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The complexity of decision-making for companies buying transportation services has increased due to the presence of more options and pricing schedules for transportation. Many companies make transportation and inventory decisions in an uncoordinated way and select only one transportation mode, missing opportunities for logistics cost savings. The experimental study in this paper is based on a real-world decision problem faced by a Scandinavian company that distributes fast-moving consumer goods and wants to determine its transportation strategy. We propose a novel multi-mode lot-sizing model with dynamic deterministic demand to illustrate the cost impact of accurately modelling piecewise-linear transportation costs and allowing a more flexible usage of transportation modes when planning order replenishments. We compare three transportation strategies with increasing degrees of flexibility: two single mode strategies, where one strategy is more flexible than the other, and a multi-mode strategy. We conclude that managers can significantly reduce costs by increasing the flexibility of mode selection in transportation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the pattern and degree of marketisation in the DPRK by drawing on sources from within that society. In doing so it creates a point of departure from most conventional analyses of the DPRK economy, which prioritise defector accounts. The conventional view, informed by these accounts, is that jangmadang (quasi-free markets) have been created by ordinary people to meet their basic needs. In this view, 'marketisation from below' started when the Public Distribution System broke down due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, upon which the DPRK economy had depended. It is also claimed that as the economy has failed to recover from its prolonged crisis, the State has become dependent upon these markets. However, a careful review of materials produced inside the DPRK indicates that marketisation started 'from above' in the early 1980s, with Kim Il Sung's directives to assuage the chronic shortages of consumer goods. As such, this article contends that marketisation in the DPRK began and has proceeded in accordance with the State's control and influence. The country's complete closure of its borders to prevent COVID-19 in the early 2020s confirmed that markets play only a limited role in DPRK society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of consumption values (TCV) as marketing theory provides insights related to consumer consumption behavior through consumption values. This study reviews the last 30 years' literature (120 articles) from 1991 to 2022 through content analysis and bibliometrics citation analysis. Additionally, the seven research streams are identified in the literature: (1) TCV and consumer behavior toward digital consumer products and services, (2) TCV and consumer behavior toward brands, (3) TCV and consumer behavior toward information technology, (4) TCV and consumer behavior towards green products and sustainable development, (5) TCV and consumer behavior towards tourism and hospitality industry, (6) TCV and consumer behavior towards durable and non-durable goods, and (7) TCV and consumer behavior toward educational industry. This review presents the taxonomy of TCV in marketing research, influential aspects of literature, and future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines successful and intensive free-trade policies in Estonia and Latvia, which exist despite the low-levels of domestic welfare in these countries. In contrast to the conventional elite-centric approach, this study uses a survey experiment to explore rationales for positive public opinion toward free trade policy. The results reveal that an individual exposed to the stimulus of a strategic security issue or consumer consideration tends to support free trade. These effects are evident among Latvians and highly-educated Estonians. Furthermore, the favorable international environment enhances the positive public opinion of free trade in Estonia and Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeMethodology/approachFindingsResearch implicationsPractical implicationsOriginality/value/contributionAlthough economists and strategy theorists have extensively researched market entry barriers in the Western industrial market and post-entry barriers in the e-commerce market, few studies have focused on entry barriers in the context of the unique challenges in China’s business landscape. In this study, a survey was conducted with 139 Chinese marketing executives of consumer goods e-commerce firms to elucidate the dimensions and relative importance of market entry barriers in China. Specifically, this study aims to explore the barriers to entry that exist in the Chinese consumer goods e-commerce market, determine their importance, and identify potential dimensions through factor analysis.This study employed an in-depth interview with nine marketing executives from China consumer goods e-commerce firms, and the instrument was revised accordingly. Then questionnaire adopted a simple random sampling method to select 300 enterprises as survey respondents. In total, 195 firms completed and returned the questionnaires by the deadline, resulting in 139 valid responses being collected.This study explores 33 entry barriers and reveals seven dimensions of China’s consumer goods e-commerce market, highlighting incumbents with an absolute cost advantage barrier as the most significant barrier, and the cost of establishing a branch office as the least significant barrier, as perceived by Chinese business executives.Extant literature has mostly confirmed the value and practical significance of market entry barriers in Western markets or industrial markets. However, there are few studies on entry barriers in China’s e-commerce market, particularly in the consumer goods e-commerce market. Our research attempts to provide a theoretical basis for China’s consumer goods e-commerce market entry barriers.Studying market entry barriers can help firms better adapt to market changes, optimize their operational modes according to market demands and norms, and enhance their competitiveness. The exploration of this research could be utilized by e-commerce businesses to become more successful or avoid failure.This study complements the existing research on market entry barriers in China and the West. It complements barriers to entry into the consumer e-commerce market based on the Chinese economic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-phthalate plasticizers are being increasingly used in commercial and consumer products, to replace phthalates. Among major non-phthalate plasticizer groups, we chose five alternative plasticizers of DEHA, DINCH, DEHTP, ATBC, and TOTM, and conducted a systematic literature review for current knowledge on their use and occurrences in major sources, and their exposure and endocrine outcomes in humans. Relevant articles published between January 2000 and December 2022 were identified from PubMed and Scopus search and analyzed. For occurrence, biomonitoring, and endocrine-related outcomes, 79, 73, and 14 studies were finally identified, respectively. The alternative plasticizers were widely used in food packaging, children's products, hygiene products, medical devices, and construction materials, and frequently detected in indoor dust. Food packaging materials and children's products were major sources of direct exposure to humans. Human exposure to alternative plasticizers is reported mostly via biomonitoring of urine. Urinary levels of DEHTP and DINCH metabolites were higher among infants, children, and pregnant women than in general adults. In humans, DEHTP, DINCH, or ATBC exposure were associated with sex hormone disruption and reproductive outcomes, but these associations varied by sex and age. This review showed that the use of and exposure to these alternative plasticizers have increased over time. Their potential health implications, especially among susceptible humans, warrant greater attention and further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maximization-well-being relationship has been extensively studied at the person level, but rarely at the day level. Based on an event reconstruction method, daily data from 200 South Korean adults across 14 days were obtained to examine associations between maximization dimensions (i.e. maximization goal and strategy) and well-being, and the moderating effects of choice domains and characteristics. