Search

Most scientists claim that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in foods are safe for human consumption and offer societal benefits such as better nutritional content. However, many consumers remain skeptical about their safety. Against this backdrop of diverging views, the authors investigate the impact of different GMO labeling policy regimes on the products consumers choose. Guided by the literature on negativity bias, structural alignment theory, and message presentation, and based on findings from four experiments, the authors show that consumer demand for GM foods depends on the labeling regime policy makers adopt. Both absence-focused (“non-GMO”) and presence-focused (“contains GMO”) labeling regimes reduce the market share of GM foods, with the reduction being greater in the latter case. GMO labels reduce the importance consumers place on price and enhance their willingness to pay for non-GM products. Results indicate that specific label design choices policy makers implement (in the form of color and style) also affect consumer responses to GM labeling. Consumer attitudes toward GMOs moderate this effect—consumers with neutral attitudes toward GMOs are influenced most significantly by the label design.

The capabilities approach, a framework for understanding and measuring inequality, stipulates that equality is best understood as the freedom to do and be within a particular context. Homelessness has been referred to as a situation of ‘capabilities deprivation’, and the extent to which homeless services restore or enhance capabilities is of increasing interest. As part of a large, eight-country study of homelessness in Europe, we examined the extent to which adults with histories of perceived the services they receive as capabilities-enhancing. We collected data at two time points: baseline (nt1 = 565) and follow-up (nt2 = 399). Measures included perceived capabilities, choice and housing quality. Participants engaged with Housing First (HF) programmes perceived services as more capabilities-enhancing than participants engaged with treatment as usual (TAU); this relationship was mediated by consumer choice and perceived housing quality. Implications for social policy, practice and training are discussed. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Prior studies have paid little attention to the roles of online reviews of competing products on individuals’ purchase behaviors. This article contributes to the literature by unraveling the effect of competing product reviews on consumer purchase decisions. Conceptualizing competition among rival products along two dimensions of geographical space and characteristic space, we use a panel-level binary logit choice model to examine how online reviews of restaurants are related to consumers’ conversion from browsing to purchasing in the context of restaurant patronage. Our results show that a one-unit increase in average valence (volume) of spatially adjacent and feature similar alternatives reduces the odds of choosing a focal product by 77.7% (53.4%) and by 59.6%, respectively. Furthermore, we conceptualize reviewers as local peers and global peers of consumers and explore how the impact of competing product reviews can be moderated by the consumer–reviewer peer types. We find that the effect of competing product reviews along geographical and characteristic spaces is strengthened by the proportion of local peers’ reviews relative to global peers’ reviews on these competing products. These new findings on the impact of competing product reviews and the moderating role of consumer–reviewer peer types provide implications for academic research and practice.

Veblen effects and counter-effects occur when product prices signal consumer wealth. This study quantifies such effects and counter-effects through a quasiexperimental approach that addresses identification threats inherent to social interactions, unobserved supply factors, alternative social processes, unobserved consumption utility, and alternative effects of prices. The analysis capitalizes on the richness of a four-dimensional panel data set on automobile rentals to reveal that consumer sensitivity to local rankings of selling-prices of products is highly heterogeneous, often negative, and comparable in magnitude to consumer sensitivity to rental fees. Additional analyses suggest that the estimated effects of price rankings do reflect positional concerns and conspicuous consumption.

Sustainability has received widespread attention in both academia and industry, but there is still a paucity of research investigating the relationships between gender, consumer innovativeness, and clothing, as well as how they may influence sustainable practices. The overarching objective of this study is to investigate clothing expenditure, product cues (intrinsic, extrinsic and sustainable), gender (men and women) and consumer innovativeness (fashion innovators and non-innovators) in China, in order to find out how these factors may influence consumers&rsquo, choices. To address the research objective, 10 intrinsic cues, three extrinsic cues, and seven sustainable cues were used to investigate apparel consumers&rsquo, choices and preferences. A self-administered online survey consisted of eight items on sustainable commitment and behaviour, six items of fashion innovativeness adapted from the Domain-Specific Innovativeness scale, 20 items concerning product cues, and numerous demographic and behaviour-related questions. In total, 1819 usable data were collected in China, including 614 males and 1196 females. The results revealed that four out of eleven hypotheses were supported, another four were partially supported, while the remainders were not. For example, both female consumers and fashion innovators relied more on style and colour to evaluate an apparel product than fashion non-innovators and male consumers. However, men tended to rely more on the brand name and country of origin to guide their product selection and purchases than women. In terms of the influence of sustainable cues, Chinese consumers are more concerned about the social/ethical cues than environmental cues. Interestingly, women were more concerned about &ldquo, no animal skin use&rdquo, in evaluating apparel products than men. All in all, the results of this study can provide valuable information and meaningful insight for fashion designers, product developers, and marketers to develop effective communication strategies to guide potential customers in understanding a plethora of apparel values, including functionality, aesthetics, finances, altruism, and sustainability.

