Winning Back Attendance: Effects of Winning Performance, Online Search, and the MLB Rule Changes for More Dynamic Games

As Major League Baseball (MLB)’s continuous decline in popularity has caused its game attendance to drop gradually, the league makes a desperate attempt such as game rule changes to remain relevant. Along with the introduction of new rules to make games more dynamic such as the pitch clock, bigger bases, and defensive shift limitations, it is important for MLB franchises to understand drivers for game attendance. We focus on the effect of accumulated winning performance of the two teams on game attendance, one of the key drivers of game attendance, and investigate how it is influenced by consumer and industry factors such as online search and game rule changes. We find that game attendance increases as the prior winning performance of the home (away) team increases (decreases). We also find that online search and rule changes for more dynamic games moderate the effect of winning performance on game attendance

When and How Brands Affect Attribute Weights in Consumer Decision Processes

This research investigates when and how brands influence attribute importance weights. Most past studies modelling consumer decision processes treated the brand of a product as an attribute parallel to the price, color, or size of a product; and as a result, those studies assigned an equal (i.e., non-contingent) importance weight across brands for each attribute. In contrast, we introduce a brand-contingent attribute-weighting process, in which brand is a higher-order construct that influences attribute importance. We present a multi-level choice model in which the importance weight of an attribute can vary across brands. We then estimate the model using real purchase data and survey data from airline industry. We find that attribute importance weights are contingent upon two aspects of a brand—the perceived relative position of the brand and consumers’ brand usage experiences. Specifically, when consumers perceive a brand to be inferior to its competitors in a given attribute, they generally place greater weight on that attribute for that brand. In contrast, when consumers perceive a brand to be superior to its competitors in a given attribute, only consumers with extensive brand usage experiences place greater weight on that attribute for that brand.Our findings provide managerial insights on brand positioning and segmentation strategies using consumers’ brand usage experiences. We advance the literature on consumer decision processes by modeling an attribute-weighting process that is contingent upon brands. We model this process based on consumer behavior theories and estimate the model using real market data

When and how brands affect importance of product attributes in consumer decision process

Purpose This research investigates when and how brands influence attribute importance weights. Most past studies modelling consumer decision processes treated the brand of a product as an attribute parallel to the price, color or size of a product, and as a result, those studies assigned an equal (i.e. non-contingent) importance weight across brands for each attribute. In contrast, this study introduces a brand-contingent attribute-weighting process, in which brand is a higher-order construct that influences attribute importance. Design/methodology/approach This study presents a multi-level choice model in which the importance weight of an attribute can vary across brands. This study then estimates the model using real purchase data and survey data from an airline industry. Findings This study finds that attribute importance weights are contingent upon two aspects of a brand - the perceived relative position of the brand and consumers' brand usage experiences. Specifically, when consumers perceive a brand to be inferior to its competitors in a given attribute, they generally place greater weight on that attribute for that brand. In contrast, when consumers perceive a brand to be superior to its competitors in a given attribute, only consumers with extensive brand usage experiences place greater weight on that attribute for that brand. Practical implications The findings provide managerial insights on brand positioning and segmentation strategies using consumers' brand usage experiences. Originality/Value This study advances the literature on consumer decision processes by modeling an attribute-weighting process that is contingent upon brands. The present study models this process based on consumer behavior theories and estimates the model using real market data