How should physicians set prices for individual service and team-based service in the online environment? A view from the price difference (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Lu ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
Chao Li ◽  
Qing Luo ◽  
Lichun Fan

BACKGROUND Price which has a significant effect on consumers’ exchanging value perception plays a decisive role in the product market. Different from the traditional medical market, the online medical market allows physicians considerable discretion in setting prices of their services, which begin to be paid close attention to. Physicians face a challenge with the introduction of various service styles. Some studies have begun to examine the role of price in the online medical service environment, however, limited studies have explored them in both individual and team-based contexts. OBJECTIVE Guided by transaction utility theory and price fairness, this study aims to investigate the influence of pricing strategy on service demands from the price difference perspective by focusing on two typical service models: individual service and team-based service. Moreover, team characteristics (response speed and team size) are also considered. METHODS The data collection was conducted in March 2018 and repeated in May 2018, and physicians who provide both individual service and team-based service are included in our study. Finally, a dataset consisting of 1,100 teams with 1,100 physician leaders from 14 departments such as obstetrics and gynaecology department were collected from an online medical platform in China were included. RESULTS Empirical results support most of our hypotheses. A negative influence of team-based price has been got (β = -0.282, p < 0.000). As a substitute service, higher individual service price will make patients turn to the team-based service (β = 0.164, p < 0.000). Moreover, individual service price negatively moderates the relationship between team-based service price and demands (β = -0.036, p < 0.05). By calculating the price difference between individual service price and team-based service price, we find a negative role of the price difference in affecting patient purchase decisions (β = -0.085, p < 0.05). Although we did not find a significant effect of team size, a quick response can attract more patients (β = 0.174, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Price fairness provides a proper framework for understanding pricing strategy in individual and team-based service in an online environment. Understanding the effects of prices from a price difference perspective has both theoretical and practical contributions. Specifically, this study contributes to knowledge on price fairness, online medical platforms, and virtual teams, and provides management suggestions.

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 710-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Nguyen ◽  
Juan (Gloria) Meng

Purpose This research aims to examine how source of funds (paying with company’s funds versus personal funds) affects buyer’s judgments of price fairness and via these judgments, buyer’s response to prices. Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based experiment is used (N = 200). To test the hypotheses, the authors run moderated mediation regression analyses with the help of the PROCESS macro. Findings Drawing on fairness heuristics theory, the authors hypothesize and find that relative to when paying with personal funds, when paying with company’s funds, the perceived price difference plays a less significant role, whereas the perceived social acceptability of the pricing practice underlying the price difference plays a more important role in shaping price fairness judgments and, via these judgments, buyer’s response to prices. Practical implications The findings generate advice for companies that serve both the business and personal segments (e.g. airlines and hotels). Buyers in the personal segment typically pay with their own money. To persuade these buyers that a price is fair, it is crucial to show that the price represents a good deal for them. Buyers in the business segment often pay with company’s fund. Companies have more flexibility in charging different prices, but they should make sure that the reasons for the price difference are socially acceptable. Originality/value This research shows how the relative role of price difference versus social acceptability in price fairness judgments varies as a function of source of funds and how an inconsistency between price difference and its economic impact affects price fairness judgments.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley R. Staats ◽  
Katherine L. Milkman ◽  
Craig Fox
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
R. A. Orekhov ◽  

There is a common point of view in Egyptology that Memphis was a state capital since the earliest times and that its protecting gods were Ptah and his spouse Sekhmet. Arguing this concept, the author tries to find the reason why a pyramid city of Pepi I — Mennefer — became a core of the future capital. The main conclusion is following: Constructing his pyramid complex, Pepi I probably included into it a cult center of Habes where Bastet and Imhotep, a high priest of Ra, were worshiped. Imhotep, a companion of the king Djoser, was known as a priest and charmer who tamed the fiery forces of Sirius associated with Bastet, after which the great drought was over. To commemorate this, New Year celebration and the first sun calendar were established. Imhotep’s tomb became an important cult place, where ceremonies important for surviving of the Egyptian state were conducted. In the second half of the Old Kingdom period the Nile started to flood much less, which led to the decline of agriculture. Thus, the role of the cult center of Habes and Imhotep grew greatly. By including Habes, Pepi protected the dominion of his pyramid city from negative influence of Bastet and decreased flooding. The fact that Mennefer was a successor of the aforementioned cult center determined its capital functions in future.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802199178
Author(s):  
Nan Liu

