scholarly journals Optimal Pricing and Service Investment of Home-Sharing Platforms in a Duopoly Market

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Yingna Li ◽  
Pengfei Ma

In this paper, we construct a fully covered duopoly market model. In this market, two home-sharing platforms provide differentiated rental services to consumers, respectively, and each platform has two strategies: short-term rental strategy and long-term rental strategy. This paper studies the pricing decisions and service investment of home-sharing platforms in a competitive market. The results show that, in the market equilibrium, how the platform chooses the strategy largely depends on the service quality of competitors. Specifically, when the difference in service quality is small, it is better for the two platforms to adopt the short-term rental strategy; otherwise, the two platforms are more inclined to adopt the long-term rental strategy. We also find that the commission rate and service cost will also affect the profitability of the platform. Finally, we extend the model to the uncovered market.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Na Duan ◽  
Zhizhi Dong ◽  
Xiyou Qi

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of common goldenrop decoction combined with ramuli cinnamomi decoction in the treatment of patients with insomnia during the period of the day from 11 PM to 3 AM. Methods: 80 patients with insomnia during the period of the day from 11 PM to 3 AM were randomly divided into control group and intervention group. The control group was treated with 1 mg of estazolam tablets at 9 PM every night; while the intervention group was given common goldenrop decoction combined with ramuli cinnamomi decoction based on the estazolam tablets. After 2 weeks of treatment and after 2 weeks of withdrawal, the improvement in sleep was observed. Results: After 2 weeks of treatment, the efficacy of the intervention group (97.5%) was significantly higher than that of the control group (75.0%). The difference was statistically significant. After 2 weeks of withdrawal, the intervention group still had an effective rate of 87.5%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (55.0%). Conclusion: common goldenrop decoction combined with ramuli cinnamomi decoction can improve the short-term and long-term sleep quality of patients with insomnia during the period of the day from 11 PM to 3 AM.


Author(s):  
Dr. Simon Hudson ◽  
Louise Hudson

Service quality has been increasingly identified as a key factor in differentiating service products and building a competitive advantage in tourism. The process by which customers evaluate a purchase, thereby determining satisfaction and likelihood of repurchase, is important to all marketers, but especially to services marketers because, unlike their manufacturing counterparts, they have fewer objective measures of quality by which to judge their production. Service quality can be defined as customers’ perceptions of the service component of a product, and these perceptions are said to be based on five dimensions: reliability, assurance, empathy, responsiveness, and tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Many researchers believe that an outgrowth of service quality is customer satisfaction, measured as the difference between the service that a customer expects and the perceived quality of what is actually delivered (Reichheld & Sasser, 1990). Satisfying customers has always been a key component of the tourism industry, but never before has it been so critical. In these uncertain times, and with increased competition, knowing how to win and keep customers is the single most important business skill that anyone can learn. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are the keys to long-term profitability, and keeping the customer happy is everybody’s business. Becoming customer-centered and exceeding customer expectations are requirements for business success. Well-publicized research shows that companies can increase profits from 25 to 85 per cent by retaining just five per cent more of their customers (Reichheld & Sasser, 1990), and research indicates that merely ‘satisfying’ customers is no longer enough to ensure loyalty (Heskett et al., 1997). This means that it is not enough just to please customers. Each customer should become so delighted with all elements of their association with an organization that buying from someone else is unthinkable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470492199833
Author(s):  
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair ◽  
Trond Viggo Grøntvedt ◽  
Mons Bendixen

In several recent papers the sex difference in regret predicted by sexual strategies theory has been supported: men more than women report regret passing up short-term sexual opportunities (inaction regret), while women regret having had sexual encounters (action regret). However, the adaptive function of regret, to improve future behavioral choices, has not been tested. In this first longitudinal test of behavioral change following regret, we consider whether regret actually results in adaptive shifts of behavior: will men who regret passing up sex engage in more short-term sex following regret? Will women who regret short-term encounters either choose better quality partners, reduce number of one-night stands or shift their strategy to long-term relationships? Across two waves (NT1 = 399, 65.4% women and NT2 = 222, 66.2% women) students responded to questions about casual sex action regret and inaction regret, along with possible outcomes, intrapersonal traits, and concurrent contextual predictors. There was no clear evidence for the proposed functional shifts in sexual behavior. Casual sex regret was associated with respondent sex and stable individual differences, such as sociosexual attitudes, regret processing and metacognitions, but the effect of these predictors were not consistent across the two waves. Among the tested concurrent contextual predictors, sexual disgust was the most consistent across waves. Regret is considered a gauge of the value and quality of the short-term sexual encounter. However, tentatively we conclude that after this first test of function using longitudinal data, we find no evidence of a mating strategy shifting effect following sexual regret.