Objective This study examines whether greater private-sector participation in aged care can lead to better outcomes by comparing quality of care and prices of residential aged care facilities across three ownership types: government-owned, private not-for-profit and for- profit facilities. Australia, like many other countries, has been implementing market-oriented reforms aiming to promote greater consumer choice and increase the role of markets and private-sector participation in aged care. Methods Using retrospective facility-level data, the study relates several measures of quality of care and a measure of price to ownership types while controlling for facility characteristics. The data covered six financial years (2013/14–2018/19) and contained 2,900 residential aged-care facilities, capturing almost all facilities in Australia. About 55% were private not-for-profit, 30% private for-profit and 15% government-owned. Results Government-owned facilities provide higher quality of care in most quality measures and charge the lowest average price than private for-profit and not-for-profit facilities. Discussion Reforms promoting private-sector participation in aged care are unlikely to result in effective competition to drive quality up or prices down unless sources of market failure are addressed. In Australia, the lack of public reporting of quality and the complex pricing structure are key issues that prevent market forces and consumer choice from working as intended.

Nutrient profiling systems (NPS) aim to discriminate the healthfulness of foods for front-of-package labelling, warning labels, taxation, company ratings and more. Existing NPS often assess relatively few nutrients and ingredients, use inconsistent criteria across food categories and have not incorporated the newest science. Here, we developed and validated an NPS, the Food Compass, to incorporate a broader range of food characteristics, attributes and uniform scoring principles. We scored 54 attributes across 9 health-relevant domains: nutrient ratios, vitamins, minerals, food ingredients, additives, processing, specific lipids, fibre and protein, and phytochemicals. The domain scores were summed into a final Food Compass Score (FCS) ranging from 1 (least healthy) to 100 (most healthy) for all foods and beverages. Content validity was confirmed by assessing nutrients, food ingredients and other characteristics of public health concern; face validity was confirmed by assessing the FCS for 8,032 foods and beverages reported in NHANES/FNDDS 2015–16; and convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed from comparisons with the NOVA food processing classification, the Health Star Rating and the Nutri-Score. The FCS differentiated food categories and food items well, with mean ± s.d. ranging from 16.4 ± 17.7 for savoury snacks and sweet desserts to 78.6 ± 17.4 for legumes, nuts and seeds. In many food categories, the FCS provided important discrimination of specific foods and beverages as compared with NOVA, the Health Star Rating or the Nutri-Score. On the basis of demonstrated content, convergent and discriminant validity, the Food Compass provides an NPS scoring a broader range of attributes and domains than previous systems with uniform and transparent principles. This publicly available tool will help guide consumer choice, research, food policy, industry reformulations and mission-focused investment decisions. A nutrient profiling system is developed to incorporate 54 attributes across 9 domains, bringing together a broad and unique range of food characteristics and uniform scoring principles. The Food Compass presents a detailed profiling system for the healthfulness of foods.

The application of information and communications technology(ICT) in the education industry is becoming more and more extensive, and online education realized through ICT is developing in full swing. The influence of ICT on online education consumer's choice behavior is the core issue of online education industry development research. The research on the interactive path and methods of information and online education consumer choice behavior is worth exploring and revealing. This study introduces the word-of-mouth factor as a new research variable under the framework of the Rational Choice Theory model (RCT) and the structural equation method to conduct empirical research and theoretical analysis to verify the validity of the hypothesis and model. The fifth-Generation mobile communication system(5G) analyses the factors affecting online education consumer behavior choices based on the premise of ICT. Research on the path between ICT and choice behavior provides new ideas for online education consumer choice behavior research and ICT and content and provides a new scenario. This article is a cross-disciplinary research content in theory, and its innovation opens up a new path for the management of ICT research. The research results have innovative significance and value at both the theoretical and practical levels.

