Dissertations / Theses: 'Credence goods and services'

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Piatti, Marco. "Honesty in the provision of expert services: The effect of naturalistic framings and participants' professions." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/94984/1/Marco_Piatti_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis studies the incentives and behaviour of providers of expert services, like doctors, financial advisors and mechanics. The focus is in particular on provision of health care using a series of credence goods experiments conducted to investigate undertreatment, overtreatment and overcharging in a medical context. The findings of study one suggest that a medical framing compared to a neutral framing significantly increases pro-social behaviour for standard participants in economic experiments. Study two compares the behaviour of medical practitioners - mainly doctors - to students. It is observed that medical doctors’ undertreat and overcharge significantly less, but at the same time overtreat significantly more than students. The final study compares behaviours for other experts - accountants, engineers and lawyers - using experimental framings drawn from the respective contexts and students from the respective faculties as participants in credence goods experiments.

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Marty, Fridolin Eugen. "Credence goods in regulated markets /." Berlin : dissertation.de Verlag im Internet, 2001. http://www.ub.unibe.ch/content/bibliotheken_sammlungen/sondersammlungen/dissen_bestellformular/index_ger.html.

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Perodaud, Maxime. "Essais sur des biens et services de qualité non vérifiable." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Université Côte d'Azur, 2023. http://www.theses.fr/2023COAZ0015.

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Cette thèse étudie les déterminants de la fraude sur les marchés de biens et services de qualité non vérifiable (credence goods). Ces marchés sont variés et répandus au sein de l'économie (services de réparation, conseils financiers, étiquetage alimentaire, services de santé, etc.). Dans ces structures de marché, les consommateurs doivent se fier aux informations fournies par les experts afin de consommer des unités de biens et services. Les experts peuvent alors tenter de profiter de l'asymétrie d'informations en proposant des biens ou services inappropriés ne répondant pas aux besoins des consommateurs. Ce comportement constitue une défaillance de marché qui a des conséquences néfastes pour les consommateurs, entrainant une diminution de leur bien-être.Cette thèse se compose de trois chapitres où nous répondons à deux questions de recherche principales en mobilisant deux méthodologies différentes. Le chapitre 1 présente une expérience en laboratoire dans laquelle nous analysons à la fois les effets de genre et de cadrage sur la fraude dans les marchés de biens et services de qualité non vérifiable. Les résultats suggèrent que le genre et la contextualisation des instructions sont d'une importance fondamentale pour expliquer la dimension de la sous-provision de la fraude, indépendamment de toute incitation financière. Dans les chapitres 2 et 3, nous étudions dans quelle mesure la révélation de l'existence d'un biais de confirmation chez les consommateurs influence les décisions prises par les experts. D'un point de vue théorique, notre analyse suggère que les experts ayant un haut niveau de sensibilité à l'égard des attentes des consommateurs auraient tendance à suivre leurs croyances et par conséquent à leur fournir le niveau de qualité attendu. Contrairement à nos prédictions, les résultats de l'expérience indiquent que l'impact du biais de confirmation dépend de l'état du monde et serait plus susceptible de se manifester dans des environnements où les experts n'ont aucune incitation financière à agir de la sorte.Dans l'ensemble, cette thèse met en évidence le rôle des déterminants sociaux et comportementaux sur les incitations des experts à proposer des biens ou services inappropriés
This thesis analyzes the issues present in credence goods markets regarding the determinants contributing to fraudulent behaviors. Such markets are diverse and can be found easily throughout the economy (repair services, financial advice, food labels and healthcare, etc.). In the context of purchasing credence goods, consumers have to rely on information provided by experts. Experts may take advantage of the information asymmetry by offering inappropriate services that do not align with the consumers' needs. Such markets failures detrimentally affect consumers and leads to a reduction in their welfare.This thesis is composed of three chapters in which we answer two main research questions using two different methodologies. Chapter 1 presents a laboratory experiment where we explore the impact of displaying information regarding the counterpart's gender and framing instructions on outcomes in credence goods markets. The results suggest that both market context and gender are of fundamental importance to explain the under-provision dimension of fraud, regardless of any incentive scheme. In chapters 2 and 3, we investigate how the presence of confirmation bias in consumers affects the decisions made by experts in markets for credence goods. From a theoretical perspective, our analysis suggests that experts with a high level of sensitivity are inclined to follow consumers' beliefs and provide them with the quality they expected. Contrary to these predictions, the results from the experiment suggest that the impact of confirmation bias varies depending on the state of nature and is more likely to emerge in payoff-maximizing environments.Overall, this thesis offers insights into the impact of behavioral and social determinants on experts' incentives to engage in fraudulent behavior

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Bailey, Kirk James. "Essays in credence goods and repeated games." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:73f0f2a2-62b3-47f8-a861-4765b7c1cd8b.

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This thesis presents two chapters on credence goods and one on ongoing partnerships in an infinitely repeated game. The chapters on credence goods focus on the welfare and efficiency of equilibria in overcharging models of credence goods, something which has not been explicitly addressed before. The chapter on partnerships presents a theory explaining ongoing partnerships as solving a commitment problem for clients. There is a small literature on partnerships, and this chapter represents a novel but complimentary approach to that literature. At core, chapters 2, 3 and 4 of this thesis ask the following questions respectively: Do competition and information increase welfare in credence goods markets? How do customers in credence goods markets discipline experts from committing fraud? Can these strategies be welfare ranked? Why do ongoing partnerships exist? What problem do they solve?

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Benz, Men-Andri. "Strategies in markets for experience and credence goods." Wiesbaden : Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8350-9580-9.

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Causholli, Monika. "Audits as credence goods what do auditors know and how do they use their information /." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0024833.

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Hilger, Nathaniel Green. "Essays on Inequality and Market Failure." Thesis, Harvard University, 2013. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10853.

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This dissertation comprises three chapters. The first chapter develops a research design to estimate the causal effect of parental layoffs and income during adolescence on children's college outcomes, and implements this design on administrative data for the United States. The design compares outcomes of children whose fathers lose jobs before college decisions with outcomes of children whose fathers lose jobs after college decisions. I find that layoffs and unanticipated income losses during adolescence have very small adverse effects on future college outcomes. These effects are smaller than estimates in prior work based on firm closures rather than timing of layoffs. I replicate these larger estimates and show they are driven by selection of workers into closing firms. The findings suggest that relaxing parental liquidity constraints during adolescence will do little to increase enrollment compared to improvements in financial aid, especially for low-income children. The second chapter, written with my advisor and other colleagues, shows that classroom quality in early childhood has large causal impacts on adult outcomes, and that test score gains can help to identify classroom quality even when these gains fade out over time. We first link administrative data to records from Project STAR, in which 11,571 students in Tennessee and their teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms within their schools from kindergarten to third grade. We then document four sets of experimental impacts. First, students in small classes are more likely to attend college and exhibit improvements on other outcomes. Second, students who had a more experienced teacher in kindergarten have higher earnings. Third, students who were randomly assigned to higher quality classrooms in grades K-3 -- as measured by classmates' end-of-class test scores -- have higher earnings, college attendance rates, and other outcomes. Finally, the effects of class quality fade out on test scores in later grades but gains in non-cognitive measures persist. The third chapter explores theoretical properties of markets for "credence goods." Credence goods such as health care involve consumer reliance on expert diagnosis. When consumers observe expert cost functions, competitive markets tend strongly toward efficiency. I argue that consumers do not observe expert cost functions and extend an existing model to incorporate this insight. The key result is that prices and competition no longer eliminate mistreatment.
Economics

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Heinzel, Joachim [Verfasser]. "Essays on the theory of industrial organization: credence goods, vertical relations, and product bundling / Joachim Heinzel." Paderborn : Universitätsbibliothek, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1204994900/34.

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Eilat, Assaf. "Packaging of services with base goods /." May be available electronically:, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/login?COPT=REJTPTU1MTUmSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=12498.

