Prices Of Products Research Articles

Navigating organic consumption in emerging markets: a comparative study of consumer preferences and market realities in India

PurposeThis study addresses a crucial gap in understanding organic purchase behaviour in emerging markets that are at the early stages of market development. The study aims to highlight the present state of organic consumption and the discrepancies between current market realities and consumer expectations in such emerging organic markets.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed descriptive statistics, chi-square test and binary logistic regression to gain insights into common purchase behaviours, current and preferred buying habits and willingness to pay premium prices. The analysis was based on data collected from a sample of 608 Indian respondents.FindingsThe study reveals that a very small fraction i.e. 8% of Indian consumers, have adopted a fully organic lifestyle. Interestingly, only 18.4% of consumers are willing to pay higher premiums, which is lower than that reported in other developed organic markets. Huge differences were observed in consumers’ current purchase patterns and future preferences regarding the organic food category (up to 35%) and purchase location (up to 21.8%). Consumers showed high demand for fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products and high preference for purchasing online and directly from farmers. The most significant inhibitors of organic purchases were high product prices (for 53.9% consumers) and satisfaction with conventional alternatives (for 36.5% consumers).Originality/valueDespite the growing demand for organic food across the world, there remains a massive discrepancy between consumer expectations and ground market realities, especially in newly formed organic markets. The study highlights this discrepancy and provides actionable strategies for the stakeholders to promote organic consumption.

The Impact of Global Value Chain Participation on Inflation: Evidence from Producer Price Index of Korea and China

This study investigates the influence of global value chain (GVC) participation in the manufacturing sector on inflation in Korea and China. Additionally, it examines the impact of GVC participation on inflation of different manufacturing industries based on technology intensity in both countries. We employ Wang et al. (2017) approach utilizing the ADB MRIO database, with Korea and China as our sample and used the FGLS model to consider the impact of GVC participations on inflation between Korea and China's 15 manufacturing industries from 2007 to 2021. The results indicate that GVC participation and backward participation in Korean manufacturing have a significant positive effect on inflation. In China, GVC participation and backward participation show a significant negative effect on inflation. Furthermore, while the effect of GVC participation on inflation in Korea and China did not show differences by the technology intensity. In Korea, medium–high-tech industries, GVC participation, forward and backward participations have a positive significant effect on inflation. Medium–low-tech industries exhibit a positive impact from GVC and backward participations, while low-tech industries demonstrate a negative effect from GVC, forward, and backward participations on inflation. In China, backward participation in the medium–high-tech and low-tech manufacturing sectors has a significant negative impact on inflation.

Product pricing based on customer perception quality and service convenience using interval type-2 fuzzy logic system

In the competitive landscape of customer goods, particularly in the wrapping paper industry, pricing strategies are critical to achieving market success. This study presents a novel approach to product pricing by integrating customer perception quality and service and convenience factors using interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (IT2FLS). The customer perception quality factor is subdivided into material quality and aesthetics design sub-factors while the service and convenience factor comprise web-based ordering system as well as the web-based post-sale customer engagement. The methodology involves collecting data through customer surveys and expert evaluations to quantify the perceived importance and performance of each sub-factor. The IT2FLS is employed to handle the inherent uncertainty and imprecision in experts’ judgment, providing a robust framework for aggregating these qualitative assessments into a comprehensive pricing model. This IT2FLS allows for the dynamic adjustment of pricing based on fluctuating customer perceptions and service levels. The outcome of the proposed IT2FLS is a pricing factor that serves as a multiplier for the standard product price established by the company. The new product prices have been validated also considering historical data and it was found that the prices remain acceptable to customers without drastically impacting sales. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on pricing strategies by offering a sophisticated, mathematically grounded approach that accounts for the complex, fuzzy nature of customer preferences. The proposed model not only enhances pricing accuracy but also provides a flexible tool for managers to adapt pricing strategies in real-time based on customer feedback and service performance.

