This thesis aims to identify the motivating factors driving consumers home purchase decisions from the consumer's point of view. Although there is an abundance of past real estate research, dating back as far as the 1920's, the factors shaping consumers home choice have not been fully explored. Past research has tended to assume that homebuyers arrive at a decision following a logical and rational decision making process. These studies have also tended to focus on utilitarian or economic factors shaping home choice. Although past research has unquestionably added to the understanding of home purchase behaviour, the focus on utilitarian and economic factors does not explain decisions that are underpinned by deep-seated motives. The present thesis extends past research by exploring the less tangible, non-economic aspects of home choice in order to provide a fuller story of why and how people consume homes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the unsolicited motives underlying consumers' home choices, therefore, a qualitative technique known as ZMET was employed. Based on the notion of unconscious thoughts, ZMET uses visual images gathered and/or generated by consumers to elicit and probe the metaphors that represent their thoughts and feelings. For the present study, 14 consumers who had recently placed an offer on a home took part in the ZMET interview. The present methodology extends past property research which has predominantly taken a quantitative approach. The findings of the study provide a rich insight into the motivations behind consumer home choice. Firstly, it reveals that the pre-purchase checklists used by many homebuyers and real estate agents are inaccurate representation of consumer home choice, and explains why this is so. Secondly, it demonstrates the influence of twenty four motives, including three central constructs (space, nature and views) on consumer home choice and highlights the fact that autobiographical memories underpins many of the motives to impact on choice. Thirdly, it provides a model mapping out the interaction between utilitarian and hedonic motives, which evokes a network of feelings, sensations and emotions that shape consumer home choice. In doing so, the research provides theoretical insight into the link between the rational information-processing model and the experiential view of hedonic consumption in home purchases. This study has shown that a specific set of utilitarian and deep-seated hedonic factors interrelate to culminate upon one's home choice. The findings in this study maintain that while utilitarian factors are significant determinants of home choice, in themselves, they do not always tell the whole story. This new knowledge of how and why homebuyers chose what they did is valuable to practitioners in predicting accurate property demands and value. Real estate agents can-sell more effectively by matching a property to a homebuyer's hedonic needs. The information in this study also helps homebuyers understand that their home choice is guided by internal images and deep-seated motives derived from many years of past experience but more importantly, they can decide if these motives justify the price they pay for the property. Finally, the model gives future researchers a new framework to access meanings necessary for understanding homebuyer choice and allows a closer examination of the mechanics of these influences on the housing market and its demands.

Our research proposes a new, multi-attribute, parameterisation of Tversky’s Elimination- By-Aspects (EBA) model. The EBA model conceptualises choice as a covert sequential elimination process with choice probabilities formulated over all consideration sets of the choice set. This specification attempts to capture the effect of context on choice behaviour. However, the EBA model has seen limited usage due to the large number of required parameters given the set of items under study. For a set of items T, it has 2|T| - 3 free parameters, which is infeasible for all but the simplest of contexts. To provide a practical operationalisation, we impose a set of a priori constraints on the parameter space. We define a generic multi-attribute structure to the set of aspects. This restricts the cardinality of the set of unknown scale values while retaining the functional (recursive) form of the model. The EBA hypothesis of a population of lexicographic decision-makers can therefore be tested in more market-realistic contexts, and inferences made over a large universal set of items described by the complete factorial. We call this model the Multi-attribute Elimination-By-Aspects (MEBA) model. The MEBA model reduces the set of unknown free parameters to a maximum of |T|-1. We develop a general algebraic expression for the MEBA choice probabilities as a function of the attributes of the options in the choice set. This enables the derivation of a likelihood function, and consequently maximum likelihood estimation. We also consider the form of optimal MEBA paired comparison designs. Using Monte Carlo simulation and a discrete choice experiment with consumers, we conduct an initial empirical test of the model against the special case of the MNL model (that assumes no context effects) and find the MEBA model to be a better approximation of observed choice behaviour. This is achieved on a common set of parameters, and so it is due solely to the difference in functional form of the two models. We conclude with a discussion on future research directions, in particular the introduction of heterogeneity into the model, and the description of optimal choice experiments for larger choice set sizes.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "December 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-31). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Bibliography : leaves 93-97

<p>This paper analyses the pricing on spare parts. Empirical studies have showed that manufacturers of durable goods make an unproportional large profit on its spare parts in relation to the revenue it generates. It is first showed that according to the standard economic model the price on spare part ought to be zero since the producer include an insurance in the price of the main good. Further it is showed that moral hazard alone do not explain the pricing found in the studies. Finally an analysis of whether consumers with present-biased preferences could be a possible explanation is made. The analysis finds that it is a possibility however somewhat unlikely.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

