The primary argument in favor of mass customization is the delivery of superior customer value. Using willingness-to-pay (WTP) measurements, Franke & Piller (2004) have recently shown that customers designing their own watches with design toolkits are willing to pay premiums of more than 100% (DWTP). In the course of three studies, we found that this type of value increment is not a singular occurrence but might rather be a general phenomenon, as we again found average DWTPs of more than 100% among customers designing their own cell phone covers, T-shirts, and scarves. Building on this, we discuss the sources of benefits that are likely to explain this tremendous value increment. We argue that compared to conventional standard products, a mass-customized product might render the following utilitarian and hedonic benefits: (1) First, the output might be beneficial as self-designed products offer a much closer fit between individual needs and product characteristics. In addition to this mere functional benefit, extra value might also stem from (2) the perceived uniqueness of the self-designed product. As the customer takes on the role of an active codesigner, there may also be two general 'do-it-yourself effects': (3) First, the process of designing per se is likely to allow the customer to meet hedonic or experiential needs (process benefit). (4) Customers may also be likely to value the output of self-design more highly if they take pride in having created something on their own (instead of traditionally buying something created by somebody else). This is referred to as the 'pride of authorship' effect. (author's abstract)

As part of the EPA’s initiative to reduce the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, a feasibility study for a potential water quality trading (WQT) program in the Kentucky River Watershed (KRW) was conducted. While theoretically, emission trading programs are among the most efficient means of reducing pollution, empirical evidence suggests low-trade volume as a primary concern for the long-term success of such programs. Some of the important reasons for the low volume of trade are due to lack of suitable market trading mechanism for point sources and lack of information on willingness to pay (WTP) for abatement credits. Our study aims to tackle these issues by gathering a profile of municipal sewage treatment plants as point source polluters in the KRW, while simultaneously analyzing their preferences for WQT market mechanisms and WTP using a survey based approach. The survey was conducted in 2012. Municipal sewage treatment plants’ ranked preferences are analyzed using an exploded logit model and WTP is analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit models.

The decision of romantic partners to share or keep a secret involves each partner’s perception of the other’s trustworthiness. Indeed, trust may influence how romantic partners enact secrecy in their relationship. This study investigated the willingness of individuals to keep secrets from their partner, the number of secrets that people keep from their partner, individuals’ reports of their reasons for discussing their expectations regarding secrets, and the association between each of these characteristics and partners’ trust. First, the literature regarding secrecy and people’s willingness to keep secrets from a relational partner is investigated. People’s willingness to keep secrets from a relational partner should differ based on their trust in the partner. Secret holders are more likely to disclose to a confidant when they perceive that confidant to be trustworthy (Kelly & McKillop, 1996) and, conversely may not disclose to a confidant who lacks trustworthiness (Wheeless & Grotz, 1977). In light of these findings, it was expected that individuals’ willingness to keep secrets would be negatively related to the degree to which they trusted their partner. In a similar vein, the association between trust and the frequency of discussing expectations regarding secrecy was explored. The literature suggests two possibilities for the association between trust and the frequency of discussing expectations regarding secrecy. The first is that individuals who trust their partner enough may decide to discuss how secrets should be managed, because dyadic trust is associated with increased intimacy of disclosure (Larzelere & Huston, 1980). The second possibility is that people may choose to discuss their expectations of how they should manage secrets, not because of trust, but because a lack of trustworthiness. Research questions explored the associations between the frequency of discussing expectations regarding secrecy and partners’ willingness to keep secrets, the number of secrets they keep, and their trust. Finally, the reasons why individuals might or might not discuss their expectations regarding secrets with their partner, and what these discussions might consist of were explored. / text