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that at the day level, maximization goal was significantly associated with well-being, while maximization strategy was not. Choice domain moderated the relationship between maximization goal and well-being; significant positive associations were shown in time use and life decisions but not in consumer goods. Finally, choice irreversibility was the only significant moderator among choice characteristics; it strengthened the positive association between maximization goal and well-being and weakened the negative association between maximization strategy and well-being. Theoretical implications, study limitations and future directions for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-linear integer programming formulation is developed to solve a production scheduling problem at an industrial consumer goods producer. Its production runs are assigned to pre-set time slots economically sized for long setups and changeovers. The mathematical model applies to a mix of backlogged, or not, sales orders involving multi-product, multi-stage production with finite capacity, material, and storage constraints. It aims at maximizing various strategic objectives (direct margin, resource utilization, and customer service) over rolling workday horizons. Real-life scheduling problems are solved to illustrate the efficiency and applicability of the proposed optimization framework. The results indicate that minimizing stockouts over a 40-workday period during peak season leads to absolute two-digit service level improvements compared to man-made schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers' attention to different risk factors conveys important information to investors. This paper examines the association between managers' risk attention allocation schemes and the performance of firms across different sectors. We innovatively use the text mining approach to measure the differentiation and decentralization of risk attention from textual risk disclosures reported in 65,878 10-K statements. The results show significant sector heterogeneity in managers' attention to different risk topics. For the consumer goods sector, managers with differentiated and decentralized topics can improve the company's profitability and solvency. In contrast, managers in the financial and healthcare sectors need to maintain topic attention concentration. In addition, we find that managers' attention to product approval, system security, and business impact has gradually increased over time to adapt to the internet economic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the concept of mass customization and its current status. It discusses the challenges faced by mass customization in the past and how new technologies, such as the internet, have helped overcome these obstacles. However, the article also acknowledges that mass customization has not scaled in many consumer markets due to resistance from established companies, a lack of real consumer demand, and difficulties in innovating business models. The article explores different types of customization and the role of influencers and distributed manufacturing in changing the landscape of mass customization. It also discusses the potential impact of mass customization on various industries, highlighting the use of AI, generative algorithms, flexible manufacturing, 3D printing, and smart products. The authors emphasize the need for companies to develop organizational capabilities to effectively implement mass customization. Overall, the article suggests that mass customization has the potential to bring together diverse communities and drive innovation and growth. [Extracted from the article]

Worldwide, counterfeit, illicit, and untaxed alcoholic spirits are responsible for problems with economy, labor, and public health. Estimations of counterfeit spirits range from 25% to 40% of total alcoholic spirits consumed globally. Including knock-on effects, these products cost the EU alone 23,400 lost jobs and at least €3B in lost revenue per year. Annually there is at least €1.2B in lost government revenue. Counterfeit products decrease legitimate sales, both by replacement sales, and by the erosion of consumer product trust and satisfaction of legitimate goods and decrease legitimate manufacturing jobs. We review the worldwide problem, scope, and scale of the spirits counterfeiting problem including specific health issues, and the international plight of reduced labor available resulting directly from production and sale of counterfeited liquor. In addition, we review a wide range of methods and technologies to analytically detect chemically adulterated or substituted products that have been published and group technologies into 4 functional areas highlighting economy, generality, and utility. Approaches to prevention are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a retail platform selling a product to consumers and voluntarily discloses product quality information by using blockchain technology (BCT). Consumers decide whether to deliberate before making purchase decisions. We develop an analytical model to explore the effects of information disclosure strategies on the retail platform's pricing and consumers' deliberation decisions. Some interesting results are obtained. First, regardless of the information disclosure strategy, consumers' deliberation and purchasing decisions depend on the deliberation cost and product price. Consumers will only deliberate if the price is at the medium level and the deliberation cost is not too high. Second, when the disclosure cost is high, the retail platform either stimulates or prevents consumer deliberation; however, when the disclosure cost is at a medium interval, the retail platform's pricing decision depends on its information disclosure strategy. Specifically, when disclosing quality information, the retail platform will implement the stimulated deliberation (SD) or prevented deliberation (PD) strategy and will never adopt the sold at a low price (SL) strategy; however, when quality information is withheld, the retail platform will only adopt the PD strategy. Third, we identify the conditions under which the retail platform should disclose quality information when facing different disclosure costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose is to examine the role of consumer animosity as a prime paradigm in the relationship between self-reliance, patriotism, ethnocentrism, and religiosity of Indian consumers and their unwillingness to buy Chinese-made products. Using AMOS and SPSS Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), data from a convenience sample of 315 Indian consumers were used to test the proposed models. The results suggested that the impact of self-reliance, ethnocentrism, and religiosity on consumer animosity plays an essential role in consumer unwillingness to buy Chinese-made products. Consumer product knowledge moderated the relationship between animosity and