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Showing papers by "David Bell published in 2013"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that uncertainty can be partially resolved through social learning processes that occur naturally and emanate from local neighborhood characteristics, and that neighborhood social capital, i.e., the propensity for neighbors to trust each other and communicate with each other, enhances the social learning process and makes it more efficient.
Abstract: Social learning can occur when information is transferred from existing customers to potential customers. It is especially important when the information that is conveyed pertains to experience attributes, i.e., attributes of products that cannot be fully verified prior to the first purchase. Experience attributes are prevalent and salient when consumers shop through catalogs, on home shopping networks, and over the Internet. Firms therefore employ creative and sometimes costly methods to help consumers resolve uncertainty; we argue that uncertainty can be partially resolved through social learning processes that occur naturally and emanate from local neighborhood characteristics. Using data from Bonobos, a leading U.S. online fashion retailer, we find not only that local social learning facilitates customer trial but also that the effect is economically important because about half of all trials were partially attributable to it. Merging data from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, we find th...

49 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of writing from across the social sciences which describes the institutional context and content of twinning programmes, as well as work which theorises how care and hospitality are key elements of city twinning practices is presented.
Abstract: This paper contributes to recent interest in city twinning by urban theorists. It begins with a review of writing from across the social sciences which describes the institutional context and content of twinning programmes, as well as work which theorises how care and hospitality are key elements of twinning practices. Ethnographic research is then presented from the City of Manchester (UK) in order to consider the ways in which twinning is constituted through circuits, networks and webs of co-operation and competition involved in the transfer of policy and knowledge which can be strategic, uneven and at times ambivalent. In doing so, it is argued that the conflicts, tensions and contradictions bound up with twinning have much to offer theoretical and empirical understanding of territorial and relational urban politics. The paper concludes with theoretical, methodological and policy relevant insights.

23 citations


01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-level Poisson model calibrated on data from 434 households making over 18,000 purchases in 58 categories across 3,000 trips to 21 stores was used to find that the overall occurrence of unplanned purchasing is significantly lower than that commonly reported.
Abstract: Unplanned category purchase incidence is an important source of retailer volume and profits. We analyze this phenomenon in detail with a multi-level Poisson model calibrated on data from 434 households making over 18,000 purchases in 58 categories across 3,000 trips to 21 stores. We find that unplanned category purchase incidence is not proportional to the number of categories bought, and not a single shopping trip is completely unplanned. The majority of variation is across shoppers. Specifically, it is explained in part by demographic variables traditionally measured by marketers, but more by other ―traits‖ that reflect long-run shopping habits such as level of planning and information gathering styles. Short term shopping goals (e.g., major trip, forgotten needs, etc.) also play an important role. We replicate classic results of time available (more unplanned purchasing) and high store knowledge (less unplanned purchasing); however we find that the overall occurrence of unplanned purchasing is significantly lower than that commonly reported.

11 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a new method and construct portfolios that are neutral with respect to the desired risk factors a priori, so that no risk model is needed when analyzing the observed returns of their portfolios.
Abstract: The mispricing of marketing performance indicators (such as brand equity, churn, and customer satisfaction) is an important element of arguments in favor of the financial value of marketing investments. Evidence for mispricing can be assessed by examining whether or not portfolios composed of firms that load highly on marketing performance indicators deliver excess returns. Unfortunately, extant portfolio formation methods that require the use of a risk model are open to the criticism of time-varying risk factor loadings due to the changing composition of the portfolio over time. This is a serious critique, as the direction of the induced bias is unknown. As an alternative, we propose a new method and construct portfolios that are neutral with respect to the desired risk factors a priori. Consequently, no risk model is needed when analyzing the observed returns of our portfolios. We apply our method to a frequently studied marketing performance indicator, customer satisfaction. Using various ways of measuring customer satisfaction, we do not find any convincing evidence that portfolios that load on high customer satisfaction lead to abnormal returns.

11 citations


DOI
18 Jul 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, a social event organized by the student society in the geography school where I work was described as a "Dress Like a Geek" party, where the theme of the party was to "dress like a geek".
Abstract: I’m pulling this chapter together around the time of two events-one global (at least in its coverage), the other distinctly local-that resonate with the paradox of the geek. The fi rst is the death (and strange afterlife) of Steve Jobs, the founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., usually fi gured as an archetypal geek. Jobs’s death has led to endless media discussion of his life and style, his views and his impact on many people’s lives. Like Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates, Jobs appears in most geek histories as personifying a key moment in the tale: the moment when geeks got rich (Feineman 2005; Varma 2007). The local event that also resonates with the key themes in my chapter was a social event organized by the student society in the geography school where I work. The theme of the party? “Dress Like a Geek”. I overheard some of my students discussing how they’d do this, what geek attire looks like-and they were all able to boil “geek” down to a handful of sartorial signifi ers. So Jobs’s obituaries celebrated what Jon Katz (2000) calls “the geek ascension”, yet a class of geography students can still comfortably and comically parody geekiness on a night out. There’s the geek paradox, the oxymoron captured in the tag “geek chic”.

8 citations


Book ChapterDOI
19 May 2013

6 citations


Book ChapterDOI
18 May 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss how tourism works as a phenomenon that assembles a complex set of people, places and practices, and examine how the cosmetic surgery tourism industry is developing.
Abstract: In this chapter we will: contextualise cosmetic surgery tourism and sketch some of its defining features; look more closely at how cosmetic surgery tourism works as a phenomenon that assembles a complex set of people, places and practices; examine how the cosmetic surgery tourism industry is developing; consider debates in tourism studies to understand what it means to call our subject cosmetic surgery tourism.

5 citations


Book
01 Oct 2013

3 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a new method and construct portfolios that are neutral with respect to the desired risk factors a priori, so that no risk model is needed when analyzing the observed returns of their portfolios.
Abstract: The mispricing of marketing performance indicators (such as brand equity, churn, and customer satisfaction) is an important element of arguments in favor of the financial value of marketing investments. Evidence for mispricing can be assessed by examining whether or not portfolios composed of firms that load highly on marketing performance indicators deliver excess returns. Unfortunately, extant portfolio formation methods that require the use of a risk model are open to the criticism of time-varying risk factor loadings due to the changing composition of the portfolio over time. This is a serious critique, as the direction of the induced bias is unknown. As an alternative, we propose a new method and construct portfolios that are neutral with respect to the desired risk factors a priori. Consequently, no risk model is needed when analyzing the observed returns of our portfolios. We apply our method to a frequently studied marketing performance indicator, customer satisfaction. Using various ways of measuring customer satisfaction, we do not find any convincing evidence that portfolios that load on high customer satisfaction lead to abnormal returns.

3 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
David Bell1
TL;DR: The beach is a complicated place, with an equal number of obstacles as discussed by the authors, and it is not easy to find a simple way to relax on the beach, even for tourists.
Abstract: Aah, the beach. What could be simpler than peeling off, catching some rays, having a dip? Well, it turns out that this is far from a simple business. The beach is a complicated place, with an equal...

2 citations