Introduction: choosing healthy foods is vital for every person. The means of legal regulation can be used to ensure healthy choices. The purpose of the study is to identify the main means of “smart regulation”, acceptable and effective in the field of relations with the participation of consumers. The paper uses the methods of description and interpretation; the theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. Results: taking into account the achievements of behavioral economics, it is necessary to recognize that a person is prone to irrational behavior, misjudging information, and possible risks. “Smart regulation” involves achieving the desired result in the simplest possible way, including the so-called “nudge”, which makes it easier to choose the desired behavior. Nudge tools in government regulation can be used to make choices in favor of healthy foods. The consumer protection legislation uses the methods to determine the architecture of consumer choice in favor of healthy, high-quality, safe food. The state can establish rules that require manufacturers to indicate a certain set of information on the product, and sellers – to lay out the products in such a way that the consumer’s attention is focused on healthy products. Conclusions: in relationships involving consumers, it is necessary to use “smart regulation” means to influence the choice of healthy foods. The basis for the use of such means is to bring to the attention of consumers proper and reliable information about the principles of a healthy diet, as well as about the product, its ingredients, and features. Such information can be placed in the form of product labels, which should be clear and understandable.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to cope with the business uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines how SMEs in developing economies have used mobile apps to improve their business efficiency during the pandemic. We aim to recognize effective measures and actions taken by SMEs that have turned to mobile-app-based business to improve their sustainability during the crisis. The study bridges a literature gap by extending the Theory of Consumption Values and the Theory of Planned Behavior to SMEs that incorporate mobile-app-based business. Data was collected from 343 SMEs from three Industrial Development Corporations (IDCs) in India. Using the covariance-based structural equation modeling method, we investigated the efficiency of a conceptual model of mobile-app-based business for SMEs. The results revealed that consumer choice behavior, perceived behavior control, subjective behavior control and attitude towards the mobile app all influence SMEs’ decision-making and business strategy. As such, SMEs need a powerful mobile-app-based business network to succeed in the entrepreneurial business process. Using instrumental variable analysis, we discovered that increased mobile app usage significantly improves SMEs’ long-term efficiency. The analysis provides several theoretical and managerial ramifications.

Due to the rising interest in healthy products, superfoods such as pomegranate have begun to spread widely on the international market in recent years. Identification of the consumer choice determinants is a key factor behind the success of innovative products. Nevertheless, to date, there has been no comprehensive analysis of consumers’ preferences for pomegranate. The aim of this study is to understand the characteristics of pomegranate and its derivatives that are most preferred by consumers and to identify the buyers’ profiles by performing a systematic review (SR). The results suggest that there is not equal interest in the literature in all areas of the review. Indeed, most efforts have been made in characterizing the products, whereas consumers’ profiles and their willingness to pay for the various products features have been scarcely investigated. The SR highlights that consumer preference is first correlated with taste and, in particular, with the sweetness (positively) and astringency (negatively) of the product. The red colour and uniform shape of the husk are attractive attributes for consumers, as is the juiciness of the arils. Some innovative methods of product storage, such as intermittent heating (for fruits) and the use of pectin methyl esterase (for arils), guarantee higher consumer acceptability due to the maintenance of product genuineness. Moreover, familiarity with the product seems to be the main driver influencing consumers’ purchase decisions; in addition, people who are more “future oriented” are more willing to pay for pomegranate because of the nutraceutical attributes stressed on the label.

This paper studies the strategic relationship between investment in financial literacy and seeking advice from a financial planner. While the existing literature on this topic considers financial literacy as exogenously given, we propose a simple model in which it is endogenously determined through the consumer's investment in financial literacy. Our theoretical model suggests that in this case, investment in financial literacy and financial advice-seeking are substitutes. We test this hypothesis using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances. When using the propensity score matching method to control for self-selection bias, we find a significant negative relationship between the probability of seeking advice from a financial planner and investment in financial literacy. While these findings cannot be easily explained by existing models, this paper shows that endogenizing financial literacy reconciles the results.

In 2015, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission initiated a liberalization reform in the automobile insurance industry to grant insurers more discretion in policy design, underwriting, and ratemaking. The deregulation intended to increase competition and choices for the consumer, yet there was little scientific evidence on how the insurance market responded to the reform. This article examines the effectiveness of this deregulation reform in China. Leveraging a large industry dataset of more than 7 million automobile insurance policies from 63 major automobile insurers operating in China, we study policyholders’ switching behavior among insurance providers. To better understand the heterogeneity in the impact of deregulation on market performance and consumer choice, we further analyze the switching pattern among different types of insurers according to the insurer's size, the company’s business structure, the jurisdiction’s market power, and the customer’s risk type. Overall, the empirical results suggest that the reform has met its original goal, leading to higher market competition, and more diversified consumer choices. We further confirm that the average premium dropped significantly after the reform for all three jurisdictions implementing the reform, yet the insurers’ pricing strategy was risk type dependent, i.e., the average premium for the high-risk customers increased, while the average premium for the low-risk customers decreased substantially.

Secure housing remains unattainable for many experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Research on models like housing first and consumer choice offer options for the chronically homeless, ...

