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1 – 10 of 838
Article
Publication date: 20 September 2021

Subimal Chatterjee, Debi P. Mishra, Jennifer JooYeon Lee and Sirajul A. Shibly

Service providers often recommend unnecessary and expensive services to unsuspecting consumers, such as recommending a new part when a simple fix to the old will do, a phenomenon…

Abstract

Purpose

Service providers often recommend unnecessary and expensive services to unsuspecting consumers, such as recommending a new part when a simple fix to the old will do, a phenomenon known as overprovisioning. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent consumers tend to defer their decisions should they suspect that sellers are overproviding services to them and they cannot prevent the sellers from doing so (they lack personal control); and how proper market signals can mitigate such suspicions, restore personal control and reduce deferrals.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper conducts three laboratory experiments. The experiments expose the participants to hypothetical repair scenarios and measure to what extent they suspect that sellers might be overproviding services to them and they feel that they lack the personal control to prevent the sellers from doing so. Thereafter, the experiments expose them to two different market signals, one conveying that the seller is providing quality services (a repair warranty; quality signal) and the other conveying that the seller is taking away any incentives their agents (technicians) may have to overprovide services (the technicians are paid a flat salary; quantity signal). The paper examines how these quality/quantity signals are able to reduce overprovisioning suspicions, restore personal control and reduce decision deferrals.

Findings

The paper has two main findings. First, the paper shows a mediation process at work i.e. suspecting potential overprovisioning by sellers leads consumers to defer their decisions indirectly because they feel that they lack personal control to prevent the sellers from doing so. Second, the paper shows that the quantity signal (flat salary disclosure), but not the quality signal (warranty), is able to mitigate suspicions of overprovisioning, restore personal control and reduce decision deferrals.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that although buyers may rely on quality signals to assure them of superior service, these signals do not guarantee that the quantity of service they are receiving is appropriate. Therefore, sellers will have to send a credible quality signal and a credible quantity signal to the consumers if they wish to tackle suspicions about service overprovision and service quality.

Originality/value

The paper is original in two ways. First, the paper theorizes and tests a mediation process model whereby quality/quantity signals differentially mitigate overprovisioning suspicions, restore personal control and reduce decision deferrals. Second, the paper speaks to the necessity of expanding the traditional signaling literature, designed primarily to detect poor quality hidden in the products/services of lower-quality sellers, to include detecting/solving overprovisioning often hidden in the services provided by higher-quality sellers.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 38 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2011

Chiu‐chi Angela Chang and Monika Kukar‐Kinney

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast two types of shopping aids, that is, research‐supporting and solution‐oriented shopping aids, and examine their effectiveness…

4638

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast two types of shopping aids, that is, research‐supporting and solution‐oriented shopping aids, and examine their effectiveness, considering both consumer and situational factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Expanded selection and additional detailed information are chosen to illustrate research‐supporting shopping aids, and personalized product recommendations and product ratings are used as examples of solution‐oriented shopping aids. This conceptual paper proposes that usage of shopping aids has an effect on the purchase likelihood and decision satisfaction and focuses on studying the moderating role of consumer product knowledge and time pressure. The thesis is that congruence between the type of a shopping aid and consumer characteristics, such as product knowledge, or situational characteristics, such as time pressure, should enhance the effectiveness of shopping aids.

Findings

The research propositions in this paper delineate how the use of retail shopping aids should affect the consumer's purchase likelihood, decision satisfaction, decision confidence, and evaluation costs, under the moderating influence of product knowledge and time pressure. Overall, knowledgeable consumers and less time‐pressed consumers should benefit from research‐supporting shopping aids (i.e. expanded selection and additional product information), whereas novice consumers and time‐pressed consumers should benefit from solution‐oriented shopping aids (i.e. personalized product recommendation and product ratings).

Originality/value

Retail shopping aids are designed to offer sales assistance for consumers to handle the obstacles to purchase completion. However, past efforts to install retail shopping aids have seen mixed results. This conceptual paper advocates that consideration of consumer characteristics and situational factors is necessary to understand the effects of shopping aid usage. This paper thus contributes to the understanding of solutions to purchase decision deferral and the determinants of decision satisfaction, and has practical implications for retailers regarding providing retail shopping aids to facilitate purchase completion and shopping experiences.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2017

Nitika Garg, J. Jeffrey Inman and Vikas Mittal

Choice deferral (making no choice at all) is a common phenomenon, especially when individuals face a difficult decision. This is further exacerbated in the presence of negative…

1054

Abstract

Purpose

Choice deferral (making no choice at all) is a common phenomenon, especially when individuals face a difficult decision. This is further exacerbated in the presence of negative incidental emotions which can have a wide-ranging influence on various aspects of decision-making. Previous research suggests that process (vs outcome) accountability might be more effective at mitigating the effect of irrelevant factors. This paper aims to examine whether accountability attenuates emotion effects on choice and examines the differences in the efficacy of the two accountability types.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the appraisal tendency framework to propose differences between same valenced emotions on choice deferral and predicts the moderating role of process versus outcome accountability. Two experiments are conducted to test the predictions and the results analyzed using logistic regression.