unwillingness to buy. Based on these findings, potential managerial actions to account for consumer animosity can be suggested. The current study emphasizes that patriotism exerts the most decisive impact on consumer animosity, followed by self-reliance, making these prime strategic choices for managerial action. While consumer animosity has received attention in the literature, the self-reliance and religiosity of Indian consumers as drivers of animosity have not been tested before. This is important as it demonstrates possible strategic options for managers to pursue. Moreover, within our study's context, Indian consumers' unwillingness to buy Chinese products is a crucial issue as these countries are among the largest economies in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate whether and when a retailer who sells two quality differentiated products supplied by two manufacturers should reveal product fit information to help consumers find a product that better fits their needs. We show that the retailer's optimal information strategy depends on the consumer's unit misfit cost and production efficiencies of both manufacturers. The retailer should reveal product fit information when the ratio of the efficiencies of the two manufacturers is sufficiently low, or the consumer's unit misfit cost is sufficiently high. The retailer is less likely to benefit from revealing product fit information when the consumer's unit misfit cost is either low or very high. Two mechanisms, margin-enhancing (driving the efficient manufacturer to reduce the wholesale price) and market-targeting (setting higher retail prices for both products), that the retailer can benefit from revealing product fit information are discussed, and the associated conditions are identified. Our findings suggest that the inefficient manufacturer is always better off when the retailer reveals fit information, but the efficient manufacturer may suffer. A win-win-win for all supply chain members can be achieved under certain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DINP) and di-iso-decyl phthalate (DIDP) have been employed increasingly as plasticizers to replace di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a hormonal disruptor. Through this systematic review, we reviewed their (1) contamination levels in the environmental media, foods, and consumer products, (2) human exposure levels in national biomonitoring studies, and (3) associations with human sex and thyroid hormone disruption. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched and eligible studies were identified. DINP and DIDP were found at higher concentrations in indoor environments, especially with high human activity and PVC use. In foods, contamination levels vary by production methods and tend to be higher in fatty foods. In children's products, both plasticizers were more highly detected in samples measured before 2010. National biomonitoring data from several countries demonstrated that urinary levels of DINP and DIDP metabolites were relatively lower than those of DEHP. However, exposure to DINP has been associated with anti-androgenic potential in male offspring and adults and decreased thyroid hormones in mother–child pairs. In conclusion, existing literatures demonstrated widespread occurrence of DINP and DIDP in the indoor environment, diet, and children's products, and in the human populations worldwide. At the current levels of exposure, DINP exhibited endocrine disruption potentials similar to those of DEHP, especially among males and pregnant women. Knowledge gaps in DIDP exposure among the human population were identified and should be considered for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic and linear siloxanes are compounds synthesized from silicon consisting of alternating atoms of silicone and oxygen [Si-O] units with organic side chains. The most common cyclic siloxanes are octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), while the most common linear siloxanes are high molecular weight polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) and low molecular weight volatile linear siloxanes known as hexamethyldisiloxane (L2), octamethyltrisiloxane (L3), decamethyltetrasiloxane (L4), dodecamethylpentasiloxane (L5). These compounds (1) exhibit low dermal toxicity, (2) are generally inert and non-reactive, and (3) are compatible with a wide range of chemicals offering beneficial chemical properties which include the following: wash-off or transfer resistance from the skin, sun protection factor (SPF) enhancement, emolliency in cleaning products). Because of these properties, these compounds are incorporated into multiple consumer products for use on the skin, such as cosmetics and health-care products, with over 300,000 tons annually sold into the personal care and consumer products sector. Because of their widespread use in consumer products and potential for human dermal exposure, a comprehensive understanding of the dermal absorption and overall fate of siloxanes following dermal exposure is important. This review summarizes available data associated with the dermal absorption/penetration as well as fate of the most commonly used siloxane substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluate injury trends in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) participation by presenting to U.S. emergency departments over a 10-year period and formulate an injury profile. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was queried for martial arts related injuries from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2021. Codes and narratives were examined to compile data for patients sustaining BJJ-related injuries. From 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2021 there were 7,722 (NE = 282,315) ED-diagnosed martial arts related injuries with 911 (NE = 36,023) BJJ-related injuries identified. Regression analysis demonstrated an increasing trend in the annual incidence of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu injuries presenting to the ED (R2 = 0.934; SE = 2.069: p <.0001). Average age was 25.68 years of age (range 4–83). The most common injury diagnoses were sprains/strains and other/not listed at 27.68% and 26.39%. The most commonly injured body parts were the upper trunk, and the shoulder comprising 13.66% and 12.14% of injured body parts, respectively. The most commonly fractured region was toes, at 14.15% of all fractures. The most common dislocations occurred at the shoulder and knee, at 32.49% and 28.45% of dislocations, respectively. The most common mechanisms of injury specifically identified were indeterminate contact between players, fall onto ground, or fall onto another player comprising 18.62% and 17.17%, of injuries, respectively. There was an increasing trend of BJJ-related injuries presenting to U.S. Emergency Departments. The most common diagnoses and body parts injured were sprains/strains and upper trunk and shoulder, respectively. The most commonly fractured and dislocated regions were toes and shoulder, respectively. The most common mechanisms of injury were indeterminate contact or falling. This study provides novel information concerning trends in injury and injury profiles for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu related injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Israel was founded in 1948, and immediately afterwards, numerous immigrants came to the country. The Israeli government decided to provide provisions to these immigrants, along with trying to develop the country and investing in the military. This fiscal expansion was funded by seigniorage, and the government attempted to restrain inflation by imposing price controls and rationing food and other consumer goods. This policy failed to stop inflation, and there were persistent shortages of many goods in the country, except for bread which was not rationed. There were even shortages of eggs, which were all produced domestically and whose output increased on a per capita basis by more than 250% in comparison to the number of eggs produced prior to the founding of the state. This indicates that the shortages in the stores were due to the rationing. The shortages led to a flourishing black market, and a reduction in consumer welfare. The rationing made a difficult situation worse and the government began to end the rationing in 1952. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer product manufacturers utilise a spectrum of alternative ocular irritation assays, as these tests do not require the use of live animals. Despite their usefulness, no regulatory-accepted assay assesses the reversibility of ocular damage, a key criterion of GHS ocular classification, like the rabbit eye test (i.e., Draize Rabbit Eye Test [DRET]). The Porcine Corneal Opacity Reversibility Assay (PorCORA), an ex vivo intact corneal tissue culture model, predicts the reversibility of damage by ocular irritants. Inclusion of the damage reversibility endpoint in the PorCORA supplements other alternative test methods for ocular irritation, by assessing induced eye damage and the ability of this damage to reverse (heal) without the use of live animals to distinguish between Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) ocular classifications. In this focused study, results of a Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability (BCOP) test of a laundry detergent, neat and 10% dilution, (product mixture from S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. [SCJ]) classified the product into GHS Category 1; however, the BCOP test cannot assess the reversibility of ocular damage. The laundry detergent was evaluated using the PorCORA, where ocular damage induced by the detergent was fully reversed within seven days. Evaluation of the reversibility of ocular damage using the PorCORA in this focused study can add strength to the weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis approach in ocular hazard assessment. This WoE approach strengthens the argument that the PorCORA can be used to supplement BCOP data, and that this laundry detergent is not an irreversible eye irritant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a disaster, the population undertakes a series of actions aimed at saving and rescuing other people who may be in danger, as well as the gathering of goods considered indispensable to ensure their safety. Numerous studies have indicated that gender is one of the factors that conditions the lived experience of a disaster and, therefore, the actions that people undertake during the emergency. However, previous studies addressing the issue of gender in this respect have focused on how people are evacuated from the danger area, rather than on the rescue of goods. With the aim of contributing to filling this gap, the current article studies the patterns of the reproduction of/alteration in gender roles in the rescue of material goods following the earthquake in Lorca (Spain) in 2011 through the analysis of raw data collected from four focus groups comprising people who survived this catastrophic event. The results demonstrate that during the rescue actions in the disaster the men and women studied behaved to a great extent in line with traditional gender roles, although there were certain actions undertaken that involved a degree of alteration to these roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the interactions between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technology, to include artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and industry sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, delivery of consumer goods, and finance. The landscape of I4.0 technologies is reviewed. Interactions are studied through complex network analysis. Industry data from CrunchBase is used to study the application of I4.0 technology in different industries. The network of 543 industry categories as nodes had 1141 relationships. There were 26 key I4.0 nodes that emerged as network hubs. The relative use of I4.0 technology of companies was identified and interconnections between them were measured by network nodes and edges. Temporal analysis was obtained by dividing companies by date of formation. Some of the I4.0 technologies began to appear around 2000. Younger firms were found to have integrated significantly more I4.0 technologies, as expected. The research provides a review of I4.0 technologies by industry that can be used by management to see what competition is doing, and to generate ideas for maintaining or gaining competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality improvement and price-matching are two commonly used competing strategies by the retailers. However, it is still unclear how the retailers should deliberate over the two strategies when selling in both online and offline markets. In this paper, we consider two dual-channel retailers selling a substitutable product to consumers in both online and offline markets. Especially, the retailers compete in the online market, and their offline markets are exclusive to themselves. We establish a game-theoretical model to investigate the trade-off between quality improvement and price-matching in competition, and the impact on retailers' profits and consumer surplus in the dual-channel market structure. The analysis shows that, first, a retailer should choose to improve its quality to avoid price competition when the online market is small; second, when retailers engage in price competition, the retailer with larger offline market is more willing to adopt price-matching, while the retailer with a small share of offline market can be hurt; third, quality improvement can always increase the consumer surplus, while price-matching always hurts consumer surplus due to price collusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work considers the scheduling problem of continuous make-and-pack industries, including flexible intermediate storage vessels, aiming to provide better synchronisation of the production stages. A novel continuous-time, precedence-based, MILP model is developed for the problem under consideration. Mass balance constraints are cleverly satisfied using a continuous-time representation. Extending previously proposed precedence-based frameworks, flexible vessels are used for storing multiple intermediates of the same recipe. Furthermore, new efficient resource-constraints, related to generation and recycling of byproduct waste are introduced to consider additional benefits by their utilisation in the plant. A two-stage MILP-based solution strategy is proposed for the solution of real-life, large-scale industrial problem instances. Several case studies, inspired by consumer goods industries, are used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework. Results illustrate that the utilisation of intermediate buffers leads to a better synchronisation of the production stages and increased productivity, as unnecessary idle times, total waste and total plant costs are reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes may be associated with a wide range of criminal and terrorist activity as physical evidence. In this study, a carbon powder suspension formulation for the detection of latent fingermarks on the adhesive side of tapes was modified by using consumer products as alternative surfactant sources. The modified formulations were used to successfully develop latent fingermarks deposited on transparent adhesive tape. This project ultimately intends to establish the performance windows of the modified techniques to allow evidence-based decision-making