Assessing Consumers' Cognitive, Affective and Normative Associations on Willingness-to-pay for Domestic Foods

Consumer/Household Economics,

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Swiss Chicken Meat: An In-store Survey to Link Stated and Revealed Buying Behaviour

In a global economy food origin is gaining increasing attention as determining purchase criterion in food consumption. Consequently, for many consumers a product’s country-of-origin (COO) is an important cue in evaluating both domestic and foreign products. A double-bounded dichotomous choice approach in an in-store setting was used to assess consumers’ preference and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the product attribute “Swiss origin” relative to “European origin” for chicken meat. Data collection took place in the poultry section of six grocery stores in Francophone Switzerland. Sample selection was based on the consumer’s purchase decision, that is only actual chicken buyers were questioned. During the survey product data of participants’ actual purchase were recorded. Thus, both hypothetical stated and revealed consumer behaviour data were collected. Based on 450 records we highlight four different consumer segments, notably “Loyal Swiss”, “Low Price Swiss Zappers”, “Price Orientated”, and „The Gourmets”. At an equal price, 90% of the entire sample prefers Swiss chicken meat. To elicit mean WTP for “Swiss origin” we used logit analysis. The results indicate that mean WTP differs significantly between the highlighted consumer segments. “Loyal Swiss” – medium to high priced Swiss chicken meat consumers – are willing to pay a premium of about 7.40 Euros per kilo chicken breast of Swiss origin. This premium corresponds with actual price differences of at most 7.50 €/kg for Swiss chicken breast relative to European found in the researched grocery stores. “Low Price Swiss Zappers” are willing to pay a premium of 2.10 €/kg chicken breast of Swiss origin. In contrast, the “Price Orientated” and „The Gourmets” are not willing to pay any premium for Swiss origin. This corresponds with their revealed purchase behaviour as they bought imported European chicken. Considering mean WTP for the entire sample of 3.00 €/kg for Swiss origin, we conclude that this is not a good predictor for specific consumer segments. It over-, or underestimates mean WTP of the highlighted consumer segments. Using both stated and revealed consumer behaviour data, we are able to calculate consumer group specific mean WTP which leads to more appropriate results for agribusiness and marketing purposes.contingent valuation method, country-of-origin, willingness-to-pay, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Executive Compensation and Analyst Guidance: The Link between CEO Pay and Expectations Management

During the last decade, a surprisingly high percentage of U.S. companies has fulfilled or beaten analysts’ earnings per share forecasts. One of the most frequently cited reasons for this growing tendency is a change in the nature of U.S. executive compensation structure. As stock options have become an increasingly important part of executive compensation, the preservation or enhancement of short term stock value around the earnings announcement has become a priority for managers. Besides earnings management, a widespread way to meet analyst expectations is to inject pessimism into their forecasts by providing analysts with negative clues, or so-called downward guidance. This paper is the first to investigate the relationship between the practice of analyst guidance and executive compensation packages. We document a strong link between expectations management and the relevant options component of CEO compensation, bonus plan payments, and the value of the firm's shares owned by its managing CEO. In a second set of tests, we show that firms that meet or beat analyst forecasts at the earnings announcement generate positive abnormal returns, which are significantly lower for firms suspected of managing expectations.Analyst guidance; Earnings surprise; Executive compensation; Stock options

Who are the Best? Local Versus Foreign Analysts on the Latin American Stock Markets

This paper investigates the relative performance of local and foreign financial analysts on Latin American emerging markets. There is strong evidence that foreign financial analysts outperform local analysts on these markets. Foreign analysts produce more timely and more accurate forecasts. A significant price reaction is observed following their downward forecast revisions. Therefore foreign investors do not necessarily need to open relations with local financial analysts when they want to trade on these markets. The results are consistent with previous evidence that documents a better information and greater sophistication on the part of foreign investors on overseas markets.analysts’ forecasts; home bias; international diversification; emerging markets; herding behaviour

LMMSE Estimation and Interpolation of Continuous-Time Signals from Discrete-Time Samples Using Factor Graphs

The factor graph approach to discrete-time linear Gaussian state space models is well developed. The paper extends this approach to continuous-time linear systems/filters that are driven by white Gaussian noise. By Gaussian message passing, we then obtain MAP/MMSE/LMMSE estimates of the input signal, or of the state, or of the output signal from noisy observations of the output signal. These estimates may be obtained with arbitrary temporal resolution. The proposed input signal estimation does not seem to have appeared in the prior Kalman filtering literature

Reconstruction and 3D visualisation based on objective real 3D based documentation

Reconstructions based directly upon forensic evidence alone are called primary information. Historically this consists of documentation of findings by verbal protocols, photographs and other visual means. Currently modern imaging techniques such as 3D surface scanning and radiological methods (Computer Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging) are also applied. Secondary interpretation is based on facts and the examiner's experience. Usually such reconstructive expertises are given in written form, and are often enhanced by sketches. However, narrative interpretations can, especially in complex courses of action, be difficult to present and can be misunderstood. In this report we demonstrate the use of graphic reconstruction of secondary interpretation with supporting pictorial evidence, applying digital visualisation (using ‘Poser') or scientific animation (using ‘3D Studio Max', ‘Maya') and present methods of clearly distinguishing between factual documentation and examiners' interpretation based on three cases. The first case involved a pedestrian who was initially struck by a car on a motorway and was then run over by a second car. The second case involved a suicidal gunshot to the head with a rifle, in which the trigger was pushed with a rod. The third case dealt with a collision between two motorcycles. Pictorial reconstruction of the secondary interpretation of these cases has several advantages. The images enable an immediate overview, give rise to enhanced clarity, and compel the examiner to look at all details if he or she is to create a complete imag

Gunshot energy transfer profile in ballistic gelatine, determined with computed tomography using the total crack length method

By measuring the total crack lengths (TCL) along a gunshot wound channel simulated in ordnance gelatine, one can calculate the energy transferred by a projectile to the surrounding tissue along its course. Visual quantitative TCL analysis of cut slices in ordnance gelatine blocks is unreliable due to the poor visibility of cracks and the likely introduction of secondary cracks resulting from slicing. Furthermore, gelatine TCL patterns are difficult to preserve because of the deterioration of the internal structures of gelatine with age and the tendency of gelatine to decompose. By contrast, using computed tomography (CT) software for TCL analysis in gelatine, cracks on 1-cm thick slices can be easily detected, measured and preserved. In this, experiment CT TCL analyses were applied to gunshots fired into gelatine blocks by three different ammunition types (9-mm Luger full metal jacket, .44 Remington Magnum semi-jacketed hollow point and 7.62 × 51 RWS Cone-Point). The resulting TCL curves reflected the three projectiles' capacity to transfer energy to the surrounding tissue very accurately and showed clearly the typical energy transfer differences. We believe that CT is a useful tool in evaluating gunshot wound profiles using the TCL method and is indeed superior to conventional methods applying physical slicing of the gelatin

Unkraut zum Essen: Trend oder Irrsinn?

Jetzt soll man auch noch das Unkraut essen!? Ja gerne, sagen die Spitzenköche der exklusiven Gourmetrestaurants. Und die Kunden applaudieren. In Deutschland setzen sich Wildkräuter mehr und mehr durch. In der Schweiz bestehen für solche Raritäten durchaus Marktchancen. An die Qualität werden jedoch sehr hohe Anforderungen gestellt