Kevin Lawler

Environmentally friendly products: Factors that influence their adoption

Abstract Past research has indicated that awareness of environmental issues is on the increase among consumers. It is, however, in doubt to what extent this concern for the environment ever translates into a change in everyday buying behaviour. An attempt has been made to clarify the situation using a combination of psychological, demographic and situational variables. Psychological variables studied are: innovativeness and adaptiveness as identified by KAI (Kirtons Adaption-Innovation Inventory), and involvement measured by Zaichowskys PII (Personal Involvement Inventory). Demographic and situational factors include variables such as price, gender, age, availability. Personal interviews generated data from 148 respondents. The results indicate that the psychological and situational variables studied are important as far as environmentally friendly behaviour is concerned. It is seen that environmentally friendly behaviour correlates significantly with innovativeness. Involvement scores have been very low and are not statistically significant with any of the variables studied. This indicates that consumers are not yet involved enough in these issues. Further analysis emphasises this point. Consumers are willing to pay a higher price for environmentally friendly products but are not ready to go out of their way to look for such products. Availability of these products has been rated much higher than price.

Using system dynamics to analyse interactions in duopoly competition

This article introduces non-linear dynamics to assess the interactions in duopoly competition between two rivals. The generic competition is considered here to be the competition for quality between two consumer durable products. The authors have used a system dynamics approach to develop the model of interactions and simulate the behaviour over time. The outcomes of several hundred simulations have shown that the recognition and implementation lags in quality improvement strongly influence the qualitative behaviour of the system. When the speed of adaptation to customer demand reaches a certain value, a Hopf bifurcation occurs and the system converges into a limit cycle. Quasi-periodicity and chaos emerge when further increasing the speed of the response. Instead of tending to equilibrium around an optimal quality value the model exhibits complex counter-intuitive behaviours.

Social welfare, positivism and business ethics

It appears that there is a conflict of values running through business ethics between profits accruing to shareholders and the cost of entrepreneurial activities on wider stakeholders. In the ethics research literature, the multiplicity of normative ethical stances has resulted in much debate but little in the way of consistent policy proposals. There is, by comparison, an extensive literature in positive economics that attempts to resolve value conflicts similar to those faced by business ethicists. In this paper the adoption of positive welfare statements are advocated and the value judgements implicit in economics are used as the starting point. It is argued that there is merit in expressly stating a set of value judgements to demonstrate the intractable nature of finding a social consensus without a positive social welfare function that explicitly weights the values. This paper reviews the arguments surrounding corporate objectives, particularly with regard to ethical considerations and the profit maximisation orthodoxy. This is discussed within the stakeholder-stockholder narrative. A range of ethical positions in the management strategy literature are analysed and discussed. It is argued that the values underpinning business ethics research can be conceived of via a function of social welfare (including an ethical ‘auctioneering’ model). The paper concludes by suggesting that all ethical positions can be captured by a Bergson-type welfare function.

Internet Advertising, Game Theory and Consumer Welfare

The aim of this paper is to consider the implications of Internet advertising, for prospective consumer welfare gains/losses. The implications of imperfect information among buyers are discussed to highlight the role of intermediaries and search agents in enhancing consumer welfare in a world of complex products and uncertainty. The argument demonstrates that despite possessing welfare enhancing potential the retailing of complex products on the Internet increases the scope for price discrimination among sellers. Hence, buyers may pay different prices for the same product/services. The paper shows how “agents” may restrict this type of market failure if they possess the ability to search all databases. That the Internet intrinsically exhibits welfare enhancing and reducing characteristic a game model is develop to show how entry of new sellers may proceed or be checked by incumbents.

Economics of advertising: Emerging functions of Internet advertising

This paper intends to highlight the emerging force of the Internet as an advertising medium. The economic functions of Internet advertising are examined. Moreover, the paper aims to evaluate the relative impacts on optimal advertising models. Our discussion also includes analysis of associated price-cost margins with respect to optimal advertising budgets and strategic reactions. All in all, this paper should provide entrepreneurs with more crucial knowledge of advertising strategies offered by the new medium. Moreover, it will equip scientists and technologists with more insights into the economic aspects and strategic values of Internet advertising.

R&D activities and firms' characteristics: some evidence from North East England

This study considers the impact of labour and product market characteristics on Research and Development (R&D) activity in the North East. This study extends the literature on regional R&D by focusing on potential strategic relationships between relative firm size, market structure and crucial labour market features. Primary data was collected from 620 North East firms to establish the characteristics of firms with respect to R&D, marketing activities (and by extension - product differentiation), labour markets and the likely impact of minimum wage legislation. The paper analyses the findings from a sample survey which yield typical profiling characteristics of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large firms in the region. The findings cast new light on the debate surrounding firm size, market structure and R&D activity. A Probit analysis is utilised to establish the probability of a firm conducting R&D given the characteristics of large, medium and small firms. Generally, the evidence produced by the Probit study supports the Schumpeter-Galbraith thesis that relatively large firms with market power experience environmental success conclusive to R&D. The implications of the Probit study denote potential structural weaknesses in the North East economy in-so-far as few firms undertake any R&D at all. When R&D is undertaken, it is typically by large producers with market power experiencing benign labour markets.

An empirical analysis of the effects of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission Beer Orders (1989) on the UK brewing industry

The aim of this paper is to analyse the structural changes in the UK brewing industry, resulting from the Monopolies and Mergers Commissions (MMC) Beer Orders, 1989. Our discussion is supported by an empirical analysis of the effects of these recommendations on the demand for beer in the UK. The empirical results indicate no significant change in the national market following the recent government interventation.

Auctions and retail price competition: a logit study of the North East

In this paper, we develop a model of Bertrand competition and uncertainty as to the number of rivals. The auction models predict retail price dispersion as an observable feature of retail price competition. The implication of the auction model are tested using a binary logit model on primary data. The findings show that consumer characteristics define type of store choice and that the auction model of price competition with uncertainty is an appropriate way to model retail store competition.