during technical exploitation in contested and austere environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a better understanding of consumers' use of augmented reality (AR) apps by examining the (1) prevalence, (2) user characteristics, (3) gratifications, and (4) preference for AR, and (5) differences between a range of AR app types. To examine these aspects of consumer use, a survey (N = 1,978) was administered among a representative consumer sample, with participants ranging from 18 to 65 years old. This study provides an update on adoption of AR apps and an overview of the individual characteristics and gratifications that can enhance or limit (continued) use of AR apps. Findings may guide future AR research and give practitioners insights to employ AR apps that are of added value to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the value of the flexibility created by the transportation options in mitigating supply chain transportation risks. We accomplish this aim by developing an innovative computational model which uses the Real Option Valuation method to model the inner flexibility mechanism of the transportation options to choose between the Safety Net carrier and the spot market carrier on the basis of the actual conditions of the spot market (price, service level, and required transportation capacity), which is the foundation of the mitigation capability of transportation options. Through the case of a real supply chain of a large Fortune 100 multinational leader in the Fast Mover Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, we also investigate the implications of a transportation options response in case of several sources of uncertainties, namely transportation capacity shortage, price volatility and service level reliability. Findings of the application support the understanding of which conditions increase the value of flexibility of the transportation options and how much flexibility is attractive given the initial sunk cost to acquire it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannibalisation is still a concern for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) when they outsource remanufacturing operations to the authorised remanufacturers (ARs). In dealing with the cannibalisation in remanufacturing outsourcing, many OEMs (such as Sun, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Bosch Tools, and Gateway) use core collecting or remanufactured product remarketing. Motivated by examples from industry, we develop two models in which an OEM produces new products but outsources remanufacturing operations to a AR. The two potential strategies for dealing with the cannibalisation from remanufacturing outsourcing are: (1) collecting used cores from consumers, or (2) remarketing all remanufactured products to consumers. Among other results, we find that minimising cannibalisation problems does not equate with maximising profits. In particular, if the collection cost coefficient is not pronounced, the aggressive response by the OEM can effectively minimise the cannibalisation problems, but will reduce the profitability for the OEM on the other hand. Further, as the collection cost coefficient is moderate, remarketing remanufactured products can secure Pareto improvements. As such, we suggest that, practising managers should combine the cannibalisation problems of remanufacturing with the costs of collecting used cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding of how injuries occur plays an effective role in accident learning and prevention. Existing frameworks focus on crucial information but ignore their causal relationships, which can lead to an incomplete understanding of the injury process. In this study, the descriptive framework of injury data (DFID) is expanded and combined with accident causation models used to elaborate on the causality of each injury factor. Subsequently, the injury process description ontology (IPD-Onto) based on DFID (extension) is established through a seven-step method developed by Stanford University. The IPD-Onto divides injury cases into five unified classes and constructs the injury process through the object properties. The ontology-based description of the injury process (with causal relationships) provides additional description and interpretation capabilities that are understandable by human experts or computers. The results of the Protégé DL query show that the ontology-based method enables the machine to interpret the injury process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of franchise-driven consumption has created a social paradigm where branded symbols are overproduced across an endless array of consumer products. As a paradigm dependent on generating ever-more growth, we argue that transmedia production facilitates social modes which are inherently damaging to the environment. This is accomplished through an examination of the media mix of Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli, who despite praise from critics and educators for their deeply nuanced environmentalist themes, have heavily commodified their works through plastic merchandise and tourist destinations. While this research demonstrates the studio had already broadly adopted media mix promotion by the early aughts, following the studio's 2014 hiatus in film production, we show a distinct rise in transmedia communication and production of goods made of non-renewable resources. In light of this, we discuss the commodification of Ghibli's themes as a product of recuperation, adding to discussions of capitalism's penchant for co-opting its opposition. Of this instance, we examine the industrial dynamics that led to this specific increase, the cultural-economic paradigms of media mix that frame commodification as a natural extension of texts – despite dissonant values – and consider how contemporary media ecologies may offer any hope of imagining genuinely environmentally conscious societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential costs and consequences of a war between the United States and China over Taiwan. It highlights the economic disruptions that would occur, including trade disruptions, shortages of consumer goods, and rising prices. The authors also discuss the risks of escalation, including the possibility of China targeting the continental United States with nuclear or conventional weapons. They caution against underestimating the potential costs and risks involved in a war between great powers. [Extracted from the article]

One of the novelties brought into contemporary political economic analysis by the burgeoning growth model literature is that legitimacy is inherent to the politics of growth. However, the way popular legitimacy is understood in this literature remains limited to discursive acts, namely public discourse by state officials and political parties. We argue, instead, that growth model legitimation towards groups outside the dominant social bloc also includes material (re-)distribution measures. Furthermore, these measures may not necessarily be in line with growth requirements or with growth-model logic, and may even be counter-productive to those requirements. We demonstrate our arguments by analyzing the Israeli case, where legitimacy problems of an export-led growth model led the government to implement legitimacy-seeking policies that included the liberalization of consumer-goods imports and of credit for households and small business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In colonial Morocco, cinema was effectively dynamic in reflecting the interests and values of the dominant players in the film industry: Europeans. Colonial cinema was, thus, instrumental to Westerners, whereas Moroccans were at best consumers of the moving images or, when represented, seemed