Purchase Volume Research Articles

ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ ВСТАНОВЛЕННЯ ПЛАВАЮЧОЇ ЦІНОВОЇ ЗНИЖКИ НА ПРОДУКЦІЮ ПІДПРИЄМСТВА

The article presents an overview of methods for determining the effectiveness of advertising appeals of the enterprise in conditions of competition. It is shown that the sale of goods in large batches leads to a reduction in sales costs associated with the organization of sales, transportation and storage. Therefore, when providing a quantitative discount, their value should not exceed the amount of cost savings of the seller, which is caused by the sale of goods in large batches. Similar to the effects of real responses to advertising appeals, the effects of the price of the enterprise's products are distinguished: the current effect, the form effect, the competition effect and the transition effect. The process of modeling the effects of the promotion price and the control price is considered, and of interest is the temporary price for the buyer with a discount, which is actually provided by sales managers at the enterprise. Then there will be an effect of discounts on temporary base prices. The price discount is considered as a part of the price of the goods which can be introduced by the enterprises-manufacturers for the purpose of stimulation and interest of the enterprises-sellers to sell production. In the study of product sales, a problem was found related to sales of products in the area of the price discount offered by the price list, which represents the constant prices of the company for a certain period of time. The promotion price is defined as the discount on the products of the enterprise price according to the price list. It is determined that buyers, focusing on the system of discounts, avoid buying hardware in the approach to the transition of prices and increase the volume of purchases after the transition discount. A comparison of retail and base prices, and base and wholesale prices for hardware. It is proved that the company when approaching the price discount loses the profit that could be obtained, and this problem causes losses to both parties and the seller and buyer. It is shown that the policy of promoting price discounts of Metal-Holding encourages consumers to buy more hardware, which is not beneficial to the buyer, because it causes additional costs for storage of the balance. It is concluded that the problem at some weight interval when approaching the existing price discount on the left and right requires the establishment of a floating price discount on the company's products.

The Modular Forensic Handwriting Method - 2016 Version

Overview: 
 This document provides a summary of a practical method that can be used to compare handwriting (whether text-based or signatures) in the forensic environment. It is intended to serve as an approach to forensic handwriting examination for practitioners actively involved in casework, or for those interested in investigating general aspects of the practice of forensic handwriting examination (for example researchers, academics and legal professionals). The method proposed does not cover in detail all aspects of the examination of handwriting. It does, however, form the framework of forensic handwriting methodology in the government environment in Australia and New Zealand as represented by the Document Examination Specialist Advisory Group (DocSAG).
 It is noted from the outset that handwriting is examined using complex human perceptual and cognitive processes that can be difficult to accurately and validly describe in written form since, for the most part, these processes are hidden. What is presented here is the agreed general approach that DocSAG practitioners use in the majority of the comparisons that they carry out. The method is based around a flow diagram which structures the comparison process and provides the reader with a guide as to the significant landmark stages commonly worked through in practical handwriting examinations. Where decision points occur within the course of the method flow diagram a series of modules have been developed which describe the nature of the decision under consideration and address relevant theoretical and practical issues. Each module is, as far as is practical, independent of other modules in the method. This assists in facilitating changes in the process over time that may result from theoretical, practical or technological advances in the field.
 Purchase Volume 26 - Special Issue - $40

The healthfulness of food and beverage purchases after the federal food package revisions: The case of two New England states

ObjectiveIn 2009, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) implemented new food packages to improve dietary intake among WIC participants. This paper examines how the healthfulness of food purchases among low-income households changed following this reform. MethodsPoint-of-sale data for 2137 WIC-participating and 1303 comparison households were obtained from a regional supermarket chain. The healthfulness of purchased foods and beverages was determined per their saturated fat, sugar, and sodium content. A pre-post assessment (2009–2010) of the product basket healthfulness was completed using generalized estimating equation models. Data were analyzed in 2015. ResultsAt baseline, healthy products accounted for most of the food volume purchased by WIC participants, but beverages were dominated by moderation (less healthy) items. With new subsidies for fruit, vegetables and whole grains, the WIC revisions increased the volume of healthy food purchases of WIC-participating households by 3.9% and reduced moderation foods by 1.8%. The biggest improvements were reductions in moderation beverages (down by 24.7% in volume), driven by milk fat restrictions in the WIC food package revisions. The healthfulness of the product basket increased post-WIC revisions; mainly due to a reduction in the volume of moderation food and beverages purchased (down by 15.5%) rather than growth in healthy products (up by 1.9%). No similar improvements were seen in a comparison group of low-income nonparticipants. ConclusionsAfter the WIC revisions, the healthfulness of participant purchases improved, particularly for beverages. Efforts to encourage healthy eating by people receiving federal food assistance are paying off.

