The Shape of Utility Functions and Organizational Behavior

Based on measurements with 332 owner-managers, the global shape of the utility function (i.e., S-shaped versus concave or convex over the total range of outcomes) appears to discriminate organizational behavior. Whereas the degree of risk aversion, based on the local shape of the utility function, may be important in explaining owner-manager's trading behavior, the global shape of the utility function appears to drive more structural organizational behavior.utility theory;prospect theory;risk aversion;organizational behavior

Wat onhoudt een consument van een tv-commercial? Een kijkje in het brein met neuro-imaging technieken

Met een nieuwe neuro-imaging techniek om de activiteit in de hersenen te meten, de zogenaamde steady-state probe topography (SSPT), kan opgespoord worden welke scènes uit een tv-commercial door consumenten goed herinnerd worden. Uit een experiment blijkt dat scènes die langer dan 1,5 seconde duren en scènes die een snelle activatie in de linkerhersenhelft veroorzaken, een week later beter herkend worden. Door het toepassen van SSPT kunnen commercials gepretest worden om de herkenning en herinnering zo hoog mogelijk te maken

Brain Mechanisms of Persuasion: How "Expert Power" Modulates Memory and Attitudes

Human behavior is affected by various forms of persuasion. The general persuasive effect of high expertise of the communicator, often referred to as "expert power", is well documented. We found that a single exposure to a combination of an expert and an object leads to a long-lasting positive effect on memory for and attitude towards the object. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we probed the neural processes predicting these behavioral effects. Expert context was associated with distributed left-lateralized brain activity in prefrontal and temporal cortices related to active semantic elaboration. Furthermore, experts enhanced subsequent memory effects in the medial temporal lobe (i.e. in hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus) involved in memory formation. Experts also affected subsequent attitude effects in the caudate nucleus involved in trustful behavior, reward processing and learning. These results may suggest that the persuasive effect of experts is mediated by modulation of caudate activity resulting in a re-evaluation of the object in terms of its perceived value. Results extend our view of the functional role of the dorsal striatum in social interaction and enable us to make the first steps toward a neuroscientific model of persuasion.neuroeconomics;social influence;attitude;expertise;persuasion;celebrities;memory encoding

Interpersonal Relationships Moderate the Effect of Faces on Person Judgments

Previous research suggests that people form impressions of others based on their facial appearance in a very fast and automatic manner, and this especially holds for trustworthiness. However, as yet, this process has been investigated mostly in a social vacuum without taking interpersonal factors into account. In the current research, we demonstrate that both the relationship context that is salient at the moment of an interaction and the performed behavior, are important moderators of the impact of facial cues on impression formation. It is shown that, when the behavior of a person we encounter is ambiguous in terms of trustworthiness, the relationship most salient at that moment is of crucial impact on whether and how we incorporate facial cues communicating (un)trustworthiness in our final evaluations. Ironically, this can result in less positive evaluations of interaction partners with a trustworthy face compared to interaction partners with an untrustworthy face. Implications for research on facial characteristics, trust, and relationship theories are discussed.trust;facial characteristics;person perception;relationship norms;word-of-mouth

The Powerful Triangle of Marketing Data, Managerial Judgment, and Marketing Management Support Systems

In this paper we conceptualize the impact of information technology on marketing decision-making. We argue that developments in information technology affect the performance of marketing decision-makers through different routes. Advances in information technology enhance the possibilities to collect data and to generate information for supporting marketing decision-making. Potentially, this will have a positive impact on decision-making performance. Managerial expertise will favor the transformation of data into market insights. However, as the cognitive capabilities of marketing managers are limited, increasing amounts of data may also increase the complexity of the decision-making context. In turn, increased complexity enhances the probability of biased decision processes (e.g., the inappropriate use of heuristics) thereby negatively affecting decision-making performance. Marketing management support systems, also being the result of advances in information technology, are tools that can help marketers to benefit from the data explosion. These systems are able to increase the value of data and, at the same time, make decision-makers less vulnerable to biased decision processes. Our analysis leads to the expectation that the combination of marketing data, managerial judgment, and marketing management support systems will be a powerful factor for improving marketing management. Implications of our analysis are discussed.decision making;decision biases;information technology;marketing management support systems

De kwaliteit van SERVQUAL: een toepassing bij zeven dienstverlenende organisaties