to be exotic, distorted and voiceless. This article explores the ways how colonial cinema visually produced the Moroccan native reality on the screen. By questioning the grammar of representation, the focus here is to see the extent to which colonial filmmakers were associated with the colonial project and were actually vulnerable in front of its demands and political dictates. The main argument is that colonial cinema—though pre-supposedly was about the extra-European reality—continued to articulate an orientalising discourse that regarded the native characters not beyond the limits of the colonial imaginary, but within its predefined boundaries. To understand how colonial cinema operates stylistically, it will be appropriate to analyse it in the light of Edward Said's theorisation of the concept of representation with respect to the Self/Other dichotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighteenth-century consumption is often characterised in terms of an expanding world of goods, one that reflected an increasingly complex web of global trading links and cultural associations. Some have seen a growing role for empire in shaping the provision of goods and the consciousness of consumers, especially in terms of groceries and textiles; others have argued that Europe, especially Italy and France, was predominant in the minds of retailers and their customers. In this article, I build on these studies by exploring the placenames with which a wide range of groceries and textiles were labelled in stock lists, newspaper advertisements and receipted bills. My concern is to examine the varied meanings that these placenames carried for retailers and consumers: sometimes indicating provenance, but often overlaying this with messages about the material qualities of the products. Rather than mapping actual patterns of supply, therefore, the analysis opens up the mental geographies that helped shopkeepers and consumers to comprehend the world of goods available to them. In doing so, it provides important insights into England's changing position in the eighteenth-century world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines consumer perceptions about the official merchandise of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a leader in global sports entertainment. The goals of the study were to extend the Meanings of Sport Licensed Products (MSLP) scale (Papadimitriou & Apostolopoulou, 2018) to the sport entertainment domain and test the reliability and validity of the adapted scale and to propose a segmentation scheme of WWE consumers based on the meanings they attribute to the WWE products they own. The sample included United States-based shoppers of the online WWE store. A total of 1211 surveys were collected through an online questionnaire that captured information about consumers' demographic profile and WWE identification levels, the official WWE merchandise they owned and post-purchase satisfaction, product meanings attributed to WWE items, and behavioral intentions. Data analysis included Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis as well as regression analysis. The result of this research is the Meanings of Sport Entertainment Licensed Products (MSeLP) scale, a 21-item reliable and valid instrument comprised of four dimensions of product meaning: identification and connectedness, experience, esthetics and personal history. This study further explores relationships between product meanings and four outcome variables (identification with WWE, number of items owned, word-of-mouth and future buying behavior) and proposes three distinct clusters of sport entertainment consumers based on the meanings they attribute to their possessions ('rationals,' 'vested' and 'enthusiastic'). Those involved in the development, positioning and sale of licensed products in the sport entertainment domain would benefit from an understanding of the meanings that consumers attach to their possessions, especially meanings related to identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how a firm strategically manages the characteristics of a menu of three-part tariff to maximize its profit while consumers self-select the products. As the unit price designed for low-type segments and fixed fee as a function of free allowance increases, the firm can make a higher profit by offering more quantity units to its low segment customers. These two dynamic forces also shape the information rent, which is generated due to an information asymmetry, and hence reduced. Thus, this condition will eventually mitigate the issue of cannibalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most carbon monoxide poisoning is preventable. Tracking of longitudinal trends in carbon monoxide-related mortality is needed to guide public health efforts. This study sought to describe mortality in the United States from carbon monoxide poisoning, examine the epidemiology of unintentional ("accidental") and intentional exposures, and identify trends in both. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wonder databases were utilized to extract online data from National Center for Health Statistics files containing mortality data in the United States from 2015-2021. Extracted were deaths, crude death rates, intent of exposure, and demographics of persons dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, excluding cases related to fires. Also extracted was the number of suicidal deaths of all types. Carbon monoxide deaths related to consumer products were obtained from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Information on state legislation mandating residential carbon monoxide alarms was obtained from online resources. Total carbon monoxide deaths decreased from 1,253 in 2015 to 1,067 in 2021. An increase in accidental poisoning deaths was offset by a larger decrease in intentional deaths, despite an increase in suicides of all types in the country. For the first time in the United States, accidental carbon monoxide deaths (543) outnumbered intentional deaths (524) in 2021. The increase in accidental deaths is consistent with those recently reported from carbon monoxide-emitting consumer products by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Furthermore, even though over one-half of accidental deaths occurred at home, no evidence of a protective effect of state laws requiring residential carbon monoxide alarms was seen. Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning deaths increased from 2015-2021 for the first time in four decades. Exploration of the possibility they are due to consumer products warrants attention and prevention efforts. We were unable to demonstrate the preventive effect of residential carbon monoxide alarm legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the space of two years, selling cannabis in Canada went from being a criminalized activity to an essential service. However, the broad recognition of its relative safety compared with other intoxicants and potential medical benefits are outpacing regulatory strategies to manage its responsible use. The paradoxical normalization of cannabis is based on its contested legal, moral, and cultural status. This paper makes three contributions. First, based on secondary data analysis, we present qualitative data from cannabis insiders in the province of British Columbia (B.C.), focused on their perceptions of cannabis as medicine, consumer good, and nuisance crime. Second, we consider tolerance and aversion related to cannabis normalization by linking the perceptions of these insiders with past and recent research. Finally, we argue that the lack of legal spaces to consume cannabis exacerbates concerns about impaired driving, nuisance crime, and stigmatization. Applying levels of stigma to areas of cannabis liberalization