In housing markets there is a trade-off between selling time and selling price, with pricing strategy being the balancing act between the two. Motivated by the Home Report scheme in Scotland, this paper investigates the role of information symmetry played in such a trade-off. Empirically, this study tests if sellers’ pricing strategy changes when more information becomes available and whether this, in turn, affects the trade-off between the selling price and selling time. Using housing transaction data of North-East Scotland between 1998Q2 and 2018Q2, the findings show that asking price has converged to the predicted price of the property since the introduction of the Home Report. While information transparency reduces the effect of ‘overpricing’ on selling time, there is little evidence to show that it reduces the impact of pricing strategy on the final selling price in the sealed-bid context.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104649642199789
Author(s):  
Patrícia L. Costa ◽  
Lisa Handke ◽  
Thomas A. O’Neill

Team virtuality has been mostly conceptualized as structural features, such as the percentage of time team members communicate via technology. However, the perception of distance and of information deficits (team perceived virtuality, TPV) may be an indispensable construct to understand virtual teams’ functioning. The lockdowns imposed on most countries due to COVID-19 created virtual teams with high degrees of structural virtuality. With structural virtuality held constant among teams, we explore configurations of work characteristics (autonomy, interdependence, and organizational support) that influence TPV. With a sample of 296 multinational workers, a Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles of those work characteristics. Those profiles related differently to TPV. Contrary to previous findings, interdependence seems to play an important role in these teams high in structural virtuality when their autonomy is also high, highlighting the pivotal role of frequent interaction among team members, under conditions of high structural virtuality.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 158 (3) ◽  
pp. 1027-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cletus A D'Souza ◽  
Bee Na Lee ◽  
Thomas H Adams

Abstract We showed previously that a ΔfluG mutation results in a block in Aspergillus nidulans asexual sporulation and that overexpression of fluG activates sporulation in liquid-submerged culture, a condition that does not normally support sporulation of wild-type strains. Here we demonstrate that the entire N-terminal region of FluG (∼400 amino acids) can be deleted without affecting sporulation, indicating that FluG activity resides in the C-terminal half of the protein, which bears significant similarity with GSI-type glutamine synthetases. While FluG has no apparent role in glutamine biosynthesis, we propose that it has an enzymatic role in sporulation factor production. We also describe the isolation of dominant suppressors of ΔfluG(dsg) that should identify components acting downstream of FluG and thereby define the function of FluG in sporulation. The dsgA1 mutation also suppresses the developmental defects resulting from ΔflbA and dominant activating fadA mutations, which both cause constitutive induction of the mycelial proliferation pathway. However, dsgA1 does not suppress the negative influence of these mutations on production of the aflatoxin precursor, sterigmatocystin, indicating that dsgA1 is specific for asexual development. Taken together, our studies define dsgA as a novel component of the asexual sporulation pathway.


Fibers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Gryta

Only nonwetted porous membranes can be used in membrane distillation. The possibility of application in this process the capillary polypropylene membranes manufactured by thermally-induced phase separation was studied. The performance of a few types of membranes available commercially was presented. The resistance of the membranes to wetting was tested in the continuous process of water desalination. These studies were carried out for 1000 h without module cleaning. The presence of scaling layer on the membranes surface was confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscope observations. Both the permeate flux and distillate conductivity were almost not varied after the studied period of time, what indicates that the used membranes maintained their nonwettability, and the negative influence of scaling was limited. The role of surface porosity on the pore wetting and influence of membrane wettability on the quality of the distillate obtained were discussed.


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