Findings

The authors find that outcome and process accountability have different moderating effects on emotion and choice deferral relationship: under outcome accountability, angry individuals are more likely to defer choice while under process accountability, differences in choice across emotion conditions are attenuated. As predicted, differences between anger and fear on the certainty appraisal and thereby information processing, mediate the effects of emotion on choice deferral in the outcome (but not process) condition.

Originality/value

This research studies the intersection of two developing research streams, affect and accountability, by focusing on specific affective states (anger and fear) and specific accountability types (outcome and process) in the important context of decision avoidance in consumer behavior. Thus, theoretical understanding in both domains is advanced and the benefits of specific accountability types clarified. Key implications for consumers and future research directions are also discussed.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 51 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 September 2010

Maria DiTullio and Douglas MacDonald

A primary impetus of the modern hospice movement was the disparity, during the later 20th century, between the care provided to persons with illnesses considered “curable” and the…

Abstract

A primary impetus of the modern hospice movement was the disparity, during the later 20th century, between the care provided to persons with illnesses considered “curable” and the treatment – or lack of it – accorded the incurably or terminally ill. In its transformation from a reform-oriented, interdisciplinary response to the needs of the dying to an integrated component of the American healthcare system, hospice care's original mission, target population, and modality of service delivery were all significantly altered in ways that generated new disparities in access to “death with dignity.” This chapter attempts to trace the political, economic, and institutional dimensions of this transformation as reflected in the experiences of one Northeastern hospice during a 6-month period in 2001. Using an analytic approach known as institutional ethnography (IE), the authors focus on the work of the Hospice's Interdisciplinary Group (IDG) to uncover the linkages between local problems in the delivery of hospice care and extra-local sites of power and constraint at the mezzo- and macrolevels of the American healthcare system. The significance of these linkages for patients, frontline workers, and other stakeholders are interpreted from several perspectives. Implications for change are discussed.

Details

The Impact of Demographics on Health and Health Care: Race, Ethnicity and Other Social Factors
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-715-8

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2013

Francesco Baldi

Real options available to developers and leading to an active and dynamic development of real estate assets are numerous. The purpose of the article is twofold. First, a…

1670

Abstract

Purpose

Real options available to developers and leading to an active and dynamic development of real estate assets are numerous. The purpose of the article is twofold. First, a conceptual framework is proposed as a practical aid for recognizing and understanding some frequently recurring combinations of options (such as deferral and expansion options). Based on the definition and classification of real options available in real estate markets, a comprehensive valuation tool for quantifying the value of those options embedded in a real estate development project is thus developed using a portfolio view.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on standard option pricing techniques, the proposed conceptual methodology is validated by applying it to an actual case of an investment for the construction of a new, multi‐purpose building in the semi‐central zone of the urban area of Rome (Italy).

Findings

Based on a static land value of €34.7 million, a waiting mode (deferral option) at an early stage of developing a property accounts for 16 percent of the expanded land value of the project, with 8 percent of such value being contributed by the expansion option. A real options valuation of the options portfolio available to a real estate developer enables increasing the project value by 31.1 percent as opposed to a traditional DCF analysis. In line with financial options theory, values of real options increase as volatility rises.

Practical implications

The case‐based analysis highlights that: flexibility in real estate development may create additional value enabling real estate developers or funds to react to market trends as new information arrives and uncertainty on fundamental factors (e.g. property prices) unfolds; the extra value added by managerial flexibility is neglected by DCF/NPV techniques; contrary to the common criticism on its lack of rigor, option valuation theory is suitable for appraising real estate assets; a portfolio approach is crucial when multiple real options exist.

Originality/value

Active management of real estate investments in response to changing property market and technology conditions confers operating flexibility and strategic value to appraisal of development projects beyond what is traditionally captured by a DCF model. An options approach to valuing and managing real estate development may change the developer's perspective altogether. Based on the combination of an original classification and a portfolio view of options existing in real estate markets, a real options framework for assessing the value of strategic flexibility incorporated in a greenfield development project (also accounting for potential option interactions) is designed.

Details

Journal of European Real Estate Research, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-9269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Sadaf Razzaq and Naeem Akhtar

The study examines tourists' psychological and social risk and shared beliefs – devotion, concerns and entertainment – at a religious and cultural heritage destination. It also…

Abstract

Purpose

The study examines tourists' psychological and social risk and shared beliefs – devotion, concerns and entertainment – at a religious and cultural heritage destination. It also examines how shared beliefs impact tourists’ nostalgia. Further, it examines whether nostalgia affects choice deferral and revisit intentions. Finally, it investigates how moderation of place attachment strengthens the link between shared beliefs – devotion, concerns, entertainment and nostalgia.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 439 inbound tourists, with 272 completing online questionnaires and 167 participating in face-to-face survey. Data analysis was performed using Amos 24.0 and SPSS 25.0, employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and the PROCESS macro.