First-Year Evaluation of Mexico’s Tax on Nonessential Energy-Dense Foods: An Observational Study

BackgroundIn an effort to prevent continued increases in obesity and diabetes, in January 2014, the Mexican government implemented an 8% tax on nonessential foods with energy density ≥275 kcal/100 g and a peso-per-liter tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Limited rigorous evaluations of food taxes exist worldwide. The objective of this study was to examine changes in volume of taxed and untaxed packaged food purchases in response to these taxes in the entire sample and stratified by socioeconomic status (SES).Methods and FindingsThis study uses data on household packaged food purchases representative of the Mexican urban population from The Nielsen Company’s Mexico Consumer Panel Services (CPS). We included 6,248 households that participated in the Nielsen CPS in at least 2 mo during 2012–2014; average household follow-up was 32.7 mo. We analyzed the volume of purchases of taxed and untaxed foods from January 2012 to December 2014, using a longitudinal, fixed-effects model that adjusted for preexisting trends to test whether the observed post-tax trend was significantly different from the one expected based on the pre-tax trend. We controlled for household characteristics and contextual factors like minimum salary and unemployment rate. The mean volume of purchases of taxed foods in 2014 changed by -25 g (95% confidence interval = -46, -11) per capita per month, or a 5.1% change beyond what would have been expected based on pre-tax (2012–2013) trends, with no corresponding change in purchases of untaxed foods. Low SES households purchased on average 10.2% less taxed foods than expected (-44 [–72, –16] g per capita per month); medium SES households purchased 5.8% less taxed foods than expected (-28 [–46, –11] g per capita per month), whereas high SES households’ purchases did not change. The main limitations of our findings are the inability to infer causality because the taxes were implemented at the national level (lack of control group), our sample is only representative of urban areas, we only have 2 y of data prior to the tax, and, as with any consumer panel survey, we did not capture all foods purchased by the household.ConclusionsHousehold purchases of nonessential energy-dense foods declined in the first year after the implementation of Mexico’s SSB and nonessential foods taxes. Future studies should evaluate the impact of the taxes on overall energy intake, dietary quality, and food purchase patterns (see S1 in Spanish).

Regular or low-fat? An investigation of the long-run impact of the first low-fat purchase on subsequent purchase volumes and calories

Health organizations stimulate the development of low-fat variants to fight the obesity epidemic. We examine the effectiveness of this policy by studying the short- and long-term consequences of the first low-fat purchase on subsequent purchased volume and calories. Using a structural break analysis, we show that purchases increase in the short run after the first low-fat purchase, thereby confirming the single-occasion overconsumption effect of low-fat as shown in the experimental literature. Importantly, our results also show a significant positive long-term effect, which suggests that overpurchasing persists in the long run. In addition, our findings show that the long-term overpurchasing after the first low-fat purchase is solely due to the overpurchasing of low-fat items and not of regular items. These results provide support for the overgeneralization of claim effects and habit formation resulting in the enduring effect of healthier variants of unhealthy food.

A meta-analysis of correlations between market share and other brand performance metrics in FMCG markets

The strong relationship between market share and other metrics (i.e., penetration rate, purchase frequency, share of requirements) is well-documented in the marketing literature. However, there is no systematic meta-analysis of this important empirical generalization. This study quantifies the category-level correlations between market share and the aforementioned brand metrics. The category-level effects of promotional intensity, existence of sub-segments, purchase volume variation, and competition from private label and niche brands on these correlations are tested using grocery data from more than 400 categories. These factors have a negative effect all in three observed correlations with one exception. Promotional activity increases the correlation between market share and share of requirements. These results further generalize our knowledge of “Double Jeopardy” in FMCG markets and support the advice to brand managers to concentrate on increasing penetration rather than purchase frequency or share of requirements.

