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Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Jia Wang and Jiaoju Ge

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically using two new models to analyze the effect of respondentsuncertainty about their stated willingness to pay (WTP) on welfare…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically using two new models to analyze the effect of respondentsuncertainty about their stated willingness to pay (WTP) on welfare estimates in the contingent valuation method (CVM) theoretically using two new models, and empirically to reveal consumers’ WTP to improve drinking water supply safety (WSS) in China.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, two alternative preference uncertainty treatment approaches are proposed to estimate consumers’ WTP theoretically and they are applied to China’s WSS improvement program from a payment card method, which depends on how consumers’ certainty level about their valuation is. Furthermore, four regression models are presented to investigate the determinants of consumers’ WTP.

Findings

Theoretically, the alternative approaches that proposed in this research can remove overestimation bias from traditional CVM method but with lower estimation efficiency. In addition, the empirical results of the uncertainty adjusted models show that the expected WTP to improve drinking WSS is from 0.55 to 0.56 Renminbi yuan/ton, which are lower than the estimates from the conventional standard CVM models. Consumers’ preferences for their concerns about WSS, attitudes toward WSS improvement programs, trusts in implement authorities and their knowledge of WSS have significant effects on the WTP for improving drinking WSS and on respondentsuncertainty too.

Originality/value

Theoretically to the authors’ knowledge, it is the first attempt to compare alternative approaches to treat respondent uncertainty using numerical certainty scale combined with payment card format valuation questions in CVM. Empirically it is the first study at this large scale that investigates consumers’ WTP for improving drinking WSS incorporating with respondent uncertainty in China. In addition, to assess consumer preferences for improved drinking water safety and the sources of uncertainty, information on consumers’ attitudes toward WSS are considered at the first time.

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Vasco Boatto, Luca Rossetto, Paolo Bordignon, Rosa Arboretti and Luigi Salmaso

The purpose of this paper is to detect market segments where consumers have a different knowledge of domestic and imported Parmesan cheese in USA and Canada. The results may be…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to detect market segments where consumers have a different knowledge of domestic and imported Parmesan cheese in USA and Canada. The results may be helpful in understanding to what extend North America consumers appreciate Parmesan cheese and brands, Parmesan consumption and price while recognizing market segments according to consumer awareness, involvement and covariate effects.

Design/methodology/approach

A class of mixture models, known as combination uniform binomial (CUB), is applied to survey data collected in USA and Canada. A questionnaire, filled out by 540 restaurant customers, collects opinions about consumption, purchase features and price. The CUB model estimates the two latent variables, known as feeling and uncertainty, explaining the respondent’s behavior as awareness and involvement variability while the CUB clustering procedure detects market segments.

Findings

CUB results show that the Parmesan is a well-known cheese but also that a small share of consumers look for the place of origin. The model detects market segments where consumers express better awareness on taste, price and origin while the knowledge of imported Parmesan brands is lacking. Most of consumers, not paying attention to the origin, would hardly switch to the imported Parmesan because of higher price or because they are already satisfied of the domestic cheese.

Research limitations/implications

The results suffer some restrictions in the sample representativeness. A further analysis, where the survey is done at retail and advances in CUB models, may improve the market segmentation procedure allowing a better generalization of results.

Practical implications

The survey results highlights the appreciation and consumption of Parmesan cheese, especially for its taste, as well as a low perception of Italian brands. Consequently, trade companies should focussed their communication strategy on activities encouraging North American consumers to taste Italian Parmesan brands (e.g. tasting sessions, price promotions) instead of costly and less effective advertising campaigns.

Social implications

Parmesan brand misunderstandings are often associated with market information asymmetry. The paper results show a market segmentation where purchases are mainly driven by Parmesan taste regardless of domestic or imported brands. Likely, the consumption of domestic Parmesan is well consolidated and it is not a consequence of brand information asymmetry.