The effect of advertising on the recipient depends on several different factors, such as the type of product, the nature of the target group, or the value of the decision for the consumer. The effectiveness of achieving the desired goals can be well analyzed by applying modern research techniques, such as cognitive neuroscience techniques. Advertising is the field of marketing that benefits most from neuromarketing techniques, as consumers' buying decisions are made from the heart and justified by reason, as consumers are daily exposed to a vast amount of millions of unfiltered information (in the form of advertisements, products, brands, images, colors, and sounds). Through all of their senses, most of the input goes unnoticed, since humans are able to process a small portion of it, and it is assumed that it has a profound effect on consumer behavior regarding how they represent, attend, and perceive the incoming information. The main question is what do consumers direct their attention to (That is, what are they focusing on?)? Once they are exposed to many quickly selected alternatives (such as brands, communications, etc.), which is a mechanism for selecting information that is ranked in order of priority over other available information, a person needs to be aware that they are paying attention to something, and given that the components Aesthetics are a prominent part of advertisements, logos, and product designs. They are components that the brain processes in the form of visual stimuli and are broken down by the brain into its component elements such as shapes and colors, and for this reason, the basic brain mechanisms of attention and visual processing are the main point in linking superior cognitive functions to The success of the "advertisement." From an economic and marketing perspective, the goal of a neuroscience approach is to gain a better understanding of how (established) brands' mass consumer advertising affects branding systems themselves. From a neuroscience perspective, the overall goal is to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the influence of stimuli and perception on memory and the neural correlates of choice and decision-making. Consumer choice is like a complex chain of brain activities. From a behavioral point of view, high-probability choices are faster than those without They can be predicted, and this can be explained by assuming that if there are more options, and they are all difficult, the cortical activities are more complex than the activity that would occur in the easier-to-make choices. The reasons for choosing the research come due to the fact that the field of neuromarketing is a newly emerging specialized field in the field of marketing and advertising, and consequently there are fewer references in it, it is a controversial field that uses medical technologies to build successful marketing campaigns, and its study and understanding may be a reason for understanding the rationale for how consumers make purchasing decisions and their responses to stimuli. Marketing in order to apply these lessons in developing marketing and advertising strategies; The problem with the research is how can neuroscience help companies improve and develop their marketing and communication strategies? Is neuromarketing manipulating the real needs and desires of consumers to suit the needs, desires and interests of marketers to create more efficient and effective marketing and advertising campaigns and strategies? What is the added value of neuroscience techniques in marketing and advertising? The importance of research came in analyzing and studying neuromarketing, and its effectiveness in identifying consumer feelings and emotions, and activating them by drawing a map of relationships between them, so that it becomes a new and effective tool that helps companies improve marketing and communication strategies. Obtaining it through traditional marketing methods such as the needs and desires of some consumers whose desires, such as children and people with special needs, are difficult to determine; The research also aims to shed light on the concept of neural shopping as a modern field in the field of marketing and advertising that helps build a successful advertising strategy and provides a general and comprehensive framework for neuro-shopping to be a reference for researchers and those interested in the field of marketing. It also emphasizes the importance of studying the human brain and individual differences in thinking among consumers to build a strategy. Marketing and advertising that fulfill their desires and needs in a more effective way. The research follows a descriptive and analytical approach, based on studying and comparing the data and information necessary for the research problem, its organization and analysis, to extract the basic features of neuromarketing, and its importance in the field of marketing and advertising

Development of sharing economy creates new challenges and opens unprecedented business opportunities. In this economic environment, industrial enterprises can expand their direct selling strategies with the new business model “product as a service”. This option is the result of a shift in consumer preferences among clients of industrial enterprises. The development of the consumer choice model applied to sharing economy is a topical agenda, perhaps now more than ever. Such a model, if available, would help predict multiple scenarios of consumer behaviour and prepare the manufacturing companies for better interaction with their target market. This article makes an attempt to offer a consumer choice model in sharing economy, based on 4 types of possible consumer behaviour. The results of the article serve as a foundation of multi-agent modelling and quantitative assessment of abstract situations in the business-to-consumer market.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Retail crowding changes the composition of the shopping basket. • We use a unique large-scale field dataset on 15,000+ shopping trips. • Perceived crowding positively relates to the share of affect-rich (hedonic) products bought. • Perceived crowding positively relates to the share of national brands bought., Using data from a large-scale field study, we show that (perceptions of) crowding change(s) the composition of a consumer's shopping basket. Specifically, as shoppers experience more crowding, their shopping basket contains (a) relatively more affect-rich (“hedonic”) products, and (b) relatively more national brands. We offer a plausible dual-process explanation for this phenomenon: Crowding induced distraction limits cognitive capacity, increasing the relative impact of affective responses in purchase decisions. As we are the first to show that level of crowding relates to what shoppers buy (at both product and brand level), the implications of these effects for retailers are discussed.

Efforts to improve the efficiency of the US health-care system involve both provider payment reform and efforts to give consumers the information they need to choose efficient providers and...

