Einzelbesprechungen

Ohne ZusammenfassungÜbersetzt von Hans Fried, Wien.     

Einzelbesprechungen

Ohne ZusammenfassungÜbersetzt von Gerhard Tintner, WienÜbersetzt von Ragnar Nurkse, z. Zt. Wienaus dem Italienischen übersetzt von Dr. Hans Fried, WienÜbersetzt von Paul Brüll, Wien.Aus dem Italienischen übersetzt von Dr. Hans Fried.     

A difference in informational influences: Services vs. goods

The literature provides little insight as to whether a difference exists between the marketing of services and goods. Most textbooks do not address the issue of possible differences. Their neglect of the topic would seem to indicate a working hypothesis that services and goods do not differ in any meaningful way. Authors of articles and books that do address the service issue typically dwell on implied differences between goods and services. Wyckham (1975) has concluded that “in terms of marketing, services are not different from products (goods).” Wyckham’ argument and most of the other services literature, however, is non-empirical and provides little guidance as to whether a difference between goods and servicesactually exists.     

Optimal harvest age considering multiple carbon pools – A comment

In two recent papers, Asante and Armstrong (2012) and Asante et al. (2011) considered the question of optimal harvest ages. They found that the larger are the initial pools of dead organic matter (DOM) and wood products, the shorter is the optimal rotation period. In this note, it is found that this conclusion follows from the fact that the authors ignored all release of carbon from decomposition of DOM and wood products after the time of the first harvest. When this is corrected for, the sizes of the initial stocks of DOM and wood products do not influence the optimal rotation period. Moreover, in contrast to the conclusions in the two mentioned papers, our numerical analysis indicates that inclusion of DOM in the model leads to longer, not shorter, rotation periods.     

The Effects of Humor on Attention in Magazine Advertising

Abstract

It was the objective of this investigation to determine whether humor in advertising heightens attention levels and whether the potential heightening of attention is moderated by audience confounds. The study utilized Starch readership scores obtained for humorous liquor ads which appeared in magazine issues surveyed by Starch from 1976–1979.

The results indicate that humorous ads tended to out perform magazine ad norms and that these effects are moderated by gender and racial audience composition differences.     

Consumer Valuation of Food Quality and Food Safety Attributes in Vietnam

Food systems in developing countries are currently undergoing a profound transformation toward high-value products. Appropriate policies are needed to guide this transformation, presupposing good understanding of consumer preferences. We analyze consumers' valuation of different vegetable attributes in metropolitan areas of Vietnam, using contingent valuation techniques and a mediation framework for two specific examples. Consumers are willing to pay an average price premium of 60% for Chinese mustard that is free of chemical residues and of 19% for different convenience attributes of potatoes. Income levels and media have positive impacts on the willingness to pay, partly mediated through consumer perceptions.     

Understanding responses to comedic advertising aggression: the role of vividness and gender identity

As the use of comedic aggression in advertising has become more frequent, questions about the boundary conditions of its effectiveness become more important. Issues related to the vividness of the aggression, unique audience responses, and legitimacy of the aggression are examined here as potential influences on the impact of comedic advertising aggression. Two experiments are reported that explore how reactions to comedic advertising aggression are influenced by components of vividness (concreteness – aggressive intensity, emotional interest – psychological distance), the audience's gender identity, and whether the aggression was provoked and justified. Feminine identity individuals in close psychological situations react quite negatively to advertising using the highest level of comedic aggression while masculine identity individuals actually prefer the most vivid aggression in some conditions. The response patterns become different for feminine and masculine identity individuals when the aggression is unprovoked and therefore less justified. The results provide guidance about the limits of using comedic advertising aggression.     

Selective Acceptance and Inefficiency in a Two-Issue Complete Information Bargaining Game

This paper explores the effects of a “selective acceptance” rule on the outcome of two-issue negotiations. The alternating-offer game introduced here allows for the possibility that settlement may be reached on one issue while negotiation continues about the other. This model captures features of laws that are generally believed to increase efficiency. The analysis shows that if one issue is indivisible, there are inefficient subgame perfect equilibria with no Pareto-improving alternative equilibria. With opposing valuations, rapid communication guarantees inefficiency. These are unique examples of this strong form of inefficiency in an alternating-offer bargaining game with complete (and perfect) information. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C72, J30.     

Gifts: intertwining market and moral economies and the rise of store bought gifts

Gifts are a major part of both economic and social life. This intertwined relationship between the market and moral economies has long been unsettling to those concerned about rationalized marketplace meanings contaminating and eroding the sacred social role of gift giving. Consumer researchers have analysed the important relationship work done through gift giving in the moral economy and the ways that the marketplace facilitates such work (or not). However, little has explored when, how, and why a store bought gift, rather than a homemade one, actually became acceptable. This article uses three case studies from the early to mid-1800s to trace the rise of the store bought gift in the American marketplace. It highlights how the sociocultural context, marketing innovations, retailers, and meanings surrounding gifting all helped to ensconce gift giving as both a central component in the contemporary marketplace and a tool for symbolic communication in social life.