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Hartman, John. "Essays in Applied Microeconomics." Scholar Commons, 2018. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7679.

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In the first chapter, I investigate reputational effects of the disclosure of negative information in a market affected by adverse selection. A series of recent discoveries has increased consumer concern over the presence of counterfeits in the market for fine and rare wine. For the thousands of bottles sold at auction each year, house reputation is used as a quality assurance mechanism to signal product authenticity. Using sales data from 2005-2015 for the ten largest auction houses, I study consumer reaction following two recent disclosures of an auction house having offered or sold counterfeit wine. My identification strategy to examine reputation involves a series of triple difference regressions analyzing equilibrium prices and quantities. I discover one house experienced no losses following a 2008 incident involving 107 counterfeit bottles. However, three houses associated with a 2012 incident involving thousands of bottles were found to have suffered significant reputation losses following the incident. These losses are demonstrated by a 3-8% decrease in equilibrium sales prices and a 6-9% decrease in sales quantities in the year following the disclosure. The second chapter of my dissertation involves the transitivity of stated preferences. Revealed preference theory states that, in order for an individual’s preferences to be consistent with utility maximization, they must satisfy the principle of transitivity. Any deviations from this principle result in a logically inconsistent response pattern. I develop a new framework to study the rationality of stated preferences, accounting for both the number and severity of non-transitive responses an individual makes. I implement this method using a nationally representative survey of 3,234 respondents from the U.S. general population and discover that more than 52% of the population exhibit non-transitive preferences. In addition to measuring the number and severity of non-transitive preferences exhibited by each respondent, another aim of this manuscript is to evaluate the relationship between response transitivity and the individual outcomes of each respondent under the premise that high quality decisions are the result of greater decision-making ability. After controlling for demographic characteristics including age, education, race, gender, ethnicity, and work status, non-transitive patterns are correlated with lower incomes and poorer health.

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Линник, Юлія Миколаївна, Юлия Николаевна Линник, and Yuliia Mykolaivna Lynnyk. "Consumer promotion of ecologically dangerous goods and services." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2006. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8444.

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Linnik, Yuliya. "Environmental and consumer safety of goods and services." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2007. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8345.

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The problem of safety is one of global human problems which directly concerns with survival of humanity. It has a system property and that is why it requires the examination from different sides of different sciences such as politics, economics, marketing, jurisdiction e.t.c. The scientific and technologic development on the one side satisfies people’s needs, increases social and economic safety of society, but on the other side brings forward danger to the man’s health and environment. При цитуванні документа, використовуйте посилання http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8345
ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSUMER SAFETY OF GOODS AND SERVICES Yuliya Linnik Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine The problem of safety is one of global human problems which directly concerns with survival of humanity. It has a system property and that is why it requires the examination from different sides of different sciences such as politics, economics, marketing, jurisdiction e.t.c. The scientific and technologic development on the one side satisfies people’s needs, increases social and economic safety of society, but on the other side brings forward danger to the man’s health and environment. При цитировании документа, используйте ссылку http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8345

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Prentice, Rosemary J. "The exchange of goods and services in pre-Sargonic Lagash." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.270131.

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Ярова, Інесса Євгенівна, Инесса Евгеньевна Яровая, Inessa Yevhenivna Yarova, and S. S. Poliakova. "Features of foreign trade in goods and services in Ukraine." Thesis, Sumy State University, 2021. https://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/87032.

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У роботі висвітлюються основні тенденції розвитку експортно-імпортної діяльності України. Динаміка та прогноз активізаціїї експорту та імпорту послуг, й товарів аналізуються у даному дослідженні.
В работе отражаются основные тенденции развития экспортно-импортной деятельности Украины. Динамика и прогноз активизации экспорта, импорта услуг и товаров анализируются в данном исследовании.
The paper reflects the main trends in the development of export-import activities in Ukraine. The dynamics and forecast of the activation of exports and imports of services and goods are analyzed in this study.

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Chhabra, Meenal. "Studies in the Algorithmic Pricing of Information Goods and Services." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/25874.

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This thesis makes a contribution to the algorithmic pricing literature by proposing and analyzing techniques for automatically pricing digital and information goods in order to maximize profit in different settings. We also consider the effect on social welfare when agents use these pricing algorithms. The digital goods considered in this thesis are electronic commodities that have zero marginal cost and unlimited supply e.g., iTunes apps. On the other hand, an information good is an entity that bridges the knowledge gap about a product between the consumer and the seller when the consumer cannot assess the utility of owning that product accurately e.g., Carfax provides vehicle history and can be used by a potential buyer of a vehicle to get information about the vehicle. With the emergence of e-commerce, the customers are increasingly price sensitive and search for the best opportunies anywhere. It is almost impossible to manually adjust the prices with rapidly changing demand and competition. Moreover, online shopping platforms also enable sellers to change prices easily and quickly as opposed to updating price labels in brick and mortar stores so they can also experiment with different prices to maximize their revenue. Therefore, e-marketplaces have created a need for designing sophisticated practical algorithms for pricing. This need has evoked interest in algorithmic pricing in the computer science, economics, and operations research communities. In this thesis, we seek solutions to the following two algorithmic pricing problems: (1) In the first problem, a seller launches a new digital good (this good has unlimited supply and zero marginal cost) but is unaware of its demand in a posted-price setting (i.e., the seller quotes a price to a buyer, and the buyer makes a decision depending on her willingness to pay); we look at the question --- how should the seller set the prices in order to maximize her infinite horizon discounted revenue? This is a classic problem of learning while earning. We propose a few algorithms for this problem and demonstrate their effectiveness using rigorous empirical tests on both synthetic datasets and real-world datasets from auctions at eBay and Yahoo!, and ratings on jokes from Jester, an online joke recommender system. We also show that under certain conditions the myopic Bayesian strategy is also Bayes-optimal. Moreover, this strategy has finite regret (independent of time) which means that it also learns very fast. (2) The second problem is based on search markets: a consumer is searching for a product sequentially (i.e., she examines possible options one by one and on observing them decides whether to buy or not). However, merely observing a good, although partially informative, does not typically provide the potential purchaser with the complete information set necessary to execute her buying decision. This lack of perfect information about the good creates a market for intermediaries (we refer to them as experts) who can conduct research on behalf of the buyer and sell her this information about the good. The consumer can pay these intermediaries to learn more about the good which can help her in making a better decision about whether to buy the good or not. In this case, we study various pricing schemes for these information intermediaries in a search-based environment (e.g., selling a package of $k$ reports instead of selling a single report or offering a subscription based service). We show how subsidies can be an effective tool for a market designer to increase the social welfare. We also model quality level in the experts and study competition dynamics by computing equilibrium strategies for the searcher and two experts with different qualities. Surprisingly, sometimes an improvement in the quality of the higher-quality expert (holding everything constant) can be pareto-improving: not only that expert's profit increase, so does the other expert's profit and the searcher's utility.
Ph. D.

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Dobbs, Brown Cynnamon. "An index for Gainesville's urban forest ecosystem services and goods." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0041060.

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Ustyuzhanina, Polina. "In Goods We Trust : Trade Barriers in Services - Should We Care?" Thesis, Örebro universitet, Handelshögskolan vid Örebro Universitet, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-65630.

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Carlesi, Lorenzo. "Socio-Economic Analysis of Mediterranean Deep-Sea Ecosystem Goods and Services." Doctoral thesis, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11566/243090.