BA replication project HS2021 UniBe

The paper considers a discrete continuous model where consumers choose quality of the product they buy as well as its usage. The product has two quality dimensions, intrinsic quality and environmental quality, that are in conflict with each other. It analyzes a two-stage game in a vertically differentiated duopoly market, where firms choose intrinsic quality in the first stage, and compete in prices in the second stage. It examines the effects of green network, and environmental regulation in the form of an emission tax on equilibrium qualities, market share, and total emissions. It shows that while both green network effect and environmental regulation, individually, improve the overall environmental quality, the effect is stronger when the tax is imposed in the presence of green network effect. Though an increase in green network effect reduces environmental quality of both firms, the market share of the cleaner firm rises at the expense of the other firm, resulting in an overall improvement of the environment. In the presence of green network effect, an emission tax improves environmental quality of both firms with market shares unaltered, thereby resulting in a reduction in total emissions. The green network effect enhances the effect of an emission tax. We also find that the environmental friendly firm benefits from the green network effect. The optimal tax is increasing in the network effect.

Authorities regulate online transactions to protect consumers from unintended negative consequences. Regulatory cues (e.g. certifications) enable consumers to identify formally approved online gamb...

Purpose As part of their inspection of care homes in England, the statutory inspector (the Care Quality Commission [CQC]) makes a judgement on the quality of the home’s leadership. Their view is critical as it is intended to inform consumer choice and because the statutory nature of inspection means these views hold considerable authority. The purpose of this paper is to look at the content of a selection of reports and seek to determine what the CQC understands by the concept of “good leadership”. Design/methodology/approach A purposive sample of recent CQC inspection reports was selected and subjected to a qualitative content analysis. Inspections are structured around five main questions. The resulting themes describe areas of focus within the section of reports that feature the question “Are they well-led?”. Findings Inspection reports were found to focus on four main themes: safety and quality of care; day-to-day management of staff; governance and training in the home; and integration and partnership working. In the discussion section, the authors reflect on these themes and suggest that the CQC’s view of leadership is rather limited. In particular, while an emphasis is placed within the literature and policy on the importance of leadership in delivering change and quality improvement, little attention is paid to this within the leadership section of inspection reports. Research limitations/implications The authors’ research is based on a small-scale sample of inspection reports; nevertheless, it suggests a number of avenues for further research into the way in which leadership and management capabilities are developed and monitored in the sector. Originality/value The analysis in this report offers a view of how the inspection regime implements its own guidance and how it assesses leadership. The reports, as public-facing documents, are artefacts of the inspection regime and critical not just as evidence of the practice of inspection but as influence on care home operations and the choices of care home residents and their families.

Based on an analysis of a Housing First program this study explores the principle of ‘consumer choice’. Housing First is a model aimed at rapidly ending experiences of housing loss. Based on interv...

Although extant literature has argued for both positive and negative effects of product line length on choice, i.e. a “dual impact,” such a possibility has not been empirically investigated. This is the first study to address this issue, using a multiple discrete choice model for horizontally differentiated goods. The authors argue that the dual impact of product line length is due to competing effects of the two constituent dimensions of product line structure: a positive effect of product line width (total number of product configurations offered) and a negative effect of average line depth (average number of SKUs per product configuration). They also examine the moderating role of choice diversification propensity manifested in multiple discreteness. An empirical application in the potato chip market confirms the expectations regarding the competing effects of the two product line dimensions and hence the dual impact of product line length. Furthermore, the negative effect of average line depth is found to be more pronounced for households with higher choice diversification propensity. These findings are not only novel but also meaningful since simulations show that the corresponding effects influence product line management decisions and new product design.

This article examines current e-Commerce platforms market. The subject of the research is the processes of market adaptation to the new conditions of digitalization and future development trends. The scope and structural aspects of digitalization of consumer markets, the new role, and prospects for the development of digital e-Commerce platforms have determined the purpose of this study. Methodology and approach. To understand and evaluate the development, scope and structure of e-commerce markets in Russia in the context of the pandemic shock, we use methods of statistical analysis of the information collected by various Internet services. The calculations were carried out using data from Internet traffic analytics on digital statistical information resources. Findings. The study shows that digital technologies create new mechanisms of consumer choice and modify the principles of competition. In this new reality, changes in the markets structure are already under way. As a result, there are incentives to consolidate e-Commerce platforms which can lead not only to positive but also to negative economic effects, for example, for small and medium-sized businesses, and will require the attention of the regulator to ensure the protection of their economic interests. This question should be the subject of further scientific research.

We study the effect of expert reviews on consumer choice, focusing on the movie industry. Specifically, we estimate the impact of a popular movie review aggregator – Rotten Tomatoes (RT) – on box o...

