nep-mkt New Economics Papers
on Marketing
Issue of 2015‒05‒02
six papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Analysing the role of consumers within Technological Innovation Systems towards sustainability: the case of Alternative Food Networks By Filippo Randelli; Benedetto Rocchi
  2. Does a public campaign influence debit card usage? Evidence from the Netherlands By Nicole Jonker; Mirjam Plooij; Johan Verburg
  3. Price caps, oligopoly, and entry By Stanley Reynolds; David Rietzke
  4. The Links between the Companies` Market Price Quality and that of its Management and Business Quality: A System Panel Data Approach By Dinis Santos; Elias Soukiazis
  5. Environmental attitude, motivations and values for marine biodiversity protection By Halkos, George; Matsiori, Steriani
  6. Pricing in Social Networks under Limited Information By Elias Carroni; Simone Righi

  1. By: Filippo Randelli (Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa); Benedetto Rocchi (Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa)
    Abstract: In recent years, an increasing number of studies have stressed the relevance of the consumer experience in the research of new trajectories towards sustainability. On the early stage of an innovation process the purchase continue to be strategic for the market creation although consumers should not be conceived only as selector of different commercial options. This paper argues for a broader application of Technological Innovation System (TIS) conceptual framework and proposes an analytical approach that explicitly considers consumers and producers as interacting and then coevolving actors. In this view the transition towards sustainability is not exclusively a production based innovation process and also the interactive relation between consumers and producers may foster the transition towards a new socio-technical regime. The conceptual framework will be introduced and exemplified with the case of Alternative Food Networks, a TIS in the food industry, based on a meta-analysis of the literature.
    Keywords: Technological Innovation Systems, Consumers, Alternative Food Networks, Agriculture
    JEL: D12 O31 Q55
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpmmos:wp2015_03.rdf&r=mkt
  2. By: Nicole Jonker; Mirjam Plooij; Johan Verburg
    Abstract: Do consumers change their payment behaviour after being exposed to a public campaign that encourages them to use their debit cards more often? We analyse the impact of such a campaign that started in 2007, using weekly debit card transaction data between 2005 and 2013. The overall results show positive effects of a national campaign to promote debit card usage, both in the short and in the long run. Debit card usage increased by 2%. The effects are the most significant at the early stages of the campaign, while appearing to wear off after a few years of interventions. The results suggest that high campaign intensity had a positive impact, as did a focus on certain large retail chains.
    Keywords: debit cards; payment behaviour; social marketing; cost efficiency; safety
    JEL: D24 E42 G21 M31 M37
    Date: 2015–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:470&r=mkt
  3. By: Stanley Reynolds; David Rietzke
    Abstract: We extend the analysis of price caps in oligopoly markets to allow for sunk entry costs and endogenous entry. In the case of deterministic demand and constant marginal cost, reducing a price cap yields increased total output, consumer welfare, and total welfare; results consistent with those for oligopoly markets with a fixed number of firms. With deterministic demand and increasing marginal cost these comparative static results may be fully reversed, and a welfare-improving cap may not exist. Recent results in the literature show that for a fixed number of firms, if demand is stochastic and marginal cost is constant then lowering a price cap may either increase or decrease output and welfare (locally); however, a welfare improving price cap does exist. In contrast to these recent results, we show that a welfare-improving cap may not exist if entry is endogenous. However, within this stochastic demand environment we show that certain restrictions on the curvature of demand are sufficient to ensure the existence of a welfare-improving cap when entry is endogenous.
    Keywords: Price caps, oligopoly, entry, stochastic demand
    JEL: D21 L13 L51
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:80998880&r=mkt
  4. By: Dinis Santos (Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Portugal); Elias Soukiazis (Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra and GEMF, Portugal)
    Abstract: This work uses a simultaneous equation system approach to analyze the relationship between the Management and Business Quality of companies and their market Price Quality. Using panel data we found that both the Management and the Business Quality of companies positively influence the Market Price Quality of the studied American companies. Additionally, variables like the actual position of the company Price Quality compared to the industry average, being on the top or the bottom, or the beta value of a company, also influence the market Price Quality of the respective company. It is shown that the system equation approach is the most appropriate to explain the linkages between Price, Business and Management Quality providing consistent estimates. Also, using ratings to express the three core variables in the system is the most adequate way to define the quality characteristics in terms of Price, Management and Business performance of the companies considered in this study.
    Keywords: Management and Business Quality, Market Price quality, Simultaneous Equations Approach, Panel Data.
    JEL: M16 M21 C33
    Date: 2015–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2015-08.&r=mkt
  5. By: Halkos, George; Matsiori, Steriani
    Abstract: This study explores people’s environmental attitudes and motives for putting economic values to marine biodiversity and its protection. Primary data were collected from a sample of 359 people living in two important Greek coastal port cities: Thessaloniki and Volos. Respondents’ environmental attitude was measured with the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, and economic values were derived from a referendum, contingent valuation method (CVM) survey for protecting marine biodiversity. Use of appropriate statistical methods revealed three factors of environmental attitudes; namely, man dominate to nature, anti-anthropocentrism and limits to growth. Significant relationships are found between NEP scale factors and socio-economic characteristics and individuals’ opinions about marine biodiversity utility. Pro-environmental behavior or attitudes are associated with higher NEP scale scores. At a second stage and in a logistic regression setup the relation between people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for marine biodiversity protection with their socio-economic characteristics and the PCA extracted results are explored. Pro-environmental attitudes influence the estimates of mean WTP. Significant relationships are found between environmental attitudes and non-use motivations and WTP and ethical motives for species protection. Finally individuals’ mean WTP for marine biodiversity protection was calculated approximately equal to € 29 per person.
    Keywords: Environmental attitudes; NEP scale; CVM; WTP; biodiversity.
    JEL: C10 C52 Q20 Q51 Q57
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63947&r=mkt
  6. By: Elias Carroni (CERPE, University of Namur); Simone Righi (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
    Abstract: We model the choices of a monopolist who faces a partially uninformed population of consumers. She aims at expanding demand by exploiting his (limited) knowledge about consumers’ social network. She offers rewards to current clients in order to induce them to activate their social network and to convince peers to buy the product sold by the company. The program is profitable provided that the monopolist faces a serious enough informational problem and that the cost of investment in the social network is not prohibitively high. Price for informed consumers is lowered by the introduction of the reward compared to the benchmark where no program is run. There are no effects on the price charged to uninformed consumers. The offer of bonuses affects individual incentives of informed people to share information, determining a minimal degree condition for the costly investment in the social network. The level of such threshold strongly depends on the distribution of connections in the social network. In random networks, roughly the most popular half of informed consumers invests, regardless of network density. On the contrary, in scale-free networks the monopolist faces a clear-cut decision between maximising margins (running a small referral program) and maximising demand (motivating many informed agents to communicate). The optimal choice depends on the probability of observing highly-connected individuals. In empirically observed scale-free networks, the first alternative would be preferred, in line with real-world markets.
    Keywords: social networks, monopoly pricing, network-based pricing
    Date: 2015–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:wpaper:1503&r=mkt

This nep-mkt issue is ©2015 by João Carlos Correia Leitão. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.