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Il mare profondo rappresenta l’ambiente più grande del nostro pianeta, ma anche il meno esplorato. A causa dei cambiamenti climatici e dei crescenti impatti antropici, l’esistenza dei beni e servizi che questo ambiente fornisce è a rischio. Stime monetarie di tali benefici sono carenti. Elevata è la biodiversità che il mare profondo e, più in generale, gli oceani ospitano. Dalla letteratura emerge una grande variabilità della disponibilità a pagare (DAP) delle persone per la tutela della biodiversità marina. L’area geografica, le specie investigate e l’ammontare dei costi sono le variabili che maggiormente influenzano tale DAP. Molte delle relazioni tra la DAP e le variabili esplicative risultano non lineari. Una migliore comprensione della percezione che le persone hanno del mare profondo può facilitarne la valutazione economica. Utilizzando la metodologia Q, emergono punti di vista che differiscono per l’importanza attribuita a specie e habitat. L’uso di diverse condizioni di istruzione e le conoscenze scientifiche sono fattori importanti nel determinare la percezione che gli intervistati hanno del Mar Mediterraneo profondo, sebbene non sufficienti a spiegarne interamente la soggettività. Una grande eterogeneità nelle preferenze espresse da cittadini italiani, riguardo la loro DAP per la salvaguardia di tale ambiente, emerge da un esperimento di scelta discreta. Solamente alcuni dei soggetti intervistati, maggiormente sensibili verso la tutela delle risorse naturali, appaiono disponibili ad una donazione per la protezione del Mar Mediterraneo profondo, in particolar modo di ambienti a coralli. Persone con un elevato reddito, e che in passato hanno effettuato donazioni per la salvaguardia dell’ambiente, sono particolarmente disponibili a finanziare la ricerca scientifica sul Mar Mediterraneo profondo. Nessuna DAP emerge, invece, per ridurre il riscaldamento globale.
The deep sea represents the largest (but the least explored) biome on Earth. It is increasingly affected by anthropogenic stressors and climate changes, threatening the provision of crucial ecosystem services in the future. The monetary value of those benefits remains scarcely assessed. The deep sea and, more generally, oceans host a high biodiversity. A great variability in the people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for marine biodiversity emerges from the literature. Price vector, investigated species and location of studies represent the variables that most influence such WTP. Non-linear relationships between the WTP and most of the explaining variables are observed. A better understanding of people’s perception of deep sea may support its (non-market) valuation. Applying Q methodology, different perspectives on Mediterranean deep sea are revealed. The importance attributed to species and habitats vary between the points of view. The use of different conditions of instruction and the respondents’ expertise are important factors in determining the perception of Mediterranean deep sea, even if they cannot completely explain the participants’ subjectivity. A great heterogeneity in the preference of Italian citizens for preserving the Mediterranean deep sea emerges from a discrete choice experiment. Many respondents refuse to pay for supporting the protection of biodiversity and the scientific research on that remote and unfamiliar environment. By contrast, participants with a high awareness of the importance of natural resources are willing to pay for protecting, in particular, deep-water corals. High income and past donations for environmental protection positively influence the respondents’ willingness to fund further scientific researches on the Mediterranean deep sea. Overall, the global warming is of little concern for the participants, who are not willing to pay for limiting the temperature rise.

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Waibel, Christian Georg [Verfasser], Achim [Akademischer Betreuer] Wambach, and Bettina [Akademischer Betreuer] Rockenbach. "Three Essays on Credence Goods: The Impact of Expert and Market Characteristics on the Level of Expert Fraud / Christian Georg Waibel. Gutachter: Achim Wambach ; Bettina Rockenbach." Köln : Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1038378621/34.

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Yeung, Raymond. "A critical analysis of a goods and services tax in Hong Kong." Thesis, Middlesex University, 2010. http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/7249/.

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This project investigates the views of accountants in Hong Kong on the proposed Goods and Services Tax (“GST”). It also analyses the overall economy of Hong Kong in the past 60 years, focusing on the public finance system and the tax bases. The Hong Kong economy and its economic policies have been overviewed. The deficits after 1997 are found not to be structural. The tax base is also found not to be narrow as there are various types of taxes hidden in people’s daily life and consumptions. This explains the reasons that Hong Kong obtained a surplus for 48 years out of the past 60 years and accumulated a huge fiscal reserve. A survey was conducted and the result revealed that 62% of accountants were against the GST. Even though the response rate is low, the sample size lies in the range of 5% to 6% level of precision at 95% confidence. The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“HKICPA”) conducted another survey on the GST after the result of this project had been publicly released. The result was consistent with the findings of this project i.e. about 59% of accountants objected the GST. The result of the survey was widely publicised and reported by the media. It provided some references for the Government whether the GST was really needed and whether accountants supported the GST. To a large extent, it caused the Government to set aside the GST consultation in September 2006 and suspend the implementation of the GST.

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Holloway, Isaac Robert. "Implications of barriers to trade for exports of cultural goods and services." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/41914.

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This dissertation contains three studies. Chapter 2 studies the effect of product quality on foreign entry using data on U.S. movie exports and direct and revealed measures of movie quality. In the model, fixed costs of entry mean only the more appealing movies will find it profitable to enter each country. Empirically, a one-standard-deviation increase in quality increases the probability of entry by 25-50%. Movies in culturally-laden genres are less likely to enter foreign markets and their probability of entry is more sensitive to quality. I exploit differences in the propensity to import different genre types to estimate a measure of cultural distance between countries. The cultural distance measure enters a gravity equation of merchandise trade significantly. Chapter 3 investigates the international diffusion of a new product. Products traditionally enter foreign markets sequentially. This paper proposes that part of the explanation is that firms want to learn about their products’ appeal before incurring the fixed costs of entry. Each successive release serves to update the firm’s expectations for future performance---and thus their decision to enter more markets. On a sample of U.S. movies, I find that a one-standard-deviation increase in the update, based on the previous round’s box-office "surprise", is associated with a 25% increase in the probability of entry to a typical potential destination in the current round. Chapter 4 investigates Canada's interprovincial and international trade in services. While modern technology has allowed for long-distance service provision, regulatory non-tariff barriers may constitute substantial hurdles for further trade liberalization. This chapter describes three exercises contributing to the analysis of Canadian service trade. Using a theoretically-motivated framework, I estimate provincial and national border effects, and track the effect over time that distance has had on international trade.

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Snell, Jukka Johannes. "The relationship between free movement of goods and services in EC law." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.392916.

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Franceschinis, Cristiano. "Advances in Choice Experiment for the evaluation of environmental goods and services." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3426207.