The Apple App Store is the only channel through which app developers may distribute their apps on iOS. First launched in 2008, the App Store has evolved into a highly profitable marketplace, with overall consumer spend exceeding $ 50 billion in 2019. However, concerns are increasingly expressed on both sides of the Atlantic that various practices of Apple with regard to the App Store may breach competition law. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether this is indeed the case and, if so, how these concerns can be addressed. With these aims in mind, the paper first introduces the reader to the app ecosystem and the Apple App Store, with a focus on the controversial 30% commission charged for in-app purchases. After engaging critically with various public statements of Apple discussing the services that the 30% commission aims to cover, the paper concludes that the 30% commission is charged for payment processing and related services and not, as Apple asserts, for distribution, since in that case it would be charged on all apps distributed on the App Store and not only on apps delivering “digital goods and services”. The paper then critically reviews several practices of Apple that appear to be at odds with competition law and in particular Article 102 TFEU. We first discuss the issue of market definition and dominance with regard to the App Store. We find that Apple is a monopolist in the market for app distribution on iOS, as it is not subject to any meaningful competitive constraint from alternative distribution channels, such as Android app stores or the web. The result is that Apple is the gateway through which app developers have to go in order to reach the valuable audience of iOS users. This bottleneck position affords Apple the power to engage in several prima facie anti-competitive practices. First, Apple exploits app developers by charging excessive fees for the services it provides, applying its guidelines in a capricious and discriminatory manner, and depriving them of the user data they need to improve the quality of their services and user experience. Second, based on four case studies, the paper illustrates how Apple may use its control of the App Store or iOS to engage in exclusionary behaviour to the detriment of rival apps. Third, the paper shows that Apple may have also engaged in discriminatory practices by treating some app developers more favourably. These practices should be investigated by competition authorities, as they are likely to result in considerable consumer harm, be it in the form of higher app prices, worse user experience or reduced consumer choice. The paper finally proposes a combination of concrete remedies that would address the competition concerns identified.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the salient effects of product evaluative cues from a cross-national perspective. A web-based survey consisted of eight measuring items of environmental commitment and behaviour, 20 items of product cues, and demographic and behavioural questions were employed. A total of 321 and 309 usable surveys were collected from Canada and India, respectively. The results revealed that Canadian and Indian consumers were more concerned about psychic/aesthetic and physical/functional cues than extrinsic and sustainable cues. In particular, fit and comfort were perceived as the two most important evaluative criteria by both samples. Indian consumers relied more heavily on ‘no child labour’ and ‘no animal skin usage’ cues to evaluate apparel products than their Canadian counterparts. The findings underpin several implications, including aesthetic longevity, versatility, durability, and affordability of clothing, as well as transparency on sustainable production and practices.

The study aims to investigate the determinants that influence consumer choice of retail formats for different grocery shopping tasks. Total customer value is decomposed into the dimensions posited ...

In today’s digital age, with the aid of the internet and data mining, many firms use vertically differentiated product bundling to influence demand to match up with inventory status, especially in industries with short product life cycles. Despite this practice, there is little understanding on how exactly the inventory dynamics impact the bundling strategy, and, in turn, how the bundling strategy affects the firm's inventory decisions. To fill this gap, we present a dynamic model to analyze the optimal joint replenishment, pricing, and bundling decisions over time. A key enabler of our analysis is a novel demand model that transfers the discrete bundling decision and the corresponding pricing decision into a continuous market share decision. We show that the optimal policy is dictated by a no-order set in each period. For items in this set, we do not place replenishment orders, because these items are overstocked. The rest of the policy parameters -- the order-up-to-levels for the items that we do order, the bundling and pricing decisions, and the bundle assembly quantity -- all depend on the overstock levels. We also characterize how the optimal bundling decision depends on item complementarity, cost structure, inventory levels, demand uncertainty, and supply responsiveness.

Assortment rotation—the retailing practice of changing the assortment of products offered to customers—has recently been used as a competitive advantage for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers. We focus on product categories where consumers may purchase multiple products during a season and investigate a new reason why frequent assortment rotations can be valuable to a retailer. Namely, by distributing its seasonal catalog of products over multiple assortments rotated throughout the season, as opposed to selling all products in a single, fixed assortment, the retailer effectively conceals a portion of its full product catalog from consumers, injecting uncertainty into the consumer’s relative product valuations. Rationally acting consumers may respond to this structural difference by purchasing more products, thereby generating additional sales for the retailer. We refer to this phenomenon as the value of concealment and show that the retailer enjoys a positive and significant value of concealment under quite general conditions. However, we show that when consumers are forward looking, the value of concealment is context dependent. We present insights and discuss intuition regarding which product categories likely lead to a positive versus negative value of concealment. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.

