Information Preference and Information Supply Efficiency Evaluation before, during, and after an Earthquake: Evidence from Songyuan, China

Efficient risk communication is aimed at improving the supply of risk information to meet the information needs of individuals, thus reducing their vulnerability when facing the risk of emergency. There is little information available in the literature regarding information preference from an individual’s need perspective, and there is a lack of differentiation in evaluation between information need and supply. Under the guidance of the crisis stage analysis theory, using multiple response analysis and weighted analysis methods, this study explores earthquake disaster information content and communication channel preferences, and develops an information deviation index (IDI) to evaluate the efficiency of risk communication before, during, and after an earthquake. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, which had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was conducted to provide practical evidence for this study. The results indicated the following. Firstly, the information needs of individuals are highly differentiated in the different stages of an earthquake. From pre-disaster to post-disaster, individuals show a shift in information need from “preparedness and response knowledge” to “disaster information”, then to “disaster information and disaster relief information” in parallel, to “reconstruction and reflection information”. Based on the above analysis, a composition of the main earthquake disaster information is proposed for different stages. Secondly, by measuring the values of the IDI, we found that most individuals’ information needs were met for the earthquake. Thirdly, the TV and the internet were the two preferred commutation channels for acquiring disaster information from among all the effective channels in all the stages.

Pricing and Coordination Strategies of Dual Channels Considering Consumers’ Channel Preferences

With the rapid development of electronic commerce, consumers can freely buy the same product from a manufacturers’ Internet channel or a resellers’ physical channel. Based on the consumers’ channel preferences, this article classifies consumers into three types and investigates the price decision in a dual-channel supply chain using a Stackelberg game, which assumes that the manufacturer, as the game leader, first sets the wholesale price, then the reseller decides the retail price, according to the wholesale price. Furthermore, some numerical experiments are developed to investigate the impact of consumer acceptance, the degree of customer loyalty, and the proportion of identical shoppers on prices and profits. The results show that whether both the retail price and the wholesale price rise or fall depends on a combination of the cost of the physical channel and the Internet shopper’s acceptance of the Internet channel. The reseller’s profit is always lower than the manufacturer’s profit. The reseller’s profit is lower and the manufacturer’s profit is higher, compared with that of a traditional single channel supply chain. The numerical experiments showed that when an Internet shopper’s acceptance of an Internet channel is lower, the wholesale price and retail price in the dual channels will increase with an increase of the degree of customer loyalty (the proportion of identical shoppers). The reseller’s profit (the manufacturer’s profit) will reduce (rise) with the augmentation of the Internet shopper’s acceptance of an Internet channel. Finally, we design a revenue-sharing contract that can coordinate the supply chain and implement a win–win strategy for all partners. This work makes some contributions to the research area of coordination in dual-channel supply chains.

E-GOVERNMENT SERVICE ADOPTION THROUGH THE LENS OF THE KNOWLEDGE GAP

The aim of the paper is to raise some issues in relation to the technology adoption-based e-government acceptance models and that the knowledge gap theory can be applied to the use of online public administration services: higher status equals not only wider and more sophisticated usage of ICT tools, but also more knowledge about public administration procedures themselves, which can result in various channel-preferences and routines among the users of different public services. Using data from the multivariable Good State Public Administration Opinion Survey, the paper shows that the knowledge gap clearly exists in terms of public administration-related knowledge. Based on this finding, the paper recommends that the currently marginally used ‘necessary knowledge about public administration procedures’ factor should be more widely incorporated in e- government adoption models, as it can have a significant effect on adoption, or alter the effect of other constructs in these models.

A Two-Stage Closed-Loop Supply Chain Pricing Decision: Cross-Channel Recycling and Channel Preference