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Over the last years, Choice Experiment (CE) methodology has increased its diffusion in several environmental contexts. Despite the increasing popularity of the method, there are still aspects that are not fully explored yet. In particular, the research areas explored in the thesis are: i) the analysis of the effect of information treatments in CEs; ii) the development of frameworks to include spatial variables in discrete choice models; iii) the analysis of the effect of individuals’ psychological traits on preferences towards environmental goods and services; iv) the comparison of existing model specifications which allow to account for preference heterogeneity. Most of the research questions were investigated by applying discrete choice modeling to data collected in two case studies: i) the analysis of social demand for landslide protection in Val del Boite (Veneto region), ii) the analysis of the demand of different heating system of households of the Veneto region. The remaining part of the analysis, instead, involved data generated by means of a simulation study. The thesis is organized in five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the Choice Experiment method, outlines the research objectives and illustrates the case studies. Chapter 2 focuses on the exploration of the effect of information treatments on the stability of preference estimates and it is based on data analysis carried out from the first case study. Preferences were retrieved before and after providing respondents with scientific-based information, based on visual simulations of possible landslide events. This enabled to measure information effects. Choice data were used to estimate a Mixed Logit model (MXL) in WTP space to obtain robust estimates of marginal willingness-to-pay estimates and control for the effect of information. Overall, it was found that mWTP estimates are dependent on information. The geographical distribution of such effects was illustrated by means of maps of willingness to pay values. Chapters 3-4 illustrate analysis carried out on data retrieved from the second case study. Chapter 3 aims to analyze how geographical variables influence individuals’ sensitivity to key features of heating systems. A MXL model was estimated to spatially characterize preference heterogeneity. The results showed that geographical variables are in fact significant sources of variation of individual’s sensitivity to the investigated attributes of heating systems. Thematic maps were produced to illustrate the distribution of willingness to pay to avoid CO2 emissions across the region and to validate the estimates ex-post. Chapter 4 roots on previous theoretical evidence which suggests that beliefs and attitudes of individual consumers play a crucial role in the diffusion of innovative products. A Latent Class-Random Parameter (LC-RPL) model was estimated to analyze preferences of households for key features of ambient heating systems. The model specification allowed to evaluate the coherence of the underlying preference structure using as criteria psychological constructs from the Theory of Diffusion of Innovation by Rogers. The results broadly support this theory by providing evidence of segmentation of the population consistent with the individuals’ propensity to adopt innovations. It was also found that preferences for heating systems and respondents’ willingness to pay for their key features vary across segments. Chapter 5 illustrates the results of a Monte-Carlo experiment aimed at retrieving the required number of parameters and sample sizes to obtain good approximations of true distributions with Logit-mixed logit (LML) models. These models were recently introduced by Train (2016) and are a key advancement in methods to represent the random taste heterogeneity in logit-type models as they generalize many previous parametric and seminonparametric specifications. The performance of LML models are also compared with those of parametric specifications based on normal mixing distributions. The results suggest that LML models outperform parametric models only at large sample sizes. LML Mmdel specifications with large number of parameters outperformed those with small number parameters only at large sample sizes as well. Finally, chapter 6 draws the conclusions of the thesis.
Negli ultimi anni, la metodologia degli Esperimenti di Scelta (CE) si è diffusa in diversi contesti ambientali. Nonostante la crescente popolarità del metodo, vi sono ancora alcuni aspetti non del tutto esplorati. Tra questi, il presente lavoro di tesi si concentra su: i) L’analisi dell’effetto di trattamenti di informazione nei CE; ii) L’inclusione di variabili spaziali nei modelli a scelta discreta; iii) L’analisi dell’effetto dei tratti psicologici degli individui sulle preferenze verso beni e servizi ambientali; iv) Il confronto tra diversi modelli a scelta discreta. La maggior parte delle domande di cerca sono state investigate applicando il metodo a dati raccolti in due casi di studio: i) l’analisi della domanda di sistemi di protezione dalle frane in Val del Boite (regione Veneto); ii) l’analisi della domanda di diversi sistemi di riscaldamento in Veneto. La rimanente parte delle analisi è stata condotta su dati generati con una simulazione. La tesi è strutturata in sei capitoli. Il primo capitolo introduce il metodo degli Esperimenti di Scelta ed illustra gli obiettivi della tesi e i casi di studio. Il secondo capitolo si focalizza sull’esplorazione dell’effetto di trattamenti di informazione ed è basato sull’analisi dei dati raccolti nel primo caso di studio. I risultati ottenuti supportano l’evidenza di un effetto dei trattamenti di informazioni sulle stime ottenute da modelli a scelta discreta. I capitoli 3 e 4 illustrano i risultati delle analisi condotte nel secondo caso di studio. Il capitolo 3 si concentra sull’effetto di variabili geografiche sulle preferenze verso diversi sistemi di riscaldamento, analizzato tramite la stima di un modello Mixed Logit. I risultati evidenziano un effetto significativo delle variabili geografiche incluse nel modello. Nel capitolo 4, un modello Latent Class-Random parameters è stato stimato per analizzare le preferenze degli individui verso i diversi sistemi di riscaldamento. Tale modello ha permesso di valutare la coerenza delle stime con la teoria della diffusione delle innovazioni formulata da Rogers. I risultati supportano tale teoria, mostrando una segregazione della popolazione coerente con la propensione individuale ad adottare prodotti innovativi. Inoltre, i risultati suggeriscono una variazione delle preferenze tra i diversi segmenti. Il capitolo 5 illustra i risultati di una simulazione Monte Carlo condotta per confrontare risultati ottenuti con diversi modelli a scelta discreta. Infine, il capitolo 6 riporta le conclusioni della tesi.

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24

Guziana, Bozena. "Is the Swedish Environmental Goods and Services Industry Green? : Product and production perspectives." Licentiate thesis, Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-9427.

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In most business sectors environmental programs focus on direct, production-related environmental impacts. The design and development of products with reduced environmental impact is considered more difficult. The opposite applies in the environmental technology sector. The business model of environmental technology companies focuses on delivering solutions that contribute to improving the environmental performance of their customers. Products and services delivered by this sector have prominent environmental profiles. However, companies in this sector may not necessarily set and implement environmental goals for their own activities and manufacturing processes, and may not clearly distinguish between production and product related environmental aspects.

This thesis presents results of an online survey of environmental technology companies listed by the Swedish Environmental Technology Council (Swentec). The survey found that depending on the subsector, only between 21% and 45% of companies provide information about their environmental work on their website.

Environmental impacts of a company may be product and/or production related. The survey found that these dimensions are treated differently, and are not always clearly differentiated in environmental tools and guidelines, such as the ISO 14000 series, the Reporting Guidelines for UK Business, the GRI and The Swedish Annual Accounts (ÅRL). There are also differences in the ways that information about production and product related environmental impacts are considered within the environmental technology industry. Some companies clearly distinguish between product and activity related environmental issues, while others are unclear about the distinction between their products and their activities in environmental policies and management. While some companies in the sector limit the environmental information they disseminate to the environmental benefits of their products, others explicitly articulate that the predominantly product related environmental profiles in the sector drive them to additionally minimise environmental impacts of their own activities.

This thesis proposes environmental aspects of products and production as bases for corporate environmental profiles, corporate greening, and for defining ‘green’ and ‘green-green’ business, and concludes that companies within the environmental industry should be expected to be green-green business. This thesis concludes that companies within the environmental technology sector should increase their use of both production and product related environmental profile information in their presentations on their own websites and at platforms such as Swentec. Furthermore, the thesis shows that the use of the term ‘process’ within environmental technology sector to describe both the companies’ own operations and their products can create ambiguities in understanding. Companies that deliver ‘processes’ as products should avoid ambiguity by describing their own operations with terms such as ‘production processes’, ‘production’, ‘manufacturing process’, ‘operation’ or ‘activity’.

Ett företags miljöpåverkan kan vara kopplad till tillverkningsprocesser och till produkter. Miljöprogram inom de flesta industrisektorer är inriktade på direkta, produktionsrelaterade miljöaspekter. Däremot anses design och utveckling av produkter med minskad miljöpåverkan svårare. Inom miljötekniksektorn gäller det motsatta. Miljöteknikföretag erbjuder produkter och tjänster med framträdande miljöprofil och levererar lösningar som bidrar till förbättrad miljöprestanda hos deras kunder. Det betyder inte nödvändigtvis att dessa företag arbetar med miljömässiga mål för egna aktiviteter och tillverkningsprocesser, dvs. att dessa företag gör distinktion mellan tillverknings- och produktrelaterade miljöaspekter.

Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen är att öka förståelse av och insikt i miljöengagemang och miljöprofil inom miljöteknikföretag. Studien innehåller en onlineundersökning av miljöarbetet inom företag som är listade av Sveriges miljöteknikråd, Swentec i dess nätverk för den svenska miljöteknik sektorn. Studien visar att, beroende på undersektor, mellan 21 % och 45 % av företagen i undersökta miljöteknikområden har lagt ut information om sitt miljöarbete på företagets hemsida. Information om produktions- och produktrelaterade miljöfrågor varierar. Det finns företag som tydligt skiljer mellan produktorienterade miljöfrågor och miljöfrågor som berör deras tillverkningsprocesser och aktiviteter. Andra företag gör ingen tydlig åtskillnad mellan dessa frågor i sina miljöpolicydokument och miljöprogram. Vissa företag i branschen begränsar sin miljöinformation till miljömässiga fördelar med deras produkter. Det finns dock företag som tydligt uttalar att sektorns produktrelaterade miljöprofil är en drivkraft för att minimera miljöpåverkan från sin egen verksamhet.

