本研究主要目的在探討價格離散對消費者價格知覺的影響。藉由心理物理理論—適應水準理論、範圍理論與範圍頻次理論，為理論基礎以預測價格刺激在價格離散市場對消費者價格知覺判斷的影響，且基於物理刺激與價格刺激的本質差異，針對價格刺激的價值特性，提出兩點作為價格離散效果的推論基礎。第一、消費者對金錢損失與利得的不對稱反應，使得消費者對低價刺激比高價刺激更敏感。第二、價格資訊複雜時，消費者傾向以價格帶的價格頻次作為處理價格資訊的捷思。本論文藉由三個系列研究，以實驗設計法，將價格離散的效果來源區分為平均價格、價格範圍、價格範圍端點與價格型態四方面探討。 研究一結果發現，價格範圍會降低消費者能接受的最低價格水準並影響消費者的預期最低價格。低平均價格則會降低消費者可接受的最高價格。因此，當市場價格離散程度提高，市場價格範圍變寬或平均價格降低時，會使得消費者的可接受價格帶價格水準降低。可接受價格帶降低會影響價格判斷結果。在消費者主觀知覺上，寬價格範圍使得消費者知覺價格離散程度提高，代表著知覺價格差異、知覺價格不一致與知覺價格混亂三方面的指標都提高。 研究二則進一步證實，市場低價端點與高價端點對消費者的影響權重並不對稱。結果顯示，低價端點的寬價格範圍組會拉低可接受價格帶，然而，高價端點的寬價格範圍組並不會提高可接受價格帶，這是由於消費者對低價與高價的不對稱反應，使得低價與高價對消費者的影響權重有別。同時，在少數低價端點的高價格離散市場，消費者會感受到較高的價格離散程度，主要反映在知覺價格差異與不一致程度；相對地，若是少數高價端點的高價格離散市場，知覺價格離散程度不會顯著提高。一般在運用心理物理理論時，並未提到低價端點與高價端點的相對影響上的不同，事實上則會降低理論預測消費者面對市場價格差異的真實反應。 研究三探討集中分佈與兩極分佈兩種價格型態的影響，結果顯示價格分佈對可接受價格並無顯著影響。然而，兩極價格呈現的是市場價格變異很大的高價格離散市場，確實消費者的知覺價格離散亦有大於集中價格的情況，主要反映在知覺價格混亂程度方面。因此，欲瞭解價格離散對消費者價格知覺的影響，則需從平均價格、價格範圍與價格範圍端點分析之。 / The main purpose of this dissertation is to explore the impact of price dispersion on consumers’ price perception. Borrowing from psychophysics theories, such as Adaptation-Level Theory, Range Theory and Range-Frequency Theory, this research predicts how price stimuli in a product market with high price dispersion have effects on consumers’ price perception and judgments. On top of the difference between physic stimuli and price stimuli which has monetary value attached in nature, two assumptions are proposed for hypothesis inferences. First, consumers have asymmetric responses towards monetary loss and monetary gain, which make them more sensitive to low prices than high prices. Second, consumers tend to use relative price frequency among different price zones as a heuristic to process complicated price information. Therefore, this dissertation conducted three studies, all with experimental designs, to explore the effects of price dispersion from four dimensions- price mean, price range (width), extremely high or low prices and price pattern. This dissertation includes three studies. Study one was designed to explore the effect of price mean and price range. The result indicated that wide price range lowered down the lower boundary of acceptable price. Meanwhile, price range has effect on consumers’ lower boundary of expected price. In contrast, lower mean marked down the upper boundary of acceptable price. Thus, in a market of high price dispersion, the wide price range or lower mean tends to lower down the level of acceptable price, which further influences consumers’ price judgment. In addition, wide price range raised a consumer’s perceived price dispersion, which could be measured from higher perceived price difference, higher perceived price inconsistency and higher perceived price chaos. Study two focused on the effect of extreme prices under high price dispersion. Wide price range with relatively fewer extremely low prices maked down the range of acceptable price. However, wide price range with relatively fewer extremely high prices had no impact at all. This is because of consumers’ asymmetric responses towards low prices and high prices, which make consumer more sensitive to lower prices than high prices. Consumers’ perceived high price dispersion aroused by fewer extremely low prices was mainly the perception of high price difference and price inconsistency. In contrast, fewer extremely high prices would not enhance perceived price dispersion. Past application of psychophysics theories to predict the effect of price stimuli did not emphasize the different weight of low and high prices on consumers’ perception. Then the theories could not fully predict consumers’ real perception of market price difference. Study three further explored the effect of price pattern by comparing two price patterns, normally-centered and bipolarly-separated. The result indicated no effect on the range of acceptable price, but two patterns differed in their perceived price dispersion. What the pattern of bipolarly-separated represented was a market with high price variances, which also led consumers to perceive higher price dispersion, especially higher price chaos. Accordingly, the overall effect of price dispersion should be analyzed through the effect of mean, price range and extreme prices.

