摘要:

A utility analysis of decisions involving risk indicated that risk averse consumers would undertake a risk reduction strategy as long as the change in expected loss was equal to or greater than the costs of the strategy. Cost‐benefit analysis of seat belt usage was conducted to test this hypothesis. The results indicated that drivers of all size classes would gain from using seat belts in the case of low user costs while the drivers of subcompacts and compacts would gain in the case of higher user costs. However, less than one‐fifth of drivers wear seat belts. These results raise questions concerning the effectiveness of the informed buyer approach in areas of risk or uncertai

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00302.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper examines consumer response to windfall income. By using data from the 1972–73 Consumer Expenditure Surveys, an attempt was made to test Friedman's permanent income hypothesis. The results revealed that the marginal propensity to consume regular income was greater than the marginal propensity to consume windfall income for windfalls that were large relative to regular income. However, when windfall income was less than ten percent of regular income, the relationship reversed. Implications are drawn for short and long‐run fiscal policies affecting consu

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00303.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Under a new Food and Drug Administration's proposal, consumers could receive an information leaflet, called a patient package insert or PPI, with most prescription drugs. This study examines the effects of providing side effect information on people's perceptions of risk and intentions to take a hypothetical drug. In a between‐subjects experiment, using nine groups of subjects receiving different side effect information, the study found that subjects were sensitive to large differences in the number of side effects, their degrees of seriousness, as well as their frequency of occurrence; however, subjects could not discriminate small differences. Several implications of the study are important to researchers and designers of consumer information programs that are concerned with risk assessmen

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00304.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study identifies structural features of markets which provide inducements for consumers to form cooperatives, and derives conditions under which consumer welfare is enhanced through cooperation. Market‐failure conditions are discussed which may provide consumers with an economic incentive to form cooperatives.Also addressed, through application of a simple game theory model, are issues concerning optimal pricing, financing arrangements and cooperative stability. In this regard, it is shown that prevailing cooperative pricing and financial methods often tend to needlessly restrict output and membership and, consequently, cause unit costs to be higher than necessary in an increasing‐returns‐to‐scale environment, which it is argued, is the typical environment for most consumer cooperatives. Instability, in turn, tends to occur when cooperatives attempt to operate at outputs beyond those associated with minimum average cost because some members may reduce their patronage costs through formation of a new, smaller coop

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00305.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Surveys of consumer problems and reactions to those problems indicate considerable failure on the part of consumers to seek redress when faced with unsatisfactory purchases. The present study extends this research by using a longitudinal field survey of automobile repair services to investigate some consumer and purchase‐related variables hypothesized to influence consumer actions following unsatisfactory purchase experiences. The results are consistent with conclusions emerging in other consumer satisfaction research that complaining behavior is influenced by both comparisons of purchase expectations with outcomes and individual consumer characteristics and disposition

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00306.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The purpose of this study was to determine what “new wave” store front food cooperatives offer their patrons, relative to private grocery stores. A marketbasket price survey of 73 non‐meat food items was conducted at 10 cooperatives and eight private stores in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Area in 1981. Consumer satisfaction was examined via a mail questionnaire returned by 1,089 patrons of both store types. A new kind of food cooperative shopper was identified, the minor user. Minor users were more recent cooperative patrons and more closely resembled a traditional, established, middle‐class family. Unlike the more traditional co‐op user, price was the most important store choice criterion for the minor user. Cooperatives were judged by their patrons to be performing slightly less satisfactorily than private stores. However, the two store types were not found to differ in their performance of the two functions most important to consumers, i.e., price and quality. Member shoppers at a cooperative could save 15 percent, or about $290 per year for the average household, a return on a typical member's work contribution of $6.04

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00307.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Consumers may adopt in‐store shopping strategies to reduce time and/or money expenditures. Seven shopping strategies were identified and used to simulate the purchase of 19 specified products at three supermarkets at which price and size data were collected. Expenditures ranged from $13.88 to $23.70 for the various strategies, requiring up to 272 price comparisons. The monetary savings (from the average) resulting from use of the strategies were used to determine the break‐even times for three hypothetical wage rates. Break‐even time was defined as the amount of time one could spend such that the value of the time expended equals the monetary savings realized. The efficiency of a strategy was found to vary by store and by the value placed on shopping time. The implications of the findings for consumer educators are noted and disc

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00308.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Although much equal credit opportunity legislation has been passed in recent years, little has been done to ascertain whether the new laws have actually altered lending practices or whether the practices were sex‐biased initially. This research makes use of a sample of 241 women from five counties in California to show what factors affect the probability of credit extension to women in that state, and whether these variables are different from those that were associated with lending practices before the law's passage.The results indicate that prior to the passage of the law, several market indices, including home ownership and spousal support, were associated with an applicant's ability to obtain credit. After passage of the law these indices were no longer significant predictors of loan approval. Within the limits of the data and the design used here, the empirical evidence supported the hypothesis that California credit institutions changed their lending criteria after the passage of equal credit opportunity legislatio

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00309.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The wide range of prices found in local food markets allows consumers to reduce the cost of food purchases through comparison shopping in two or more stores. Little is known, however, about how much can be saved by comparing prices for a whole market basket of food items.This paper presents evidence relating to the savings which can be realized through comparison shopping, and shows how savings can vary in markets of different sizes. Analysis of data on the prices of a market basket of food items in 15 local markets indicates that there are substantial differences in the dispersion of prices between small, medium and large food markets. The effect of these differences is to make the potential saving from comparison shopping much greater in large market areas, as compared with small ones. It is found that the dollar benefits of comparison shopping to consumers are likely to be greater than the costs of search in large shopping areas, but may not justify the costs in small and medium size areas.

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00310.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The study reported here investigated age differences in consumer response to grocery store price information. A sample of 160 female consumers shopped for twelve grocery products in a simulated store. Following the shopping task, subjects responded to an unannounced memory performance test requiring them to recall the prices of products on the shelves. Respondents' methods of encoding information and certainty regarding recall were also recorded. Analysis revealed age differences in usage of price information, in recall of product prices, and in certainty experienced by shoppers. Hypothesized age differences in the encoding of information did not surface. Discussion centers on the policy implications of these findings.

ISSN:0022-0078    

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1983.tb00311.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY