Hear nothing,do nothing: The role of word of mouth in the decision-making of older consumers

Abstract

In some product categories, older consumers (aged 65+) tend to be more brand loyal, have smaller consideration sets and defer purchase more than younger consumers. This conservative behaviour may arise, in part, because older people are more socially isolated and thus receive less social influence relating to product options. In this multi-study research, the volume of word of mouth (WOM) is used as an indicator of social influence. The WOM received by men and women falls substantially beyond age 65, indicating that a deficit in advice may be part of the explanation for conservative decision-making. To test this proposition, the duration of customer tenure of the current brand (how long the respondent has been a customer) is used as a measure of purchase deferral and, as predicted, tenure is longer when less WOM is received. This evidence indicates that some older consumers experience a degree of social isolation, which affects their decision-making. In marketing and social policy, there is a need to promote procedures, technologies and institutions that help older people to connect with others.     

Does the use of imported intermediates increase productivity? Plant-level evidence

This paper examines whether importing intermediate goods improves plant performance. While addressing the issue of simultaneous productivity shocks and decisions to import intermediates, we estimate the impact foreign intermediates have on plants' productivity using plant-level Chilean manufacturing panel data. Across different estimators, we find evidence that becoming an importer of foreign intermediates improves productivity.     

考虑道路风险的应急物流设施选址问题研究

应急物流设施选址是应急管理中备受关注的研究方向。因选址决策是一个多目标决策问题,故应用数据包络分析方法具有合理性和优越性。文中将路径超期风险和通行能力加入选址决策中,构建了基于DEA交叉效率的选址模型,最后通过一个算例应用了文中的方法,说明了其可行性。     

基于数字化变电站的电力设备故障诊断研究

现今数字化变电站中的电力设备发挥着重要的作用。随着现今社会经济和科学技术的飞速发展,人们的生活有了很大程度的提高,同时人们对用电也提出了更高的要求。现今电力系统为了满足人们的需求,开始逐渐向自动化发展,都是为了能够满足人们在生产和生活中对电力的要求。电力系统因此在运行过程中会随着新技术和设备的运用,产生更多的新问题,因此现今对电力设备故障的深入研究具有十分重要的意义。     

The influence of relation-based and rule-based regulations on hiring decisions in the Australian and Hong Kong Chinese cultural contexts

Investigation of the cultural factors that may influence the employment decisions of managers is of increasing importance in the global business environment. The purpose of this research is to examine whether particularistic ties based on friendship influence hiring practices in relation-based (Hong Kong Chinese) and rule-based (Australian) cultural contexts. Three studies were conducted to examine this research question. Results indicate that friendship-based particularistic ties, specifically guanxi and mateship, can influence hiring decisions in both relation- and rule-based cultural contexts. The results of the studies have implications for human resource managers with regards to staffing organizations operating in different cultural contexts.     

Different strokes for different folks: A method to accommodate decision -making heterogeneity

Consumer decision making is complex and no single perspective offers a complete theory of consumer decision making. While the research community acknowledges that there is heterogeneity, homogenous choice models dominate consumer decision research. This paper provides insights from one method that was designed to accommodate decision -making heterogeneity. Computer process tracing methods can be used to observe different consumer decisions in one product category to understand what and how people choose. More than two-hundred and fifty decisions were observed in this research. Consumers were asked to select one of nine air conditioner alternatives described with six salient attributes. The research findings clearly reveal consumer differences. Specifically, the attributes and decision types used differed resulting in different product choices. This paper reveals how methods that accommodate decision -making heterogeneity can be used by retailers to inform product ranging decisions for categories.     

Beyond plain vanilla: Modeling joint product assortment and pricing decisions

This paper investigates empirically the product assortment strategies of oligopolistic firms. We develop a framework that integrates product choice and price competition in a differentiated product market. The present model significantly improves upon the reduced-form profit functions typically used in the entry and location choice literature, because the variable profits that enter the product-choice decision are derived from a structural model of demand and price competition. Given the heterogeneity in consumers’ product valuations and responses to price changes, this is a critical element in the analysis of product assortment decisions. Relative to the literature on structural demand models, our results show that incorporating endogenous product choice is essential for policy simulations and may entail very different conclusions from settings where product assortment choices are held fixed.

Conflict resolution strategies in joint purchase decisions for major household consumer durables: a cross‐cultural investigation

Previous studies on joint purchase decisions have investigated the types of conflict resolution strategies used by spouses, the usage frequency of different conflict resolution strategies, and the effects of demographics and various other variables, on the uses of conflict resolution strategies. Despite efforts to address this largely unexplored area, the role that culture plays in the use of conflict resolution strategies has been significantly ignored. Using a cross‐cultural perspective, this study addresses the gap in our understanding of the joint purchase decisions in the family by examining how husbands and wives of three ethnic groups in Britain – British Whites, Indians and African Blacks – use different conflict resolution strategies while jointly purchasing major household consumer products. The total sample comprised 583 husbands and wives of British White, Indian and African Black origin residing in London and Manchester in Britain. Our results showed that three conflict resolution strategies are used by both husbands and wives: bargaining, assertiveness and playing on an emotion. In addition, disengagement emerged as a strategy for husbands, whereas supplication emerged for wives. The study presented in this paper also provides substantial evidence of differences in the use of conflict resolution strategies by husbands and wives from the three ethnic groups, which greatly improves our knowledge on a cross‐cultural perspective of joint purchase decisions.     

组织决策的理性限制及其修正——兼谈员工参与决策对组织绩效的影响

本文分析了高效的组织绩效对组织决策的理性要求及这种理性要求的现实可行性 ,指出由于人类的理性有限及组织决策依赖于决策的制定者和实施者 ,所以组织决策也有其理性限制 ,要求完全理性的决策是不现实的。并在分析的基础上提出 ,可以通过扩大组织决策的理性边界及其可实现性来提高组织绩效。最后 ,对员工参与决策的实现提出了可操作性的建议。