Web surveys technically allow providing feedback to respondents based on their previous responses. This personalized feedback may not only be used to target follow-up questions, it also allows test results to be returned immediately to respondents. This paper argues that the possibility of...

It is increasingly observable that competitors in different industries share customer data, which can be used for targeted pricing. We propose a modified Hotelling model with two-dimensional consumer heterogeneity to analyze the incentives for such sharing and its ensuing welfare effects. We...

We introduce three types of consumer recognition: identity recognition, asymmetric preference recognition, and symmetric preference recognition. We characterize price equilibria and compare profits, consumer surplus, and total welfare. Asymmetric preference recognition enhances profits compared...

We investigate how firms' incentives to acquire customer data for targeted offers depend on its quality. A two-dimensional Hotelling model is proposed where consumers are heterogeneous both with respect to their locations and transportation cost parameters (flexibility). Firms have perfect data...

To explore how occurring critical incidents affect customer-brand relations, this study measures the impact on the basis of an online experiment. For this purpose, 1,122 usable responses are gathered considering the smartphone brands of Apple and Nokia as well as different scenarios. The...

To evaluate how occurring critical incidents change customer perceptions of brand personality, this study measures the impact on the basis of an online experiment. For this purpose, 1,132 usable responses are gathered considering the smartphone brands of Apple and Nokia as well as different...

Comparing groups with respect to hypothetical constructs requires that the measurement models are equal across groups. Otherwise conclusions drawn from the observed indicators regarding differences at the latent level (mean differences, differences in the structural relations) might be severly...