Originality/value

The CUB model is an innovative and flexible no parametric approach for evaluating consumer behavior and for segmenting the market while dealing with complex problems of food knowledge.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 118 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 December 2017

Aliya Hamid Rao

Highly educated and skilled contract workers come from a range of occupations, have different worker characteristics, and work under organizational practices that are precarious…

Abstract

Highly educated and skilled contract workers come from a range of occupations, have different worker characteristics, and work under organizational practices that are precarious in varied ways. Our current understanding of the experience of contract work does not fully encompass this diversity. This chapter focuses on early-career contract workers who contract across national borders – an increasingly prevalent but little understood phenomenon – to broaden our understanding of contract work. I draw on an analysis of 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 30 international and early-career contract workers in the United Nations (UN) system in Geneva, Switzerland. Eight participants were included in follow-up interviews. I find that my participants demonstrate flexibility to their employer. They accept uncertain and short-term contracts, because they hope to secure longer-term positions within the prestigious UN system. Demonstrating flexibility impacts them, their relationships, and has financial implications as participants center the demands of their contracts. At times, participants place limits on how much uncertainty they will bear. This chapter thus illuminates the experiences of an understudied group of contract workers – early-career workers in transnational settings – who fall within the broad umbrella of contract workers. It highlights how even elite workers experience challenges as they engage in contract work.

Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2016

Kristian J. Sund

There is growing evidence that managers perceive the general environment inaccurately, but very few studies have looked at the accuracy of specific strategic issue probability…

Abstract

There is growing evidence that managers perceive the general environment inaccurately, but very few studies have looked at the accuracy of specific strategic issue probability estimates, and at whether or not managers are aware of the accuracy or inaccuracy of their perceptions, something referred to as knowledge miscalibration. I explore perceptual inaccuracy and knowledge miscalibration in the form of overconfidence, in the context of demographic ageing, an issue currently affecting the tourism and hospitality industry. Using data from a survey of hotel managers, I find a high prevalence of perceptual error and evidence of a relatively large minority of respondents displaying knowledge overconfidence. Furthermore, I find a link between accurate environmental perceptions and strategic issue importance, suggesting that managers are better at accurately perceiving an issue when it is strategically important for their business. The same link does not exist with overconfidence, lending support to scholars arguing that overconfidence may be a trait, rather than being question-specific.

Details

Uncertainty and Strategic Decision Making
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-170-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1993

Donna M. Randall, Y. Paul Huo and Patrice Pawelk

This paper discusses the impact of a social desirability (SD) bias in cross‐cultural ethics research. An SD bias may mask a relationship between key variables, provide a false…

667

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of a social desirability (SD) bias in cross‐cultural ethics research. An SD bias may mask a relationship between key variables, provide a false correlation between them, moderate their relationship, or influence the response rate to the survey instrument. When survey researchers present hypothetical ethical dilemmas to respondents and ask them what they would do, the respondents' answers will not only be influenced by their actual values and desires, but also by what those individuals perceive to be desirable within their society. We argue that key value differences between countries, as noted by Hofstede, will exert an independent influence on responses to self‐report questionnaires. Four propositions are set forth detailing how this SD bias may differentially affect responses to ethics surveys across cultures. A longitudinal research design is proposed to help disentangle the impact of culture values, personal values, and an SD bias. Several measures to prevent and to control the bias in cross‐cultural ethics research are discussed The use of pretests, pilot tests, and SD scales imbedded within research instruments is recommended.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2022

Heather Yemm, Elizabeth Peel and Dawn Brooker

This paper aims to report the findings of a survey study exploring perceptions about cognitive impairment. These findings are relevant to public health campaigns and education…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report the findings of a survey study exploring perceptions about cognitive impairment. These findings are relevant to public health campaigns and education programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey exploring respondents’ views and knowledge about mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was circulated via UK networks. A total of 417 respondents completed the survey, including people living with cognitive impairment (n = 10), care partners (n = 23), older adults (n = 83), younger adults (n = 83), general health-care professionals (n = 96), dementia specialist health-care professionals (n = 48) and dementia specialists (n = 40).

Findings

Respondents were more confident in their knowledge about dementia than cognitive impairment but wanted more information about both conditions. Younger adults were uncertain about many aspects of MCI, and were the most likely to view MCI as a normal part of ageing. Diet (45.1%, n = 188) and personal behaviour (63.8%, n = 266) were the least endorsed possible causes of MCI, suggesting a lack of awareness of lifestyle choices as risk factors for MCI.