Background: Sustainable development is the buzzword of the decade, yet developing countries struggle to comply with environmental guidelines. A study was done to determine the possibility of financial gain by means of share price prosperity as a result of compliance with environmental accounting principles. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the commitment to environmental accounting principles and the share price of Main Board listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional design with descriptive, explanatory and contextual elements was undertaken. Setting and Sample: An all-inclusive sample of the announcements of the Main Board listed companies of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange between 1 June 2008 and 1 June 2013 was used, as well as a stratified random sample of 32 companies – 16 as listed on the SRI Index and 16 not. Measurements: Data related to compliance with environmental accounting principles were correlated with share price fluctuations of Main Board listed companies. T-tests were done to determine whether a correlation exists between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. Results: 56 instances of upward trends and 80 instances of downward trends after one month followed announcements that included compliance to environmental accounting principles (one constant and one unknown). 52 instances of upward trends and 54 instances of downward trends after one year followed these announcements (30 unknown). 48 out of 336 listed companies (14%) announce environmental accounting principle compliance with their shareholders. More announcements referring to environmental accounting compliance were posted in 2012 and 2013 (n = 17 and n = 22 averaged for six months) compared to those in 2008 to 2011 (n = 9; n = 15; n = 14 and n = 15 averaged for six months). 56% of companies complying with environmental accounting principles are from the mining industry. 39.19% of principles complied with was within the diverse principle division. P-values derived from t-tests done to investigate correlations between share price and compliance with environmental accounting principles on various levels all revealed P-values of more than 0.25. Conclusions: No statistically significant correlation could be made between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. There is low divulgence of compliance practices to shareholders from mentioned companies. An upward trend for compliance with environmental accounting principles is noted during the past five years. The mining industry showed the greatest compliance with these principles when judged according to divulgence of compliance by means of announcements to their shareholders as well as when judged according to stance on the SRI Index. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Die Analyse hatte zum Ziel zu überprüfen, wie sich die optimalen Preise in einem inhomogenen Mehrproduktoligopol durch einen Zusammenschluß verändern. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß sich nach einem Zusammenschluß von zwei Unternehmen die optimalen Preise aller Güter auf diesem Markt unter linearen Bedingungen erhöhen. Bei einem Zusammenschluß mit zentraler Leitung und einer Beteiligung von unter 100 % mußte eine Untergrenze für die Beteiligungshöhe vorausgesetzt werden, da sich sonst keine optimalen Preise berechnen lassen. Für nicht lineare Kosten- oder Preis-Absatz-Funktionen wurden keine Aussagen abgeleitet. Ferner wurden weder Synergien noch Kostenreduktionen durch Skalenerträge angenommen. Weitere Untersuchungen müssen klären, ob bei Synergien oder Kostenreduktionen ähnliche oder andere Preiswirkungen auftreten.

