Realizing Your Wishes: Alleviating Online Shopping Hesitation via Peer Consumer Review in Social Shopping Context

A large proportion of online consumers tend to abandon their virtual shopping carts instead of finalizing their purchases. In this research in progress paper, we investigate how online shopping hesitation can be alleviated to promote product sales in the context of social shopping. Particularly, we attempt to address the research gap by exploring how online review characteristics (i.e., review credibility, review volume, and review timeliness) mitigate online shopping hesitation and encourage consumers to purchase from their wish-lists. We also explore the potential moderating role of consumer engagement and consumer expertise. In order to validate our research model, we obtained panel data from an online social shopping community and conducted some preliminary analyses. We believe that the results of this study will provide notable insights for both academic researchers and practitioners

Implementing Fee-Based ICM Services

Since 1993, a group of agrichemical dealers and public sector agencies, including Iowa State University Extension (ISUE) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), have been exploring the potential for fee-based crop management services in northwest Iowa. The Agribusiness Association of Iowa helped to bring the public and private sector groups together. In 1995, funding from USDA, and later also U.S. EPA through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, established the Northwest Iowa Agribusiness ICM Project. The objective of the project is to demonstrate comprehensive, fee-based ICM services by dealers, ideally as separate profit centers. All dealers in a nine-county area of northwest Iowa are eligible to work with the project, which provides both agronomic and business planning assistance

Examination the Interrelationships Experiential Marketing, Experiential Value, Purchase Behavior and Their Impact on Customers Loyalty (Case Study: Customers of Hormoz Hotel in Bandar-e-Abbas)

Exactly how the hotel industry creates good quality service experiences has attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. Some scholars advocate creating high quality service encounters to enhance customer loyalty. Despite the fact that experiences are regarded as key concepts in marketing today, there are different views and interpretations about the content of terms. This study examines the relationship between experiential marketing, experiential value and mediator role of   purchase intentions on Customer Loyalty. Experiential marketing focuses on how customer senses, feel, think, act and relate their experiences and experiential value incorporate the Entertainment Visual Appeal, Interaction, Value and Consumer return on Investment in the proposed model. To test the proposed model, The data were collected through questionnaire and the sample of this study was on a convenience sample of 133 Customer in Hormoz Hotel in Bandar Abbas. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and Smart PLS2 software. Findings confirm that Experiential Marketing, Experiential Value and Purchase Behavior present significant positive influence on customer loyalty. Furthermore experiential marketing and Experiential Value have significant positive influence on Purchase Behavior. Also,  intermediate effect of Purchase Behavior was confirmed. Research results can serve as an important reference of internal environmental display and consumer experience for chain service industry. Keywords: Experiential Marketing, Experiential Value, Purchase Behavior, Customer Loyalt

Planning a Profitable ICM Service

For agricultural dealers, there has never been a better time to introduce fee-based crop consulting services. Precision equipment and genetic technology have made new resources available for high yields, but they have also increased the complexity of information management and decision-making in all areas of crop production. The situation has created an opportunity for dealers as well as independent consultants to profitably market services. Public sector demonstration projects conducted under the leadership of Iowa State University Agronomy and Agronomy Extension - such as the Butler County ICM Project, an element of the Iowa Integrated Farm Management Demonstration - have documented that a comprehensive integrated crop management (ICM) service program returns $8 to over$30/A./yr from management improvements

More Than Just Wine: The Evolution of Wine Tourism in South Africa

Flanked by two oceans, surrounded by magnificent mountains, and enjoying an agreeable Mediterranean climate, South Africa is recognized as being the oldest “new world” wine producing country. This beautiful and increasingly popular tourist destination has seen many wine farms expanding their offerings from wine tasting and sales to the inclusion of a wide range of additional tourist products and activities, many of then non-wine related. This paper updates and discusses the current trends in wine tourism in South Africa. It examines the increasing sophistication of the country’s wine tourism product as it evolves into a broad-based, authentic agritourism offering, with many wine estates becoming tourist destinations in their own right

