CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN ONLINE PRICE ELASTICITY

This study empirically derives price elasticity estimates in fashion e-commerce in six European countries and explores their relationship within the given cultural context using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. The authors use a novel data set consisting of more than two million actual sales transactions provided by a leading European fashion e-commerce company for regression analysis and find considerable cross-country differences in price elasticity. Furthermore, cultural dimensions power distance, individualism, and masculinity relate to a less distinct price elasticity whereas long-term orientation pertains to the opposite. Lastly, the study analyzes profit implications for multinational corporations employing cross-country price discrimination

The Unusual Spitzer Spectrum of the Carbon Star IRAS 04496–6958: A Different Condensation Sequence in the LMC?

We present a new Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectrum of the carbon star IRAS 04496-6958 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which exhibits a fairly broad absorption feature at ~11 μm. This feature is consistent with SiC absorption, as seen in a few Galactic sources. Furthermore, the C2H2 (and other molecular) absorption bands are the deepest ever observed, indicative of a very high column density. While the Galactic sources with SiC absorption have cool colors (continuum temperature ≈300 K), IRAS 04496-6958 is much bluer, with a continuum temperature of ≈600 K. Based on the Galactic sample, SiC dust at this temperature should still display an emission feature at ~11 μm. If SiC is the cause of the absorption feature, it suggests a subtly different evolutionary path and a change to a different condensation sequence than assumed for Galactic carbon stars. An alternative explanation for this feature is molecular line absorption; however, currently available line lists are not sufficient to properly assess this hypothesis

NSA Revelations of Privacy Breaches: Do Investors Care?

Our study is focused on the financial impact of NSA-security and privacy breach events announced in the news media between June 2013 and March 2014. While prior research has provided empirical evidence on the stock market reaction of security and privacy breaches such as confidentiality, integrity and availability breaches, there is scarce research on the financial impact of NSA-related security and privacy breaches. Based on previous studies, we apply the event study framework to analyze how NSA revelations influence investor’s confidence. Results show that NSA-breach announcements have a negative impact on investors’ confidence, which is confirmed by the negative cumulated abnormal returns on the event date. Our study contributes hence with insights on a relatively new phenomenon of high relevance concerning the security of information assets

GENERATING CONSUMER INSIGHTS FROM BIG DATA CLICKSTREAM INFORMATION AND THE LINK WITH TRANSACTION-RELATED SHOPPING BEHAVIOR

E-Commerce firms collect enormous amounts of information in their databases. Yet, only a fraction is used to improve business processes and decision-making, while many useful sources often remain underexplored. Therefore, we propose a new and interdisciplinary method to identify goals of consumers and develop an online shopping typology. We use k-means clustering and non-parametric analysis of variance tests to categorize search patterns as Buying, Searching, Browsing or Bouncing. Adding to purchase decision-making theory we propose that the use of off-site clickstream data—the sequence of consumers’ advertising channel clicks to a firm’s website—can significantly enhance the understand-ing of shopping motivation and transaction-related behavior, even before entering the website. To run our consumer data analytics we use a unique and extensive dataset from a large European apparel company with over 80 million clicks covering 11 online advertising channels. Our results show that consumers with higher goal-direction have significantly higher purchase propensities, and against our expectations - consumers with higher levels of shopping involvement show higher return rates. Our conceptual approach and insights contribute to theory and practice alike such that it may help to improve real-time decision-making in marketing analytics to substantially enhance the customer experience online

HOW ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEWS AFFECT SALES AND RETURN BEHAVIOR – AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS IN FASHION E-COMMERCE

The goal of this study is to get a better understanding of the relationship between online customer re-views (OCRs), product returns and sales after returns in online fashion. Furthermore, we generate deeper insights about the moderating role of mobile shopping usage, product involvement and brand equity in this context. We answer our research questions by empirically analyzing a unique data set from a European fashion e-commerce company. This study links a wide range of transaction data (2.5 billion page clicks, 46 thousand different products, 700 brands, 40 product categories, 72 million sold and 33 million returned items) with a large set of OCRs (0.9 million). Our results show that positive OCRs can lead to lower return rates, higher sales after returns, and better conversion rates. Consider-ing higher search costs on mobile devices, we reveal a weaker impact of OCRs in the mobile than in the desktop sales channel. Furthermore, in line with involvement theory, we see a significant impact of product involvement in this context such as the influence of positive OCRs is stronger for high-involvement products than vice versa. Moreover, we find support for statements from brand signaling literature, that OCRs matter more for weak than for strong brands

Product Uncertainty in Online Markets: The Influence of Situational Factors and Individual Characteristics on Purchase Decision Reversal

E-commerce has traditionally suffered from significantly higher product return rates than offline retail (30 % online vs. 10 % offline). Product uncertainty at the time of purchase has been identified as one of the key drivers of purchase decision reversals in online markets. In this study we analyze the impact of situational factors (1. Purchase channel choice, 2. Time pressure) and individual differences on product uncertainty and purchase decision reversal. Following the conceptualization of product uncertainty by Hong and Pavlou (2014), we distinguish between product fit uncertainty and product quality uncertainty. To test our hypotheses, we employ a large-scale empirical analysis based on panel data from a large European online fashion retailer. We find that product fit uncertainty is higher for mobile channel users, which is attenuated by prior brand experience. Time pressure leads to lower return rates despite higher product uncertainty

Molecular identification and targeting of colorectal cancer stem cells

Tumor initiating or cancer stem cells (CSCs) are suggested to be responsible for tumor initiation and growth. Moreover, therapy resistance and minimal residual disease are thought to result from selective resistance of CSCs. Isolation of CSCs from colon carcinomas can be accomplished by selection of a subpopulation of tumor cells based on expression of one or multiple cell surface markers associated with cancer stemness, like CD133, CD44, CD24, CD29, CD166 and Lgr5. Identification of colon CSCs will lead to a better rational for new therapies that aim to target this fraction specifically. In this review, we analyze known markers used for selection of colon CSCs and their potential function in CSC biology. Moreover, we discuss potential targeting strategies for eradicating CSCs specifically in order to develop more effective therapeutic strategies as well as to address more fundamental questions like the actual role of CSCs in tumor growth

Session E8: Efficiency Measurements as Tool in Evaluating Fishways

Abstract: The awareness of the importance of free fish migration in the Netherlands is reflected in the increasing number of fishways that has been built in the past decade. The intention is that all the bottlenecks will be solved before 2027. Equally important as the realization of fishways, is the evaluation of the design. In other words, are all species and size classes that want to pass, truly able to pass the structure. The challenge in this type of research is to avoid interference of the measuring tools with the fish migrants. The conventional monitoring fyke, does not meet this requirement. Migration is obstructed and the gear is highly selective for small fish. Emerging electronic techniques offer this opportunity and makes it possible to watch fish migration behaviour on the road through the fishway. The use of a resistivity Fish Counter will be illustrated by means of a case study. The counter detects the swimming direction and size of the passing fish. Species identification is achieved by the application of a camera, triggered by the passing fish. The placement of a counter station at both sides of the fishway, gives the unique opportunity to determine the efficiency in terms of the ratio between the number of fish entering the downstream side and the number of fish exiting at the upstream side. An example will be given of a fishway that originally was reviewed as a good functioning construction. However, measurements of the efficiency showed that only a small part of the fish community was able to pass. The results also uncovered the weak spot in the design. This was not regarded as a failure, but as an opportunity to make use of the hidden potential of this fishway. It also contributed to the improvement of this type of design in general

Die ungleiche Geographie des Elterngelds. Zur familienpolitischen Reproduktion gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheit

Der Beitrag analysiert Ungleichheitseffekte des 2007 eingeführten Elterngelds. Wir zeigen, dass die familienpolitische Einführung der Ressource Elterngeld die Einkommensungleichheiten der Produktions- bzw. Erwerbssphäre auf die Reproduktions- bzw. Familiensphäre übertragen hat. Das Elterngeld trägt damit aber zumindest bislang nicht (wie angedacht) zur Aufhebung der asymmetrischen Aufteilung von (entlohnter) Erwerbsarbeit und (nicht-entlohnter) Sorgearbeit zwischen Elternteilen bei. Stattdessen verdeutlicht unsere räumlich orientierte Untersuchung des Elterngeldbezugs ungleiche Muster in den Bewältigungsmöglichkeiten kinderbezogener Sorgearbeiten. Die an der ungleichen Geographie des Elterngelds deutlich werdende Ausdifferenzierung von Bearbeitungschancen von Elternschaft interpretieren wir als Ausdruck von sozialen Spaltungstendenzen auf dem Gebiet der Reproduktion, die von der familienpolitischen Einführung des Elterngelds forciert worden sind