ОПТИМАЛЬНОЕ РАЗМЕЩЕНИЕ ГОТОВОЙ ПРОДУКЦИИ В ТРАНСПОРТНО-СКЛАДСКОМ КОМПЛЕКСЕ НА ОСНОВЕ ABC-АНАЛИЗА

In article ABC-analysis of the nomenclature of finished goods on one of distributive warehouses of the city of Volgograd is carried out, the scheme of storage of goods taking into account their marketability is offered. An indication of the range of differentiation into groups A, B, C share monthly sales adopted by separate heading in the total volume of purchases.

Multi-Vendor Loyalty Programs: Influencing Customer Behavioral Loyalty?

Loyalty programs are a consolidated marketing instrument whose adoption in many sectors has not been associated with appropriate comprehension of either their management elements or their effects. The purpose of this research is to contribute to knowledge about the effect of loyalty programs on repeat purchase behavior. More specifically, it seeks to discover whether joining a program changes the buying behavior of its members, and, if so, to study the profile of those whose behavior changes most. The intention was also to provide new study variables pertaining to multi-vendor loyalty programs, such as where they are joined or purchases in associated outlets as a result of behavioral loyalty. Research was carried out using a sample of 1200 individuals (31,746 purchases) belonging to a multi-vendor loyalty program. The study period was 13 years, 4 months, and split into two phases: before and after the joining the program. Different methodological approaches, such as the use of transactional databases that included pre-program-enrollment data and of the same sampling units throughout the study, were incorporated into the research with the aim of advancing academic knowledge regarding multi-vendor loyalty programs. Moreover, a type of program and market hardly dealt with in the relevant literature was analyzed. The results showed while the loyalty program had managed to reduce the time between purchases, it had not affected purchase volume or average expenditure. They also demonstrated the existence of a differential profile of customers who had changed their buying behavior to a greater extent. Finally, recency was identified as being the decisive variable in behavioral change.

PENGARUH BIAYA DISTRIBUSI TERHADAP JUMLAH PENJUALAN PUPUK PADA PT. PERTANI (PERSERO) CABANG BENGKULU

Distribution represent the part activity of marketing which point to get correct goods and correct plance with efficient expense. Therefore distribution role of vital importance in aim peripatetic company is distribution area. PT. Pertani (Persero) on Bengkulu is peripatetic company of distribution fertilizer. Before sold to market, product sent from factory to distributor warehouse beforehand, afterwards in allocation to some region exist in province Bengkulu according to requirement of each region to distributed as according to request of market. Method research is referensi study and discipline study, in field study consist of observation and interview. Used by analysis method is analisys qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative analisys used whit statistical approach used simple linear regression formula and correlation coefficient analysis with person product moment method (r) and also to prove do there is relation and influence between distribution channel to purchase volume in thypothesis test (t-hitung> t-tabel).Result of analysis Y = 68.615 + 0,446 X meaning that constanta equal to 68.615 expressing that if influence from expense of physical distribution purchase volume equal 68.615. and regresi coefficient equal to 0,446 expressing that each addition 1 unit of physical distribution boosted up from purchase volume. Correlation coefficient (r) = 0,612, value positif correlation with purchase volume and physical distribution boosted. Value coefficient determination equal 0,374 is 37,4 % variable indenpenden of purchase and variable dependen of physical distribution boosted, value 62,6% other of variabel on variable physical distribution boosted.Keywords : cost, physical distribution , distribution boosted

The double nature of the price of gold—A quantitative analysis based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition

The research perspective of gold is either as a commodity or as a financial asset in most previous research. This paper initially examines the double nature of the price of gold both as a commodity and money from 1969 to 2014 by a statistics model, namely the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD). We decompose and categorize the gold price by time frequency into three different series: high frequency series, low frequency series and trend series, which takes 4.17%, 25.68%, 70.15% of the total variability, respectively. The high frequency series is consistent with the reaction of gold price to the influence of speculation and economic events, while the low frequency series is changing simultaneously with gold's varying role in world currency and as a safe haven asset. The trend series of gold grows steadily because of scarcity and increasing volume of jewelry purchases. Therefore, we interpret the high frequency series and trend series as a reflection of gold's commodity property, and the low frequency series is associated with gold's monetary property. This technology of EEMD sheds light on the double nature and price change of gold in the past.