I studien framkommer också att produktions- och produktrelaterade miljöaspekter behandlas på olika sätt, och är inte alltid tydligt differentierade i olika miljöverktyg och riktlinjer, som i ISO 14000 serien, Rapporteringsriktlinjer för UK Business, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) och i den svenska årsredovisningslagen (ÅRL).

Produktions- och produktrelaterade miljöaspekter föreslås som dimensioner i ett företags miljöprofil och i beskrivning av företagets miljövänlighet. Det samma gäller som grund för definition av ’gröna’ och ’grön-gröna’ företag. En viktig ståndpunkt i denna avhandling är att företag inom miljötekniksektorn bör vara ’grön-gröna’ företag och att dessa företag bör öka användningen av informationen om produktions- och produktrelaterad miljöprofil, både på sina egna hemsidor och i sina presentationer inom nätverk som Swentec. Dessutom visar studien att användningen av begreppet "process" inom miljöteknikföretag för såväl den egna verksamheten som för sina produkter i vissa fall är otydlig. För att undvika denna oklarhet bör företag med ’processer’ som egna produkter, beskriva företagens egna verksamheter med begrepp som ’produktionsprocess’, ’produktion’, ’tillverkningsprocess’, ’aktiviteter’ eller liknande.

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25

Davidson, Catrin, and Abeysekera Denum Nimanthi. "The good and the gratis : A value aspect on free goods and services." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-66352.

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Thanks to the Internet, the consumers have access to a world of information and can easily compare the goods and services of one supplier to the other, and so be a part of the value creating process. Price is still key, but since producers are already pushing their costs to the limit, what Chris Anderson calls the “race to the bottom” they have to compete in other manners, meaning they have to dive deeper than lowest of prices. However these free goods and services must have a value even though they do not have a price tag attached. The respondents found two types of value, social/collective value and individual/emotional value and this also induces that value is relative. People are making choices to consume a good or service he or she has to prioritize these resources among the available time, money and even space, thus this prioritization is made even when the good is free. The price-quality relationship is prevailing, but not in the fields where distribution and replication is free.

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Blackshaw, Matthew (Matthew Andrew). "The broadcast marketplace : Designing a more efficient local marketplace for goods and services." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76515.

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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74).
Today's online marketplaces for goods and services are imperfect. Participants make an initial post expressing their intention to buy or sell an object, but all offers on this post are private. These offers can be seen as expressions of other participants' intentions to buy or sell the same item. What if these offers were as public as the initial post? Would this decrease market friction and enable participants to close transactions more efficiently? What if every post and offer were tagged with a location enabling a real-time proximal picture of supply and demand? In this thesis, we explore a different kind of marketplace, a broadcast marketplace, where a combination of public post, proximal awareness and mobility decrease the friction of information flow and facilitate efficiency. This thesis explores the design, implementation and deployment of a system which enables users to efficiently view, understand and act upon this proximal picture of supply and demand. To test the viability of the broadcast marketplace we deployed Peddl, an implementation of the idea, in the MIT and Cambridge, MA community. Over the course of the trial we collected data on 5,839 unique visitors and 805 registered users, who made 726 posts totaling $234,913 in value. From this data we show that the additional transparency of supply and demand afforded by our design results in increased marketplace activity.
Matthew Blackshaw.
S.M.

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27

Smith, Harriet K. "Adherence to ethical standards: Pharmacists as experts." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2019. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/127834/1/Harriet_Smith_Thesis.pdf.

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Credence goods are characterised by qualities of products that cannot be detected by consumers before their use, preventing them from assessing beforehand the true experienced utility. This study aims to apply the credence goods framework to the joint diagnosis-treatment in the sale of over-the-counter medicines in a real world setting. The presence of inefficiencies was studied through a unique sample (394 observations) of OTC pharmaceutical purchases in a controlled Australian field setting. This study provides first evidence from a simulated patient experiment on the provision of advice and pharmaceuticals using the credence goods framework in Australia. The results indicate there are significant inefficiencies present through over- and under-treatment, overselling and diagnostic failure. The analysis found that pharmacies were engaging in strategic overselling as a substitute for overcharging strategies which were not attainable due to institutional conditions.

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Tsakas, Constantin. "Renewing the discussion on service openness : measurement issues and service interconnections with goods trade." Aix-Marseille 2, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009AIX24009.

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Nilsson, Lars. "Quality practice : an empirical investigation of product development and the goods-to-services continuum /." Linköping : Univ, 2002. http://www.bibl.liu.se/liupubl/disp/disp2002/tek738s.pdf.

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30

Brand, Richard Riese. "An evaluation of the carrier selection process for freight transportation services." Connect to resource, 1986. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=osu1271853237.

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31

Hache, Connie. "Financing Public Goods and Services through Taxation or User Fees: A Matter of Public Choice?" Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32252.

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Through a case study methodology this research explores the decision-making process regarding financing services provided by the Canadian federal government to individual citizens. From a transparency and accountability perspective, for those services that benefit individuals versus society as whole, it is important to understand why some services are provided through general taxation while others are financed through user fees. The study utilizes public choice theory as developed in The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy which is the initial attempt to illustrate how the tools of economics may be applied to political institutions using a rational choice approach with an emphasis on rules about how choices are made. Rather than focusing on ‘what’ government spends funds on, the study focuses on ‘how’ government generates funds by examining three major actors: government, citizen-voters and pressure groups. This study furthers scientific knowledge as there has been prior research on distinguishing between public versus private goods, and deciding on how to publicly fund such goods, but there has been limited research undertaken on the actual decision-making process in financing public goods and services. From an academic perspective, this study is the first time that The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy model has been adapted and applied to the Canadian federal government. The study concludes that it depends on what elected officials decide to do to appeal to citizen-voters in order to win votes: appear fiscally prudent thus charge user fees; advance its political agenda with decisions to sometimes charge user fees or other times not; or limit costs to private sector organizations by deciding to not charge user fees. While elected officials make the decisions whether or not to charge user fees, it is the bureaucracy that implements these decisions.

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Souza, LuÃs JosÃ de Menezes e. "Acquisition of goods and services via public electronic pragÃo: a study on the final price." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2008. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=2972.

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nÃo hÃ
Seeking to raise up efficiency in government procurement procedures it has been mplemented an innovation in the law which constitutes for correct basis justifying on the procedures of purchase. For innovation itself it is employed electronic floor use or everse auction, compulsory since 10,520 law publication that regulates these procurement. At this purpose, every round negotiation, proponents reduce their rices and they seek to effect recruitment, spite of other competitors. This paper presents an economic kind that allows profiting with some competitors alone to do a etter assessment of its commercial organization especially during sale on electronic floor. Model was developed aiming at submitted the application in Brazilian overnment market purchases without specifying aspects from a specific segment to industry. Econometrics model proposed for general pplication implemented through overnment purchases through electronic stock.
Buscando melhorar a eficiÃncia nos processos de contrataÃÃo governamental foi implementada inovaÃÃo na legislaÃÃo que se constitui na base legal para fundamentar os procedimentos de compra. A inovaÃÃo constitui-se da utilizaÃÃo do PregÃo EletrÃnico ou LeilÃo Reverso, obrigatÃrio a partir da publicaÃÃo de Lei 10.520 que regulamentou a contrataÃÃo pÃblica. A cada rodada de negociaÃÃo, os proponentes reduzem seus preÃos, buscando a efetivaÃÃo da contrataÃÃo, em detrimento dos demais concorrentes. O presente trabalho apresenta uma ferramenta econÃmica que possibilita subsidiar um dos concorrentes isoladamente para melhor avaliaÃÃo comercial de sua organizaÃÃo durante o processo de venda pelo mÃtodo de pregÃo eletrÃnico. O modelo apresentado foi desenvolvido objetivando a aplicaÃÃo no mercado brasileiro de compras governamentais sem especificar as particularidades de um segmento industrial especÃfico. O modelo economÃtrico proposto apresenta aplicaÃÃo genÃrica para compras governamentais implementadas atravÃs de pregÃo eletrÃnico.

