Consumer evaluation and response to philanthropic advertising.

The integration of philanthropy into corporate advertising and sales promotion campaigns is becoming a popular persuasion tactic. Companies are now using product advertising to portray themselves as benefactors of charities and social causes. The underlying marketing premise is that a firm can do better by doing good. Philanthropic advertising can be grouped into two basic categories. One category ties consumer purchases to the corporate donation while the other communicates the firm\u27s benevolence without a purchase connection. Causes perceived by consumers as personally relevant receive more cognitive elaboration than those causes perceived to have little relevance. On the surface, philanthropic advertising appears to be a win-win situation. The firm achieves an additional sale, or enhances its image, and the charity receives needed financial support. However, little is known as to how these messages influence consumer perceptions, attitudes and purchase likelihood. This study examined the effects of different forms of philanthropic messages, with varying levels of personal relevance, on consumer perceptions and behavior. It addresses these issues from an attribution theory viewpoint. Specifically, this study suggests that, given varying combinations of philanthropic advertising and personal relevance, consumers form different perceptions of the firm\u27s altruism. These attributions influence consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. The study used an after-only, with control group, experiment to investigate the differential impact of the experimental factors. Two hundred and seventy-five graduate students responded to randomly assigned advertising stimuli and answered a questionnaire that measured their attitudes and purchase intentions. The initial hypothesis tests failed to show any significant results. Overall, subjects did not perceive any difference between the two types of philanthropic promotions. However, some effects emerged when the blocking factors were introduced. These results indicated that those who had a less favorable attitude toward business tended to respond unfavorably to philanthropic advertisements. Additionally, non-users of the product had more favorable responses for philanthropic advertisements than non-philanthropic advertisements. Messages of high personal relevance also produced more favorable responses than low relevance messages. Individuals who were not active contributors responded favorably to the purchase-linked messages. The results imply that these messages may have a different impact on various consumer segments. This message strategy can be useful in stimulating brand switching among current non-users

Inverse wing design in transonic flow including viscous interaction

Several inverse methods were compared and initial results indicate that differences in results are primarily due to coordinate systems and fuselage representations and not to design procedures. Further, results from a direct-inverse method that includes 3-D wing boundary layer effects, wake curvature, and wake displacement are represented. These results show that boundary layer displacements must be included in the design process for accurate results

Bloom Programme: Micro-distribution of Mars Products in Manila

This paper provides an overview of the Bloom micro-distribution programme, an initiative spearheaded by Mars Catalyst and Mars Wrigley Confectionery Philippines that engages female sellers in Manilla, Philippines, as distributors of Mars Wrigley confectionery products. The case includes assessment of the multi-dimensional impact of Bloom on the 300+ sellers as well as the challenges the project faces. Data for this paper were drawn from documents provided by Bloom staff, key informant interviews, and surveys of sellers conducted by Bloom in 2016; the programme remains active

Effects of pelleting and pellet conditioning temperatures on weanling pig performance

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of pelleting and pellet conditioning temperature of diets containing 5% spray-dried animal plasma (SDAP) on weanling pig growth performance. In Exp. 1, conditioning temperatures evaluated were 140, 150, 160, and 170°F. In Exp. 2, pellet conditioning temperatures were 140, 155, 170, 185, and 200°F. The results suggest that pellet conditioning temperatures above 170°F decrease weanling pig performance from d 0 to 7 after weaning. Pellet conditioning temperature should not exceed 170OF (exit temperature of 180°F) for nursery diets containing 5% SDAP.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 18, 199

Are CDS spreads predictable? An analysis of linear and non-linear forecasting models

We assess the statistical and economic performance of various forecasting models to predict the future values of the iTraxx index. We find that linear models outperform non-linear models out-of-sample. Some trading strategies based on forecasts generated by the linear models deliver positive Sharpe ratios

Relativity, rank and the utility of income

This is the accepted version of the following article: Rablen, M. D. (2008), Relativity, Rank and the Utility of Income. The Economic Journal, 118: 801–821, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02143.x/abstract.Relative utility has become an important concept in several disjoint areas of economics. I present a cardinal model of income utility based on the supposition that agents care about their rank in the income distribution and that utility is subject to adaptation over time. Utility levels correspond to the Leyden Individual Welfare Function while utility differences yield a version of the prospect theory value function, thereby providing a new and shared derivation of each. I offer an explanation of some long-standing paradoxes in the wellbeing literature and an insight into the links between relative comparisons and loss aversion.ESR

Aggregate dividends and consumption smoothing

We show that net equity payouts from the corporate sector play a crucial role in helping individuals manage their consumption path across the business cycle. In particular, we show that, as investors' desire to smooth consumption increases, optimal aggregate dividends become both more volatile and more counter-cyclical to help counterbalance pro-cyclical labor income. These findings are robust to whether or not agency conflicts exist in the economy

Why are aggregate equity payouts pro-cyclical?

We use two general equilibrium models to explain why changes in the external economic environment result in pro-cyclical aggregate dividend payout behavior. Both models that we consider endogenize low elasticity of investment. The first model incorporates capital adjustment costs, while the second one assumes that risk-averse managers maximize their own objective function rather than shareholder wealth. We show that, while both models generate pro-cyclical aggregate dividends, a feature consistent with the observed business-cycle pattern of payouts from well-diversified portfolios, the second model provides a more likely explanation for this effect. Our findings emphasize the importance of incorporating agency conflicts when considering the relationship between the external economic environment and the financial behavior of businesses