Optimizing sentiment analysis in product descriptions: effects on customer purchase intentions

Abstract This study investigates the role of product descriptions in reducing information asymmetry on e-commerce platforms, particularly for high-priced items. Utilizing a text analytic approach, we employ a novelty method called “SATORE,” where we used the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model to extract topics and determine the optimal number using the Renyi Entropy technique. Sentiment scores were calculated based on the topic information for each product and integrated into a logistic regression model to assess their influence on buyers’ purchase intentions. The results indicate that the sentiment score calculated by SATORE significantly affects purchase intention and helps reduce information asymmetry. The effects of sentiment scores vary with product prices, with higher-priced items having a more substantial impact. In addition, our method proves to be more robust than word-frequency-based sentiment scores, which lose significance when prices exceed ¥100,000. These findings benefit platform owners by helping them maintain improved buyer-seller relationships.

Productivity, profitability and trade-offs in organic farming-based agricultural systems: Global trends and role in shaping new agri-food systems

Organic farming is emerging as an alternative sustainable agri-food system globally both in developed and developing nations. In India, organic farming offers a promising alternative to conventional farming and may contribute significantly to mitigate climate change by improving soil health, fostering biodiversity, and enhancing carbon sequestration. Lower yields, higher production costs and market access barriers, particularly for smallholder farmers are significant challenges for scaling up of organic farming practices on small farmers’ fields. However, growing opportunities for premium market prices for organic products, reduced input costs over time and improved soil resilience need to be addressed. This paper examines global and national trends, highlighting India’s position as a major player in the organic food ecosystem with a growing area, organic food products market and organic production technologies. It also delves into the productivity and profitability of organic farming systems, acknowledging the trade- offs between environmental benefits and economic costs. The trade-off is evidenced in terms of long-term ecological advantages such as improved soil structure, nutrient cycling and reduced pesticide residues, thus ensuring healthier food system and sustainable farming practices. Government policies, institutional support and market incentives are crucial in accelerating the adoption of organic practices. For scaling up of organic farming, the role of policy recommendations is also vital and significant to contribute to food security and environmental sustainability. The key to achieving improvements in organic farming is adopting diversification into several different crops for direct human consumption and services for the community. Profitability in the market and promoting demand for products that would improve the sustainability of farm and beyond will increase the food security of the global food system at the farm-level, ultimately leading to greater sustainability and resilience in agri-food systems.

Wirtschaftszahlen (Stand: 15.02.2025)

Wirtschaftszahlen: This database contains general data on the development of agricultural producer and input prices, the consumer price index and foreign trade in agricultural and food goods on a monthly basis for the previous 24 months. In addition, this database comprises important volume and price developments on national and international markets for selected product groups of agricultural products such as grain, livestock, meat, milk and dairy products as well as vegetables, fruit and sugar. This file is only available in German.

Oil price shocks, economic policy uncertainty and China’s producer price index: Evidence from quantile regression analysis

Oil price shocks, economic policy uncertainty and China’s producer price index: Evidence from quantile regression analysis

Patent Pool as a Preemptive Action Against Patent Trolls

This study explores whether a patent pool plays a positive role in reducing the activity of patent trolls—who sue firms of all sizes amid the threats of complex technology litigation—by using a game theory framework based on a vertical differentiation model. We find that when both firms develop core technologies of similar quality, price competition arises, leading to a decrease in product prices. However, if there is a significant gap in technology quality between the firms, pooling results in higher prices. Additionally, we examine how the difference in quality affects the profits of the two companies. As the quality gap widens, the combined profit of the two firms initially decreases until it reaches a certain cutoff point, beyond which their profits begin to increase. We then identify the region where the pooling strategy becomes a unique Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium (SPNE) when the technologies overlap to an appropriate degree. The incentive for pooling is greatest when the technology overlap is moderate, and it decreases as the level of technology overlap increases. Furthermore, we conduct a social welfare analysis and find that while the presence of patent trolls generally has a positive effect on social welfare, it negatively impacts welfare at higher levels of technology quality.

The Role of Dynamic Pricing to Improve Revenue and Competitive Advantage

Dynamic pricing is a pricing strategy that allows companies to adjust product prices based on demand, time, and customer behavior. With advances in technology and analytics, the application of this strategy is increasingly widespread, helping companies understand demand patterns in real-time and maximize revenue. Despite providing a competitive advantage, companies must pay attention to transparency and fairness in pricing in order to maintain customer trust. The implementation of dynamic pricing is expected to continue to evolve with the involvement of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, allowing companies to set prices more accurately according to market conditions. In addition, dynamic pricing also plays a role in supporting sales of products that have a limited shelf life, so as to minimize waste and improve operational efficiency. This strategy also includes dynamic bundle pricing, which can increase customer loyalty through more relevant offers. The provision of discounts in this strategy contributes to an increase in positive interactions and product recommendations, although the impact is often temporary within the retail sector. Overall, dynamic pricing helps companies maintain competitiveness and improve customer satisfaction with more adaptive and data-driven pricing strategies.