食用菌消费行为及影响因素研究——基于北京市的实地调查

近年来，食用菌产业因其良好的社会效益、经济效益和生态效益，产业重要性日益凸显。然而，当前国内人均食用菌年消费量仍偏低，食用菌产业存在一定程度的产能过剩，亟需通过消费市场研究来有针对性地进行营销，提升食用菌消费，推进我国食用菌产业持续健康发展。本文基于北京市食用菌消费者调研数据，采用Logistic回归模型对食用菌消费行为影响因素进行研究。研究结果显示：当前北京市消费者的食用菌购买频率和购买量均普遍较低，气味、农药残留、产品了解度、亲朋介绍、包装对消费者的食用菌购买频率和购买量均影响显著；食用菌购买频率同时还受卫生安全、购买地距离、品牌了解度、是否有小孩同住的显著影响；食用菌购买量同时还受家庭人口数、色泽的显著影响。据此提出要加强食用菌知识宣传和品牌培育推广，强化食用菌市场监管，美化食用菌产品包装，细分食用菌市场。 In recent years, the mushroom industry is growing in importance because of its good social, eco-nomic and ecological benefits. However, the current domestic per capita annual consumption of edible mushroom is still low. There is a certain degree of surplus production in mushroom industry. It desiderates to do a targeted marketing through researching of consumer market to improve consumption of edible mushroom and to promote the sustained and healthy development of mushroom industry in China. Based on the data from spot investigation about mushroom-consumers in Beijing, this paper analyzes the influencing factors of consumer behavior about edible mushroom with an ordinal regression model. The results indicate as follows: consumers’ purchase frequency and volume of edible mushroom are generally low in Beijing at present; smells, pesticide residues, product understanding degree, introduction of relatives and friends and package significantly influence consumer behavior of purchase frequency and volume of edible mushroom; besides, purchase frequency is also influenced significantly by health and safety, place to buy, brand understanding degree and the factor that is whether there are kids in family or not; purchase volume is also influenced significantly by family size and color. According to the above analysis, this paper suggests that it should strengthen mushroom knowledge propaganda and brand cultivation and extension, market supervision, beautify the edible fungus product packaging and carry mushroom market segments.

