This thesis consists of three self-contained chapters covering topics in consumer theory. The first chapter presents an estimator for a Marshallian demand function which not only obeys all of the standard assumptions of consumer theory but will also converge to any true demand function which also obeys these standard assumptions. The second chapter explores Giffen behavior in the context of financial assets. The chapter finds that an agent with Maxmin preferences almost always displays Giffen behavior in some financial environments. Giffen behavior is also characterized for other classes of preferences. The last chapter, coauthored with one of my supervisors: John K.-H. Quah, develops a revealed preference test for weakly separable preferences in the spirit of Sydney Afriat. Unlike previous tests, ours does not impose concavity and applies to nonlinear budgets.

Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic growth and is now arguably the world???s largest consumer market. However, despite the size and potential of the Chinese market, there is a serious lack of formal understanding of Chinese buyer behaviour. The broad aim of this research is to understand patterns of buyer behaviour through a systematic analysis of the purchasing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) by urban Chinese consumers. Several specific research questions are addressed: ??? What patterns of brand purchasing and brand loyalty do urban Chinese consumers exhibit? ??? Do these patterns generalise across content, spatial and temporal dimensions? ??? Are there any systematic significant bases of segmentation within the FMCG markets that are studied? ??? What key implications are to be drawn by academics and practitioners? ??? More generally, what is the value of adopting a systematic approach to research in this area of enquiry? ??? Also, what is the value of applying and extending models developed in the West to the Chinese consumer context? The research is divided into two main studies. The first involves secondary consumer panel data and focuses on brand purchasing and loyalty behaviour. Analysis is conducted using the Dirichlet model, which provides theoretical predictions for a range of brand performance measures. The second study involves primary consumer panel data and examines potential bases of segmentation. Analysis is based on the Generalised Dirichlet Model, which enables the impact of covariates on buyer behaviour to be assessed. It is found that the patterns of Chinese buyer behaviour for FMCGs are generally similar to those in the West. Results unique to the Chinese market are also identified. Importantly, the results and patterns generalise across all dimensions of analysis (that is, for brands within product categories, store types and store chains, and in different regions and cities, and in different time periods). Also, there is a lack of consumer segmentation among directly competing brands within the product categories that are studied. The findings not only make a strong empirical contribution but also have important academic and managerial implications.

Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic growth and is now arguably the world???s largest consumer market. However, despite the size and potential of the Chinese market, there is a serious lack of formal understanding of Chinese buyer behaviour. The broad aim of this research is to understand patterns of buyer behaviour through a systematic analysis of the purchasing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) by urban Chinese consumers. Several specific research questions are addressed: ??? What patterns of brand purchasing and brand loyalty do urban Chinese consumers exhibit? ??? Do these patterns generalise across content, spatial and temporal dimensions? ??? Are there any systematic significant bases of segmentation within the FMCG markets that are studied? ??? What key implications are to be drawn by academics and practitioners? ??? More generally, what is the value of adopting a systematic approach to research in this area of enquiry? ??? Also, what is the value of applying and extending models developed in the West to the Chinese consumer context? The research is divided into two main studies. The first involves secondary consumer panel data and focuses on brand purchasing and loyalty behaviour. Analysis is conducted using the Dirichlet model, which provides theoretical predictions for a range of brand performance measures. The second study involves primary consumer panel data and examines potential bases of segmentation. Analysis is based on the Generalised Dirichlet Model, which enables the impact of covariates on buyer behaviour to be assessed. It is found that the patterns of Chinese buyer behaviour for FMCGs are generally similar to those in the West. Results unique to the Chinese market are also identified. Importantly, the results and patterns generalise across all dimensions of analysis (that is, for brands within product categories, store types and store chains, and in different regions and cities, and in different time periods). Also, there is a lack of consumer segmentation among directly competing brands within the product categories that are studied. The findings not only make a strong empirical contribution but also have important academic and managerial implications.

Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic growth and is now arguably the world???s largest consumer market. However, despite the size and potential of the Chinese market, there is a serious lack of formal understanding of Chinese buyer behaviour. The broad aim of this research is to understand patterns of buyer behaviour through a systematic analysis of the purchasing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) by urban Chinese consumers. Several specific research questions are addressed: ??? What patterns of brand purchasing and brand loyalty do urban Chinese consumers exhibit? ??? Do these patterns generalise across content, spatial and temporal dimensions? ??? Are there any systematic significant bases of segmentation within the FMCG markets that are studied? ??? What key implications are to be drawn by academics and practitioners? ??? More generally, what is the value of adopting a systematic approach to research in this area of enquiry? ??? Also, what is the value of applying and extending models developed in the West to the Chinese consumer context? The research is divided into two main studies. The first involves secondary consumer panel data and focuses on brand purchasing and loyalty behaviour. Analysis is conducted using the Dirichlet model, which provides theoretical predictions for a range of brand performance measures. The second study involves primary consumer panel data and examines potential bases of segmentation. Analysis is based on the Generalised Dirichlet Model, which enables the impact of covariates on buyer behaviour to be assessed. It is found that the patterns of Chinese buyer behaviour for FMCGs are generally similar to those in the West. Results unique to the Chinese market are also identified. Importantly, the results and patterns generalise across all dimensions of analysis (that is, for brands within product categories, store types and store chains, and in different regions and cities, and in different time periods). Also, there is a lack of consumer segmentation among directly competing brands within the product categories that are studied. The findings not only make a strong empirical contribution but also have important academic and managerial implications.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-242). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Not available / text

Drawing on Berman’s (1972, 1988) political-cultural view of creativity, this thesis contextualizes consumer creativity in the context of a consumer community wrought with paradoxes and conflicts. Adopting a netnography methodology and empirically examining how individual free/open source software (FOSS) community members interpret their own creative activities, this thesis finds that consumer creativity is a journey toward a moral destiny, with morality arising from the interplay between rationalism and Romanticism and the cultural, historical baggage of these two ideological systems (e.g., sexism in the domains of science and art). Along this journey, individual FOSS community members (i.e., FOSS programmers) co-create and negotiate their common identity—a craftsperson who is a scientist, artist, and moral warrior, an identity embodied by FOSS, their creative product and a form of technology. This journey is both sweet and bitter and full of paradoxes and conflicts, all of which have rich implications about the power relationships within the community. On the one hand, FOSS programmers recreate a mythologized paradise where they re-merge with the natural world and return to human nature and where they are re-actualizing the moral values of freedom, public interests, and egalitarianism. On the other hand, in this community, sexism against female programmers is rampant; some programmers could perceive that their creativity is constrained and exploited by powerful project owners and thereby feel alienated, frustrated, and trivialized; individual programmers could confront each other due to their different technological preferences and doubt each other’s motivations; and this community’s creative process is infused with politics. This thesis (1) enriches the marketing literature on consumer creativity which is dominated by an instrumental perspective of creativity by introducing the moral dimension of consumer creativity; (2) contributes to the marketing literature which is dominated by the view that the creative process is enjoyable and harmonious by examining paradoxes and conflicts in the creative process; and (3) enriches the marketing literature on the impact of technology on human well-being and the natural environment by illustrating a contextualized view that the impact of a technology depends on the moral values of the creator and the user of this technology. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2010-11-30 15:14:49.068