Department of Marketing

Problem Statement: Nowadays, multiple choice (MC) tests are very common, and replace many constructed response (CR) tests. However, literature reveals that there is no consensus whether both test formats are equally suitable for measuring students' ability or knowledge. This might be due to the fact that neither the type of MC question nor the scoring rule used when comparing test formats are mentioned. Hence, educators do not have any guidelines which test format or scoring rule is appropriate.

In the educational domain Online Learning Environments (OLEs) have become part of many institutions' Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. As revealed by previous studies, instructors in combination with their ability to utilize ICT are the key for creating an effective OLE. While previous work mostly focused on the identification of adoption barriers, this study investigates drivers related to OLE's main functions. By applying the paired comparison technique and analysis of more in-depth questions we can conclude that feature-driven adoption patterns are determined by variables such as instructor's age and experience with OLEs, while gender only partly influences the adoption of OLEs. Based on these findings, concrete practical conclusions can be drawn for providers of OLEs and the governing body of schools using these OLEs.

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit einigen Attributen, die für einen Betreiberwechseï osterreichischer Mobiltelefonkunden ausschlagge-bend sind. Die in Betracht kommenden Attribute sind Preiserhöhungen des derzeitigen Telekommunikationsanbieters, die Möglichkeit, die Telefonnum-mer beim Wechsel des Mobilfunkbetreibers mitzunehmen, sowie die Tatsache, dass die Grundgebühr beim derzeitigen Betreiber noch weiterbezahlt werden muss, sofern der Vertra uber einen gewissen Zeitraum geschlossen wurde. Zusätzlich wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit die Teilnutzenwerte von den Charakteristiken der Mobiltelefonkunden wie beispielsweise der Preissen-sitivität der Kunden oder der bisherigen Vertragsdauer abhängen. Die vor-rangige Zielsetzung dieses Beitrages besteht allerdings in der Illustration der bei der Analyse von Paarvergleichen eingesetzten Methode, dem 'Erweiterten Log-linearen Bradley-Terry Modell' (LLBT). Dabei wird Schritt für Schritt die Transformation der v...

Die Bargeldmanipulatlon ist vor dem Hintergrund der rasanten Entwicklung von bargeldlosen Zahlungsvarianten-wie Kreditkarten und Bankomatkarten -in einem neuen Kontext zu diskutieren. Die vorllegende Untersuchung stellt einen Versuch dar, die Kosten der Bargeldtransaktion aus der Perspektive etnes Handelsbetriebes realit~tsnah abzubilden. Damit kSnnen MeBlatten gefunden werden, die einen Vergleich der Vorteile und Nachteile von bargeldlosen Zahlu ngsvarianten in Relation zur Bargeldtransaktion erm0glichen. Eine besondere Aktualit&t erh&lt die Thematik im Zusarnmenhang mit der Umstellung auf die neue W~hrung EURO. Insgesamt ergibt die Modellrechnung, dab die Bargeldtransaktion die Handelsuntemehmungen im Regelfall mit weniger als ein Prozent vom Umsatz belastet.

This paper critically evaluates the proposed structure and contents of a frequently discussed Category Management (CM) model in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) context. Based on this we present an extensive empirical study where the data from a survey of 202 household representatives are merged with their actual purchasing data taken from a consumer purchase panel (>30,000 purchase observations). The results from an exploratory factor analysis and subsequent multiple regression analyses show that the investigated CM model needs to be amended by personnel and Point-of-Sale aspects as they affect Consumer Value significantly. Finally, the investigated differences between the drivers of Consumers Value call for including both survey and consumer purchase data and consequently incorporate attitudinal and behavioural aspects into Category Management.

This paper focuses on the impact of hedonic and utilitarian values of shopping on retail agglomeration patronage issues, in particular on shopping behaviour and the perception of retail agglomerations. Our empirical study is based on a discussion of agglomerations' potential to attract utilitarian and hedonic shopper types. A sample of 2,139 customers were interviewed in a peripheral shopping mall as well as on an inner city shopping street and confronted with a multi-item scale operationalising shopping values as developed by . Using a standard fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm we identified four distinct shopper types. The results show that hedonists are represented by a higher number of females, earn lower individual incomes and are less educated compared to utilitarians.

... 1998; Garretson/Fisher/Burton 2002; Richardson/Jain/Dick 1996). So far, the ATPL scale has not been assessed outside the United States. ... Repli Page 81. Kilian, T.; Walsh, G.; Buxel, H. 73 cation studies would enhance the generalisability of the ATPL scale. ...

Ad exchanges, i.e., platforms where real-time auctions for ad impressions take place, have developed sophisticated technology and data ecosystems to allow advertisers to target users, yet advertisers may not know which sites their ads appear on, i.e., the ad context. In practice, ad exchanges can require publishers to provide accurate ad placement information to ad buyers prior to submitting their bids, allowing them to adjust their bids for ads at specific domains, subdomains or URLs. However, ad exchanges have historically been reluctant to disclose placement information due to fears that buyers will start buying ads only on the most desirable sites leaving inventory on other sites unsold and lowering average revenue. This paper explores the empirical effect of ad placement disclosure using a unique data set describing a change in context information provided by a major private European ad exchange. Analyzing this as a quasi-experiment using diff-in-diff, we find that average reve...

