9 research outputs found
Factors affecting innovation and imitation of ICT in the agrifood sector
Diffusion of innovations has gained a lot of attention and concerns different scientific fields. Many studies, which examine the determining factors of technological innovations in the agricultural and agrifood sector, have been conducted using the widely used Technology Accepted Model, for a random sample of farmers or firms engaged in agricultural sector. In the present study, a holistic examination of the determining factors that affect the propensity of firms to innovate or imitate, is conducted. The diffusion of ICT tools of firms which are engaged in the NACE 02/03 as well as in the NACE 10/11 classifications for 49 heterogeneous national markets is examined, using the Bass model. The innovation parameter is positively associated with rural income, female employment, export activity and education of farmers, while the imitation parameter is increased in countries whose societies are characterized by uncertainty avoidance
A Customer Perspective on Product Eliminations: How the Removal of Products Affects Customers and Business Relationships
Regardless of the apparent need for product
eliminations, many managers hesitate to act as
they fear deleterious effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Other managers do
carry out product eliminations, but often fail
to consider the consequences for customers
and business relationships. Given the relevance
and problems of product eliminations, research
on this topic in general and on the
consequences for customers and business
relationships in particular is surprisingly scarce. Therefore, this empirical study explores how and to what extent the elimination of a
product negatively affects customers and
business relationships. Results indicate that
eliminating a product may result in severe
economic and psychological costs to customers,
thereby seriously decreasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This paper also shows
that these costs are not exogenous in nature. Instead, depending on the characteristics
of the eliminated product these costs are
found to be more or less strongly driven by a
company’s behavior when implementing the
elimination at the customer interface