This paper focuses on the pricing problem of a two-stage closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) considering the cross-channel recycling and channel preference based on a single manufacturer and a single traditional retailer. The pricing decision problem raises from the manufacturer’s direct sales and the retailer’s retailing including recycling. Managers need to focus on intelligible management considering consumer channel preferences, cross-channel recovery and pricing strategies. According to game theory, centralized and decentralized CLSC decision models are used to provide an efficient solution to managers for the pricing problem. The centralized model consists of differential and uniform pricing strategy and the decentralized model consists of manufacturer-led Stackelberg, retailer-led Stackelberg and Nash equilibrium game, respectively. The impact of cross-channel recycling rate and channel preference on pricing and profitability in a two-stage CLSC system is explained elaborately in this study. The results show that cross-channel recovery rates and consumer channel preferences have a direct significant impact on pricing strategies including profit allocation decisions in CLSC. It demonstrated that different channel preferences leading to different pricing strategies and decision for manufacturers and retailers choices. Manufacturer’s pricing decreases when channel preferences are constant and cross-channel recovery rates increase. Retailer’s pricing remains stable as the cross-channel recovery rate has less affected on it. Furthermore, if the cross-channel recovery rates increase, then the manufacturers pricing decreases and retailers pricing increases. This information will be a helpful guideline for the manager to select suitable pricing strategies based on the company scenario.

Digital touchpoints and multichannel segmentation approach in the life insurance industry

PurposeDigital technology is revolutionizing insurance distribution allowing the insurer companies to reach customers via multichannel. The aim of this study is to segment potential customers of life insurance based on their information search, purchasing channels and personal characteristics in the digital environment.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses cross-sectional research survey. In total, 422 questionnaires were collected through a convenience sample of the Romanian population. The data was segmented based on consumer information touchpoints (online vs offline), purchase channel preference (offline by a professional vs online by a standardized platform) and personal characteristics (age, marital status and children).FindingsThe channel segmentation analysis revealed that information channel preferences are the most important clustering variables, followed by purchase channel preferences, marital status, having children and age. Four distinct segments were identified: young fully offliners (23.7%), mature fully offliners (31.5%), committed online searchers (23.2%) and cross-channel onliners (21.6%).Practical implicationsInsurance companies should adapt their communication and distribution strategy based on multichannel segmentation and should focus on digital touchpoints with costumers.Originality/valueFirstly, the paper reveals multichannel and hybrid segmentation for life insurance. Secondly, it extends the already studied retail channels with search engines and companies' websites. Thirdly, it extends the behavioural variables for channel segmentation with technology acceptance behaviour, attitude towards life insurance, knowledge about life insurance, attitude towards personal selling and quality appraisal of online information sources.

Revisiting the Role of Traditional, Electronic and Mobile-Based Communication Channels in the Pharmaceutical Industry of Lithuania

The study revisits communication channels currently used to access medical information and investigates perceptions of general practitioners (GPs) about traditional, electronic and mobile-based channels in the context of Lithuania. A total of 254 GPs were surveyed. The findings suggest that the pharmaceutical companies still rely on pharmaceutical sales representatives to disseminate the newest information about prescription drugs. The results indicate that the leading experts in the healthcare industry contribute most to GPs’ drug-prescribing intentions and conferences organised by local and international scientific societies are considered to be the most reliable channels. Further, local websites designed for GPs have the highest perceived value among electronic and mobile-based communication channels. Statistically significant differences among different GPs’ age groups are confirmed regarding channel preferences and their reliability: international scientific conferences and international health journals are more popular and are perceived as more reliable among younger GPs compared to more senior GPs. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.26.5.12510

Do Payout Policies and Channel Preferences of Banking Industries Shift during the Tranquil Periods? Evidence from Emerging Market

This study investigates whether the dividend policy (the decision to distribute funds,and the distribution channel preferences) of the bankingsector of Pakistan isaffectedduring any periods of domesticand globalfinancialcrisis. Using a sample of publically listed commercial banks,betweenthe periods of2002 till 2015, this research document that, unlike other countries, the banks in Pakistan fail toindicate adecline in the level of fundsthat are distributedto the investors. Even though the importance of the other means of distribution has increased over time, a major portion ofthe total payoutis still covered bythecash dividends. Moreover, the results of the multinomial logit model,demonstrate that thepayout policy of the commercial bankslisted on the PSX,is not influencedby the global financial crisis. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that more liquid, profitable,and growthoriented bankshave a higher tendencyto pay dividends,thantheotherbanks that do not fall in this category. The empirical results alsoindicate that the signaling hypothesis is a relevant economic phenomenon. These findings provide insights to different stakeholders in developing the relevant policiesneededto cope up with crisis situations,such as the current ongoing Coronavirus pandemic