Ad exchanges, i.e., platforms where real-time auctions for ad impressions take place, have developed sophisticated technology and data ecosystems to allow advertisers to target users, yet advertisers may not know which sites their ads appear on, i.e., the ad context. In practice, ad exchanges can require publishers to provide accurate ad placement information to ad buyers prior to submitting their bids, allowing them to adjust their bids for ads at specific domains, subdomains or URLs. However, ad exchanges have historically been reluctant to disclose placement information due to fears that buyers will start buying ads only on the most desirable sites leaving inventory on other sites unsold and lowering average revenue. This paper explores the empirical effect of ad placement disclosure using a unique data set describing a change in context information provided by a major private European ad exchange. Analyzing this as a quasi-experiment using diff-in-diff, we find that average revenue per impression rose when more context information was provided. This shows that ad context information is important to ad buyers and that providing more context information will not lead to deconflation. The exception to this are sites which had a low number of buyers prior to the policy change; consistent with theory, these sites with thin markets do not show a rise in prices. Our analysis adds evidence that ad exchanges with reputable publishers, particularly smaller volume, high quality sites, should provide ad buyers with site placement information, which can be done at almost no cost.

In the context of the ongoing debate regarding the relevance of the country of origin (COO) phenomenon and drawing from cue utilization theory as well as research on visual attention, we conduct three eye-tracking experiments that investigate (a) whether consumers naturally detect COO labels, (b) whether such detection influences subsequent behavioural intentions and (c) whether visual attention to COO labels can be externally motivated. Results consistently show that the majority of COO labels on product packages are indeed noticed by consumers. While the effects of COO on behavioural intentions are conditional on the duration of visual attention, dwell times on COO labels, on average, exceed the tipping point necessary to allow such effects. Importantly, whether and for how long COO labels are attended to can be motivated by differentially priming consumers' competence (vs. warmth)-based judgment goals. Implications of these findings for levering COO cues in marketing strategies are considered.

Regulatory focus theory proposes two distinct modi of self-regulation, a promotion focus and a prevention focus. According to this theory, individuals in a prevention focus apply behavioral strategies to successfully avoid unpleasant outcomes and maintain a safe and secure state. By contrast, individuals in a promotion focus apply behavioral strategies to realize pleasant outcomes and to advance the current state. Applied to the context of eating behavior, regulatory focus theory suggests that individuals in a prevention focus should be especially sensitive to avoid socially inappropriate eating behavior. A way to ensure socially appropriate eating behavior is to follow social models. In the present research, we therefore tested the assumption that a prevention focus leads to stronger modeling effects in eating behavior than a promotion focus. In two studies, we manipulated individual's self-regulation states by putting individuals in a state of reflection about their hopes and aspirations (promotion focus) vs. a state of reflection about their duties and responsibilities (prevention focus). Participants then observed the consumption behavior of a second participant who either consumed or did not consume offered food (Study 1) or received incidental information about the amount of food an ostensible previous participant had consumed (Study 2). Across both studies, participants in a prevention focus matched their food consumption more closely to that of a present (Study 1) and not-present social model (Study 2), compared to participants in a promotion focus. The results advance our understanding of modeling effects in food intake by showing the importance of regulatory orientations.

Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), we investigate the impact of both explicit and implicit country stereotypes on consumer preferences. In Study 1, we show that the competence dimension of the SCM (measured both explicitly and implicitly) drives purchase intention by positively influencing brand affect. In Study 2, we disentangle further the role of explicit and implicit stereotypes and show that explicit judgments of country competence are better predictors of deliberate consumer choices, whereas implicit judgments of country warmth dominate spontaneous choice. Managerially our findings indicate that sole reliance on explicit stereotypes may result in an incomplete picture of consumers' responses to country-of-origin cues.

In print advertising, the use of static pictures depicting models eating food is common practice. However, less is known about how the depiction of models in different phases of consumption (holding food, moving food to mouth, taking a bite, chewing on food) affects consumers. Theories have proposed that not only do individuals mimic actions, but they also adopt the goals and the motivational patterns underlying these actions by observing others. Building on this view, we hypothesized that consumers' desire to eat a food product and their actual consumption of a food product would be greater when the model in the picture was close to engaging in consumption and that desire and actual consumption would be reduced when the model was shown in the process of finishing consumption. In two studies, we found that the participants experienced an increased desire to eat the depicted food (Study 1) and ate more of the advertised food (Study 2) when the model was shown to engage in eating food compared with when the model was shown during completion of a consumption episode. In addition, the results of Study 1 suggest that even subtle differences such as holding food compared with putting food into the mouth might affect consumers' desire to eat. Overall, our results suggest that advertisements may affect consumers' motivation to engage in food intake differently depending on which consumption state they show with the depiction of a model close to engagement in food consumption being most likely to trigger a desire for consumption and an actual engagement in food intake.

Directly contradictory to individuals' lay beliefs prior exposure to attractive (versus unattractive) opposite-sex faces made people choose unhealthy rather than healthy food products. This effect primarily influenced people with a low (versus high) concern for healthy eating but did not generalize to exposure of attractive (versus unattractive) same-sex faces.

One of the most cost-effective strategies for fighting the spread of COVID-19 is the use of facial masks. Despite health officials’ strong efforts to communicate the importance or wearing a mask, compliance has been low in many countries. In the present paper we propose a novel behavior-intervention strategy to encourage people to wear facial masks. Three studies show that the personalization of a mask, as a form of identity expression, increases mask wearing intentions and, by extension, the percentage of individuals who wear facial masks. Given that mask wearing remains a necessity after deployment of the first vaccines, novel approaches to encouraging mask wearing are essential. Linking facial mask wearing to an individual’s identity is a promising strategy.

Whereas the internal activities of the service provider are often portrayed in form of a service blueprint, the counterpart on the customer side is missing. In order to take the service transaction as one process entity into account, this paper aims at identifying an implicit structure that defines the customer process as an equivalent to the explicit tool of a service blueprint. Such a structure can be found in a customer service script. With the objective to extend the traditional service blueprint by the customer dimension and reduce transaction costs, the article analyses service scripts and tests relevant influential factors.