Consumer’s demand for Disinfectants and Protective Gear from COVID-19 infection in Al-Hofuf, Saudi

Introduction: The paper aims to estimate consumers’ demand for personal protecting products (PPP) from COVID-19. Thus, the paper collected primary data on consumers’ demand for PPP utilizing the timeframe of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: The paper uses two sample t-test and Anova test to examine mean differences in the quantity consumed of PPP. Also, the paper uses Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) to estimate the responsiveness of quantity demanded of PPP for changes in prices and consumers’ income. Results: The results show that there is a significant difference in the mean of quantity demanded of facemasks among men and women. Also, the results show that there is a significant difference in the mean of quantity demand for facemasks, gloves, and hand sanitizer based on respondents’ level of education. In addition, the paper analyzed the effect of price and income changes on quantity demanded of PPP. The findings indicate that the quantity demanded of facemask and gloves are sensitive to changes in consumers’ income. Also, soap, hand sanitizer, and gloves were recognized as complementary products. Furthermore, facemasks were identified as a complementary product with glove use. Lastly, the own-price elasticities of demand revealed that the demand for PPP is price insensitive. Conclusions: the paper recommends that the consumer protection unit closely monitor the prices of PPP since the sellers have an opportunity to increase those products prices and maximize their revenue by exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spillovers from Online Engagement: How a Newspaper Subscriber’s Activation of Digital Paywall Access Affects Her Retention and Subscription Revenue

Newspapers are increasingly reliant on subscription revenue as advertising spend shifts to online platforms. Many newspapers have implemented paywalls in an attempt to boost subscription revenue. We study whether and how paywalls can help newspapers boost subscription revenue by retaining existing subscribers. Most major newspapers offer free access to paywalled content to subscribers to the print edition, which may help the newspaper retain subscribers by making their subscriptions more valuable. We leverage variation in whether and when existing subscribers activated access to the paywall of a top 30 North American newspaper. Our identification strategy accounts for self-selection in subscribers’ decisions to activate paywall access. We find that a subscriber’s activation of digital access decreases the risk of her canceling her subscription by about 31% and increases her subscription revenue by 7%–12%. In other words, digital activation improves subscriber retention and the associated subscription revenue. This suggests a crosschannel spillover in which the online product (the paywalled website) increases customers’ valuation for the offline product (the printed newspaper). Our results have implications not only for the newspaper industry but also for firms in other industries that offer subscribers to one product free or subsidized access to a complementary product. This paper was accepted by Kartik Hosanagar, information systems.

Pengaruh Price Bundling dan Product Bundling terhadap Niat Membeli yang Dimoderasi oleh Barang Komplementaritas

This research aim to examine the affects of price bundling, product bundling on purchase intention and complementary product as moderating variable in convenience store. Sample was taken with purposive method as much 160 sample in questionnaire survey with closed question and 5-point likert scale. the collected data was processed using SmartPLS02. As the result of hyphoteis test are H1 accepted, which means that the price bundling variable has a significant on purchase intention. H2 is accepted, which means product bundling variable has a significant on purchase intention. H3 is accepted, which means complementary product has moderating effect on on relationship of price bundling to purchase intention. H4 is rejected, which means complementary product can’t be moderating variable on relationship of product bundling to purchase intention. Based on the result, price bundling and product bundling has a signinficant effect on purchase intention.

