Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticities on the Internet

We examine the competition between a group of Internet retailers that operate in an environment where a price search engine plays a dominant role. We show that for some products in this environment, the easy price search makes demand tremendously price-sensitive. Retailers, though, engage in obfuscation---practices that frustrate consumer search or make it less damaging to firms---resulting in much less price sensitivity on other products. We discuss several models of obfuscation and examine its effects on demand and markups empirically. Observed markups are adequate to allow efficient online retailers to survive.

Marketing

Marketing is a human activity aimed at customer satisfaction through exchange. The main objective of the course is a formation of a system of knowledge about the nature and content marketing as a philosophy of business activity in the market economy and competition in preparation for the adoption of qualified decisions in marketing

Assistive technology pricing: is it fair and reasonable?

Concerns about the price of assistive technology products (AT, also known as aids and equipment) arise regularly in public policy discourse and the media. These papers present the available evidence and essential contextual information regarding AT pricing in Australia.  Overview Concerns about the price of assistive technology products arise regularly in public policy discourse and the media. With the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Aged Care Reforms, clarity about the fairness (or not) of existing AT retail prices is central to ensuring effective AT public policy development and implementation for the one in ten Australians who rely on AT to do everyday tasks that others take for granted. Available evidence indicates that while AT can be expensive, it is in fact cheaper in Australia than in other comparable countries. Effective price comparisons require comparing like-with-like, not only in relation to the product but also services and other costs that are incorporated into retail prices. The Queensland Competition Authority recently compared like-with-like AT prices and found Australia was 24% lower than the best available overseas price when transportation to Australia was included in the calculation.  ATSA price comparisons using a different method produced similar results with Australian prices on average between 14-27% cheaper. Notwithstanding the general impression that the AT industry is about \u27aids and equipment, hardware and gadgets\u27, it is largely a service-based industry with an extensive range of services aimed at ensuring a good match between the individual and their AT incorporated into the retail price. The extent of these services is described in detail in the background paper. Yes, consumers can buy AT on the internet from internet-only AT sellers in the USA for about half the price of purchasing through a retail shop-front in Australia, but when transportation costs are factored in along with the lack of coverage by Australia\u27s strong consumer protection laws, the difficulty and costs of enforcing overseas warranties, and the purchaser carrying all responsibility for ensuring appropriateness of the AT for their needs; assembly/adjustment/customisation; sourcing spares, maintenance and repairs; training in safe use, etc. these may not be the bargains they appear to be. Particularly in relation to more complex AT such as a light-weight customised manual wheelchair for a very active person, a motorised wheelchair with customised seating and complex controls, or even something \u27simpler\u27 such as a hoist to help someone get in and out of bed, or a pressure care cushion, AT retailers typically trial and test a variety of products and options with the consumer and their therapist, with free in-home trials over a period of days or weeks commonplace to ensure the best available solution is achieved

Distinctive Imperatives for Mission Driven Teaching in Catholic Business Schools

We contend that there are distinct and socially beneficial perspectives, rooted in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) and Catholic Social Teaching (CST), which can help nurture future managers to be more attuned to the societal and ethical impacts resulting from their marketing decisions. In this paper, we briefly review several of these themes and illustrate how such messages can be integrated into the marketing instruction that takes place inside of business schools at Catholic universities

Sustainability via extended warranty contracts: design for a consumer electronics retailer

Warranty is one of the most important attributes of any product, from both manufacturer and consumer points of view. Although the retailers connect manufacturers to customers by selling goods, traditionally, they have isolated themselves from warranty-related matters such as customer complaints and maintenance costs. However, recent trends in consumer behavior toward extended warranty contracts have changed this approach. While retailers have started to generate considerable revenue from the sale of these contracts, sustainability is also achieved by longer product life cycles. This study analyzed the failure behavior of different classes of cell phone products and their related costs through a chain of consumer electronics retailer operating in Türkiye. To compete on pricing and customer service, a novel policy was designed for the retailer to honor the contracts in house rather than underwriting to a third party insurer as the industry standard. The maintenance records of 328 previous failures were analyzed to plot a failure model. Failure mode and effects analysis was carried out to identify failure classes and the respective costs for extended warranty design for cell phones. The expected warranty costs for coverage of the third, fourth, and fifth years of operation were determined. The results show that the retailer may achieve the same level of profit by increasing customer satisfaction along with the sustainability of the product through repair actions.Publisher's VersionQ2WOS:00114030000000

Limitation of Sales Warranties as an Alternative to Intellectual Property Rights: An Empirical Analysis of IPhone Warranties’ Deterrent Impact on Consumers

Apple\u27s success with the Apple iPhone has brought with it certain problems. Its success has engendered a community that has attempted to circumvent Apple\u27s exclusive service agreement with AT&T. Unfortunately for Apple (and similarly situated manufacturers), intellectual property law allows consumers to alter their products so as to circumvent relationships that manufacturers may have with others. The patent and copyright law first sale doctrine allows consumers to manipulate a product after it is purchased. As a result, manufacturers are increasingly turning to alternatives to intellectual property to secure control over the device after the sale. One such alternative is the exclusion of warranty under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. This iBrief considers whether limitation of warranties have the deterrence effect manufacturers desire. Said differently, it considers whether manufacturers can use warranty limitations to prevent consumers from using their products in an unauthorized manner. The iBrief presents a behavioral model based on the Triandis model of planned behavior and enhances the model by accounting for likely and unlikely benefits and detriments. The model suggests that participants weigh the probability and magnitude of the detriment against the probability and magnitude of the beneficial impact when making the decision to engage in technological piracy. This model, considered with other empirical evidence, suggests that Apple\u27s warranty could be a stronger deterrent for consumers than civil liability. The iBrief concludes that manufacturers can better protect their post-sale expectation of profits by raising consumer awareness of their warranty\u27s quality and by raising awareness of the consequences for using the product in a way that is outside the terms of the consumers\u27 authorized use

When a Wrongful Birth Claim May Not Be Wrong: Race, Inequality, and the Cost of Blackness

The year 2017 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia decision, in which a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Today, when we consider interracial loving, we tend to envision romantic relationships. What is often overlooked, however, is the relationship between parent and child: among the most intimate of relationships. A primary reason for this oversight may be that we do not often conceptualize the parent and child relationship as an interracial space. Indeed, although most people select their romantic partners, few are afforded the opportunity to select their children outside of the contexts of adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART). While there has been debate over the years about transracial adoptions, there has been little controversy surrounding race selection in ART. This may be due to the fact that within the ART sphere, race, particularly the presumption of race concordance between parents and their children, is seen as neutral and natural: a biological imperative. This assumption and the race selection that occurs in ART are rarely questioned or interrogated. This Essay disrupts these assumptions by using a recent case, Cramblett v. Midwest Sperm Bank, LLC as a point of departure for examining the meaning and operation of race in the United States

Caps, apps and other mobile traps

This report outlines the major policy and legal issues on mobile phone ownership for children and young people