Measurement invariance is a necessary precondition for meaningful cross-country comparisons, and three levels have been differentiated: configural, metric, and scalar. Unfortunately, establishing the most stringent form, i.e., scalar measurement invariance, across groups is difficult. Recently, Muthén and Asparouhov proposed testing for approximate rather than exact measurement invariance as this may be sufficient for meaningful comparisons. Following their strategy, the results of cross-country approximate measurement invariance tests of the PVQ-21 scale to measure values in the European Social Survey (ESS) are presented (N = 274,447 respondents from 15 countries participating in all six rounds). Applying the new approximate method for the test of measurement invariance allows both using more moderate constraints of approximate equality of parameters across groups and exploring the extent of noninvariance. Approximate measurement invariance was established in almost all rounds for two higher-order values: openness to change and self-enhancement. In the case of the two other higher-order values, self-transcendence and conservation, approximate measurement invariance was established across a subset of countries.
Adaptive methods are used to forecast three main Austrian economic indicators. We use a weighted recursive model as well as a neural network approach both with and without adaptive characteristics and compare our results to the forecasts of two Austrian research institutes. It appears that even models which use very limited information can outperform the two Institutes’ forcasts of the unemployment rate. For the case of most series adaptivity represents a possibility of improving the forecasts.
The main contribution of this paper is a method that allows one to study the effects of different degrees of competition. We find that optimal prices and profits are more sensitive to cooperative than to aggressive behavior on the part of competitors. With more aggressive policies, the average pricing level decreases and the average difference between high and low prices increases. An empirical model of the detergent market illustrates the methodology.
We propose to use neural networks to value options when analytical solutions do not exist. The basic idea of this approach is to approximate the value function of a dynamic program by a neural net, where the selection of the network weights is done via simulated annealing. The main benefits of this method as compared to traditional approximation techniques are that there are no restrictions on the type of the underlying stochastic process and no limitations on the set of possible actions. This makes our approach especially attractive for valuing Real Options in flexible investments. We, therefore, demonstrate the method proposed by valuing flexibility for costly switch production between several products under various conditions.
Technology advances and competitive pressure have shortened the life cycles for many products (e.g., in the mobile phone industry) and drastically increase the penalty of holding obsolete finished goods inventories. Standard planning methods lead to high forecasting errors and - as a consequence - to high safety inventories. In this context, an appropriate service level is of major interest. We propose a new model for the integrated analysis of alternative pricing strategies and their effects on the service level. In particular, we show how our model supports the identification of the best service level in terms of customer satisfaction life cycle profit.
This work surveys decision support systems that use sales and shopping basket data to suggest regular and promotional price changes in order to improve profit and turnover in retailing (so-called retail revenue management [RRM] systems). Starting with a demonstration of the impact of pricing on profit, we critically assess the pricing methods currently used in retailing and from this basis show the potential for improvement using retail revenue management systems. Furthermore, we classify the different types of pricing problems and describe the methods that are used in retail revenue management. Finally, we discuss the pricing process of retail revenue management systems and report the benefits of such systems typically observed in practice.
Pay what you want (PWYW) is a new participative pricing mechanism in which consumers have maximum control over the price they pay. Previous research has suggested that participative pricing increases consumers' intent to purchase. However, sellers using PWYW face the risk that consumers will exploit their control and pay nothing at all or a price below the seller's costs. In three field studies, the authors find that prices paid are significantly greater than zero. They analyze factors that influence prices paid and show that PWYW can even lead to an increase in seller revenues.
In many firms, the marketing department plays a minor role in new product development (NPD). However, recent research demonstrates that marketing capabilities more strongly influence firm performance than other areas such as research and development. This finding underscores the importance of identifying relevant capabilities that can improve the position of marketing within the NPD process as part of the quest to improve innovation performance. However, thus far, it has remained unclear precisely how the marketing department can increase its influence on NPD to enhance a firm's innovation performance. The results of this study demonstrate that the relationship between marketing capabilities and innovation performance is generally mediated by the decision influence of marketing on NPD. In particular, both marketing research quality and the ability to translate customer needs into product characteristics serve to increase marketing's influence on NPD. This increased influence, in turn, positively contributes to overall firm innovation performance. Hence, these results show that in addition to having the appropriate marketing capabilities, the marketing department must achieve a status in which these capabilities can translate into performance implications.
The authors provide an overview about research conducted in the area of four different voluntary market payment mechanisms, namely tipping, pay-what-you-want, donations, and gift giving. The authors identify three different research streams: the first stream of research investigates product and consumer characteristics that drive success measures of voluntary payment mechanisms, the second stream of research is more outcome oriented and studies economic and communicative success potentials of alternative mechanisms, whereas the third stream of research is more fundamentally oriented and discusses underlying motives of free market payments. The authors summarize and discuss important findings with respect to the three different research streams and point to open research questions and controversial findings in the field.