Electronic cigarette use among 14- to 17-year-olds in Europe

Background Studies comparing adolescent e-cigarette use in different countries are scarce. We study students’ e-cigarette and conventional cigarette ever-use, their social correlates and e-liquid use in seven EU countries. Methods SILNE-R data (N=12 167, response rate 79.4%) of 14–17-year-olds from Amersfoort (NL), Coimbra (PT), Dublin (IR), Hanover (GE), Latina (IT), Namur (BE) and Tampere (FI) were used. E-cigarette and conventional cigarette ever-use, dual-use, type of e-liquid and social correlates were measured with a school survey and analyzed with cross-tabulations and multinomial logistic regression. Results About 34% had tried e-cigarettes, but the variation was large between the cities (Latina 50%; Hanover 23%). Of e-cigarette ever-users, 37% had used nicotine e-liquid, 43% exclusively non-nicotine liquid and 20% did not know the content. Nicotine e-liquid was more prevalent among monthly e-cigarette users and weekly smoking e-cigarette users. The social correlates were mainly the same for exclusive e-cigarette ever-use, exclusive conventional cigarette ever-use and dual-use. Boys had greater odds for exclusive e-cigarette and dual-use compared to girls. Of social correlates, low academic achievement and parental smoking were positively associated with all categories of use, but parental education and immigrant background were not. The strongest association was found between peer smoking (most/all best friends smoke) and dual-use (OR 34.29). Conclusions Students’ e-cigarette ever-use varies greatly between EU countries. E-cigarettes seem not to be a substitute for conventional cigarettes but more a complementary product. Tobacco control policies might also prevent e-cigarette use but specific regulations on e-cigarettes are needed to prevent nicotine addiction originating from them.

Complementary Product Pricing and Service Cooperation Strategy in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain

This paper investigates a pricing game and service cooperation for complementary products in a dual-channel supply chain composed of two manufacturers and one retailer. The products of the two manufacturers are complementary products. One manufacturer sells products simultaneously through its own online channel and the traditional retailer, and the manufacturer delivers the product’s service to the retailer in its network direct sales channel by cooperating with the retailer in the form of service cost sharing. Considering the different market power structures of channel members, we establish three different pricing game models. By using the backward induction method and game theory, we obtain the corresponding analytical equilibrium solutions. Then, the service cooperation strategy of using the channel service sensitivity coefficients to construct the weight to share the service cost is proposed. Finally, numerical examples of optimal pricing strategies and profit conditions in different game situations are given, and sensitivity analysis of some key parameters is selectively performed, in which some valuable management insights are obtained.

Preparation of Oxymel (Sekanjabin-e) Buzuri Syrup as Vascular Opener (Mofatteh) Product and Its Standardization

Background: Sekanjabin-e buzuri consisting extracts of Chicorium intybus L. (Kasni), Cuscuta chinensis Lam. (Koshus), Apium graveolens L. (Karafs) and Pimpinella anisum L. (Anison) seeds is a Traditional Persian Medicine product. These drugs have many applications in traditional medicine, but they are more effective in opening vascular obstructions and related functions, especially in cardiovascular system. Purpose: In this study we prepared a proper Sekanjabin-e buzuri and developed a HPLC method for analysis of chlorogenic acid (CGA), as an herbal marker compound, for quality control and standardization in both Sekanjabin-e buzuri syrup and its ingredient sources. Methods: Sekanjabin-e buzuri is a group of oxymels that have many different formulations. A proper formulation has chosen from literature (from Gharabadin-e-salehi) and prepared. For standardization of Sekanjabin-e buzuri we developed a method for detecting chlorogenic acid content. A reversed phase MZ C18 column (150*3.0 mm, 5µm) using a mixture of acetonitrile-phosphoric acid 0.1% with gradient elution program for 20 minutes with flow rate of 1.5 ml/min with UV detection at 330 nm. Results: The chlorogenic acid Rt =5.1 minutes and linear over the range of 0.2-1.5 µg/ml, (R2 = 0.9996). The calculated LOD and LOQ of chlorogenic acid were 0.02 and 0.06 µg/ml, respectively. The concentration of chlorogenic acid was 7.69, 10.37, 2.25, 2.88 and 22.86 µg/ml for Chicorium intybus L., Cuscuta chinensis Lam., Apium graveolens L. and Pimpinella anisum L. seeds and Sekanjabin-e buzuri syrup, respectively. Conclusion: This standardized Sekanjabin-e buzuri syrup will be used as a vascular opener (Mofatteh) complementary product for opening internal organs obstruction e.g. promoting cardiovascular health.

COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCT CATEGORIZATION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MAKE, BUY, AND ALLY DECISION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

The role of complementary products is becoming increasingly important in facilitating innovation and has become a pivotal aspect of an organisation’s technology strategy. To address the lack of a useful framework that captures the different dimensions of product complementarity, this paper proposes a categorization for complementary products centered on user engagement. Based on a sample of 305 make, buy, and ally decisions for 32 primary product firms in the Personal Computing industry, this paper explores the influence of the proposed categorization on its strategy decision for developing complementary products. Results suggest a nuanced categorization of product complementarity adds value to explaining the decision, with the firm’s knowledge capital having a non-trivial influence on it. This paper endeavors to contribute to the literature on platform innovation by examining significance of inter-product relationships on strategy.

PENGEMBANGAN PRODUK RAGA DAYANG MENJADI TAS ROTAN KONTEMPORER

AbstrakRaga dayang adalah salah satu dari sekian banyak produk kerajinan tradisional Karo. Raga dayang merupakan produk kerajinan anyaman rotan. Desa Kuta Male adalah salah satu desa perajin raga dayang. Produk ini merupakan produk pelengkap dalam pernikahan adat Suku Karo. Dahulu, merupakan sarana bawa bagi perempuan Karo bila bepergian maupun berbelanja. Sekarang ini, masyarakat Karo pada umumnya sudah tidak lagi memiliki produk tradisional ini. Jumlah perajinnya semakin berkurang. Hal ini dapat berdampak pada tradisi menganyam rotan di Kabupaten Karo lambat laun menuju kepunahan. Tidak adanya inovasi desain yang sesuai dengan perkembangan zaman merupakan faktor penyebab kepunahan tersebut. Pengembangan produk raga dayang menjadi tas rotan kontemporer bertujuan untuk mengangkat kembali keterampilan perajin raga dayang dan salah satu budaya lokal masyarakat Karo dalam gaya desain kontemporer. Metode penelitian yang dipakai dalam penelitian ini adalah kualitatif deskriptif melalui pendekatan eksperimental dan ATUMICS. Metode kualitatif deskriptif digunakan untuk mengolah data awal hingga peneliti menemukan teknik/cara menganyam, corak anyaman, ornamen, bentuk dasar, dan cara pembuatan raga dayang, setelah itu peneliti menggunakan metode ATUMICS dalam melakukan pengembangan desain. Selanjutnya desain-desain tersebut diujicoba (eksperimental) sehingga menghasilkan purwarupa (prototype). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan raga dayang dapat dikembangkan menjadi produk rotan alternatif dengan ciri khas ornamen Karo.Kata Kunci: pengembangan, raga dayang, anyaman, rotan.AbstractRaga Dayang is one of the many traditional Karo craft products. Raga Dayang is a rattan wicker craft product. Kuta Male Village is one of the village craftsmen Raga Dayang. This product is a complementary product in the traditional wedding of Karo people. Previously, it was a means of carrying for Karo women when traveling or shopping. Nowadays, Karo people in general are no longer having this traditional product. The number of craftsmen is decreasing. It has an impact on the tradition of weaving rattan in Karo district gradually towards extinction. The absence of design innovations that are in accordance with the times is a factor in the extinction. The development of Raga Dayang products into contemporary rattan bags aims to revive the skills of the Raga Dayang craftsmen and one of the local cultures of the Karo people in a contemporary design style. The research method used in this research is descriptive qualitative through an experimental approach and ATUMICS. Descriptive qualitative method is used to process preliminary data until the researcher finds the weaving techniques, patterns of weaving, ornaments, basic shapes, and how to manufacture the Raga Dayang, after that researchers use the ATUMICS method in conducting design development. Furthermore, the designs were tested (experimental), resulting in prototypes. The results showed Raga Dayang can be developed into an alternative rattan product with the characteristic of Karo ornaments. Keywords: development, raga dayang, woven, rattan..