Regulatory focus as a moderator of retail shopping behaviour

This paper examines the effects of regulatory focus orientation on several aspects of consumer retail shopping behaviour such as shopping values, impulsiveness, shopping duration, repurchase intention and word-of-mouth communication. Theoretical propositions were developed banked on relevant literature. A structured questionnaire is used to collect data across several retail formats (n = 300). Statistical techniques such as MANOVA and t-test were used to analyse the data. Results reveal that promotion-focused shoppers report higher levels of hedonic shopping values, and impulsiveness, whereas prevention-focused shoppers report higher levels of utilitarian shopping values, shopping duration, repurchase intention and word-of-mouth communication. Discussion of the results and their theoretical and managerial implications, limitations of this study and its future research scopes are further discussed.     

Strategic Implications of Keeping Product Value Secret from Competitor’s Customers

Customers can sometimes learn unanticipated or hidden use value of a firm’s product whereas the non-customers remain uninformed about that extra value. A monopolist will increase its profit by informing the non-customers of its product’s hidden value. However, our analysis reveals that this may not be true when the firm faces competition in the market—the firm may actually make a higher profit if it keeps its hidden value secret from its competitor’s customers even if advertising to inform those customers is costless. This is because no advertising leads to information heterogeneity among consumers about the existence of the firm’s hidden value, which gives an incentive for both firms to continue targeting their own existing customers rather than poaching each other’s customers, alleviating price competition and increasing firms’ profits. This beneficial strategic effect of keeping some product value secret from the competitor’s customers can persist even when the firms anticipate the hidden value and compete more aggressively for customers in the early period. Our research suggests that firms can benefit from an “under-promise and over-deliver” strategy if they refrain from communicating their extra value to the competitor’s customers. Moreover, positive word of mouth about a firm’s product will not necessarily benefit the firm and can in fact make all firms worse off.     

A study on the influence of eWOM using content analysis: how do comments on value for money,product sophistication and experiential feeling affect our choices?

The influence of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has been heavily investigated in relation to online ratings. However, only a few studies examined the content of eWOM. From the perspective of the consideration sets model, consumers formulate an awareness set, a consideration set and a choice set before making a purchase. We argue that the formulation of these sets is influenced by eWOM based on its volume, valance and content relating to product attributes such as value for money, product sophistication and experiential feeling. In this study, the content of posts relating to Shure professional earphones in the online forum Mingo (www.mingo-hmw.com/forum) was captured and annotated. During the data collection period, Mingo was the sole online forum relating to professional earphones. Without much interference from other online forums, the circumstances of this study closely approximate a laboratory setting. In addition, we collected the actual sales, marketing costs, fault rates and number of retail stores selling the Shure professional earphones for 126 weeks. Our findings show that the weekly volume of posts, their relative number of positive (negative) comments, especially regarding value for money and sound quality, and those posts from the earlier week impinged strongly on weekly sales of Shure products. From the regression models, the explained variance in sales jumps from 0.236 to 0.732 due to the influence of eWOM.     

通货膨胀目标制:加拿大银行的政策实践与启示

在加拿大的通货膨胀目标制政策框架下,中央银行定期向公众宣布政策通货膨胀目标,然后根据通货膨胀预测值与政策目标之间的差距来确定调控方向;在实践中,加拿大银行通过使用利率操作区间和公告操作,从而很好地实现了对市场流动性及短期利率目标的调控,进而影响到市场主体的经济决策,并最终成功实现了实际通货膨胀率稳定地波动在中央银行的目标范围内。基于此,我国有必要借鉴加拿大银行的做法,建立一个更为简单透明的政策操作框架,以保证货币政策操作的效果。     

Word of mouth: products,conversations and consumption

While there is a rich collection of studies of consumption and identity, the role of buying practices in ordinary conversations has been largely neglected. Minor items and major purchases regularly play a key role in furnishing our talk with topics, news, jokes and formulations of what kind of people we are. This paper unpacks the idea of post-purchase conversations contained within the common phrase “word of mouth.” What happens when products are examined in ordinary talk is pursued through the close analysis of a series of conversations around a significant purchase (a mountain bike). Drawing on the work of Harvey Sacks, and conversation analysis more broadly, this paper documents how products as a topic provide not only resources for small talk, but also an opportunity to consider our identity and its transformation. In conclusion, this paper argues that the knowledge and experience that circulate outside of the actual marketplace or point of purchase are part of a domain of economics as ordinary practice.     

Examining the relationship between language divergence and word-of-mouth intentions

More than half of the countries in the world are multilingual, and more than half the world's consumers speak more than one language. Thus, bilingual consumers often receive services provided in a second or nonnative language. This article examines these consumers' word-of-mouth intentions after a service provision in a second language. Two studies show that consumers served in a second language are less likely to spread positive word of mouth. The results also reveal a negative halo effect, such that consumers served in a second language perceive the service provider as less responsive in general. Furthermore, the service provider's perceived responsiveness appears far more important for determining positive word-of-mouth intentions than other factors, such as service reliability. This study therefore contributes to the fields of service and sociolinguistics, with important implications for managers as well.     

影响长尾理论在网络营销中发挥作用的因素初探

基于统计分析得出的长尾理论在网络营销领域日益受到重视,本文从消费行为的角度探讨了影响长尾理论在网络营销中发挥作用因素,提出在网络营销中口碑控制是影响长尾理论发挥作用的核心因素。对网络营销管理有一定的借鉴意义。     

Measuring the impact of positive and negative word of mouth on brand purchase probability

Using two methods, three measures, and data covering a large number of categories, we present findings on the respondent-assessed impact of positive and negative word of mouth (PWOM, NWOM) on brand purchase probability.For familiar brands, we find that:

1. The impact of PWOM is generally greater than NWOM. The pre-WOM probability of purchase tends to be below 0.5, which gives more latitude for PWOM to increase purchase probability than for NWOM to reduce it.

2. The impact of both PWOM and NWOM is strongly related to the pre-WOM probability of purchase, the strength of expression of the WOM, and whether the WOM is about the respondent's preferred brand.

3. PWOM and NWOM appear to be similar forms of advice-giving behavior, except for their opposed effects on choice.

4. Respondents resist NWOM on brands they are very likely to choose, and resist PWOM on brands they are very unlikely to choose.

In the Discussion section, we show how our methods could be used to construct a word-of-mouth metric.     

玻璃幕墙安全隐患与预防措施研究

随着我国城市的发展,一批批高层建筑拔地而起,一座座晶莹剔透的玻璃幕墙,浑厚庄严的石材幕墙和轻巧整洁的金属幕墙临街排布,形成了城市美丽的风景线,但这美丽的建筑也会成为杀手,从天而降的玻璃砸伤行人车辆的事情也常见报端。本文针对玻璃幕墙安全隐患进行分析,从而引起同行人士的警觉与重视,减少幕墙安全隐患。