Challenges in the Conservation of an Over-Harvested Plant Species with High Socioeconomic Values

Overexploitation to meet commercial demands has threatened the existence of many species. In theory, one can adopt a portfolio of policies and measures from both the supply (i.e., encourage cultivation while punishing poaching) and demand (i.e., education of consumers) sides to achieve sustainable use. Here we examine the effects of governmental policies and measures towards the utilization of Aquilaria sinensis, a threatened species with high cultural and economic values. We found that, despite national protected status and a suite of government initiatives and granted projects to implement cultivation of the species, poaching persisted and even intensified. From the consumer side, current cultural education related to the species was not coupled with equally strong conservation education, which might have inadvertently reinforced the notion that wild-sourced materials are better, and facilitated a luxury goods-like market for wild products. It appeared that the current government portfolio of initiatives was highly skewed towards utilization, and therefore not effective for promoting the long term ecological persistence of the species. This finding is likely not unique to A. sinensis, nor limited to China. A more balanced portfolio of government initiatives to include stronger and more direct conservation measures towards highly exploited species is needed to achieve sustainable use of this species and related species

Development of Business Activities of Company

Bakalárska práca sa zaoberá návrhmi na rozvoj obchodných aktivít dánskej spoločnosti ECCO pôsobiacej na globálnom trhu. Predmetom podnikania je výroba a predaj koženej obuvi pre mužov, ženy a deti. Návrhy sú zamerané na aktivity, pomocou ktorých podnik prehĺbi a upevní vzťahy so svojimi zákazníkmi. Na základe uskutočnených analýz a mystery shoppingu tak preskúmam konkurenciu a vymedzím jednotlivé kroky, ktoré povedú k budovaniu silnej prémiovej značky a zvýšeniu spokojnosti zákazníkov. Mojim cieľom je tak prostredníctvom osobitého prístupu vytvoriť u spotrebiteľa nákupný zážitok, rozvíjať obchodné aktivity podniku a podporiť predaj produktov. Základnou normou aplikovanou pri tvorbe návrhu je rozvoj hodnoty pre zákazníka.Bachelor thesis deals with proposals for the development of business activities of Danish company ECCO operating in the global market. The subject of business is the production and sale of leather shoes for men, women and children. The proposals are aimed at activities by which the company deepen and reinforce relationships with its customers. Based on the analyzes and mystery shopping I’m able to examine the competition and define the steps that will lead to building a strong premium brand and increase customer satisfaction. My goal is using a specific approach to create the consumer shopping experience, develop the businesses activities and promote product sales. The basic standard applied in the creation of the proposal, is to develop customer value.

Role of Analytics and Accounting Information Systems in Profitability

The use of accounting information systems by small businesses has resulted in time savings, as well as increased reliability and security due to the availability of backups. This has allowed for the recognition of profits in both the short and long term, ensuring the continued operation of the business. However, small businesses often neglect profitability ratios, such as returns on product sales or profit margins, due to a lack of technical knowledge. Additionally, they struggle with performance comparisons and assessing their competitiveness with other companies. Standard costing methods and financial order inventory models have also been found to be ineffective for small businesses. Policy and government decision makers will need to devise policies and regulations that will facilitate the introduction of these devices into the corporate environment. This type of policy could include tax exemptions or even tax relief for devices used in these ways

Research on the Guidance Mechanism of the Sharing of Green Patent in China

The sharing of green patent is a significant step in promoting green patents and dealing with currently severe environmental issues. The sharing of green patent refers to the sharing of rights, which is essentially different from the sharing of technology but innately connected with the sharing of technology and compulsory licensing of patents. The government should take active measures to establish an interest-oriented mechanism of stimulation and guidance, strengthen environmental protection legislation and green planning, improve right protection measures, establish shared information platform and jointly promote the sharing of green patent through fair, reasonable interest compensation, economic incentives such as annual fee reduction, special reward and loan financing, and methods on assessment and guidance including preferential procurement of the government, use of sharing identity and establishment of shared information platform. Keywords: green patent, guidance Mechanism, institutional guarantee