The Crisis and Italian Families

1. IntroductionThe information that follows is taken from the main sources of statistics available (e.g. Findomestic, Istat), and in particular from the annual surveys which have been conducted by the Observatory on the consumption of families (OSCF) (University of Verona) in Italy, on a sample of about 2,000 residents for a number of years. The overall scenario in which the reflections that follow are situated is that of a society which, like many others in Europe, has found itself in about a decade, going from a style of affluent and carefree consumption to a rational and limited one, with the need for consumers to reduce their purchases and defend, at the same time, their previous lifestyle (% food products in annual expenditure: 2009: 18.9; 2013: 19.5; source: Istat - Italian National Institute of Statistics - 2014).It has been a gradual process, with some peaks, as we will show in the following pages, which has slowly transformed not only the purchasing style of the majority of Italian families, but also the overall approach to consumption, with the spread of anti-waste, ecological, conscious and critical consumption ideologies. These were movements in the making even before the start of the recession, but which have given the effort of scaling down that families have had to make, an ideal support that has reduced the perception of impoverishment, emphasizing the ethical and political side of the restrictions and the limitations adopted as time passed. These ideologies, from being minority and marginal, have gradually become majority and dominant. Again from the cultural point of view, this has been entwined with the drive towards the natural and organic, with the promise of a better quality and therefore of a qualitative defence of the lifestyle, despite the quantitative reduction, also because the cost of organic products is significantly higher than that of ordinary products. The defence of quality was the line of resistance taken by most families, compensating with this attitude the objective need to reduce the overall volume of purchases. Naturally, this reduction, as will be seen below, has had a highly diversified effect in the different sectors of commodities. With this effort, the level of skill of families and also the time they dedicate to shopping, in particular to selecting products and stores, necessarily increased. Again in the logic of the defence of quality, some branded products have resisted in the shopping basket of many families, who have tried not to abandon the usual brands to which they attributed a certain guarantee for the quality of the products. As we will see this was the strategy of most of the families. Unfortunately, there nevertheless exists a quota, which is still growing, of families who have had to reduce both the quantity and the quality of their shopping basket, with a net negative impact on their lifestyle, of an average of about 30%. In the defence of the quality and reorganization of their lifestyle, many families have adopted strategies which are also contradictory, increasing their use of mass retail, but for some products keeping the specialized point of sale, the brand, organic etc.. By reducing in general the volume of purchases and their lifestyle but protecting, at the same time, with greater attention to the quality of a limited range of products, considered of particular significance and importance for the self-perception of the care and well-being of the family.Overall, the economic crisis has accentuated the differences both between social classes and between the socio-economic areas of the country. If the crisis has fragmented the middle class, pushing a part of it towards purchasing habits and a lifestyle that are definitely lower than those it enjoyed in the past, on the local level, it has accentuated the differences that already existed in the past. In this regard we can mention the situation of northeastern Italy, an area where targeted surveys were carried out by the Observatory. …

Could a customer's migratory behaviour in inner areas explain his/her purchase: an exploratory analysis

Generally, the majority of customers move along the areas located outside of the main circular path on the sales floor of a supermarket. At the same time, statistically it has been determined that a longer shopping path leads to a higher purchase volume and higher volume customers have the possibility of spending more time within the inner part of a sales floor. Thus, we expect an improvement in purchasing by opening shopping paths into the inner areas to enhance customers' chances to discover new products. Realising an effective path extension to increase customers' purchases requires us to perceive the features of higher and lower volume customers. The study aims to establish a classification rule based on customers' behavioural features within inner areas. The paper provides an explanation of our method to quantify customers' behavioural features and reports the outcomes from the exploratory analysis using real-world shopping path and purchase data.

Boomerang Effects of Low Price Discounts: How Low Price Discounts Affect Purchase Propensity

Abstract We show that providing a low (vs. no) price discount can lower purchase propensity of low-priced products under certain conditions—when purchases are nonessential and purchase volume is small. Based on the theory of purchase value (Grewal, Monroe, and Krishnan 1998; Thaler 1983), we argue that offering a low price discount for nonessential purchases decreases perceived transaction value that in turn lowers consumers’ purchase propensity. However, this boomerang effect reverses when purchase volume is larger or when the purchase is essential. We demonstrate this effect with secondary scanner panel data sets (with six different product categories) and in five laboratory experiments (with real purchases). We also document the process and delineate boundary conditions.

Uncovering Paths to Purchase of Heterogeneous Consumers Using Clustered Multivariate Autoregression

A digital consumer’s purchase journey, referred to as the path to purchase, is non-linear and heterogeneous. Despite a strong interest in this concept, there are few published approaches to empirically extract consumers’ path to purchase (in terms of a sequence of different types of activities leading to purchase), especially in settings where consumers engage in multiple simultaneous activities in each period. We address this gap by proposing a methodology that identifies consumers’ paths to purchase from commonly available CRM touch point data. We propose a generalized multivariate autoregressive (GMAR) model to capture the interactions among distinct but potentially simultaneous activities of a consumer over time. Using the proposed model we show how to attribute parts of the purchase volume to consumer activity sequences, or paths, starting from an initial marketing stimulus leading to the maximal purchase response. We embed the GMAR model in a clustering framework that endogenously identifies segments of consumers who exhibit similar paths to purchase. We apply the methodology to a dataset from a multi-channel North American Specialty Retailer to uncover the distinct paths of five consumer segments: loyal and engaged shoppers, digitally-driven offline shoppers, holiday shoppers, infrequent offline shoppers, and frequently targeted occasional shoppers. Using out-of-sample forecasts, we demonstrate improved predictions of future purchases compared to extant methods. Finally, we perform policy simulations to show that managers can use the uncovered path information to dynamically optimize marketing campaigns for each segment.