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Boehle, Sarah Goode. "Accessing Consumer Goods and Services as a Non-driver in Appalachian Ohio: An Exploratory Study." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1437680018.

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34

Keh, Hean Tat. "Productivity in retailing : a test of distribution services theory at the firm level /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8782.

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35

Urson, Michael. "CEO pay ratios and company performance : a study of JSE-listed consumer goods and services companies." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20545.

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The disparity in remuneration between company CEOs and other employees is a topical and highly controversial issue globally. Theoretically, there are two explanations for this pay disparity - tournament theory and behavioural theory. Tournament theory says that employees are more motivated to compete with a larger pay gap, while the behavioural theories say that employees feel inadequate and thus demotivated in the presence of a larger pay gap, resulting in poorer performance. In response to growing concerns about the pay gap, new legislation in the USA has required companies to disclose their pay ratios1 in their financial statements, which is also likely to come to South Africa. As a means to explore CEO pay ratios in a South African context, a study of the determinants and performance effects of companies' CEO pay ratios was conducted in the Consumer Goods and Consumer Services subsectors on the JSE. Data was collected on companies for the period 2006 to 2014 and pay ratios were estimated for each company where the data allowed. Due to the complexity of CEO remuneration, three different pay ratios were calculated, which differed in how long-term incentive payments were treated in each case. Using the same method as Shin, Kang, Hyun, & Kim (2015) used in their South Korean study, three different analyses were conducted. Firstly, the factors determining pay ratios were analysed in a regression analysis, which found CEO tenure, companies' future investment opportunities and company size to be key determinants of pay ratios. Secondly, the deviations from companies' expected pay ratios were regressed against subsequent company performance to see whether CEOs being paid the, "wrong," amount relative to employees affects company performance. It was found that deviations from the expected pay ratio negatively affected company performance, and there was no difference in performance between under- and over-paying CEOs relative to employees. Finally, as a means to test whether tournament theory or behavioural theories better explain the CEO pay ratio in South Africa, subsequent company performance was regressed against the three different pay ratios calculated. It was found that there is little evidence of a relationship between subsequent company performance and the pay ratio, except in the case where performance is measured by return on assets, and the pay ratio is measured such that it excludes long-term incentives completely. The relationship in this case was found to be positive, indicating that tournament theory better explained the relationship between pay ratios and company performance. One of the limitations of this study was the limited availability of data, which gives rise to self-selection bias.

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Carr, Jake Kenneth. "Retail Choice, Consumer Spaces, and Dynamics in the Spatial Organization of the Goods and Services Sector." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500310205028892.

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37

Saunders, James Woodward. "A method for imputing economic value to ecological goods and services provided by the Knysna River." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003894.

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The purpose of this thesis was to develop a method by which economic value can be imputed from an economic activity to a non-market ecological function or service which contributes to that economic activity. The Knysna River in South Africa was chosen as the ecological function which supported three economic activities from which value was to be imputed; these were the Knysna Municipal Water Supply, Fish Production in the Knysna Estuary and Production of Indigenous Forest within the Knysna Catchment. Three underlying assumptions and two functional operations were required in order to implement the suggested method. The underlying assumptions were: - The ecological and economic activities considered are within a single catchment. - The allocation of value imputed for a specific economic activity to the ecological function or service under consideration (in this case the Knysna River) is proportional to the total contribution of ecological functions or services contributed to the economic activity. - The valuation of the economic activity for the purposes of obtaining a price-quantity point on a demand function is to be full cost pricing with no producer surplus. The two functional requirements were: - Diagram or map the linkages between an economic activity and the supporting ecological functions. - Determine the consumer surplus related to an incremental change in quantity under a demand function where the original price and quantity are known. A value from each of the economic activities was imputed to the Knysna River. However, the method was not tested. Nonetheless applying the equations and collecting the required data allowed several methodological needs to be clearly pointed out. The most acute deficiency was difficulty in obtaining secondary data from governmental agencies, commercial representatives and existing published academic research to ensure a robust price. Also, scientific information was not sufficiently available for allocating ecological contributions to the economic activities. Even with the shortage of credible data the method appears to allow non-market ecological functions to be valued in context of an existing economic system.

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38

Mahapatra, Subrat. "Analysis of routing strategies in air transportation networks for express package delivery services." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/2688.

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Thesis (M.S.C.E. ) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.
Thesis research directed by: Civil Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

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Oyler, Melvin Robert. "Dynamic distribution services and demand contingent quality of service policies /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8769.

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40

Narbón, Perpiñá Isabel. "Evaluating cost efficiency in local governments' provision of public goods and services: applications to the Spanish case." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Jaume I, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/404453.

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The present thesis project considers the multidimensional evaluation of different aspects related to the cost efficiency of local governments in Spain, using non-parametric frontier analysis methods. In doing so, the economic crisis scenario that seriously affected Spanish local government revenues and finances in general is taken into account. The thesis contributes to the development of robust tools to evaluate and promote the improvement of the efficiency of local governments. The empirical results provide evidence for a better definition of public policies through the evaluation and identification of the benchmark local governments in order to set potential improvements and, therefore, minimize (cost) inefficiencies which might help to reduce public expenditures.
El presente proyecto de tesis plantea la evaluación multidimensional de distintos aspectos relacionados con la eficiencia en costes de los gobiernos locales en España, utilizando métodos de análisis frontera no paramétricos. Al hacer esto se tiene en cuenta el escenario de crisis económica vivido en España durante los últimos años y que ha tenido un gran impacto en los ingresos y finanzas locales en general. La tesis contribuye al desarrollo de herramientas robustas para evaluar y promover la mejora de la eficiencia de los gobiernos locales. Los resultados empíricos aportan evidencia para una mejor definición de políticas públicas mediante la evaluación e identificación de los gobiernos locales más eficientes como punto de referencia para establecer mejoras potenciales y, por lo tanto, poder eliminar ineficiencias (en costes) que ayuden a reducir el gasto público.

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Artz, Brian, and Alex Kitcheos. "Microtransactions : A Study of Consumer Behavior and Virtual Goods/Services Among Students at Linköping University in Sweden." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-129603.

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Within the realm of applications, a relatively new payment form has emerged: called Microtransactions. These small one-time payments (less than 10 Euros) offer an addendum to an existing app, service, or game. Microtransactions have generated a revenue stream largely due to the tech savvy segment of young adults aged 18 to 24, but there hasn’t been significant research from an academic perspective which sheds light on this trend. This issue prompted the research question: Which quantifiable elements of a Microtransaction contribute to a university student’s purchase decision? The phenomenon of Microtransactions has not previously been studied under traditional theories of consumer behavior, which is what the scope of this research provided. The consumer behavior theories selected include: Ego Depletion Theory, Extended Self, and Perceived Value Theory. The selected methodology was a quantitative survey and content analysis. The data collected partially supported Perceived Value Theory, but was unable to validate Ego Depletion and Extended Self as significant influences on purchasing behaviors of Microtransactions among university students. Although the theories were unable to support all our hypotheses, we still concluded with two major findings. First, pricing and functionality are the primary elements of a Microtransaction which university students will consider before purchasing. Second, the Perceived Value Theory’s consumption values of Emotion and Finance are, indeed, consumption values shared among university students.

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42

Endo, Seiji. "Long-Term Relationship between Footwear Manufacturer and Consumers: Relationship Spiral Model of Encounter for Services and Goods through Internet Shopping." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27232.