Studies of human relationships in anthropology, religion, community studies and psychology have determined that willingness to sacrifice plays an important role in reinforcing and strengthening social bonds. It is remarkable that given the increasing prominence of the relationship marketing paradigm, marketers have spent little time investigating willingness to sacrifice as a potential variable of interest. This dissertation extends relationship marketing theory by defining, developing and testing the willingness to sacrifice construct in the context of brand communities. It not only establishes a role for willingness to sacrifice in the nomological network of relationship marketing, but also develops a typology of sacrifices members make in brand communities. Results from two experiments and a field study of two brand communities suggest there are significant relationships between willingness to sacrifice and established constructs in relationship marketing research, such as identification, satisfaction with peers, and norms of reciprocity. Moreover, these findings indicate that willingness to sacrifice is positively associated with beneficial marketing outcomes such as word of mouth, purchase intentions and brand community longevity. By integrating literature from personal psychology, sociology anthropology–all of which discuss sacrifice in terms of how it can benefit and strengthen relationships– this research challenges the conventional marketing assumption that sacrifice is merely “the price one pays.” Taken together, these studies enrich our understanding of willingness to sacrifice in a marketing context, and more specifically, identify a process through which it contributes to brand community success and related marketing outcomes. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2014-04-09 10:41:22.156

Country of origin (COO) effect is a well-researched topic in the international marketing literature. It is well recognized that consumers are biased against imports, due to consumer ethnocentrism or patriotism tendency. However, the research on COO effects also suggests that consumers form certain image of origin countries (COO image) and favorable image, be it associated with the countries, their people, or general product quality, improves the evaluation and acceptance of foreign imports. The publications related to COO effects which focus on consumer durables are abundant. However, the contrasting COO effects on food products are much less investigated. This study surveys British consumers’ preference for domestic versus imported beef. Like previous studies, a strong preference for domestic beef was found. Furthermore, individual characteristics which potentially influence such preference were examined. Using scores on consumer patriotism and COO image perception as interacting individual characteristics in the choice models, it was found that stronger preference against imports was linked to higher level of the respondents perceived patriotic sentiment toward their home country, while better COO image improved the likelihood of the foreign country’s beef being selected. Marketing and policy implications are discussed.

Bakgrund: Dödligheten vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus är hög och endast några få procent av de som drabbas räddas till livet. Tidig behandling är en avgörande faktor för överlevnad. Överlevnaden kan ökas markant av att människor på platsen, bystanders, ingriper med hjärt-lungräddning (HLR). Att vårda och utföra vårdhandlingar är inte exklusivt för sjuksköterskor. Vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus är det istället bystandern som förväntas utföra vårdhandlingen. I många fall sker dock inget ingripande trots att hjärtstoppet bevittnas och den vårdande handlingen uteblir därför. Syfte: Syftet med arbetet var att identifiera faktorer som påverkar människors vilja att ingripa vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus. Metod: Arbetet designades som en litteraturstudie där artiklar med både kvantitativ och kvalitativ ansats ingick. Resultat: Resultatet baserades på potentiella bystanders antaganden av hur de skulle agera och faktiska bystanders erfarenheter av att ha agerat. Skillnader i faktorer som påverkade viljan observerades mellan dessa. Viljan påverkades till stor del av rädslor, bristande HLR-kunskaper samt scenariot kring hjärtstoppet där bland annat en familjerelation mellan den drabbade och bystandern utgjorde en påverkande faktor. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att hindrande faktorer för viljan skulle kunna påverkas positivt genom förbättrad HLR-utbildning. Klinisk betydelse: Med hjälp av identifierade faktorer kan befintlig HLR-utbildning ses över och eventuellt förbättras. Detta skulle kunna öka antalet ingripanden och därigenom överlevnaden vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus. / Background: The lethality is high in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and only a few percent of the victim’s lives are saved. Early treatment is crucial for survival. People at the scene can increase the survival significantly through CPR interventions. To care and the act of caring is not exclusively for nurses. In cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the bystander could be the one that performs the act of caring. In many cases, however, no interventions are made although the arrest is witnessed and therefore no act of caring is being performed. Objective: The aim of this essay was to identify factors that influence people's willingness to intervene in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Method: This study was designed as a literature study and both quantitative and qualitative research articles were included in the analysis. Results: The result was based on potential bystander's assumptions of how they would act and actual bystanders experience having acted. Differences in factors affecting the willingness were observed between them. The will seemed influenced by fears, lack of CPR skills and the scenario surrounding the arrest. A family tie between the victim and the bystander appeared also as an influencing factor. Conclusion: The findings show that the non-willingness to act could be affected positively by improved CPR training. Clinical significance: In light to the identified factors, improvement of the existing CPR training and increased education could improve the probability of intervention by bystanders and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival.