Background: The concept of marketing is quite new to the audit industry, prior to 1978 all marketing of audit services were strictly forbidden. In 2010, the statutory audit was abolished in Sweden forcing auditors to market their services to convince their clients that they still should hire an auditor. This increased use of marketing adds a new dimension to the profession and might affect the pricing of audit, the quality of audit and might threaten the auditors‟ independency. Purpose: This paper focuses on how the increased use of marketing affects the auditing firms‟ services, more specifically how it affects auditor independence, audit quality and audit pricing. It is obvious that it is a fine line between auditors marketing their services and keeping their independence. It is clear that it has had implications on the business and after reading the disciplinary case it is clear that the rules are not defined in a way so that all the players in the industry interpret them in same way. Our purpose is to investigate how auditors in Sweden use marketing and how they make sure that they are still independent. We also want to investigate if the use of marketing has any effect on the quality of the audit and also the price of auditing. Completion: The study is based on qualitative approach focusing on interviews with auditors active in Sweden. A statistical survey to determine any potential changes in price is also added to add on to the credibility of our study. Conclusions are drawn based on the result of the survey and based on the interviews with our auditors. Conclusion: The increased use of marketing has changed the audit profession, the auditors need to market their services and cannot only focus on conducting audits. It has had implications on the audit quality and the auditors struggle with the balance between marketing themselves and keeping their independence.

The question for this thesis is whether the static and the dynamic theory of international trade stability holds in reality in Bangladesh.

The objectives of this thesis are threefold. First, this dissertation examines whether patterns (growth and consistency in growth) of firms' past financial performance influence investors' perceptions about stock values and future performance of these firms. Second, multiple estimation horizons of past performance variables (ranging from one to five years) are used to assess whether the interaction between growth patterns and measurement interval lengths of these variables influence investor expectations. Third, this thesis examines whether an intermediate price drifts (e.g. Jegadeesh and Titman [1993]) and subsequent long-horizon price reversal (e.g. DeBondt and Thaler (1985)] are manifestations of a market over-reaction as suggested in recent studies (e.g. Lee and Swaminathail [2000]).Annual data on sales, earnings, cash flow, and stock returns over various time periods from a sample of publicly traded firms listed on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ exchanges from 1983 to 1999 are used to address the research questions proposed in this thesis. The evidence provided in this study shows that low-growth firms outperform their high-growth firm counterparts across different performance variables, estimation intervals, and investment horizons except in the first post-formation year for firms ranked by their prior one-year financial growth rate (except for sales growth). These return differentials between low and high growth firms increase uniformly as more years of past financial performance added.Furthermore, when ranking firms based on the consistency of their prior financial growth rates over multiple estimation periods, this study finds that a firm consistently achieving low (high) growth rates that places it in the lowest (highest) growth 40 percent earns high (low) stock returns. The consistency in a firm's prior financial performance influences the behavior of its future stock returns, i.e. the longer the consistency of exceptionally strong (weak) performance of a firm, the greater (lower) its subsequent stock returns. However, the incremental impact of an additional year of growth consistency on future returns seems to dissipate after the third year of prior performance data, suggesting that it may not take investors longer than three years to assume that a firm's past growth will continue for many years to come. Thus, additional evidence confirming investors' prior beliefs will not lead to a significant price drift because their expectations are already reflected in market prices.First year returns for firms except SG exhibit a strong financial drift. The price drift seems to persist even with longer estimation horizons. Multiple regression analyses suggest that reported higher returns for low-growth firms is not due to risk as measured by market betas or book-to-market ratios, nor is it due to the disproportionate impact caused by relatively smaller firms. As well, the one-year-ahead size-adjusted abnormal returns are significantly and negatively related to the size-adjusted abnormal returns for years 2 through 5. This result indicates that the evidence of a price drift reported in the first post-formation year might be due to a market over-reaction, a finding consistent with results reported by Lee and Swaminathan (2000). In additional analysis, return performance for all growth portfolios for the month of January is compared to the remainder of the year. No evidence indicating that returns to these portfolios are driven by extraordinary performance of low-growth firms in the month of January.For all variables (except for past sales growth and to some degree past stock returns), the financial drift in year one return for portfolios based on prior-one year of past performance data, is significantly stronger than that reported in Chan et al. (2004). Results reported in this thesis indicate that the average abnormal return differential between low and high growth firms for the five-year estimation intervals (with exception of past sales growth) is greater than 10 percentage points. The evidence contradicts that documented in Chan et al. (2004). They find no discernable evidence of price reversals over the next 36-months after ranking firms by their five-year growth rates in sales, operating income, and net income. However, results of this study are consistent with the predictions of behavioral models (e.g. Daniel et al. [I998] and Lakonishok et al. [1994]) suggesting that investors put excessive weight on patterns of a firm's past financial performance when projecting its future prospects.