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In the present market place situation, a consumer's main contact with manufacturing (i.e., the production process) is through retailers or other middlemen, such as mail order catalog companies. Consumers rarely complain, but when they do, consumers complain to or request information from retailers about products (Kincade, Redwine, & Hancock, 1992). Manufacturers rarely receive information directly from consumers. Instead, they get second-hand reports from retailers or they get no information at all. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between manufacturers and consumers during the relationship process using a mixed design of preexperimental research and panel analysis with in-depth interview. The major research question is: What will happen in the Relationship Spiral Model when the consumer becomes a part of the manufacturer /consumer relationship? Twenty female participants, out of 35 who answered the screening questionnaire, were selected from students and acquaintances of the researcher in Blacksburg, VA. For the experiment, a simulated web site was used by a consumer (i.e., participant) to order two pair of customized shoes based on each consumer's needs. In the preexperimental design for this study, a longitudinal case study with a panel study technique, as described by Babbie (1999) and Creswell (1994), was utilized to investigate consumer characteristics (i.e., demographics, shopping orientation, expectation, and experience), goods and service in encounter, and direct communication over time. The following procedure was conducted: (a) interviewing the subjects, (b) transcribing tapes and field notes, (c) segmenting data, (d) de-contextualizing data, (e) coding data, and (f) re-contextualizing data. Interpretational qualitative analysis was utilized for data analysis in this study. As a result of recontextualization of the interview scripts, the Relationship Spiral Model emerged from the data. Four sub-models for four groups were refined according to the data from the Relationship Spiral Model. Further analysis was conducted on sub-models. Consumers are constantly changing and have multiple selection criteria. These criteria are constantly changing based on expectations, experiences and other situational variables.
Ph. D.

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43

Jablonskytė, Judita. "Vartotojų teisių gynimo problemos nekokybiško daikto (paslaugų) atveju (teismų praktikos analizė)." Master's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2011. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2010~D_20110709_152427-48653.

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Darbe aiškinamasi, kokiais teisės aktais ir kokiais juose įtvirtintais kokybės kriterijais remiantis nustatoma ar konkreti vartojimo prekė (paslauga) atitinka kokybės reikalavimus arba atvirkščiai jų neatitinka. Nekokybiškumo samprata atkleidžiama tiek Lietuvos, tiek Europos Sąjungos lygmenyje; išryškinamos problemos, susijusios su ES teisėje numatyto prekės atitikties sutarčiai principo perkėlimu į nacionalines teisės sistemas. Antrojoje darbo dalyje tiriami konkretūs probleminiai klausimai vartotojams įrodinėjant prekės (paslaugos) nekokybiškumą, o būtent: pareigos pranešti apie kokybės trūkumus įtaka vartotojo teisių gynimui, komercinės/teisinės garantijos, šešių mėnesių nekokybiškumo prezumpcijos taikymo problemos ir perspektyvos. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje kiekvienas teisės gynimo būdas aptariamas atskirai, atliekant išsamią Lietuvos ir ES teisinio reguliavimo, teisės doktrinos ir teismų praktikos analizę; atskleidžiama konkretaus vartotojo teisių gynimo būdo problematika, pateikiami galimi sprendimo variantai. Atkreiptinas dėmesys, kad kiekvienoje darbo dalyje, remiantis dabartiniu teisiniu reguliavimu pirmiausia pateikiamos konkretaus nagrinėjamo klausimo teorinės nuostatos, vėliau jos susiejamos su teismų praktika, teisės doktrinoje išsakytomis pozicijomis, atliktų tyrimų duomenimis, ir galiausiai pereinama prie konkrečių praktinių problemų analizės, pateikiami galimi jų sprendimo variantai ir įvertinamos teisinio reguliavimo perspektyvos. Kadangi šiuo darbu reaguojama... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
The object of the academic master work is to analyze the problems faced by the consumers in case of defective goods (services) and the court’s practice on this matter. The academic master work begins with the examination of the legislation and of the special quality criteria that are laid down for determining whether a particular consumer good (service) meets the quality requirements or vice versa, they do not. The conception of defectiveness is revealed in the two levels: Lithuanian and European Union; the problems associated with the transposition of the principle of conformity with the contract to the national law systems are pointed out. In the second part of academic master work the particular problematic issues that arises while consumers prove the defectiveness of goods (services) are examined, namely: the duty of the consumer to notify the trader of quality deficiencies and it’s impact on consumer rights; the legal and commercial guarantees, six-month presumption’s of non-conformity application problems and perspectives. In the third part of work each of the possible remedies in the case of defective goods (services) is separately considered; by the analysis of Lithuanian and EU’s comprehensive regulatory, case law and legal doctrine, the problems associated with each remedy is revealed and the possible solutions are given. The point worth mentioning is that in each part of the academic master work first of all the theoretical provisions are pointed out, after they... [to full text]

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44

Mellet, Dieter. "Servicisation : extending the product life cycle of high technologically manufactured goods." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/895.

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Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An investigation of the servicisation phenomenon and its influence on the product life cycle of high technologically manufactured goods. Rising demand for services and ongoing commoditisation of goods has forced businesses to purse alternatives to differentiate themselves in the market place. This has renewed interest to reposition the unit of exchange from a goods dominant to a service dominant perspective. Although applicability of the product life cycle as a marketing tool has often been questioned, it continues to form a fundamental building block of marketing theory. The purpose of this research report was to determine whether the servicisation phenomenon can be utilised as part of corporate strategy to extend the product life cycle of high technological goods. The primary objective was to gain new insight into the interesting and profitable combination of goods and services within the goods manufacturing industry. The main focus was to test whether a service dominant business model can extend the product life cycle. A case study of the product life cycle of the Apple iPod versus Creative’s digital media player value offerings was analysed. The main finding was that the iPod as opposed to Creative’s media player, did show signs of a longer product life cycle in the role of a service delivery vehicle. The service dominant business model has created many alternative revenue streams for Apple.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Ondersoek oor die dienste verskynsel en die invloed daarvan op die produkleefsiklus van hoë tegnologiese goedere. ‘n Toename in die aanvraag na dienste, en voortdurende omskepping van verbruikersartikels in kommoditeite, forseer besighede om na alternatiewe te soek om hulself in die markplek te differensieer. Daar is dus nuwe belang om die eenheid van handel te herdefinieer vanuit ‘n diens perspektief teenoor die tradisionele goedere een. Alhoewel die toepaslikheid van die produkleefsiklus, as ‘n instrument vir bemarkingsbesluitneming, talle keer bevraagteken is, bly dit ‘n hoeksteen van bemarkingsteorie. Die doel van hierdie navorsingsprojek was om te bepaal of die dienste verskynsel gebruik kan word in korporatiewe strategie om die produkleefsiklus te verleng. Die hoof doelwit was om nuwe insig te kry oor hoe ‘n produk en dienste gekombineer kan word om winste van vervaardigers te verbeter. Die hoof fokus was om te toets of ‘n diensgesentreerde besigheidsmodel die produkleefsiklus kan verleng. ‘n Studie van die produkleefsiklus van Apple se iPod is gedoen teenoor dié van Creative se digitale mediaspeler. Daar is bepaal dat die iPod, teenoor Creative se mediaspeler, wel tekens van ‘n langer produkleefsiklus toon, in die rol van ‘n diensleweringsinstrument. Dié diens gesentreerde besigheidsmodel voorsien Apple van vele alternatiewe bronne van inkomste.

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45

Chen, Chia-Hung. "Word-of-mouth information gathering : an exploratory study of Asian international students searching for Australian higher education services." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16275/.

