This survey takes information on a participant’s beliefs on privacy security, the general digital knowledge, demographics, and willingness-to-pay points on if they would delete information on their social media, to see how an information treatment affects those payment points. This information treatment is meant to make half of the participants think about the deeper ramifications of the information they reveal. The initial hypothesis is that this information will make people want to pay more to remove their information from the web, but the results find a surprising negative correlation with the treatment.
Amid the fast-growing market of plant-based alternatives to conventional meat, there still lies uncertainty about consumers’ preferences for these new products. Through an online survey using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism, I test the effect that environmental information provision has on consumers’ immediate and long-term willingness- to-pay for the Whopper and Impossible Whopper from Burger King. Respondents were randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group, and both received information on taste in an attempt to isolate the effect of environmental information. Results show that certain groups respond to the information differently. Specifically, consumers who care about climate change are affected greatly by environmental in- formation suggesting these “climate advocates” are not fully informed despite the efforts of Impossible Foods. Vegetarians and highly educated individuals have relatively stronger preferences for the plant-based burger, in line with previous studies. Results also show a lasting effect of information on WTP, suggesting little need for repeated interventions.
According to Market Watch (10/08/2018), 85% of breakfast cereal brand companies use the nonlinear pricing model. This is a very popular and competitive market strategy used by other companies as well. The purpose of this thesis is to therefore evaluate the effectiveness of the nonlinear pricing strategy popular in the breakfast cereal industry, as well as ascertaining whether this strategy fosters loyalty amongst cereal consumers. I have always wondered if breakfast cereal companies that use nonlinear pricing models shortchange themselves by recycling their own customers instead of attracting new ones. To respond to that question, l used data from the breakfast cereal industry for the year 2017. This data received integrity research and assurance approval at Arizona State University . Moreover, the study used breakfast cereal data as the backbone of the analysis because consumption of breakfast cereals happens throughout the year and breakfast cereals have a longer shelf life. The data is based on receipt uploads from over 400,000 users of the Omni panel website. My goal with the thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of nonlinear pricing schedules in relation to increasing sales and fostering customer loyalty. At the end of the study, l would like to have developed a strong and data-based opinion on why consumers choose the breakfast cereal they purchased and also on the relationship between nonlinear pricing and consumer loyalty. I hope to use my findings to propose a better model which, if used by these businesses, can enable them to generate more returns and cultivate customer loyalty.