BMJ ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 328 (7441) ◽  
pp. 673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Schroter ◽  
Nick Black ◽  
Stephen Evans ◽  
James Carpenter ◽  
Fiona Godlee ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective To determine the effects of training on the quality of peer review.Design Single blind randomised controlled trial with two intervention groups receiving different types of training plus a control group.Setting and participants Reviewers at a general medical journal.Interventions Attendance at a training workshop or reception of a self taught training package focusing on what editors want from reviewers and how to critically appraise randomised controlled trials.Main outcome measures Quality of reviews of three manuscripts sent to reviewers at four to six monthly intervals, evaluated using the validated review quality instrument; number of deliberate major errors identified; time taken to review the manuscripts; proportion recommending rejection of the manuscripts.Results Reviewers in the self taught group scored higher in review quality after training than did the control group (score 2.85 v 2.56; difference 0.29, 95% confidence interval 0.14 to 0.44; P = 0.001), but the difference was not of editorial significance and was not maintained in the long term. Both intervention groups identified significantly more major errors after training than did the control group (3.14 and 2.96 v 2.13; P < 0.001), and this remained significant after the reviewers' performance at baseline assessment was taken into account. The evidence for benefit of training was no longer apparent on further testing six months after the interventions. Training had no impact on the time taken to review the papers but was associated with an increased likelihood of recommending rejection (92% and 84% v 76%; P = 0.002).Conclusions Short training packages have only a slight impact on the quality of peer review. The value of longer interventions needs to be assessed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezekiel Taiwo Adebayo ◽  
Bola Ayodele Adesina ◽  
Lilian Ejije Ahaji ◽  
Nurudeen Ayoola Hussein

Dental care services are available in many urban communities worldwide where discerning and sophisticated clients expect quality care. Many available studies evaluated satisfaction rather than quality of dental care; others did not reveal the patients’ perception of gaps in the quality of care. Service quality (SERVQUAL) tool assesses quality of service based on the dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy as described by Parasuraman et al. (1985). The aim of this study was to assess the gaps in quality of dental care in a Nigerian government owned dental clinic using an unweighted SERVQUAL tool to determine the difference between expectations and perceptions of patients. Consenting patients seen during the study period were given a 32-items questionnaire divided equally between expectations and perception of quality of dental care services received. Out of 112 questionnaires analysed, patients had the most expectation for neatness (4.69 ± 0.85) and least for pain free treatment (3.76 ± 1.16). Highest perception was for knowledgeable clinic staff (4.34 ± 0.71) while support to enable staff work well was the least perceived quality (3.73 ± 0.86). Overall, among the 5 dimensions of quality, there were marked statistically significant quality gaps in assurance (p = .0001) and tangibles (p = .0006). This study showed that patients in a Nigerian government-owned dental clinic, there is need for greater attention to be paid to assurance, tangibles and reliability dimensions of service quality to improve patient perceptions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (67) ◽  
pp. 1-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Westwood ◽  
Bram Ramaekers ◽  
Shona Lang ◽  
Nigel Armstrong ◽  
Caro Noake ◽  
...  

