Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Two Marketing Essays: Evolution Of Attribute-Specific Preferences Through Consumer Learning And The Effect Of Gift Exchange On The Purchase Behavior, Ji Hong Min

Open Access Dissertations

The first essay investigates the evolution of attribute-specific preferences through consumer learning. Most extant consumer learning models allow for learning about alternative-specific preferences such as brand preference in a brand choice model. However, there exist product categories which offer many varieties of products with different attributes. In such cases, it is important to model consumer learning of attribute-specific preferences rather than simply modeling alternative-specific preferences in order to more accurately and parsimoniously describe consumer behavior. In this paper, we propose a structural model of consumer's Bayesian learning of attribute-specific preference, using scanner panel data. We show that the proposed model …

An Eriksonian Approach To Consumer Identity, Sandra Rathod

Open Access Dissertations

Rathod, Sandra R. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. An Eriksonian Approach to Consumer Identity. Major Professor: Richard A. Feinberg.

Ego development is the fifth stage in Erikson's Lifecycle Development theory (1959) and is a major psychosocial stage beginning in adolescence and lasting into emerging adulthood. Past research based upon Marcia's Ego Identity Status Paradigm (1996) has investigated a number of ideological and interpersonal domains relevant to one's ego identity, however in today's consumer societies, where what you have is at least as important is who you are or what you do, an Eriksonian approach to consumer ego identity (CEI) has …

Evaluation Of The Us Airline Industry: The Airline Quality Rating 2012, Brent D. Bowen, Dean E. Headley

Aviation Technology Faculty and Staff Publications

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2012, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for calendar year 2011. AQR scores for 2011 are based on 15 elements in four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air travel consumers.

The Airline Quality Rating 2012 is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for U.S. airlines that are required to report performance by virtue of having at least 1% of domestic scheduled-service passenger …

Hare And Tortoise: How Do Price Change Patterns Affect Propensity To Book, Zhuoyang Li

Open Access Theses

With an increasing using of online booking, hotel room rate changing information becomes nearly transparent to consumers. And this trend encourages deal-seeking consumer behaviors, which are based on price change information. So hotels can influence consumers' propensity to book through managing price changes. The present study aims at examining consumers' propensity to book in a more realistic context by introducing two conditions: different price changing patterns and interaction between price-moving trends and price patterns. It is important for hotel managers to understand the impact of different price change trends and patterns because price changes can directly affect consumer perception and …

The Impact Of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods On Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes And Behavior, Jiaqi Zhu

Open Access Theses

Zhu, Jiaqi. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. The Impact of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods on Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes and Behavior. Major Professors: Barbara A. Almanza, Carl A. Behnke.

Obesity is a major public health threat. It not only creates challenges for those who are obese and overweight, but also brings an economic burden to the whole society. One important contributing factor for obesity is food eaten away from home, which accounts for more than 40% of American's food budget. Although chain quick-service restaurants are required by law to post calorie information on menus and menu boards, the efficacy of menu …

The Effect Of Online Customer Reviews On Customer's Perceived Risk Associated With Online Leisure Hotel Booking, Biwei Yang

Open Access Theses

As online shopping is widely used in the hospitality industry, research in this field constantly strives to understand the customer behavior in online purchasing activities. Online customer reviews (OCRs) and perceived risk have been extensively evaluated in previous studies in related with online purchasing. In spite of the large body of work on the topic of OCRs effect on consumer behavior, it is still unclear that how OCRs affect the decision process of the consumers when they make online booking. Due to the intangibility of hospitality or tourism product and the nature of online booking, risk perception is considered as …

The Effects Of Cooperative Training Method On The Performance Of Confucian Heritage Culture Employees In Food Service Industry, Shuqian Zhang

Open Access Theses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of the cooperative training method on Confucian heritage culture employees in a college food service operation. An experiment was devised and carried out in food service setting in a large Midwestern university to test the effect of cooperative training on four variables, speed, self-efficacy, accuracy on setting an American formal table and satisfaction with training. Data were collected before and after the training from 23 subjects in the experimental group, and 22 subjects in the control group. Paired t test and two-sample t test were used to test the …

The Impact Of Availability Of Vegetarian Menu Items On Consumers' Behavioral Intention, Mengwei Yue

Open Access Theses

Yue, Mengwei. M.S., Purdue University, December, 2013. The Impact of Availability of Vegetarian Menu Items on Consumers' Behavioral Intention. Major Professor: Douglas C. Nelson.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the availability of vegetarian menu items affects customers' behavioral intention using the theory of planned behavior and the impact vegetarian-friendly menus have on vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian customers when they make their restaurant selections. This paper also discussed the implications for a vegetarian lifestyle on the food service industry and menu development in restaurants. Seven hypotheses related to the relationship among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived …

An Analysis Of Underlying Competencies And Computer And Information Technology Learning Objectives For Business Analysis, Ryan Thomas Quigley

Open Access Theses

This research examines whether the Computer and Information Technology (CIT) department at Purdue University should develop a business analyst concentration. The differences between system and business analysts, evolution of the business analyst profession, job demand and trends, and applicable model curricula were explored to support this research. Review of relevant literature regarding the topics suggested that a business analyst concentration should be developed. A gap analysis was performed to determine how well selected CIT courses address the skills and competencies required by today's business analysts. The primary finding, as a result of the analysis, was that CIT courses alone are …