The aims of this study were to describe the childbirth preferences of nulliparous women in early pregnancy and to develop a model of the predictors of those preferences. Participants were recruited with Facebook advertisements and data were collected from 344 women via online survey. Predictors were measured using the Utah Test for the Childbearing Year. Predictors of childbirth preferences (type of birth care provider, birth setting, mode of delivery, and use/avoidance of pain medication) were tested using structural equation modeling. Conventional content analysis was employed to analyze women’s reasons for selecting the type of provider and setting they expected for their delivery. Although the majority of respondents preferred physicians and hospital birth, the proportions of women who preferred midwifery care and planned home birth were higher than currently access those types of care in the U.S. More respondents preferred to use pain medication than to avoid it. Over 95% of respondents preferred vaginal delivery. Women who had an internal locus of control and perceived their childbearing role to be one of active participation were more likely than women who saw their role as a passive one to prefer midwifery care, home birth, vaginal delivery, and to avoid pain medication. Women who saw the provider’s role as dominant to their own were more likely to prefer physicians and hospital birth than those who viewed the provider’s role as a collaborative one. The more fearful/painful women expected birth to be, the more likely they were to prefer cesarean delivery.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Ohio State University, 1999. / Co-advisers: Marsha A. Dickson, Sharron Lennon. Includes bibliographical references.

Child obesity has become a national concern. Obesity in children ages 6-17 has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Only 20% of children today consume the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. This trend is even more pronounced in minority populations. Past studies have reported that a horticulture-based curriculum, including gardening, can improve children's attitudes toward eating fruits and vegetables. To investigate whether children of a minority population can benefit from gardening supplemented with a curriculum on nutrition, research was conducted with elementary schools in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas (Hidalgo County). Elementary school teachers participating in this research agreed to have school gardens and complete all activities in a curriculum on nutrition provided to them through the Texas Extension Service. One hundred forty one children in the participating schools completed a pre- and posttest evaluating their attitudes and snack preferences toward fruits and vegetables and their knowledge before and after gardening supplemented with information on nutrition. Statistically significant differences were detected between pre- and posttest scores for all three variables. After comparing pre-and posttest scores, it was concluded that gardening with supplemental instruction, had a positive effect on all three variables including students attitudes and snack preferences toward fruits and vegetables and their knowledge of nutrition.

This study deals with long distance migration together with the importance of social networks and geographical preferences for the choice of destination when moving. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to analyze and specify the importance of the mover's social contacts when choosing a new place-of residence. In this connection, the social contents of the destination are chiefly focused. It has also been of interest to estimate in what degree these social contents have influenced this choice of destination by the individual. The differences in quality, intensity, dispersion and direction of social contacts is essential for explaining destination decisions. The basic hypothesis claims that the existence of social networks influences the individual's inclination to move and the choice ofplace-of-residence. In this study, empirical material is used, and its base is 2500 "movers" and a group of "stayers" of equal size. Data from public registers as well as data from inquiries have been used as empirical material. Far away moving is defined as moving across the communal boundaries. The examination of the empirical facts provides input paramétrés for a model, where a number of factors might explain the destination. The model work is implemented in three stages. In the multiple regression model, the impact of a number of variables is estimated. In the logistical regression model the probability of moving into a 'network commune' is estimated, i.e., moving to a commune where there are social contacts. In a third stage, the same variables are tested in a multi-nominal model. Strictly empirically, this study reveals, that there is evidence that the social networks influence the choice of destination when moving. Equally important, perhaps is to find out how strong an impact these networks have. Moving to a geographically and socially recognizable place is possibly regarded as having a more positive impact than the structure of the labour market. It can be stated that, in spite of the widespread migration within post-war Sweden, most people maintain some sort of social and geographical relation to the place where they grew up. The increased mobility per se has also implied that the individual, spatial and social contacts have become more widely spread. The place where one grew up is central and could be said to represent the place where there are many social contacts and the place you always refer to. Social contacts connected to relatives constitute one of the most important single factors. Previous place-of-residence is undoubtedly the most important single factor. Migration to a place of previous residence also implies that there already exists a social network. The access to a holiday cottage and the location of this cottage proves to have a great impact on destination- decisions. Many people simply move to the commune, where they own, or have access to, a holiday cottage. Of several plausible explanations two seem to be relevant. One concerns moving into former cottages, for year round residence, the other implies that the cottage could be regarded as the tangible link to the former home area. If there is no possibility of staying on in one's home area, the cottage represents a link to the past. / digitalisering@umu