Originality/value

The results highlight the need to provide education and awareness raising about MCI to enable people to seek help in a timely manner and be able to make informed lifestyle choices that may reduce their risk of MCI and dementia. Implementing education about MCI and dementia in schools is a key target, as younger people were the most uncertain or misinformed about these topics. It is clear that further public health initiatives around MCI are both warranted and welcomed by the general public.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 March 2024

Anna Hallberg, Ulrika Winblad and Mio Fredriksson

The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to…

Abstract

Purpose

The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to elucidate the challenges of vertical policy coordination between non-political actors at the national and regional levels regarding this policy issue, using Sweden as our case.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews with key actors at the national and regional levels were analyzed using an adapted version of a conceptualization by Adam et al. (2019), depicting barriers to vertical policy coordination.

Findings

Our results show that the main issues in the Swedish context were related to parallel sovereignty and a vagueness regarding responsibilities and mandates as well as complex governmental structures and that this was exacerbated by the unfamiliarity and uncertainty of the policy issue. We conclude that understanding the interaction between the comprehensiveness and complexity of the policy issue and the institutional context is crucial to achieving effective vertical policy coordination.

Originality/value

Many studies have focused on countries’ overall pandemic responses, but in order to improve the outcome of future pandemics, it is also important to learn from more specific response measures.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 38 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2003

Johan Frishammar

This paper addresses the issue of information use in strategic decision making. The study employs a case study as a research strategy together with personal interviews and…

8273

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of information use in strategic decision making. The study employs a case study as a research strategy together with personal interviews and documentation as means of data collection. The starting‐point is four specific strategic decisions recently made by medium‐sized companies in Sweden. The study provides the reader with an insight into management information behaviour when taking strategic decisions, by addressing questions such as: Why is information used? What kind of information does management use? How do they obtain it? And finally, where do they obtain it? In addition, a short review of the literature pertaining to the above stated questions is provided.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 41 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

Hugo Zagorsek, Marko Jaklic and Stanley J. Stough

The article explores the impact of culture on leadership practices in three countries in culturally and economically different regions: the United States, Slovenia, and Nigeria…

6097

Abstract

The article explores the impact of culture on leadership practices in three countries in culturally and economically different regions: the United States, Slovenia, and Nigeria. It uses the visionary approach to leadership as developed by Kouzes and Posner (1987), who have identified five leadership practices (actions or behaviors) employed by effective leaders. Hypotheses about expected differences in the usage of those practices were developed on the basis of Hofstede’s (1980) country score. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI: Kouzes & Posner, 1993) was used to collect self‐ratings from 351 MBA students in the respective countries. Contrary to expectations, the data reveals that there are not many significant differences between the leadership practices of American, Nigerian, and Slovenian MBA students, suggesting that some charismatic leadership behaviors may be universally practiced. Some differences to occur in the leadership practices of Modeling the Way and Enabling Others Act. Culture seems to affect gender differences in leadership practices. These differences are greatest for Nigerian respondents and smallest for Slovenian MBA students.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 August 2021

Thanh Cong Nguyen, Hang Dieu Nguyen, Hoa Thu Le and Shinji Kaneko

This purpose of this paper is to understand residents’ choice of preferred measures and their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the measures to improve the air quality of Hanoi city.

2028

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to understand residents’ choice of preferred measures and their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the measures to improve the air quality of Hanoi city.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire surveys were conducted to collect the opinions of 212 household representatives living in Hanoi City. The survey tools were tested and adjusted through an online survey with 191 responses. Multivariate probit and linear regression models were used to identify determinants of respondents’ choices of measures and their WTP.

Findings

Respondents expressed their strong preferences for three measures for air quality improvements, including: (1) increase of green spaces; (2) use of less polluting fuels; (3) expansion of public transportation. The mean WTP for the implementation of those measures was estimated at about 148,000–282,000 Vietnamese dong, equivalent to 0.09–0.16% of household income. The respondents’ choices appear to be consistent with their characteristics and needs, such as financial affordability, time on roads and their perceived impacts of air pollution. The WTP estimates increase with perception of air pollution impacts, time on roads, education and income; but are lower for older people.

Practical implication

Increase of green spaces can be the measure to which policy makers should pay more attention. The match-up of residents needs and well-informed plans will be an important key to success.

Originality/value

This appears to be the first attempt to test the validity of public opinions on choices of measures for improving urban air quality in Vietnam. Our WTP estimates also contribute to the database on the values of improved air quality in the developing world.

Details

Journal of Economics and Development, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1859-0020

Keywords

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