Real Effects of Centralized Markets: Evidence from Steel Futures

Abstract I study the real effects of centralized derivative markets using the staggered introduction of futures contracts for different steel products in the United States. Employing a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that the arrival of centralized futures markets improves price transparency and risk management in the underlying product market: price dispersion decreases and steel producers increase their hedging activity. Moreover, market share is reallocated toward low-cost producers, while product prices, producers’ profits, and valuations decrease. Overall, the results indicate that centralized futures markets foster competition in the product market.

Challenges and constraints in the sustainability of poultry farming in Japan.

Poultry products such as chicken meat and eggs are among the most common and popular animal products in Japan. Recently, many chickens, such as broilers and layers, have been raised and their related product consumption has increased. However, the number of farms decreased, which is one of the major challenges faced by the Japanese poultry industry. Similar to that in other countries, high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks negatively affected the distribution of poultry products. Low feed self-sufficiency in Japan is also a serious problem because the prices of diets and products are affected by the situation in foreign countries. Rice is a domestic ingredient of the poultry diet in Japan, and recently, its utilization has increased; however, concerns remain. Global warming likely affects the poultry industry in Japan negatively. The objective of this review is to illustrate the recent situation of the Japanese poultry industry, including 1) an overview; 2) the situation of influence of HPAI ; 3) situation of ingredients for poultry diet; 4) utilization of rice in poultry diet; 5) heat stress in poultry. Overall, investigation of the effects of heat stress on physiology, such as the biological defense system, and its prevention, should be continued to prevent future decreases in productivity in the Japanese poultry industry.

Price transparency in the Dutch market-based health care system: did price dispersion for similar hospital services reduce over time?

In market-based health care systems, insurers negotiate prices of hospital care products with providers. While few countries disclose these negotiated prices, in 2016, the Dutch government required the disclosure of insurer-provider negotiated prices for hospital products up to €885 - the maximum deductible in the Netherlands - to enhance price transparency. This aimed to increase price awareness among and price transparency for consumers, insurers, and providers, fostering price competition. We study if price dispersion for relatively homogeneous hospital care products decreased post-publication, resulting in price convergence. We used negotiated price data from three major Dutch health insurers on over 200 hospital products. Using descriptive statistics and linear regression, with the coefficient of variation (a measure of dispersion) regressed on the year, we examined the development of price dispersion and the occurrence of price convergence. Price dispersion for the studied sample of hospital products decreased by an average of 29% between 2016 and 2022. This decrease was not accompanied by a price level increase that was larger than expected based on general inflation. Regression analysis showed a significant negative association between year and the coefficient of variation, indicating price convergence. These findings support our hypothesis that price dispersion decreased after mandatory price disclosure. The government mandate potentially increased awareness of largely unexplainable price differences for products priced below €885, encouraging insurers and providers to reduce these through the negotiation process. The observed price convergence likely benefits patients, as it results in less random out-of-pocket payments across providers for the same hospitals products.

The Effect of Subjective Norm, Attitude, Product Price and Product Quality on Repurchase Intention of Skincare Brand Skintific

The potential growth of the skincare industry in Indonesia makes Indonesia a competitive market, triggering manufacturers to strive to prevent customers from falling to other competitors. Retaining existing customers is the cheapest and easiest option for managers to take, because in a competitive industry it is quite difficult to acquire new customers. This study aims to examine the influence of subjective norms, attitudes, product prices and product quality on repurchase intentions. The study was conducted quantitatively on 262 users of Skintific products from workers working in Jabodetabek. The results showed that subjective norms, product prices and product quality were able to significantly and positively influence repurchase intentions, but product quality was not able to significantly influence repurchase intentions.