Het SERVQUAL-model met bijbehorende standaardvragenhijst is een hulpmiddel bij de diagnose van kwaliteitsproblemen in dienstverlening. De methode mag zich in een groeiende belangstelling verheugen bij dienstverleners in de praktijk. In dit artikel worden de resultaten vergeleken van een toepassing van de methode bij een zevental dienstverlenende organisaties. Hierdoor wordt inzicht verkregen in de betrouwbaarheid en validiteit van de methode en in de praktische bruikbaarheid. Daarnaast wordt met deze vergelijking een referentiekader geboden voor de grootte van de versehillende gaps in het model. Op deze wijze kan een organisatie haar eigen resultaten met de methode afzetten tegen onze resultaten bij de zeven organisaties. Uit de bevindingen blijkt dat het model op veel punten een betrouwbaar en valide beeld geeft van de externe kwaliteitstekorten en de inteme oorzaken daarvoor. Verbeteringen in de methode kunnen met name aangebracht worden bij: de meting van de verwachtingen (biedt te weinig extra informatie), de meting van de inteme organisatiegaps (weinig bruikbaar want erg globaal) en de meting van de antecedente factoren voor de inteme gaps (te onbetrouwbaar). Concrete aanbevelingen worden gedaan om de waarde van de methode te verhogen

Sales and Sincerity: The Role of Relational Framing in Word-of-Mouth Marketing

In the current research, we study relationship norms in a word-of-mouth marketing context. The presence of a financial incentive for a recommendation implies that the word-of-mouth behavior may be driven by ulterior motives. This setting triggers both friendship (Equality Matching; EM) and sales (Market Pricing; MP) relationship norms. However, the evaluation of the recommendation depends crucially on the relationship norm activated during the interaction. We show that, compared to MP relationship norms, activating EM norms leads to less sincere agent evaluations, but at the same time to higher intentions to comply with the target offer. We show that these norms can be activated outside awareness and influence our evaluations of interaction partners in a cognitively efficient manner. A second study shows that disclosing the financial motive has a positive effect on agent evaluations, but only when the recommendation target can devote full attention to the interaction.relationship norms;word-of-mouth;disclosure of ulterior motive;rewarded recommendations

Do Loyalty Programs Enhance Behavioral Loyalty: An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Program Design and Competitive Effects

This paper studies the effects of loyalty programs on share-of-wallet using market-wide household panel data on supermarket purchases.We find that loyalty programs relate positively to share-of-wallet, but the programs differ in effectiveness and some are ineffective.Both a saving component and a multi-vendor structure enhance the effectiveness of a loyalty program, but high discounts do not lead to higher share-of-wallets.Further, if households have multiple loyalty cards, the effectiveness of a specific loyalty program is much smaller.The positive loyalty program effects on share-of-wallet entail substantial additional customer revenues.However, given the high number of loyalty programs already available in the market, our model predicts that a new loyalty program introduction will only lead to small effects on share-of-wallet.loyalty;marketing;retailing

Do Loyalty Programs Really Enhance Behavioral Loyalty? An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Self-Selecting Members

One of the pressing issues in marketing is whether loyalty programs really enhance behavioral loyalty. Loyalty program members may have a much higher share-of-wallet at the firm with the loyalty program than non-members have, but this does not necessarily imply that loyalty programs are effective. Loyal customers may select themselves to become members in order to benefit from the program. Since this implies that program membership is endogenous, we estimate models for both the membership decision (using instrumental variables) and for the effect of membership on share-of-wallet, our measure of behavioral loyalty. We use panel data from a representative sample of Dutch households who report their loyalty program memberships for all seven loyalty programs in grocery retailing as well as their expenditures at each of the 20 major supermarket chains. We find a small positive yet significant effect of loyalty program membership on share-of-wallet. This effect is seven times smaller than is suggested by a naïve model that ignores the endogeneity of program membership. The predictive validity of the proposed model is much better than for the naïve model. Our results show that creating loyalty program membership is a crucial step to enhance share-of-wallet, and we provide guidelines how to achieve this.Attraction models;Endogeneity;Grocery retailing;Loyalty programs;Tobit-II model

Wat onthoudt een consument van een tv-commercial? Een kijkje in het brein met neuro-imaging technieken

Met een nieuwe neuro-imaging techniek om de activiteit in de hersenen te meten, de zogenaamde steady-state probe topography (SSPT), kan opgespoord worden welke scènes uit een tv-commercial door consumenten goed herinnerd worden. Uit een experiment blijkt dat scènes die langer dan 1,5 seconde duren en scènes die een snelle activatie in de linkerhersenhelft veroorzaken, een week later beter herkend worden. Door het toepassen van SSPT kunnen commercials gepretest worden om de herkenning en herinnering zo hoog mogelijk te maken