New products and practices take time to diffuse, a fact that is often attributed to some form of heterogeneity among potential adopters. People may realize different benefits and costs from the innovation, or have different beliefs about its benefits and costs, hear about it at different times,...

This article investigates two research questions concerning web shopping tools. The first asks how online decision aids can support a consumer’s non-cognitive decision processes. The second asks how these tools support non-cognitive online shopping for products of different categories. To...

Purpose: This study aims to investigate perceptions about interactive travel websites. The researchers hypothesize that engaging content, the quality of information and source credibility has a significant effect on the consumers’ utilitarian motivations to continue using them in the...

We analyze the spatial diffusion of knowledge in laser technology in West Germany from 1960, when this technology began, until 2005. Laser technology research has been nearly exclusively conducted in regions that are home to a university with a physics or electrical engineering department, an...

This paper investigates the geographic extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillovers and diffusion in the People's Republic of China (PRC). We employ spatial dynamic panel econometric techniques to detect total factor productivity (TFP) innovation clusters, uncover the spatial...

Information technology, like the telephone, influences market access; this paper answers the question about a reverse effect, does market access affect information technology, in particular its adoption?  Using the introduction of the telephone in Bavaria, I demonstrate with a rank, order and...

This paper investigates the geographic extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillovers and diffusion in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). We employ spatial dynamic panel econometric techniques to detect total factor productivity (TFP) innovation clusters, uncover the...

We analyze the spatial diffusion of knowledge in laser technology in West Germany from 1960, when this technology began, until 2005. Laser technology research has been nearly exclusively conducted in regions that are home to a university with a physics or electrical engineering department, an...

We examine the effect of direct mail (commonly referred to as junk mail) advertising on individual financial decisions by studying consumer choice of home equity debt contracts. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, we find that financial variables underlying the relative pricing of debt...

In 2013, Stiftung Warentest tested hazelnut chocolate for their leading magazine, called Test. Stiftung Warentest is one of the most important consumer organizations in Germany. Ritter Sport is a high-quality producer of chocolate in Germany. Their hazelnut chocolate did not pass the test. It...