http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/2214/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38045/ 2012-11-01T00:00:00Z The social and neural sciences share a common interest in understanding the mechanisms that underlie human behaviour. However, interactions between neuroscience and social science disciplines remain strikingly narrow and tenuous. We illustrate the scope and challenges for such interactions using the paradigmatic example of neuroeconomics. Using quantitative analyses of both its scientific literature and the social networks in its intellectual community, we show that neuroeconomics now reflects a true disciplinary integration, such that research topics and scientific communities with interdisciplinary span exert greater influence on the field. However, our analyses also reveal key structural and intellectual challenges in balancing the goals of neuroscience with those of the social sciences. To address these challenges, we offer a set of prescriptive recommendations for directing future research in neuroeconomics. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38052/ 2012-11-01T00:00:00Z People often conform to others with whom they associate. Surprisingly, however, little is known about the possible hormonal mechanisms that may underlie in-group conformity. Here, we examined whether conformity toward one's in-group is altered by oxytocin, a neuropeptide often implicated in social behavior. After administration of either oxytocin or a placebo, participants were asked to provide attractiveness ratings of unfamiliar visual stimuli. While viewing each stimulus, participants were shown ratings of that stimulus provided by both in-group and out-group members. Results demonstrated that on trials in which the ratings of the in-group and out-group were incongruent, the ratings of participants given oxytocin conformed to the ratings of their in-group but not of their out-group. Participants given a placebo did not show this in-group bias. These findings indicate that administration of oxytocin can influence subjective preferences, and they support the view that oxytocin's effects on social behavior are context dependent. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/37698/ 2012-06-01T00:00:00Z This article proposes that neuroscience can shape future theory and models in consumer decision making and suggests ways that neuroscience methods can be used in decision-making research. The article argues that neuroscience facilitates better theory development and empirical testing by considering the physiological context and the role of constructs such as hunger, stress, and social influence on consumer choice and preferences. Neuroscience can also provide new explanations for different sources of heterogeneity within and across populations, suggest novel hypotheses with respect to choices and underlying mechanisms that accord with an understanding of biology, and allow for the use of neural data to make better predictions about consumer behavior. The article suggests that despite some challenges associated with incorporating neuroscience into research on consumer decision processes, the use of neuroscience paradigms will produce a deeper understanding of decision making that can lead to the development of more effective decision aids and interventions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/34905/ 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z Dit artikel laat zien dat er in mond-tot-mondreclame over producten een systematische vertekening optreedt in het taalgebruik. Net als in eerder onderzoek naar taalabstractie in beschrijvingen van interpersoonlijk gedrag, gebruiken mensen bij het beschrijven van productervaringen meer abstracte taal wanneer de ervaring overeenkomt met de verwachting die men vooraf heeft. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/25748/ 2011-08-17T00:00:00Z We often change our behavior to conform to real or imagined group pressure. Social influence on our behavior has been extensively studied in social psychology, but its neural mechanisms have remained largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that the transient downregulation of the posterior medial frontal cortex by theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces conformity, as indicated by reduced conformal adjustments in line with group opinion. Both the extent and probability of conformal behavioral adjustments decreased significantly relative to a sham and a control stimulation over another brain area. The posterior part of the medial frontal cortex has previously been implicated in behavioral and attitudinal adjustments. Here, we provide the first interventional evidence of its critical role in social influence on human behavior. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31418/ 2011-01-27T00:00:00Z This study validates Rossiter and Percy's (1987) hook theory of presenter characteristics, for celebrity presenters. Firstly, by employing a product-alone control group, the study demonstrates that some celebrity-product pairings have a good fit and can persuade whereas others have no effect or represent such an obviously poor fit that they dissuade consumers from buying the product. Secondly, the study suggests that good fit, and thus persuasion, for celebrity presenters, depends on the audience immediately perceiving that the celebrity is an expert user of the product (for all products) and is a positive role model (for high-risk products). On the other hand, the study reveals that failure of any of four of the celebrity's characteristics causes dissuasion by celebrity presenters; these failures include lack of high visibility (i.e., not widely well-known), perceived inexpertness as a user of the product (a strong negative hook that is probably the reason for the poor fit perception), lack of trust (though this is a weak dissuasive factor for celebrities) and, paradoxically, the celebrity being too likable (for low-risk products). Thirdly, the hook(s) conceptualization of presenter characteristics is superior to the conventional linear conceptualization in that a hook-scored regression model accounted for the same amount of variance in persuasion-dissuasion as did the linear model (adjusted R2s of 41% vs. 43%) despite the hook model's handicap of at least one-third lower possible R2due to trichotomization of 7-point ratings into positive, neutral, and negative hooks. