic growth is indicated by Per Capita Real Gross Domestic Product (PCRGDP), The causality test offered by Granger has been performed for the entire sample as well as for three income groups: high, middle and low. The study also tests causality between PCRGDP and the eight social indicators of life.     

Loyalty differences in the use of internal and external reference prices

Recent findings in reference price research suggest that consumer characteristics may affect whether they use an internal reference price (IPR) or an external reference price (ERP) in price judgments. In this paper, we investigate the role of one such characteristic, brand loyalty, in the use of either type of reference price. Specifically, we employ a latent class-type approach to divide consumers on the basis of their brand loyalty into an ERP and an IRP segment. Analysis of the margarine and liquid detergents categories shows that consumers who are highly loyal to a brand are likely to use external reference prices whereas less brand-loyal consumers rely on internal reference prices. We discuss the implications of this finding and suggest directions for future research.     

Interest rate linkages within the EMS and bank credit supply

The exchange rates between the currencies of European Monetary System (EMS) members are essentially fixed between narrow bands mandated by the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). the intent of such a fixed rate regime is to enhance policy co-ordination within the EMS. However, it has instead led to German policy dominance within the system according to several recent studies. We examine the optimal dynamic credit policy of a bank in an EMS country that is subject to such German ‘dominance’. Our stochastic control model reveals conditions under which German monetary policies can influence domestic bank lending behaviour. It also suggests that banks may be able to hedge such risk exposure by increasing in size. the model offers ‘credit supply' based explanations for recent regulatory reforms in Europe towards unified banking and the attempts of several EMS members to de-link their policies from that of the German Bundesbank.     

A note on the foreign exchange market efficiency hypothesis

This paper examines the weak and strong forms of the foreign exchange market efficiency hypothesis (MEH) (as defined in the paper) using the recently available Harris-Inder null of cointegration procedure, which is powerful enough to distinguish between cointegration and near cointegration, and thus provide more robust results than conventional cointegration tests. Our results indicate that both forms of the MEH are rejected for all the major currencies of the European Economic Community (EEC). (JEL F310).     

Identification and prioritisation of access problems in rural areas

The concept of rural transportation planning has changed over the years. Nowadays a needs-based approach is generally used where the accessibility of the population to the activity centres or services is given more emphasis than the earlier concept of only the construction of motorable roads. In the process, a new approach known as Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) has been developed. One of the steps in IRAP is the quantification of villagers' accessibility levels to different activities or services. An attempt has been made in this article to improve the existing method of quantification and prioritisation by introducing the concept of the Accessibility Shortfall Index (ASI).