An investigation into whether the colour red has more impact or leads to common perceptions about the price or value of retail products in advertising. / ABSTRACT Colour is often an important non verbal cue in advertising. Much research has been dedicated to the creative aspects of advertising generally and to factors affecting consumer response in relation to marketing, advertising and pricing. This study looks at the colour red and investigates whether use predominant use of red in sale promotions print advertising is justified on the basis of its ability to impact cognitively or affectively. The study comprises of two experiments, one for awareness and one for price perception and purchase intent. In each experiment, red is compared to other colours in order to establish any significant differences. The second experiment goes further to examine whether the intensity of colour, verbal cues or demographic differences have an impact on the results. The literature review begins with an examination of price theory and the role of sales promotions in organizations. It considers advertising response models with focus on the persuasive hierarchy AIDA model. The impact of colour is then considered along with consumer psychology and behavior as well as theories relating to demographic and cultural responses to colour in advertising. Argument from the sources is then put forward to suggest that research into the effects of colour in advertising is underexplored and that the role of colour in affecting response is complex and is over oversimplifies by advertising practitioners. The research results are presented revealing few significant differences between red and alternative colours for awareness, price perception or purchase intent. The result for awareness is blurred by research limitations, but red does not emerge as a candidate for exacting higher levels of awareness than a number of other colours. In the second experiment, red is found to be inferior to blue in affecting purchase intent. Red at 50% saturation is shown to have a more positive impact on purchase intent that a red hue at full saturation. Demographic splits do not show conclusive results, but it is suggested that a larger sample size would induce a better price perception of red for the black community than for other racial groupings. Discussion and recommendations follow. In this study, red shows no qualities to justify its predominant use in price promotion advertising and more benefit might be obtained for the brand by differentiating through use of alternative colours that may stand out in a sea of red over traditional sale periods. The principle recommendations are, firstly, the need to acquire a deeper understanding of the effect of colour in advertising. In the more complex, competitive global marketplace competition for customer attention is high and the margin of error for irrelevant advertising appeals are low. Secondly, the argument is made for colour usage to be built around long term branding concerns rather than short term requirements for advertising response.

Thesis (M. Com.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015. / The research investigated the use of the two potential predictors of customer purchase intention of counterfeit products (perceived behavioural control and price-quality inference of counterfeit products) as a means of establishing whether these were related to customer attitudes towards economic benefits of purchasing counterfeit products, which ultimately lead to purchase intention of counterfeit products. The study reviewed prior literature on counterfeits purchasing. Probability sampling was used to select respondents, and a research model was developed to measure the constructs used for the study. Field study was conducted in Johannesburg at the University of the Witwatersrand, and research data was collected from 380 registered students of the University of the Witwatersrand, 18 years and older. Using the SPSS 22 and AMOS 22 software program, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to analyse the data set. The results revealed that price-quality inference of counterfeit products had a stronger relationship with customer attitudes towards economic benefits of purchasing counterfeit products, than to perceived behavioural control implying that the customers were more likely to purchase counterfeits because of the perceived price bargain and not because of the perceived ease of purchasing counterfeits. The contribution of this study was to enhance the comprehension of existing literature on the relationship between the predictor variables (perceived behavioural control and price-quality inference of counterfeit products) and the outcome variable (purchase intention of counterfeit products).

Thesis advisor: Frank Gollop / This thesis explores the unanticipated consequences of producing ethanol for use as a transportation fuel in the United States. Statistical analysis is conducted to determine the effect that increased ethanol production has on the prices of two essential American commodities: corn and gasoline. A simultaneous system of the demand and supply of corn is developed to estimate the effect of ethanol on the price of corn. The results of this model suggest that during the period 1986-2001, corn demanded for ethanol production caused the price of corn to be 19% higher than it otherwise would have been. This result is noteworthy because the majority of American foods contain some type of corn product. A second simultaneous system is developed to determine the effect of ethanol on the price of gasoline. Neither a change in the price of ethanol nor a change quantity of ethanol per gallon of gasoline was found to have a significant impact on the price of gasoline. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

Thesis (M.M. (ICT Policy and Regulation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Cannot copy abstract