can assist efforts to describe the paradoxes of normalization. These appear to result from older protection-based policies, which may have the effect of prolonging what they seek to disrupt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertising both builds upon and benefits from the relationship between consumers and brands. In three longitudinal studies this research explores the cultivation and effects of this relationship and demonstrates that, when consumers are in an exchange relationship with a brand, ownership duration leads to higher self–brand connection, which subsequently translates into heightened brand valuation. In contrast, this effect is not observed for consumers in a communal brand relationship (Study 1). Further, results show that brand singularization, operationalized as content strategies that engage consumers to provide product reviews (Study 2) or to create consumer-generated advertisements (Study 3), enhances the effect of brand relationship norms, especially when the norm is exchange in nature. Our findings provide important insights to help advertisers design advertising campaigns that use brand relationship norms and singularization to engage consumers and subsequently increase brand valuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper synthesises the existing research on the influence of key product characteristics on the consumers' food decision-making. By applying network analysis on a sample of 233 empirical studies from the last three decades, the paper demonstrates how marketing-specific variables are embedded in a network of other predictors. The paper also analyses network structure and density using well established measures. The results show that there is still a lack of research concerning the interplay between marketing-relevant extrinsic product attributes (e.g. price, brand, labelling, country of origin) and intrinsic food attributes, policy-related factors, as well as aspects of the proximal and distal environment. The paper identifies gaps in the marketing literature and derives research propositions. Additionally, implications for marketing practice are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the channel structure and pricing problem of a two-echelon supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. There are four common channel structures: (1) traditional retail channel, (2) the retailer's traditional and online channel, (3) traditional retail channel and the manufacturer's online channel, (4) traditional retail channel and online channel of a manufacturer and a retailer. Four Models (Model R, Model RD, Model MR, and Model MRD) are established and analysed based on four channel structures. Considering the influence of logistic services on consumers' channel choice, this paper uses Stackelberg game and consumer utility function to analyse the profit of the manufacturer, the retailer and the whole supply chain, and obtains the optimal channel strategy of the manufacturer and the retailer in the four models. In addition, our study also finds that First, the manufacturer's online channel opening can indirectly stimulate consumers to buy products in the traditional retail channel, which increases the demand for traditional retail channel. Second, the manufacturer's online channel is more conducive to improving the profit of the whole supply chain than the retailer's online channel under the dual channel structure. Third, multiple channels consisting of traditional retail channel and online channel of the manufacturer and the retailer can provide consumers with the lowest retail price, which is most beneficial to the retailer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand how a brand's price level, relative to its competitors, will affect consumers' responses to price changes of the brand. The study uses experiments to examine brand choice responses to price increases and decreases across contexts differing in competitor brands and their respective prices. These experiments are conducted with six consumer goods categories. The research identifies three key factors that affect the size of responses to brand price changes – (1) passing a competitor brand's price, (2) narrowing versus widening the price gaps with competitors, and (3) whether competitors are predominantly higher or lower priced brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant number of ads showcase products with their shadows cast in the background. Given that shadows are characteristically dark and that previous research documents a positive link between darkness and heaviness, the current work proposes and documents that consumers evaluate a product to be heavier when it is advertised with (versus without) its shadow. Particularly, when heaviness is a desired product attribute, consumers exhibit a greater preference for the product advertised with (versus without) its shadow due to enhanced product heaviness perceptions. However, when heaviness is an undesirable product attribute, presence (versus absence) of the product shadow in an ad lowers consumers' product preference. Also, the authors show that when heaviness is a desirable product attribute, the positive effect of shadow on consumer product preference attenuates when explicit associations of product heaviness are provided using verbal cues. Findings from the current research provide actionable guidelines for managers to help them use product shadows effectively in advertising for an intended impact on consumer product preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are growing discussions of social media influencers and their effectiveness in endorsing products. Further, recent policy regulations are requiring social media influencers to disclose sponsored content when using a form of native advertising. This research examined the effect of macro-influencers (high likes) and micro-influencers (low likes) and their disclosure of native advertising sponsorship on consumer evaluations of products. Results from a 2 × 2 experiment first show that consumers exposed to the micro-influencer condition report higher levels of product knowledge, and consumers exposed to the disclosure condition reported the products endorsed by social media influencers to be more attractive. The results also show that when exposed to micro-influencers who disclose, consumers have higher levels of purchase intentions than when exposed to macro-influencers who do not disclose, as well as higher purchase intentions than for posts where sponsorship is not disclosed by influencers. The important findings of this research for theory, practice and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to research on advertising effectiveness by investigating the combined influence of ad headlines and visual patterns in the ad on consumer product evaluations. Headlines can convey motion (e.g., "move," "quick"); when the associated ad features a regular visual pattern, it evokes stronger product evaluations than if it depicts an irregular visual pattern. Thus, the way the advertised products are aligned visually represents critical decisions for ad designers. As Study 1 reveals, if the regular visual pattern of an advertisement combines with verbal information conveying motion, stronger product evaluations result compared with the use of an irregular visual pattern. Study 2 extends these findings by demonstrating that a regular pattern creates mental simulation, such that consumers imagine themselves experiencing the product, which mediates the relationship between visual patterns and product evaluations. Study 3 uses text mining and image annotation analyses to provide ecological validity for the findings, corroborating them in the context of brand messages on Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gray market occurs