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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2011‒06‒11
four papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Ana Espinola-Arredondo; Huan Zhao (School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how a tax/subsidy policy affects consumers? behavior when choosing between green (pollution free goods) and conventional products and its effects on welfare when some consumers have strong preferences for green goods. We develop a three stage complete information game, using the Hotelling?s linear city model. We show that when products are identical in all respects except in their environmental properties, a tax/subsidy policy performs better than the case without policy. Our efficiency comparisons suggest that under a setting of horizontal product differentiation a tax/subsidy (either on consumers or polluting ?firms) produces higher social welfare than the absence of policy. Moreover, the proportion of consumers who prefer green products affects the welfare gains from a subsidy or tax policy. |
| Keywords: | Green products, environmental policy, horizontal product differentiation |
| JEL: | H23 L5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsu:wpaper:espinola-9&r=mkt |
| By: | Daniel Korschun (LeBow College of Business, Drexel University); C.B. Bhattacharya (ESMT European School of Management and Technology); Scott D. Swain (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: | Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an asset that companies can leverage to improve relationships with both customers and employees. This paper extends prior research by examining when and how CSR improves an employee’s relationship with customers. More specifically, we develop a model linking CSR activity to one of marketing’s most central constructs – the customer orientation of frontline employees. Drawing from social identity theory, the model predicts that the effect of CSR activity on customer orientation is mediated by the dual identities of frontline employees: identification with customers and identification with the company. Moreover, the model predicts that distinct aspects of CSR are related to each of these identities; the extent to which an employee senses that customers share his or her “demand” for CSR contributes to identification with customers, while the perceived efficacy of CSR activities and the employee’s participation in CSR contribute to organizational identification. A field study of 534 customer-contact employees from multiple companies in the hospitality and retail industries provides empirical support for the model. |
| Keywords: | corporate social responsibility, employee-customer relationships, organizational identification, customer orientation |
| Date: | 2011–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esm:wpaper:esmt-11-05&r=mkt |
| By: | MORITA Tamaki; MANAGI Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | Eco-labeling systems for fish and fishery products provide the fishery industry with incentives to conserve marine resources and protect the environment. Under these systems, unlike command-and-control fishery management mechanisms, the fishery industry voluntarily controls their catch. By choosing products labeled as ecologically friendly, consumers can also help promote sustainable fisheries. <br /><br />Despite Japan being a major fishing and fish-consuming country, the system is still in its infancy. One reason may be that Japanese consumers are not aware of the fisheries' harmful ecological impacts and the relationship of these impacts with their seafood consumption. Would Japanese consumers change their consumption patterns if they knew which of the fish available in the supermarkets, were being overfished?<br /><br />We devised a web survey that included discrete choice conjoint analysis. We investigated what kind of information influences consumers' awareness of overfishing, and also what affects consumers' preferences regarding eco-labeled seafood. Our study revealed that Japanese consumers are willing to choose seafood based on eco-labeling when they: understand the role of eco-labeling, encounter reliable information about the item's relationship with marine resources, and know that a reliable organization is responsible for the labels. This result supports the idea of designing a feasible eco-labeling mechanism in Japan. |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:10037&r=mkt |
| By: | Sofia Andreou, Panos Pashardes and Nicoletta Pashourtidou |
| Abstract: | A consumer demand-based approach is proposed for estimating the shadow price of education relative to housing for households with children in state schools. This approach can be used together with or in place of a hedonic approach in countries where the location of households is not disclosed in publicly available data. An empirical illustration is provided using UK data from the family expenditure surveys. |
| Keywords: | Consumer demand, hedonic analysis, school quality |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:09-2011&r=mkt |