Competitive Entry in the Market for Branded Generic Drugs

ABSTRACTI analyze the determinants of lead time (the time lag between the first‐mover's product release and the competitor's market entry) and its consequences for product prices, competition, and consumers. I investigate the case for the Indian branded generic pharmaceutical sector where substantial variation in lead time is observed. I show that overall entry is linked with product market profitability, but entry timing may be strategically related with both originator and competitor firm experience. This appears relevant for those products more likely to build up brand loyalty. I also show that lead time, once its potential endogeneity is accounted for, appears to increase the originator's post‐entry market shares, but has no effect on prices. These findings indicate that market segmentation based on price sensitivity appears less likely in the presence of brand name prescriptions. To enable price competition, there is a need for quality assurance among otherwise substitutable generic drugs.

Partition and Prosper: Design and Pricing of Single Bundle

Design and Pricing of a Single Bundle Product bundling is a widely used selling strategy among multiproduct firms, yet designing and pricing bundles optimally remain a complex challenge. In “Partition and Prosper: Design and Pricing of a Single Bundle,” Sun, Li, and Teo show that the selection and pricing of a single bundle from a range of products under multivariate normal valuations is polynomial-time solvable, provided that the associated covariance matrix can be decomposed into a positive diagonal matrix minus a positive semidefinite matrix of (small) fixed rank. Interestingly, they also show that if the individual product prices are predetermined, the optimization problem becomes NP hard even if customer valuations are independent. The authors use a Bayesian optimization algorithm combined with a novel conic integer programming reformulation to solve the problem under general valuation distributions and demonstrate the superior numerical performance of the algorithm via extensive simulations.

The Case for Biojet Fuel from Bioethanol in Brazil: An Optimization-Based Analysis Using Historical Market Data.

Biojet fuel is an attractive option to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the aviation industry. In this paper, we propose a two-stage stochastic linear program to analyze the optimal operation of an integrated sugarcane mill that produces sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using historical time-series commodities price data from Brazil. We find currently available alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technologies require premiums between 0.4 $ L-1 (2.07 R$ L-1) and 2 $ L-1 (10.34 R$ L-1) to incentivize biojet fuel production from sugarcane. Similarly, with emerging ATJ technologies, premiums between 0.1 $ L-1 (0.52 R$ L-1) and 1.25 $ L-1 (6.46 R$ L-1) are required. Sensitivity analysis quantifies the impact of ATJ technologies' conversion and operating costs, as well as SAF incentives, on the fraction of weeks biojet fuel production is favorable, which can guide technology and policy development. Currently, sugarcane mills are operated with little flexibility due to the structure of the Brazilian market. We also estimate that a hypothetical, fully flexible sugarcane mill could gain up to 6 million R$ per year in profit; most of this value comes from the flexible operation of the ATJ process, which motivates standalone upgrading facilities. Finally, we show how analyzing the optimality conditions of the integrated sugarcane mill allows for easy communication of optimal behavior in terms of relative product prices. These results provide a basis to guide biojet fuel policy and technology development in the context of Brazil, and these ideas can be extended to develop biojet fuel capacity and supply chains globally.

AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF THE PHILLIPS CURVE WITH GENDER DIFFERENCES IN TÜRKİYE

The potential existence and structure of the relationship between inflation and unemployment is a frequently examined topic in literature. A.W.H. Phillips (1958) explored the correlation between these two significant economic variables in the context of the United Kingdom, highlighting the trade-off relationship between them. This seminal work has led various economists to rigorously investigate the same phenomenon across different countries and country groups. The primary reason for this intense scrutiny is the assertion that monetary policies implemented in response to economic shocks may push these two variables in opposite directions. In this regard, the significant shocks experienced in Türkiye in recent years concerning inflation and unemployment have made it particularly intriguing to test the validity of the Phillips Curve for Türkiye. This study tests the validity of the Phillips Curve relationship for Türkiye. Utilizing monthly data from 2005 to 2023, the unemployment rates are modeled separately for male and female unemployment rates, distinguishing this study from others. The analysis employs the Johansen Cointegration Test and concludes that the Phillips Curve theory holds true for Türkiye. In light of the findings, there is a noteworthy presence of both a more significant and higher-level correlation between male unemployment rates and the producer price index.

