The present paper develops a basic framework for evaluating and optimizing profits in a business operation. In developing a business we are often faced with an infinity of choices ranging from what products or services to sell and what customers to target to how to structure and manage the...

Prior research suggests that brand may influence consumer preference for differentiated products. However, the extant literature does not measure how brand value affects product similarity and consumer choice. This paper examines demand response to the proliferation of personal computers (PCs)....

We report that the price of a 6.5oz Coke was 5¢ from 1886 until 1959. Thus, we are documenting a nominal price rigidity that lasted more than 70 years! The case of Coca-Cola is particularly interesting because during the 70-year period there were substantial changes in the soft drink industry...

In this paper we argue that pricing is all about price changes, and that the costs of price changes are often simultaneously subtle and substantial. We discuss a framework to deal with the dynamics of changing prices. This framework incorporates customer interpretations of price changes, an...

The future of electronic commerce will be shaped by open, heterogeneous and complex structures, consisting of networked marketplaces. Software agents will interact and negotiate on behalf of their human (or organizational) principals. Principals will be able to implement fraudulent strategies in...

Tipping is a phenomenon that illustrates the importance of social norms and psychological reasons in motivating economic behavior. People tip because this is the social norm and disobeying norms results in psychological disutility. Tipping is also economically important: in the United States...

Tipping illustrates the importance of social norms in motivating economic behavior. People tip because this is the social norm and disobeying norms results in social disapproval that creates emotional disutility. Tipping is also economically important: in the United States alone, millions of...

THE CONCEPT OF AN INDUSTRY IS IMPORTANT FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. HERE, WE DEFINE SUGAR INDUSTRY AS GROUP OF FIRMS PRODUCING SUGAR THAT ARE CLOSE SUBSTITUTES BY THE USE OF IDENTICAL PRODUCTION PROCESSES AND RAW MATERIALS. HOWEVER, SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA WAS STILL IN ITS PIONEERING STAGE. THIS...

We model a homogeneous product environment where identical e-retailers endogenously engage in both brand advertising (to create loyal customers) and price advertising (to attract 'shoppers'). Our analysis allows for 'cross-channel' effects; indeed, we show that price advertising is a substitute...

Nowadays of increasing functioning of network competitors, the Portuguese Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) of the Textile and Clothing Industry are facing new digital challenges. In order to strengthen their market power and reduce their dependence on foreign subcontractors, they should create...