Findings

The findings suggest that perceived psychological and social risk negatively impacts tourists' shared beliefs – devotion, concerns and entertainment – which positively impacts nostalgia. Positive nostalgic association boosts revisit intention and hampers choice deferral. The data also show how strong place attachment strengthens the relationship between shared beliefs – devotion, concerns and entertainment – and tourists’ perceived nostalgia.

Research limitations/implications

This work contributes to information behavior using S-O-R theory. It analyzes the psychological and social risks of destination visits and how nostalgia affects shared beliefs and revisit intentions. Management and policymakers at destination enterprises can use the findings to design measures to enhance revisit intentions despite risk considerations.

Originality/value

Pakistan's destination tourism is underutilized amid its religious and cultural heritage significance. The literature has ignored how perceived psychological and social risk affects travelers' shared beliefs and nostalgic feelings. Thus, this study suggests and validates these linkages utilizing stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory in Pakistan's unique environment with inbound tourists.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2003

Manoj K. Agarwal and Subimal Chatterjee

When offering product/service bundles to customers, marketers must decide how best to configure the bundles such that consumers do not find the bundle‐choice particularly…

2012

Abstract

When offering product/service bundles to customers, marketers must decide how best to configure the bundles such that consumers do not find the bundle‐choice particularly difficult. This paper examines perceived decision difficulty in selecting from a menu of bundles, where the bundles vary on the number of component services, the number of unique services between competing bundles, and their perceived similarity. It is found that larger bundles make decisions more difficult, more unique services between the competing bundles increases decision difficulty for small, but not large, bundles and similar bundles pose greater choice difficulty than dissimilar bundles. Implications of the results are discussed.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2023

Veronica Johansson and Maria Lindh

The purpose of this paper is to describe and explore the current state of internet regulation through content filters in Swedish public libraries.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe and explore the current state of internet regulation through content filters in Swedish public libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected through an electronic survey directed to library managers of Sweden’s 290 main municipal libraries. 164 answers were returned, yielding a 57% response rate. The analysis comprises descriptive statistics for quantitative data and an activity theory approach with focus on contradictions for qualitative counterparts.

Findings

In total, 33% of the responding libraries report having content filters; 50% have not; and a surprising 18% do not know. There is a strong correlation between internet misuse and positive attitudes towards filters, and, reversely, between lack of misuse and lack of active stances concerning filters. Rather than seeing this as weakness, the authors suggest that there is strength in a context-bound flexibility open to practical experience and weighting of values, ethics, legislation and local circumstances. More troublesome indications concern the high deferral of decision-making to local authorities (municipalities) whereby libraries are left with limited insight and influence.

Research limitations/implications

The situation calls for professional organisations to address political mandate questions, and educational programs to strengthen future information professionals’ knowledge of IT in general; filter issues in specific; and local authority decision-making. The study highlights the need of adequate information professional competences and mandates to decide on and oversee internet regulation.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first internationally published study on content filters in Swedish public libraries.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2011

Margaret E. Brooks

Indecision is not the hallmark of a great manager, but what do we know about when and why managers avoid or postpone decisions? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the limited…

3597

Abstract

Purpose

Indecision is not the hallmark of a great manager, but what do we know about when and why managers avoid or postpone decisions? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the limited research on indecision.

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews research from judgment and decision making, psychology, management, and marketing literatures to assemble what we already know about indecision. The review spans situational and personal determinants of indecision, highlighting what we know about when and why people experience indecision as well as who is predictably indecisive.

Findings

Decisions are avoided when people are asked to justify them, when options are similar in attractiveness, and when there are a large number of options to consider. Indecision may sometimes be a result of systematic biases (i.e. omission bias and status quo bias), and indecisive people may be more prone to confirmation bias. Finally, indecisiveness is related to numerous other individual differences, many of which are negative.

Practical implications

Specific recommendations for managers include evaluating options separately rather than comparing options, structuring incentive systems to reward decisive action, and explicitly considering the risk of lost opportunity when deciding whether to put off making a decision.

Originality/value

The literature reviewed in this paper spans diverse disciplines and perspectives. This paper provides a starting point for managers and researchers interested in understanding indecision: when and why it occurs, who is likely to be most indecisive, and what we might do to counter indecision.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 49 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

H Frank Cervone

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the primary factors that inhibit efficient decision-making in teams and propose some methods to help facilitate the process more…

4220

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the primary factors that inhibit efficient decision-making in teams and propose some methods to help facilitate the process more effectively. Teams often have a difficult time navigating the decision-making process. Even with a well-defined process, decision-making can be derailed by failing to set and maintain priorities or by ineffectively evaluating the significance of individual decisions that need to be made within the larger project scope.

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews some of the applicable literature related to decision-making and synthesizes it into an approach that can be used by teams to facilitate their decision-making processes.

Findings

There are three major impediments to efficient and effective decision-making in teams. Using methods for diagnosing and triaging the nature of decisions, teams can become more effective and efficient in their decision-making processes.

Originality/value

This article synthesizes a number of strands of research from various subdisciplines in management to develop an approach that can be used by project teams to more effectively facilitate their decision-making processes.

Details

OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-075X

Keywords

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