Building customer equity through trust in social networking sites

Purpose – This study aims to propose and empirically test a cognitive-behavioral model of the perceived benefits of social networking sites (SNSs), trust in SNSs, brand trust, brand loyalty and customer equity in the context of fast fashion brand communities in Thailand. Using a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, a proposed model was successfully established. Importantly, this research delineates the mediating role of the relationship between the perceived benefits of SNSs and brand trust, as well as emphasizes the importance of trust in generating customer equity. In addition to its theoretical contribution, this study also provides practical implications for brand managers to develop customer equity through their brand pages on SNSs. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. Design/methodology/approach – The online surveys were administered to Thai consumers. An email invitation with an embedded link was sent by the researchers asking receivers to participate or forward the survey to others who were interested in participating in the study. As the purpose of this study is to investigate interrelationships among SNSs benefit, trust and customer equity in fast fashion retail domains, only responses from those who were current SNS users and had visited fast fashion SNS brand communities in the past three months were considered for analysis. A total of 227 participants completed the survey; however, eight of those responses were incomplete. Thus, 207 usable responses were analyzed by using SEM. Findings – Thai SNS users who believe they receive practical and social benefits from engaging in SNSs were likely to trust the sites instead of directly forming trust toward the brand. However, perceived entertainment benefits did not influence trust in SNS. This study found that brand trustworthiness is not directly predicted by practical benefit from SNSs. Instead, brand trustworthiness is formed through consumers’ trust toward SNSs. Brand trust induces a high degree of brand loyalty for fast fashion brands, and those individuals with higher brand loyalty were likely to purchase the brand’s products more frequently as well as in a higher volume. Research limitations/implications – Although the research included general fashion SNSs brand communities users, the samples are not fully representative. Particularly, the majority of respondents of this study could be college students; as such, this may have influenced the results. Thus, to enhance generalizability of the findings, the model should be examined using non-student samples. In addition, a greater number of samples will better reflect the actual demographic profile of SNS users. Second, although the study results generally support the proposed model, the results are necessarily limited to the study’s context, which is Thailand. Likewise, the study needs to be replicated with consumers in other countries, particularly in countries with the fastest increase of SNS users such as India, Indonesia, Mexico, China and Brazil. Practical implications – The results provide practical implications to apparel brands for establishing customer equity through their brand pages on SNSs. As discussed, consumer trust toward the SNSs is favorably strengthened by SNSs benefits (i.e., practical and social). Consumer trust in SNSs can impact how they perceive the brands and their purchase behaviors. This study encourages companies to strengthen consumers’ trust in SNSs by enhancing perceived practical and social benefits. In addition, companies need to closely monitor information/conversations about the product/brand being presented on their SNS brand community because the quality of information and conversation available in the SNS can affect consumer trust in that SNS. Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing literature in the area of social media, trust, brand loyalty and customer equity in the context of the apparel industry. Importantly, this study uncovered the mediating role of trust in SNSs in a practical benefit-brand trust relationship, indicating that brand trustworthiness is not directly predicted by practical benefit from SNSs, but is formed through consumers’ trust toward SNSs. Brand trust induces a high degree of brand loyalty for fast fashion brands, which in turn, led to customer equity relative to number of purchases and purchase volume.