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Word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) has been recognized as a powerful marketing communication medium that many consider beyond marketers' control and yet is a reliable, creditable, trustworthy information-gathering tool, especially in credence-based services (CBS). To date, the various types of WOMC messages have not yet been adequately studied in the context of CBS. Using the individual face-toface convergence interview (CI) technique as the primary data collection method of exploratory research, this study attempts to fill this gap by describing the types, the characteristics, and the significance of WOMC messages involved in a CBS information gathering process (e.g. selection of an Australian higher education service). Marketers in the higher education sector feel WOMC advertising is unfamiliar and less manageable, but powerful in practice, especially in recruiting overseas Asian students. This study took the strengths of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), N*Vivo 2, to manage qualitative transcriptions and enhance the data analysis process in organizing, linking, coding categorizing, organizing, summarizing behaviour patterns in order to explore the insightful findings and answer research questions. The study summarizes participants' motivation items and the specific information gathering steps as the foundation to discover the three types of WOMC messages (service information gathering, subjective personal experience, and personal advice) the characteristics of WOMC messages and the significance of WOMC messages in the CBS information gathering process. In theoretical terms, the findings on the role of types of WOMC messages have extended Beltramini model in the information gathering stage. In terms of the management implications, this research advances the current understanding of the types of WOMC messages, insightful WOMC characteristics and significances in behaviour patterns in the CBS information gathering process. As a result, university marketers are able to effectively cultivate various types of WOMC messages in promotion campaigns.

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Bezchlebová, Martina. "Export a import zboží a služeb zemí EU v období let 2007 až 2011." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-113595.

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Diploma thesis deals with the development of export and import of goods and services of EU in years 2001 - 2007. There is the summary of the course before the crisis in 2001-2007 described in this work. The crisis didn't start in all EU countries at the same time. Old member countries were mostly hit by the crisis earlier than new member countries. Current crisis has had big influence at the export and the import of goods and services of EU. Crisis showed us lack both in Eurozone and in EU too.

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47

Johansson, Tove. "Tjänsteföretagets möjligheter att påverka serviceupplevelsen : en studie om företags värdeerbjudanden och påverkan på kunden." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Akademin för textil, teknik och ekonomi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-12693.

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Since the turn of the century, the focus in marketing has shifted to a service-centred view, where co-creation of value between customer and business is central. Services, which are characterized by intangible resources, co-production and heterogeneity, account for the majority of employment in society today. Much research has been done on how customers perceive services and how it affects trust and satisfaction. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the role of the service company in the value creation process by studying how they facilitate the value creation of the customer and how their value offerings can affect the customer's experience of the service. The empirical part of the study is based on interviews made with representatives from two companies, Pinchos (restaurant) and Fysiken (gym), which are classified as experience and credence services. Their perspective on customer experience and expectations has then been compared with their customers' actual experience and expectations through interviews with current or former customers. The study shows that the role of the respective companies in the value creation process in this case is great as the customers of these companies have a lot of responsibility and control over their own experiences. Therefore, value creation is a major part for both companies because they have to offer the resources that the customer needs to independently create value of the service.
Sedan sekelskiftet har fokus inom marknadsföring gått från en varucentrerad till en tjänstecentrerad vy, där samskapande av värde mellan kund och företag är centralt. Tjänster, som karaktäriseras av immateriella resurser, samproduktion och heterogenitet, står idag för majoriteten av sysselsättningen i samhället. Mycket forskning har gjorts om hur kunder uppfattar tjänster och hur detta påverkar tillit och nöjdhet. Därför syftar denna studie på att undersöka tjänsteföretagets roll i den värdeskapande processen genom att studera hur de underlättar för kunden att skapa värde och hur deras värdeerbjudanden kan påverka kundernas upplevelse av tjänsten.Den empiriska delen i studien baseras på intervjuer gjorda med representanter från två företag, Pinchos (restaurang) och Fysiken (gym), som klassats som upplevelse- respektive förtroendetjänster. Deras perspektiv på kundernas upplevelse och förväntningar har sedan jämförts med deras kunders faktiska upplevelse och förväntningar genom intervjuer med nuvarande eller tidigare kunder. Studien visar på att respektive företags roll i den värdeskapande processen i dessa fall är stor då kunderna till dessa företag har mycket ansvar och kontroll över sina egna upplevelser. Därför blir värdeunderlättande en stor del för båda företagen eftersom de måste erbjuda de resurser som kunden behöver för att självständigt kunna skapa värde av tjänsten.

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48

Chen, Chia-Hung. "Word-of-mouth information gathering : an exploratory study of Asian international students searching for Australian higher education services." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2006. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16275/1/Chia-Hung_Chen_Thesis.pdf.

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Word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) has been recognized as a powerful marketing communication medium that many consider beyond marketers' control and yet is a reliable, creditable, trustworthy information-gathering tool, especially in credence-based services (CBS). To date, the various types of WOMC messages have not yet been adequately studied in the context of CBS. Using the individual face-toface convergence interview (CI) technique as the primary data collection method of exploratory research, this study attempts to fill this gap by describing the types, the characteristics, and the significance of WOMC messages involved in a CBS information gathering process (e.g. selection of an Australian higher education service). Marketers in the higher education sector feel WOMC advertising is unfamiliar and less manageable, but powerful in practice, especially in recruiting overseas Asian students. This study took the strengths of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), N*Vivo 2, to manage qualitative transcriptions and enhance the data analysis process in organizing, linking, coding categorizing, organizing, summarizing behaviour patterns in order to explore the insightful findings and answer research questions. The study summarizes participants' motivation items and the specific information gathering steps as the foundation to discover the three types of WOMC messages (service information gathering, subjective personal experience, and personal advice) the characteristics of WOMC messages and the significance of WOMC messages in the CBS information gathering process. In theoretical terms, the findings on the role of types of WOMC messages have extended Beltramini model in the information gathering stage. In terms of the management implications, this research advances the current understanding of the types of WOMC messages, insightful WOMC characteristics and significances in behaviour patterns in the CBS information gathering process. As a result, university marketers are able to effectively cultivate various types of WOMC messages in promotion campaigns.

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Wang, Xiaorui. "Can You Buy a Memorable Wedding? : How socio-economic determinants shape the consumption of wedding goods and services. A case study in China." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Nationalekonomi, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-13809.

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The main purpose of the study is to explore how certain socio-economic determinants shape the way consumers behave in the consumption of wedding goods and services. These socio-economic determinants include: price, education, family tradition, social constraints and self-expression. A set of questions related to the main research question was raised in order to better illustrate the relationship between these determinants and the consumption action, as well as to discover, reveal and comprehend the complexity of the Chinese wedding industry. Both a self-completion web-administered online survey and electronic interviews were carried out to collect primary data in order to get a confirmatory set of results. The results from both of the survey and the interviews have shown that these socio-economic factors are related to the individual behaviour in the consumption of wedding goods and services. But the impact is not as strong and obvious as expected. Respondents’ perceived satisfaction differ from each other but not necessarily link to their consumption tendency according to the survey. It also revealed the fact that social convention and family tradition can help shaping the decision-making process to a certain extent. However, interviewees showed their enthusiasm to the concept of self-expression and autonomy. They found the self concept more important than tradition and convention when making choices, despite that they admitted that it would be impossible to completely discard the traditions.

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Burns, Kara R. "Engagement, empowerment and patient generated health data." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/114076/1/Kara%20Burns%20Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis examines patient generated health data in the context of healthcare services where information asymmetry traditionally enshrined the doctor as all-powerful and the patient as a passive recipient. Through vignette-led interviews and a clinical trial, the research highlights the role of this information in the co-created process of patient engagement, then demonstrates how it promotes healthcare self-determination and consumer empowerment. Patient generated health data aids diagnosis and management of health conditions, and provides significant emotional value for patients and their peer network. This information supports consumer-driven efficiencies, eliminating unnecessary treatments and therefore may be able to reduce the overall cost of healthcare services. This thesis recommends that healthcare providers implement solicited and unsolicited patient generated health data to increase service confidence, satisfaction and reduce switching behaviour.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Credence goods and services'

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