BackgroundAllergy is a form of immune-mediated exaggerated sensitivity (hypersensitivity) to a substance that is either inhaled, swallowed, injected or comes into contact with the skin. Foreign substances that provoke allergies are called allergens. It has been claimed that multiplex allergen testing may help in diagnosing the cause of symptoms in patients with an unclear cause of allergy or who are allergic to more than one substance.ObjectivesTo evaluate multiplex allergen testing [devices that can measure the presence of multiple immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in a patient’s blood at the same time], by assessing (1) clinical effectiveness (allergy symptoms, incidence of acute exacerbations, mortality, adverse events of testing and treatment, health-care presentations or admissions, health-related quality of life); (2) effects on treatment (diet, immunotherapy medications, other potential testing); (3) any additional diagnostic information provided by multiplex allergen testing; and (4) cost-effectiveness (cost of different assessment strategies).MethodsFifteen databases were searched from 2005 to April 2015, including MEDLINE (via OvidSp), MEDLINE In-Process Citations, MEDLINE Daily Update, PubMed (National Library of Medicine), EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, Science Citation Index (SCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S), BIOSIS Previews, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HTA programme, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); supplementary searches of conference proceedings and trials registries were performed. Review methods followed published guidance from the Cochrane Collaboration and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, UK. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using appropriate published tools or a review-specific tool designed by the project team. Studies were summarised in a narrative synthesis. Owing to a lack of data on the clinical effectiveness of multiplex allergen testing, no long-term cost-effectiveness model was developed. A conceptual model structure was developed and cost analyses were performed to examine the short-term costs of various possible diagnostic pathways.ResultsFifteen studies were included in the review. The very limited available data indicated that the addition of multiplex allergen testing [ImmunoCAP®Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip (ISAC), Thermo Fisher Scientific/Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden] to standard diagnostic work-up can change the clinicians’ views on the diagnosis, management and treatment of patients. There was some indication that the use of ImmunoCAP ISAC testing may be useful to guide decisions on the discontinuation of restrictive diets, the content of allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) prescriptions, and whether or not patients should receive SIT. However, none of the studies that we identified reported any information on clinical outcomes subsequent to changes in treatment or management. There was some evidence that ImmunoCAP ISAC may be useful for discriminating allergens that are structurally similar and are recognised by the same IgE antibody (cross-immunoreactive). No data were available for Microtest (Microtest Matrices Ltd, London, UK). Detailed cost analyses suggested that multiplex allergen testing would have to result in a substantial reduction of the proportions of patients receiving single IgE testing and oral food challenge tests in order to be cost-saving in the short term.ConclusionsNo recommendations for service provision can be made based on the analyses included in this report. It is suggested that a consensus-based protocol for the use of multiplex allergen testing be developed. The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the proposed protocol should then be assessed by comparing long-term clinical and quality of life outcomes and resource use in patients managed using the protocol with those managed using a standard diagnostic pathway.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42015019739.FundingThis project was a Diagnostic Assessment Report commissioned by the NIHR HTA programme on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42
Author(s):  
Maria Anna Stefanie ◽  
Badikenita Sitepu

In order to compete, survive, and grow the company is required to provide a good quality services to meet the needs and desires of its customers. Companies must be able to maintain a good reputation in the eyes of its customers. A good quality services will tend to give more satisfaction to the customers who use the services of the company. With emphasis on good service it will build a long-term profitable relationships with customers while also achieving customer loyalty. Therefore, this study is aiming to determine the importance of the impact of service quality, trust and customer satisfaction at PT Mega Manunggal Tbk Property in an effort to improve customer loyalty which will affect the company's survival. A questionnaire distribution method chosen in this study is to collect primary data. Completed questionnaires designed and distributed or disseminated to all customers. SPSS for windows has been used to process the primary data.Thefindings showed that there is a significant relationship between service quality and customer loyalty, meaning that if the quality of service increases, customer loyalty will also increase.There is a significant influence between customer trust and customerloyalty,meaning that if the customer trust increases, customer loyalty will also increase.


Author(s):  
Julia B. Griswold ◽  
Aditya Medury ◽  
Robert J. Schneider ◽  
Offer Grembek

Expansion factors based on the trends in long-term count data are useful tools for estimating daily, weekly, or annual volumes from short-term counts, but it is unclear how to differentiate locations by activity pattern. This paper compares two approaches to developing factor groups for hour-to-week pedestrian count expansion factors. The land use (LU) classification approach assumes that surrounding LUs affect the pedestrian activity at a location, and it is easy to apply to short-term count locations based on identifiable attributes of the site. The empirical clustering (EC) approach uses statistical methods to match locations based on the actual counts, which may produce more accurate volume estimates, but presents a challenge for determining which factor group to apply to a location. We found that both the LU and EC approaches provided better weekly pedestrian volume estimates than the single factor approach of taking the average of all locations. Further, the differences between LU and EC estimation errors were modest, so it may be beneficial to use the intuitive and practical LU approach. LU groupings can also be modified with insights from the EC results, thus improving estimates while maintaining the ease of application. Ideal times for short-term counts are during peak activity periods, as they generally produce estimates with fewer errors than off-peak periods. Weekly volume estimated from longer-duration counts (e.g., 12 h) is generally more accurate than estimates from shorter-duration counts (e.g., 2 h). Practitioners can follow this guidance to improve the quality of weekly pedestrian volume estimates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Elena S. Akarachkova ◽  
◽  
Anton A. Beliaev ◽  
Dmitrii V. Blinov ◽  
Evgenii V. Bugorskii ◽  
...  

World Health Organization declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Fear of illness, self-isolation/quarantine, and reduced quality of life dramatically increased the prevalence of stress-related disorders in the population. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the preventive health-care measures aimed at short-term and long-term COVID-19 pandemic consequences reduction and promotion of social stability.


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