The Influence of Familial Reference Groups on Consumer Decisions in Different Culture Context

This paper examines the influence of familial reference groups on individuals＇ product and brand decisions for products across two kinds of culture. The study is addressed through an examination of intergenerational influences across the two different cultures. The results of the study lend support to the original approach and also provide an insight look into how reference group influence may vary depending on different culture context. The paper also provides very useful advice for marketers when they apply western marketing concepts in China market.     

The Retail Price Index and the Cost‐of‐Living Index: testing for consistency in theory and practice

This paper tests the published section‐level price and weight data used in the compilation of the UK retail price index (RPI) for consistency with the theory of the cost‐of‐living index. We use a non‐parametric test of theoretical consistency and bootstrap statistical methods to estimate the probability of consistency.     

Consumer response evaluation of a greek quality wine

This paper reports on the attempt made to identify consumer response on certified quality wine with a destination of origin (PDO) indication. Given that the current consumer interest in quality food has increased, it is important to measure their level of awareness of and overall behaviour towards these products. Emphasis is given on quality wine, produced in the region of Peza, Crete, which is labeled as a cooperative PDO product with high quality standards. A survey that utilized a self-administered questionnaire was designed to obtain the data needed for the study that took place in the Attiki region. Consumers who participated in the survey were asked to indicate (i) their general level of knowledge on PDO products and on Peza cooperative wine in particular, (ii) their attitudes towards several quality attributes, considered when buying and consuming wine, (iii) their intention to purchase a higher priced Peza cooperative wine with a quality certification and PDO indication label. The results seem to be important for all the market bodies that are involved in the supply chain of this product since they may be a guide to developing production and marketing strategies that instil consumer confidence, assure consumer satisfaction and therefore satisfy demand.     

Testing competing models of loss aversion: an adversarial collaboration

This paper reports an ‘adversarial collaboration’—a project carried out by two individuals or research groups who, having proposed conflicting hypotheses, seek to resolve their dispute. It describes an experiment which investigates whether, when individuals consider giving up money in exchange for goods, they construe money outlays as losses or as foregone gains. This issue bears on the explanation of the widely observed disparity between willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) valuations of costs and benefits, which has proved problematic for contingent valuation studies. The results of the experiment are broadly consistent with the hypothesis that money outlays are perceived as losses.     

Understanding Insurance Customer Dishonesty: Outline of a Moral-Sociological Approach

Most consumer morality studies focus on consumer immorality, i.e. different types and degrees of consumer dishonesty or deviance. This paper follows this tradition, by looking at insurance customer dishonesty. For looking at insurance customer dishonesty in a wider perspective, the paper drafts a sociology of insurance customer morality, including outlines of micro-level, meso-level and macro-level moral sociologies of insurance fraud, as well as a discussion of moral heterogeneity and a critical understanding of deviance. As a next step a few empirical rsearch questions are formulated and illustrated with data from a Norwegian-German pilot study. Johannes Brinkmann has a Ph.D. in sociology and is a professor of business ethics at the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo. Most of his recent articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Teaching Business Ethics and Business Ethics A European Review. He has also published a number of books, two of them related to business ethics (in Norwegian, 1993 and 2001). Patrick Lentz is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Marketing, Dortmund University. Paper presented at the 11th Annual International Business Ethics Conference in Chicago, October 21–23, 2004     

Consumer purchase behaviour for oysters: an empirical study in some state capital cities of Australia

Oysters represent an excellent source of major nutrients, especially proteins, vitamins and minerals. The consumption of oysters in Australia has not grown enough to match to their increased availability. This study is designed to provide information for the oyster industry to better attract more consumers to eat oysters. Six antecedent variables affecting the consumer choice of oysters: quality, safety, labelling, presentation, psychological aspects and preferred values for packaging and price, were identified by principal component factor analysis. A logistic regression approach predicts the consumer choice of oysters using these six factors and the demographic factors in the binary choice model. The outcome of the modelling predicts that the consumer choice of ‘dine in or out’ for oysters is significantly linked to age, gender, residence, labelling and preferred values, while the frequency of eating oysters annually is significantly influenced by the factors of age and preferred values. The oyster promotions such as nutritional marketing of oysters that have low cholesterol, cooking shows and special activities that target specific subsections of the consumer market are recommended in the study.     

Evaluating fair trade consumption: politics,defetishization and producer participation

This paper combines a critical review of the scholarly literature on fair trade with an analysis of data gathered during 19 months of ethnographic research conducted between 2001 and 2003 among the members of a Guatemalan fair trade coffee co‐operative and fair trade coffee roasters and advocates in the US. It explores three common claims made about fair trade consumption that: first, fair trade consumption emerges from the political choices and conscious reflexivity of Northern consumers; second, it defetishizes coffee by revealing the social and environmental conditions of the coffee production; and third, it forges equitable trade relationships between producers and consumers. While the research results demonstrate that there is some validity to each of the three claims, they also highlight two negative trends: the reinforcement of producer–consumer differences and low levels of farmer participation in fair trade networks beyond the realm of commodity production. In conclusion, the paper argues that overstating the exceptional nature of fair trade consumption weakens the market’s transformative potential. In order to nurture equitable trade partnerships fair trade must expand to accommodate a substantially higher degree of producer participation in administrative decision making and goal setting.     

Creating markets for eco‐labelling: are consumers insignificant?

The proliferation of voluntary certification and labelling schemes for environmentally and socially responsible production is often seen as driven by companies and consumer demand. Through a careful examination of the initiation and spread of such initiatives in the fishery and forestry sectors, this paper challenges a rational–economic perspective that sees the spread of nonstate governance schemes primarily as a market‐driven phenomenon. Drawing on a political consumerism perspective, the paper argues that transnational environmental group networks and their targeting of firms were key to the emergence of nonstate eco‐labelling schemes, and that most firms decided to support or participate in such schemes only after intensive environmental group pressure. The paper opposes the view that nonstate governance challenges traditional state authority, by showing that states, through public procurement policies and support, contributed to create markets for forestry and fishery labelling in many countries. Although some states have been more sceptical of fishery labelling, largely because of the way fishery resources are managed, they have come to accept it as a helpful supplement to public rules and regulations.     

Optimal delivery service strategy for Internet shopping with time-dependent consumer demand

This study attempts to optimize a delivery service strategy for Internet shopping by considering time-dependent consumer demand, demand–supply interaction and consumer socioeconomic characteristics. A nonlinear mathematical programming model is formulated for solving the optimal number and duration of service cycles for discriminating strategy by maximizing profit subject to demand–supply interaction. An example is employed to demonstrate the application of the model. Results suggest that discriminating service strategy is a better strategy in response to time-dependent consumer demand than uniform strategy. Finally, the proposed model is demonstrated to yield more profit than models that do not consider variations in consumer demand or demand–supply interaction.     

Revealing Preferences for Leisure Time from Stated Preference Data

When consumer choice is constrained by time as well as money, willingness to pay can be defined with respect to either numeraire. The two measures can be related formally within a utility-consistent model of choice subject to two constraints. Furthermore, when information is collected on both, the respondent's marginal value of time can be identified. A system of willingness to pay time and money and the marginal value of leisure time is estimated jointly in an application to California whalewatching and whale stock enhancement. The empirical approach can be applied with only minor additions to survey techniques for nonmarket valuation.