Die vorliegende Ausgabe beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema „Beschleunigung und Entschleunigung – Eine empirische Untersuchung der Zahlungsbereitschaft für Entschleunigung“. Die allgemeine Beschleunigung der Lebensbereiche des Menschen zieht zunehmend negative ökonomische, soziale und ökologische Konsequenzen nach sich. Um diesem Trend entgegen zu wirken, wird die Strategie der Entschleunigung immer mehr zum Gegenstand wissenschaftlicher Betrachtungen. Wird die Notwendigkeit eines entschleunigten Lebenswandels jedoch von der Bevölkerung wahrgenommen und sind Menschen bereit, für eine entschleu-nigte Form des Lebens finanzielle Einbußen hinzunehmen? Vorangegangene Experimente haben zur Beantwortung dieser Frage Grundlagenarbeit geleistet und sind zu dem Ergebnis gekommen, dass zumindest in Teilen der Bevölkerung eine Zahlungsbereitschaft für Entschleunigung vorhanden ist. Zur Bestätigung dieser Hypothese wurden zwei weitere Experimente sowohl in den USA als auch in Deutschland durchgeführt. Die generelle Zahlungsbereitschaft für Entschleunigung konnte bestätigt werden. In ihrer Höhe ist sie jedoch eher als gering einzustufen.

Darbo tikslas – įvertinti pacientų ketinimus mokėti už sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų teikiamas paslaugas. Metodika. Tyrime dalyvavo pacientai, tyrimo vykdymo laikotarpiu apsilankę sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose. Respondentams buvo pateikta anoniminė anketa, kurią sudarė 37 klausimai. Pagrindinės klausimų grupės buvo: pacientų charakteristikos; naudojimosi paslaugomis dažnis ir papildomas mokėjimas; pacientų ketinimas mokėti už sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų teikiamas paslaugas, priklausomai nuo naudojimosi paslaugomis dažnio ir savo sveikatos būklės vertinimo; veiksniai, įtakojantys pacientų ketinimus mokėti. Iš visų tyrime dalyvavusių pacientų anketas užpildė 604 (atsako dažnis 86,3 proc.). Statistinė analizė atlikta naudojant SPSS statistinį paketą (17.0 versija). Hipotezėms, kad požymiai tarpusavyje susiję, tikrinti skaičiuotas chi kvadrato (χ2) kriterijus bei Spearmano koreliacijos koeficientas (r). Proporcijų skirtumų statistiniam reikšmingumui nustatyti buvo skaičiuojamas z - kriterijus. Rezultatai. Per paskutinius 6 mėn. į gydymo įstaigą kreipėsi 80,3 proc. apklaustųjų. 32,1 proc. pacientų teigė, kad niekada nėra papildomai mokėję už sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų teikiamas paslaugas. Dažniausiai papildomai už suteiktas sveikatos priežiūros paslaugas yra tekę mokėti mieste gyvenantiems pacientams bei turintiems aukštąjį neuniversitetinį (17,1 proc.) ir profesinį (12,4 proc.) išsilavinimą. Vidutiniškai kas 9 apklaustasis teigė, kad už daugumą sveikatos priežiūros paslaugų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study - assess patients willingness to pay for health care services. Methods. The study included pacients, who at the duration of the study visited health care facilities. The respondents were given an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 37 questions. The main groups of questions were: characteristics of patients; access to services frequency and additional payments; patients willingness to pay for health care services depending on the frequency of use of these services and their health status; factors influencing the patient's intentions. Of all the participating pacients filled out questionnaires to 604 (response rate 86.3 percent). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical package (version 17.0). Hypothesis that the features are related, check the calculated chi-square (χ2) criteria and Spearman's correlation coefficient. Statistical significance of differences between proportions were calculated to determine z - criteria. Results. Over the last 6 months 80.3 percent interviewees wented to the hospital. Respondents most commonly applied to medical institutions for chronic diseases or acute illnesses or appropriate tests. 32.1 percent patients said that they have never paid for additional health care services. The most common extra for the costs of health care have had to pay the city for patients and those with higher education (17.1 percent) and professional education (12.4 percent). On average every 9 interviewee said that the majority of... [to full text]

Univ., Diss.--Frankfurt/Main, 2004.

Conn., Yale Univ., Diss.--New Haven, 2003. / Kopie, ersch. im Verl. UMI, Ann Arbor, Mich. - Enth. 3 Beitr.