Kundenpräferenzen für leistungsrelevante Attribute von Stromprodukten

Zusammenfassung: Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, ob die Standard-Stromprodukte für private Stromkunden in der Schweiz den Kundenpräferenzen entsprechen. Basierend auf einer Online-Befragung mit Choice Experimenten, die 9420 Wahlentscheidungen von 628 Privatkunden in der Ostschweiz erfasste, beantwortet dieser Beitrag Fragen zum bevorzugten Stromprodukt. Mit Hilfe von hierarchischen Bayes Schätzungen sind Kundenpräferenzen und die Wichtigkeit einzelner Attribute für die Produktwahl bestimmt worden. Daraus können Teilnutzenwerte für verschiedene Attributsausprägungen berechnet und implizite Zahlungsbereitschaften abgeleitet werden. Am wichtigsten sind für den Kunden der Strommix, die monatlichen Stromkosten und der Ort der Stromproduktion. Im Vergleich von fünf untersuchten Ausprägungen des Strommix erreicht der bestehende Schweizer Mix aus vorwiegend Kernenergie und Wasserkraft in der Gunst der Kunden den vorletzten Platz. Demgegenüber stehen Mixes mit Ökostromanteilen bei den Kunden deutlich höher im Kurs. Die Studienergebnisse zeigen somit Handlungsmöglichkeiten für die Produktgestaltung und die marketingstrategische Positionierung im liberalisierten Strommarkt au

Using life cycle approaches to enhance the value of corporate environmental disclosures

As the focus of environmental policy and management shifts from cleaner production at the process level towards greener products as a whole, stakeholders ask for transparency throughout the entire value chain. This article assesses the comprehensiveness and the value of currently reported quantitative environmental disclosures of 97 listed companies from the automotive, banking, pharmaceutical and electronic hardware sectors. Findings indicate that quantitative environmental disclosures have many limitations, including incompleteness and inconsistency regarding corporate activities and sites, and limited internal data coherence. For many sectors, corporate disclosures only cover a very small share of the total environmental burden of products. A stepwise procedure is proposed to verify and improve the quality and completeness of reporting using life cycle approaches. We present simple data quality tests, and we introduce the concept of the environmental influence matrix, which provides a solid basis for the identification and prioritization of key performance indicators and areas of action. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78487/1/667_ftp.pd

An examination of the role of service quality and perceived value in visitor attraction experience

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and behavioural intentions in the UK attraction context. Data was collected in the Midlands Region of the UK from two visitor attractions utilising a mixed-mode survey approach. A total of 507 usable questionnaires were analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between the constructs. The findings confirm the cognitive-affective-conative order between the service constructs within the context of UK visitor attractions. This study has improved the understanding of the role of value in service experiences, particularly in the attraction context, providing evidence that value exerts substantial influence on satisfaction and behavioural intention. More specifically, emotional value exerts more influence on satisfaction and behavioural intention than other forms of value. Managers need to view the visitor experience holistically rather than concentrating on one or two service constructs

The effects of gender on group work process and achievement: an analysis through self- and peer-assessment

The importance of teamwork skills as part of employability has been widely acknowledged and accompanied by active research on successful cooperative learning. However, relatively few studies have focused on the effects of gender on students’ group work, and only a limited number of empirical studies exist that examine students’ group work process and performance through the results of self- and peer-assessment. This study examines the effects of gender on group work process and performance using the self- and peer-assessment results of 1,001 students in British higher education formed into 192 groups. The analysis aggregates all measures on the group level in order to examine the overall group performance. Further, a simple regression model is used to capture the effects of group gender compositions. Results suggest that students in gender-balanced groups display enhanced collaboration in group work process associated with less social loafing behaviours and more equitable contributions to the group work. However, the results imply that this cooperative learning environment does not lead to higher student performance. Students’ comments allow us to explore possible reasons for this finding. The results also indicate underperformance by all-male groups and reduced collaborative behaviours by solo males in male gender exception groups (i.e. groups consisting of one male student and other members being female). The results thus have implications for the composition of groups. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed

Branding instead of product innovation: a study on the brand personalities of the UK’s electricity market

This study extends understanding of and demonstrates the importance of corporate branding in the energy sector. We analyse the relationship between branding and consumer switching behaviour among the UK’s Big Six electricity providers. Since privatisation companies have competed against each other, but to the consumer they often appear to have very similar product offerings; firms also face criticism from consumer groups regarding confusing and difficult to compare pricing schemes. This study examines the use of corporate branding to enhance differentiation and specifically examines the influence of brand consistency and brand personality on the retention of customers. Consumers, who find it difficult to compare tariffs, may be influenced by more demonstrable factors like branding. We demonstrate the importance of longitudinal brand consistency, as well as the personality dimension Excitement, which when communicated strongly has the greatest influence on customer retention levels. This work contributes to branding theory, demonstrating that brand personality does differentiate otherwise homogeneous (and low-contact) services. Managerial implications are presented for brands seeking to improve consumer retention