On the asymmetric effects of stock market valuation and macroeconomic environment on venture capital and private equity

PurposeThis study investigates the dynamic interactions between the financing of entrepreneurship through Private Equity and several factors, such as stock market valuations, gross domestic product and consumer prices, and the effect of monetary policy in the decision for investments.Design/methodology/approachOur methodology consists in applying a panel vector autoregression approach that allows testing the causality of the variables of interest without assuming any specific direction. We disaggregate private equity to venture capital investments and later stage private equity and we uncover their asymmetric response to the examined factors. All types of investments are shown to be affected by GDP, stock prices, consumer prices and interest rates. However, the effect of the latter three variables are evidently more pronounced in later stage private equity compared to venture capital.FindingsOur findings contribute to the understanding of the motives behind Venture Capital and Private Equity financings and uncover novel paths of the transmission of monetary policy to entrepreneurial finance.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research concerns the investigation of the monetary policy impact on investment decisions, including venture capital and private equity. This article provides significant highlights for the first time in the relative literature, offering new knowledge in the investment decision-making process in a dynamic framework.

BRITAIN’S TRADE CHALLENGE: TRACKING THE COSTS IN REAL TIME

Abstract Since early 2021, food prices in Britain have increased by 30%. Using monthly microdata, researchers have found that frictions in the UK’s new trade relationship with the European Union (EU) play an important part in this inflation. The trade relationship is evolving, with further changes expected in 2024. This article establishes a framework for identifying trade-related inflation in close to real time. Using programming techniques, we collect daily prices of over 100,000 supermarket items, covering 80% of the UK grocery market. We identify 1,200 products from 12 countries with a protected designation of origin (PDO). This allows us to link price changes to individual EU economies. Addressing the predominance of EU PDOs, we employ a large language model to discern product origins from additional web-scraped data, thus broadening our analysis to cover over 67,000 products. Since August 2023, we find that prices for EU-originating food products have increased at a rate of 50% higher than domestically sourced products. This study presents a unique methodological approach to dissecting food sector inflation, which is well-positioned to be used in a policy setting, allowing us to assess the possible impact of impending nontariff barriers at the GB-EU border in 2024.

Analysis of Cultural Perceptions of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinese Porcelain Inlay: An Investigation Based on Social Media Data

Cultural heritage is a precious treasure left to mankind by history. With the development of the times and the improvement of people’s education, more and more people are becoming aware of the importance of protecting cultural heritage. Chinese porcelain inlay is a type of architectural decoration born out of the specific historical, geographical, and cultural conditions of Fujian and Guangdong, and was included in the second batch of The National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China published in 2008 and the third batch of The National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China—Expanded Projects in 2011. It represents an important part of the complex traditional culture of Fujian and Guangdong, acting as the essence of national culture, a symbol of national wisdom, and the refinement of national spirit. Using targeted analysis and making changes based on negative reviews, organizations that protect cultural heritage can improve their actions and find new ways to spread cultural heritage. The craft of Chinese porcelain inlay is used as an example in this paper. It combines Python Octopus crawler technology, data analysis, and sentiment analysis methods to perform a cognitive social media visualization analysis of Chinese porcelain inlay, which is a form of national intangible cultural heritage in China. Then, by looking at network text data from social media, it seeks to find out how the Chinese porcelain inlay culture is passed down, what its main traits are, and how people feel about it. Finally, this study summarizes the public’s understanding of inlay porcelain and proposes strategies to promote its future development and dissemination. This study found that (1) as a form of national intangible cultural heritage in China and a unique traditional architectural decoration craft, Chinese porcelain inlay has widely recognized cultural and artistic value. (2) The emotional evaluation of Chinese porcelain inlay is mainly positive (73 and 60.76%), while negative evaluations account for 12.62 and 20.79% of responses, mainly reflected in regret regarding the gradual disappearance of old buildings, the lament that Chinese porcelain inlay is highly regional and difficult to popularize, the regret that the individual has not visited locations with Chinese porcelain inlay, a feeling of helplessness with regard to inconvenient transportation links to these places, and discontent with the prohibitively high prices of Chinese porcelain inlay products. These findings offer valuable guidance for the future dissemination and development of Chinese porcelain inlay as a form of intangible cultural heritage. (3) The LDA topic model is used to divide the perception of Chinese porcelain inlay into nine major themes: arts and crafts, leisure and entertainment, cultural travel, online appreciation, heritage protection, dissemination scope, prayer and blessing, inheritance and innovation, and collection and research. This also provides a reference for the future direction of the inheritance of Chinese porcelain inlay cultural heritage.