A Simulation Research on Inventory Cost of Custom Product Under E-commerce Circumstances

E-commerce makes it possible to promote mass customization in practice. Manufacturers provide custom product which enables customers to select each components of the product from several variants according to their own preferences. Providing custom product increases the complexity of the inventory management, and the characteristics of inventory cost are different with those of common product. For custom product orders under e-commerce circumstances are significantly random and fluctuant, we research on this issue in the discrete system simulation method. We consider a same kind of product which is manufactured in either way of the common case and the custom case, design inventory cost simulation models for both situations supposing they adopt (s,S) inventory strategy. The results show that although the mass customization makes the inventory system more complicated, it could bring some benefits to inventory management. Compared with the inventory cost of common product, the inventory cost of custom product could be even lower and less sensitive about the product price, the change of purchase volumes and the order quantity. The conclusions could be suggestive for practice and provide confidence to manufacturers when they hesitate to supply custom products.

Can Brand Equity Explain Excess Behavioral Loyalty?

Despite the well-known predictive power of Dirichlet model on customer loyalty, deviations of share of category requirement (SCR) predicted by Dirichlet model from actual SCR have been repeatedly reported. It has been shown that these deviations can be systematically explained by some factors such as brand’s market share, product positioning strategy, purchase volume and retail marketing mix strategies. Presuming that brand equity would be additional sources of these deviations, current study assesses the incremental predictive power of brand equity by using over 4,000 brand-level observations for the consumer packaged goods industry in the U.S. Our model estimations indicate that brands that exhibit higher brand equity enjoy excess loyalty, with the primary driver being volume premium, rather than price premium. Overall, our findings support the notion that idiosyncratic brand properties can explain excess behavioral loyalty, a notion that is in stark contrast with the Dirichlet view of the world: brand equity does not exist.

Can Brand Equity Explain Excess Behavioral Loyalty?

Despite the well-known predictive power of Dirichlet model on customer loyalty, deviations of share of category requirement (SCR) predicted by Dirichlet model from actual SCR have been repeatedly reported. It has been shown that these deviations can be systematically explained by some factors such as brand’s market share, product positioning strategy, purchase volume and retail marketing mix strategies. Presuming that brand equity would be additional sources of these deviations, current study assesses the incremental predictive power of brand equity by using over 4,000 brand-level observations for the consumer packaged goods industry in the U.S. Our model estimations indicate that brands that exhibit higher brand equity enjoy excess loyalty, with the primary driver being volume premium, rather than price premium. Overall, our findings support the notion that idiosyncratic brand properties can explain excess behavioral loyalty, a notion that is in stark contrast with the Dirichlet view of the world: brand equity does not exist.

Price promotions on healthier compared with less healthy foods: a hierarchical regression analysis of the impact on sales and social patterning of responses to promotions in Great Britain

Background: There is a growing concern, but limited evidence, that price promotions contribute to a poor diet and the social patterning of diet-related disease.Objective: We examined the following questions: 1) Are less-healthy foods more likely to be promoted than healthier foods? 2) Are consumers more responsive to promotions on less-healthy products? 3) Are there socioeconomic differences in food purchases in response to price promotions?Design: With the use of hierarchical regression, we analyzed data on purchases of 11,323 products within 135 food and beverage categories from 26,986 households in Great Britain during 2010. Major supermarkets operated the same price promotions in all branches. The number of stores that offered price promotions on each product for each week was used to measure the frequency of price promotions. We assessed the healthiness of each product by using a nutrient profiling (NP) model.Results: A total of 6788 products (60%) were in healthier categories and 4535 products (40%) were in less-healthy categories. There was no significant gap in the frequency of promotion by the healthiness of products neither within nor between categories. However, after we controlled for the reference price, price discount rate, and brand-specific effects, the sales uplift arising from price promotions was larger in less-healthy than in healthier categories; a 1-SD point increase in the category mean NP score, implying the category becomes less healthy, was associated with an additional 7.7–percentage point increase in sales (from 27.3% to 35.0%; P < 0.01). The magnitude of the sales uplift from promotions was larger for higher–socioeconomic status (SES) groups than for lower ones (34.6% for the high-SES group, 28.1% for the middle-SES group, and 23.1% for the low-SES group). Finally, there was no significant SES gap in the absolute volume of purchases of less-healthy foods made on promotion.Conclusion: Attempts to limit promotions on less-healthy foods could improve the population diet but would be unlikely to reduce health inequalities arising from poorer diets in low-socioeconomic groups.