Interest in electricity-gas demand response (EGDR) programs has been growing, especially with respect to Energy Hub (EH) systems, which are typically large industrial multi-energy users involving electric, heating and cooling loads. A key component in modeling EGDR is the electricity-shifting curve (ESC), which is usually obtained empirically. However, rigorous and systematic approaches to obtaining and understanding the ESC are lacking. In this article, a quantitative modeling approach is proposed based on the aggregated utility curve of multi-energy demands such as electricity, heating and cooling loads. First, an ESC based on consumer psychology and behavior is adopted. Second, utility curves of different loads (electricity, heating and cooling) are aggregated to a single utility curve, which is then combined with the theory of consumer choice to develop the ESC with regard to the price ratio of different energy sources. Third, various factors affecting the shifting curves are identified and then analyzed. Based on the case studies, generalized guidelines for improving the ESC are provided. Additionally, a multi-energy user with a higher heating-to-electricity ratio (HER) is verified as having better performance in obtaining a broader shifting area, and a multi-energy user with lower HER has a larger shifting amount in common range of price ratio. In summary, this work presents a quantitative and systematic approach to modeling the ESC in an EH and to understanding EGDR behaviors which can be used to improve EH response flexibility.

Summary Obesity and diet-related health problems are complex, multi-factorial issues. Individual food choices are shaped by the wider context, and food environment level change is needed to support individual behaviour change. The food service sector can play an integral role, changing aspects of the food environment and contributing to improved consumer health. This systematic review aimed to analyse food service schemes that aimed to improve consumer health. Ten electronic databases were systematically searched to identify articles, supplemented with checking of reference lists from similar reviews and forward and backward searches to identify articles describing food service sector schemes. Sixteen schemes were identified, documented in 36 articles/reports. The schemes aimed to improve consumer health through one of three approaches—informing, enabling or engineering. In this order, these approaches involved increasing levels of effort from food services, corresponding with decreasing levels of effort for consumers. Half the schemes were informing, relying on an informed consumer to make a healthy choice. Most informing schemes had been evaluated to determine their impact on consumer choice and/or health, the evidence showed these schemes were generally ineffective. The effect of the enabling or engineering schemes on consumer choice and health had not been measured. Instead, evaluations focussed on process or business engagement rather than behavioural change assessments. This review indicates the food sector has the potential to contribute to consumer health through enabling and engineering; however, detailed outcome assessments are needed to draw definitive conclusions.

The goal. Marketing research and analysis of the current situation on the Russian healthy food market in general and the Republic of Adygea in particular. The methods. The results of desk research carried out by the authors, methods of generalization, comparative analysis, induction, decomposition, graphical method were used. The Results. The article outlines the results of the analysis of the public catering market in Russia in general, and the Republic of Adygea, in particular. Despite the crisis in the economy, the Russian public catering market is quite promising. The capacity of domestic catering is several times higher than the current turnover, which indicates its undersaturation. In addition, the article presents monitoring of the Russian and regional market for healthy food products, which led to the conclusion that public catering networks promoting a healthy lifestyle are recognized as one of the fastest growing segments of the public catering market. The conclusion. The growth of the Russian and world markets for healthy food is a direct consequence of changes in consumer patterns. Today traditional criteria of consumer choice in the food market (price, taste and quality) are inseparable from a new group of criteria, most of which are indicators of growing popularity for residents of all countries: health and a healthy lifestyle, safety and transparency (consumers want to know what exactly they consume). A healthy lifestyle today is becoming not just a trend, but a lifestyle all over the world.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of regional images of Italy on the purchase probability of wine. Instead of regarding country image as a homogeneous national construct, this article focuses on revealing regional differences in Italian country image and investigating whether they are related with purchase probability. Moreover, several scholars state, that the development of larger regional brands can improve consumer choice especially for the product wine. In the light of growing global competition from ‘New World’ wine countries and simultaneously decreasing competitivity of the main European wine-producing countries (including Italy), the possibility to actively shape the development of regional brands and thereby potentially strengthening the competitive advantage within the European Union and on a global level, seems to offer an adequate approach to maintain the leading role of Italian wine producers in European and international trade. Therefore, this study aims to test, whether using larger regions (and not specific wine regions) as origin information for wine is applicable and improving consumer choice. The empirical framework was tested on a random sample of consumers living in Germany and comprises (a) the description of image differences between Northern and Southern Italy, (b) measuring the influence of regional indication of origin on purchase probability, (c) determining the predictive value of image components for purchase probability, and (d) the investigation of moderation effects of country knowledge on the results. Data from 388 respondents were analysed using multiple linear regression and paired t test. Results show significant image differences, which affects purchase probability. It is shown that the image of Southern Italy does not provide respondents with a suitable decision-making heuristic for buying wine. Furthermore, country knowledge negatively influences the predictive value of the measured regional image for purchase probability. As the predictive value of Southern Italian image does not contribute to the explanation of purchase probability, the present work corroborates the hypothesis of region-specific tendencies in the relationship between regional Italian image and consumer behaviour. Thus, this work provides a fundamental understanding of the regional composition of the Italian country image. It therefore serves practitioners as a decisional basis for the utilization of origin-related product information.

