The development and rapid consumer adoption of energy efficiency products and renewable energy systems are key elements of UK and EU carbon reduction strategies to meet the challenge of climate change. Many such technologies are available for domestic use, but despite government incentives to meet carbon reduction targets consumer adoption has been slow. This Open University research with 111 i...

This study investigates the relationship between consumer search costs, inflation, and firm markups in retail trade by employing actual measures of consumer search cost gathered by way of an online consumer survey. Consistent with theory, results indicate that markups can be higher if consumer search costs are higher. Results from panel data also show that increases in inflation lead to increas...

Although E-Commerce has marketability as well as usefulness, there are few empirical research on consumer acceptance, explained by economic theory. This paper suggests that the consumer product acceptance is determined by the difference of transaction cost and some other factors, such as uncertainty and asset specificity. In addition, it suggests that the characteristics of digital products may...

The objectives of this study were to compare the acceptance of different dry dog food products by consumers, determine consumer clusters for acceptance, and identify the characteristics of dog food that drive consumer acceptance. Eight dry dog food samples available in the US market were evaluated by pet owners. In this study, consumers evaluated overall liking, aroma, and appearance liking of ...

Few studies have been performed to use the detailed healthy eating index (HEI) to estimate consumer demand for diet quality. In this article, we apply household production theory to systematically estimate consumer demand for diet quality using the HEI developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results show that consumers have insufficient consumption of food containing dark green and...

This paper examines the motivations for the construction of consumer decision tools (CDTs). CDTs are Web-based decision support systems aimed at improving the quality of consumer decisions. CDTs are useful for high involvement choices, such as car or university programme selection, where the consumer is strongly affected by the outcome. Firms will supply CDTs only when they desire informed, mut...

This p(4)er introduces a framework for examining consumer and niarket problems as a function of consumer segment interaction patterns. Three patterns cf interactions are described as consisting of positive, negative, or no spillovers among consumer segments. The efficacy of regulatory remedies is shown to be affected by tiie type and extent ofthese interaction patterns. The paper complements an...

Critics of current tying doctrine argue that metering ties can increase consumer welfare and total welfare without increasing output and that they generally increase both welfare measures. Contrary to those claims, we prove that metering ties always lower both consumer welfare and total welfare unless they increase capital good output. We further show that under market conditions we argue are r...

As profit margins gradually decline, and market competition becomes increasingly intensive, 3G telecom operatorsmust provide variousmobile value-added services, aswell as traditional voice services, to attract new subscribers and retain old ones. However, for many 3G mobile value-added services, whether ARPU (average revenue per user) can be effectively enhanced depends on the consumer behavior...

Quality uncertainty and high search costs for identifying relevant information from an ocean of information may prevent customers from making purchases. Recognizing potential negative impacts of this search cost for quality information and relevant information, firms began to invest in creating a virtual community that enables consumers to share their opinions and experiences to reduce quality ...