when a product is diverted from a market to another without the authorisation of the manufacturer. Conventional wisdom believes that (a) the manufacturer should increase product quality as consumer valuation increases, (b) gray market dilutes the manufacturer's incentive to invest in quality, (c) gray products flow from a low-value market to a high-value one, and (d) the manufacturer can decrease product differentiation across regions to curb gray diversion. This paper provides another look by analysing a game-theoretic model wherein one manufacturer sells a product in two markets, a high-value market and a low-value one, each of which contains one single authorised retailer. Using a game-theoretic approach, we find that (a) in the absence of a gray market, the manufacturer may decrease product quality as consumer valuation increases, (b) a unilateral gray market, which diverts products from the low- to the high-value market, can motivate the manufacturer to improve quality, (c) there may exist two gray markets simultaneously: one diverts products from the low- to the high-value market, and the other occurs along the reverse direction, and (d) when quality can be differentiated across markets, the manufacturer might increase quality differentiation in order to manage gray market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online consumers being allowed to return unsatisfied products to any store prevails in the omnichannel retailing context. Retailers increasingly implement a store return option to offer consumers a seamless shopping experience. This paper develops a newsvendor model of a retailer selling its products to consumers through both online and offline channels. Consumers can return unsatisfied products to the retailer for a full refund, and the returned items can be resold as refurbished products in the circular economy era. Utilising the game theory, the retailer's optimal ordering and pricing decisions are obtained under the benchmark scenario and omnichannel strategy. From the analytical results and numerical analysis, we examine the effects of implementing a store return option on the retailer under omnichannel retailing. The main results show that after implementing store return, (i) the optimal price of the new product remains unchanged, while the price of refurbished items may decrease in a certain condition; (ii) the optimal order quantity of the online channel increases, while that of the store decreases; (iii) in most conditions, store return strategy can achieve a win-win outcome. Specifically, consumers can enjoy more services without paying extra costs and retailer makes higher profit by implementing this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on e-commerce has focused on deliberate rational cognition, yet research in psychology and marketing suggests that buying decisions may also be influenced by priming (a form of what Information Systems researchers have called digital nudging). We conducted seven experiments to investigate the impact of two types of priming (numeric priming and semantic priming) delivered through what appeared to be advertisements on an e-commerce website. We found that numeric priming had a small but significant effect on consumers' willingness to pay when the value of the product was unclear, but had no effect when products displayed a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) or a fixed selling price. Semantic priming had larger effects on willingness to pay and the effects were significant but smaller in the presence of an MSRP. Thus, the combination of numeric and semantic priming has a larger impact on consumers' willingness to pay. Taken together, these experiments show that some of the research on numeric priming and semantic priming done in offline settings generalizes to e-commerce settings, but there are important boundary conditions to their effects in e-commerce that have not been noted in offline settings. In online auctions (e.g., eBay), sellers can influence customers to pay more for products whose value is unclear by displaying products with clearly labelled high prices alongside the products the consumer searched for. However, such tactics will have only minimal effects for auctions of products whose price is known (e.g., those with an MSRP) and no effects on products with clearly listed prices (e.g., Amazon). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the brown products are losing market coverage to their green alternatives due to consumers' increasing environmental awareness. Confronted with this threat, many traditional manufacturers currently producing only brown product are contemplating the launch of green product. Base on this background, this paper explores the optimal product choice for the manufacturer. We first derive the optimal results for each product choice. Then we analyse the optimal product choice for the manufacturer. Next, we study how to induce the production of green product. Finally, the fraudulent behaviour on product's environmental attributes is addressed. Main findings are as follows. First, manufacturer's optimal product choice is to produce green product if the investment-to-value ratio and the unit production cost for green product are low and to produce brown product if the investment-to-value ratio and the unit production cost for green product are high. Second, the two-part tariff contract is applicable to stimulate the manufacturer to produce green product under certain conditions. While exterior intervention is necessary under other conditions. Third, when the manufacturer and the retailer diverge in product preference, the manufacturer has a strong incentive to behave fraudulently, and this type of manufacturer needs strict supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dilemmas and tensions of the Sino-Soviet relationship in the 1950s were reproduced in Guinea-Conakry in the 1960s in the era of Decolonization. Socialist advisers brought their 'Agreements on Scientific and Technical Collaboration' as well as their socialist assumptions and activities to both China in the 1950s and Guinea-Conakry after 1958. By examining the socialist advisers' activities, this article reveals that in both cases the advisers were inordinately interested in raw materials and consumer products in a way reminiscent of the colonial heritage. In both China and Guinea-Conakry, advisers were often domineering, generally privileged and sometimes even chauvinist. Instead of taking responsibility for the weaknesses of the socialist system, in both China and West Africa the advisers blamed their southern partners for the deteriorating relationship, and associated them with planning failures, inefficiency, incompetence, 'demagoguery' and authoritarian tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Product of Canada label can be used on food if all major ingredients are grown or raised in Canada and the product is processed in a Canadian facility. A Made in Canada label is permissible when the final processing step occurs in Canada. Using survey data, we examine whether Canadian consumers understand the difference between these labels, their effectiveness as quality cues, and the relative importance of country-of-origin labels. A best-worst scaling experiment reveals a positive response to origin labels in general, and a Product of Canada label in particular. Nevertheless, few consumers understand the meaning of the labels or the difference between them. Probit regression models find little evidence of a relationship between valuing the source of ingredients or location of processing and choosing Product of Canada or Made in Canada labels. Consumers may be responding to the "Canadianness" of the labels, rather than what the labels signify. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]