As a kind of the most significantly popular information in markets, the sales ranking has great impacts on consumer choice. However, there are few discussions on how sales ranking should be provided to consumers in the literature. This paper aims to answer the following two questions: 1) To what extent does the sales ranking influence consumer choices; 2) When the sales ranking should be provided to consumers. To do so, this paper first constructs a sales ranking model and then provides detailed simulation experiments to demonstrate the model. The experimental results show that for markets where consumer preferences are dramatically different, such as music and movie markets, sales rankings do not have significant influences on consumer choices and should not be provided to consumers until a large number of early independent consumer choices have been accumulated. But for markets in which consumer preferences are similar, such as markets for official supplies, sales rankings have more influences on consumer choices and should be provided to consumers earlier. Furthermore, an evolution strategy is proposed to ascertain the most suitable sales rankings (characterised by suitable influence strength and suitable release time) for some specified online markets. The comparison results show that the optimized sales rankings not only can help consumers discover higher-quality products but also can improve overall sales.

International audience; Due to an EU directive making integrated pest management (IPM) mandatory, European farmers are expected to reduce their use of chemical pesticides, which may potentially increase production costs and risk of harvest loss. Less pesticide use is appreciated by many consumers and may generate a higher willingness to pay (WTP). However, IPM is a wide concept and it is difficult for consumers to distinguish between products with high and low risk of pesticide residues. As a result, consumers might use other characteristics, such as country of origin, for the identification of safer products. In this study, we investigate if a higher WTP for Norwegian strawberries is associated with a belief that they contain less pesticide residues than imported berries. We use regression analysis to estimate to what extent the difference in WTP for Norwegian and imported strawberries is correlated with various perceptions about strawberries. The analyses reveal that the stronger the belief that Norwegian strawberries have less pesticide risk than imported ones, the higher the WTP for Norwegian strawberries. This means that if consumers believe domestic farmers use little pesticides, domestic products might be able to sell at considerably higher prices than imports. Hence, it may be economically beneficial for farmers to keep pesticide use at a minimum. Furthermore, we find that consumers have a higher WTP for strawberries produced with less use of pesticides, although not pesticide-free, indicating that IPM is appreciated.

Every risk involves loss which may be monetary or physical. Even the physical loss may cause monetary loss. Thus a person subject to a particular risk incurs a loss. If it is small, he can bear it. However, if it is heavy and unforeseen, he cannot bear the loss himself (Smith, 2003). Hence, vehicle owners have demanded for a full insurance policy. However, consumer choice for the insurance policy is a physiological phenomenon, varies for each consumer. Before purchasing a full insurance policy general public consider about several factors. In such a situation, it is important to identify which factors play major roll for the choice of purchasing an insurance policy. The main objective of the study is identifying the association between some selected socio-demographic and economic factors of consumer choice of purchasing a full insurance policy. Primary data was mainly collected for the study through a questionnaire. Hundred respondents including 70 full insurance policy holders and 30 non full insurance policy holders, in Balangoda town area (in Sri Lanka), were selected to the study using a convenience sampling method. Chi-square test of association was used to identify the associated factors while using dependent variable as choice of purchasing the policy. Study found that vehicle type (Car, van lorry, bus), brand name of the vehicle (Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Mitsubishi), religion and monthly income of the person, value of the vehicle, manner of buying the vehicle, use the vehicle for risky activities or not are the influencing factors of consumer choice of purchasing a full insurance policy. The most significant fact revealed by the study is that gender, age, education level, civil status, occupation and residential sector of the person are not associated with the choice of purchasing a full insurance policy. Hence, insurance companies should realize customers’ needs and to find effective ways to satisfy the needs irrespective of the demograpic factors.

In health care systems with a competitive health insurance market, governments or other sponsors (e.g. employers) often subsidize premiums to encourage enrolment. These subsidies are typically independent of plan choice leaving the absolute premium differences in place so as not to distort consumer choice of plan. Such subsidies do, however, change the relative premium differences across plans, which, according to theories from behavioral economics, can affect choice. Consumers might be sensitive to differences relative to a reference premium (“relative thinking”). Furthermore, consumers might be particularly sensitive to a reference premium of zero (“zero-price effect”), a relevant range for some subsidized health insurance markets. This paper tests these ideas with two sources of evidence. We argue that observed equilibria in Germany and the U.S. Medicare Advantage markets are consistent with a powerful zero-price effect, resulting in an equilibrium focal pricing at zero. This contrasts with the Netherlands where equilibrium premiums are well above zero. In an empirical test using hypothetical questions in a web-based survey in these three countries, we also find evidence for both a relative thinking and a zero-price effect in the demand for health insurance. Our findings imply that well-designed subsidies can leverage relative thinking to increase demand elasticity for health plans. Creation of a powerful reference price (e.g., at zero), however, risks subverting price competition.