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20834/ 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z Celebrity endorsement is omnipresent. However, despite its prevalence, it is unclear why celebrities are more persuasive than (equally attractive) non-famous endorsers. The present study investigates which processes underlie the effect of fame on product memory and purchase intention by the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging methods. We find an increase in activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) underlying the processing of celebrity–product pairings. This finding suggests that the effectiveness of celebrities stems from a transfer of positive affect from celebrity to product. Additional neuroimaging results indicate that this positive affect is elicited by the spontaneous retrieval of explicit memories associated with the celebrity endorser. Also, we demonstrate that neither the activation of implicit memories of earlier exposures nor an increase in attentional processing is essential for a celebrity advertisement to be effective. By explaining the neural mechanism of fame, our results illustrate how neuroscience may contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20390/ 2010-08-01T00:00:00Z This research examines the language that consumers use in word of mouth. For both positive and negative product experiences, we demonstrate that consumers use more abstract terms when they describe experiences that are in line with the valence of their product attitude. This effect cannot be explained by differences in valence between abstract and concrete language. On the receiver side, abstract language in positive word of mouth leads to (1) the inference that the sender has a more favorable product attitude and (2) a higher buying intention for the product under consideration. The reverse is found for negative word of mouth. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/16583/ 2009-08-26T00:00:00Z Celebrity endorsement is omnipresent. However, despite its prevalence, it is unclear why celebrities are more persuasive than (equally attractive) non-famous endorsers. The present study investigates which processes underlie the effect of fame on product memory and purchase intention by the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging methods. We find an increase in activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) underlying the processing of celebrity-product pairings. This finding suggests that the effectiveness of celebrities stems from a transfer of positive affect from celebrity to product. Additional neuroimaging results indicate that this positive affect is elicited by the spontaneous retrieval of explicit memories associated with the celebrity endorser. Also, we demonstrate that neither the activation of implicit memories of earlier exposures nor an increase in attentional processing is essential for a celebrity advertisement to be effective. By explaining the neural mechanism of fame, our results illustrate how neuroscience may contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/17046/ 2009-08-01T00:00:00Z Previous research suggests that people form impressions of others based on their facial appearance in a very fast and automatic manner, and this especially holds for trustworthiness. However, as yet, this process has been investigated mostly in a social vacuum without taking interpersonal factors into account. In the current research, we demonstrate that both the relationship context that is salient at the moment of an interaction and the performed behavior are important moderators of the impact of facial cues on impression formation. It is shown that, when the behavior of a person we encounter is ambiguous in terms of trustworthiness, the relationship most salient at that moment is of crucial impact on whether and how we incorporate facial cues communicating (un)trustworthiness in our final evaluations. Ironically, this can result in less positive evaluations of interaction partners with a trustworthy face compared to interaction partners with an untrustworthy face. Implications for research on facial characteristics, trust, and relationship theories are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14952/ 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/15056/ 2009-01-15T00:00:00Z We often change our decisions and judgments to conform with normative group behavior. However, the neural mechanisms of social conformity remain unclear. Here we show, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, that conformity is based on mechanisms that comply with principles of reinforcement learning. We found that individual judgments of facial attractiveness are adjusted in line with group opinion. Conflict with group opinion triggered a neuronal response in the rostral cingulate zone and the ventral striatum similar to the "prediction error" signal suggested by neuroscientific models of reinforcement learning. The amplitude of the conflict-related signal predicted subsequent conforming behavioral adjustments. Furthermore, the individual amplitude of the conflict-related signal in the ventral striatum correlated with differences in conforming behavior across subjects. These findings provide evidence that social group norms evoke conformity via learning mechanisms reflected in the activity of the rostral cingulate zone and ventral striatum. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/15657/ 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z In word-of-mouth marketing, marketers often provide financial rewards for referrals. These rewards introduce a financial motive into an interaction among friends or acquaintances, which may harm the perceived sincerity of the referring customer. We show that this negative effect can be mitigated by disclosing the presence of financial motives, but also by the activation of a market pricing ('sales') relationship norm. However, such a norm has a negative effect on compliance with the referral. The effects of relationship norms are strongest when cognitive capacity is impaired, which suggests that the influence of relationship norms occurs outside the awareness of consumers. Conversely, the impact of disclosures is stronger when consumers have full cognitive capacity available. © 2008. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20499/ 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Bekende personen worden vaak ingehuurd voor reclamecampagnes. In dit onderzoek laten we zien dat een hoge gepercipieerde deskundigheid van de bekende persoon voor het product, sterk kan bijdragen aan het succes van dergelijke campagnes. Een expert zorgt zowel voor een beter geheugen voor het aangeprezen product als een hogere koopintentie. Met de toepassing van neuroimaging (fMRI) wordt onderzocht welke hersenprocessen hiervoor verantwoordelijk zijn. Experts zorgen voor activatie van associatienetwerken over de bekende persoon en het product en in het bijzonder tot sterkere activatie van de hippocampus waardoor het aangeprezen product beter wordt opgeslagen in het geheugen. Activatie van het caudatum door experts leidt tot verhoging van de koopintentie. Het caudatum maakt dat experts een fundamenteel gevoel van vertrouwen meegeven aan het product. Hiermee is een cruciale rol van dit hersengebied aangetoond in overredende communicatie. Implicaties voor marketing en marktonderzoek worden gegeven. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20512/ 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Mond tot mond communicatie heeft veel invloed op productkeuzes en aankoopbeslissingen van consumenten. Omdat dit zo veel invloed heeft, proberen marketeers deze communicatie te stimuleren, bijvoorbeeld door consumenten te belonen voor een aanbeveling. In dit onderzoek richten we ons op de vraag hoe de ontvanger van een beloonde aanbeveling hier op reageert. We argumenteren dat de introductie van een beloning als gevolg heeft dat een aanbeveling zowel aspecten krijgt van een vriendschapsrelatie als van een verkooprelatie. We tonen aan dat de relatieve saillantie van deze relaties zowel invloed heeft op de beoordeling van de aanbeveler als op de neiging om op de aanbeveling in te gaan. We laten ook zien dat dit een onbewust proces is. Tevens blijkt dat het onthullen van een !nanciële beloning in dergelijke interacties een positieve invloed heeft. Marketingimplicaties voor het belonen van aanbevelingen worden besproken. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13941/ 2008-09-30T00:00:00Z Canonical models of rational choice fail to account for many forms of motivated adaptive behaviors, specifically in domains such as food selections. To describe behavior in such emotion- and reward-laden scenarios, researchers have proposed dual-process models that posit competition between a slower, analytic faculty and a fast, impulsive, emotional faculty. In this paper, we examine the assumptions and limitations of these approaches to modeling motivated choice. We argue that models of this form, though intuitively attractive, are biologically implausible. We describe an approach to motivated choice based on sequential sampling process models that can form a solid theoretical bridge between what is known about brain function and environmental influences upon choice. We further suggest that the complex and dynamic relationships between biology, behavior, and environment affecting choice at the individual level must inform aggregate models of consumer choice. Models using agent-based complex systems may further provide a principled way to relate individual and aggregate consumer choices to the aggregate choices made by businesses and social institutions. We coin the term “brain-to-society systems” choice model for this broad integrative approach. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13183/ 2008-09-08T00:00:00Z In the current research, we study relationship norms in a word-of-mouth marketing context. The presence of a financial incentive for a recommendation implies that the word-of-mouth behavior may be driven by ulterior motives. This setting triggers both friendship (Equality Matching; EM) and sales (Market Pricing; MP) relationship norms. However, the evaluation of the recommendation depends crucially on the relationship norm activated during the interaction. We show that, compared to MP relationship norms, activating EM norms leads to less sincere agent evaluations, but at the same time to higher intentions to comply with the target offer. We show that these norms can be activated outside awareness and influence our evaluations of interaction partners in a cognitively efficient manner. A second study shows that disclosing the financial motive has a positive effect on agent evaluations, but only when the recommendation target can devote full attention to the interaction. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13185/ 2008-09-08T00:00:00Z Previous research suggests that people form impressions of others based on their facial appearance in a very fast and automatic manner, and this especially holds for trustworthiness. However, as yet, this process has been investigated mostly in a social vacuum without taking interpersonal factors into account. In the current research, we demonstrate that both the relationship context that is salient at the moment of an interaction and the performed behavior, are important moderators of the impact of facial cues on impression formation. It is shown that, when the behavior of a person we encounter is ambiguous in terms of trustworthiness, the relationship most salient at that moment is of crucial impact on whether and how we incorporate facial cues communicating (un)trustworthiness in our final evaluations. Ironically, this can result in less positive evaluations of interaction partners with a trustworthy face compared to interaction partners with an untrustworthy face. Implications for research on facial characteristics, trust, and relationship theories are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13181/ 2008-09-02T00:00:00Z The universality of design perception and response is tested using data collected from ten countries: Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Great Britain, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, and the United States. A Bayesian, finite-mixture, structural-equation model is developed that identifies latent logo clusters while accounting for heterogeneity in evaluations. The concomitant variable approach allows cluster probabilities to be country specific. Rather than a priori defined clusters, our procedure provides a posteriori cross-national logo clusters based on consumer response similarity. To compare the a posteriori cross-national logo clusters, our approach is integrated with Steenkamp and Baumgartner’s (1998) measurement invariance methodology. Our model reduces the ten countries to three cross-national clusters that respond differently to logo design dimensions: the West, Asia, and Russia. The dimensions underlying design are found to be similar across countries, suggesting that elaborateness, naturalness, and harmony are universal design dimensions. Responses (affect, shared meaning, subjective familiarity, and true and false recognition) to logo design dimensions (elaborateness, naturalness, and harmony) and elements (repetition, proportion, and parallelism) are also relatively consistent, although we find minor differences across clusters. Our results suggest that managers can implement a global logo strategy, but they also can optimize logos for specific countries if desired. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12784/ 2008-07-16T00:00:00Z Human behavior is affected by various forms of persuasion. The general persuasive effect of high expertise of the communicator, often referred to as "expert power", is well documented. We found that a single exposure to a combination of an expert and an object leads to a long-lasting positive effect on memory for and attitude towards the object. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we probed the neural processes predicting these behavioral effects. Expert context was associated with distributed left-lateralized brain activity in prefrontal and temporal cortices related to active semantic elaboration. Furthermore, experts enhanced subsequent memory effects in the medial temporal lobe (i.e. in hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus) involved in memory formation. Experts also affected subsequent attitude effects in the caudate nucleus involved in trustful behavior, reward processing and learning. These results may suggest that the persuasive effect of experts is mediated by modulation of caudate activity resulting in a re-evaluation of the object in terms of its perceived value. Results extend our view of the functional role of the dorsal striatum in social interaction and enable us to make the first steps toward a neuroscientific model of persuasion. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12168/ 2007-03-01T00:00:00Z One of the pressing issues in marketing is whether loyalty programs really enhance behavioral loyalty. Loyalty program members may have a much higher share-of-wallet at the firm with the loyalty program than non-members have, but this does not necessarily imply that loyalty programs are effective. Loyal customers may select themselves to become members in order to benefit from the program. Since this implies that program membership is endogenous, we estimate models for both the membership decision (using instrumental variables) and for the effect of membership on share-of-wallet, our measure of behavioral loyalty. We use panel data from a representative sample of Dutch households who report their loyalty program memberships for all seven loyalty programs in grocery retailing as well as their expenditures at each of the 20 major supermarket chains. We find a small positive yet significant effect of loyalty program membership on share-of-wallet. This effect is seven times smaller than is suggested by a naïve model that ignores the endogeneity of program membership. The predictive validity of the proposed model is much better than for the naïve model. Our results show that creating loyalty program membership is a crucial step to enhance share-of-wallet, and we provide guidelines on how to achieve this. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9042/ 2006-11-01T00:00:00Z One of the pressing issues in marketing is whether loyalty programs really enhance behavioral loyalty. Loyalty program members may have a much higher share-of-wallet at the firm with the loyalty program than non-members have, but this does not necessarily imply that loyalty programs are effective. Loyal customers may select themselves to become members in order to benefit from the program. Since this implies that program membership is endogenous, we estimate models for both the membership decision (using instrumental variables) and for the effect of membership on share-of-wallet, our measure of behavioral loyalty. We use panel data from a representative sample of Dutch households who report their loyalty program memberships for all seven loyalty programs in grocery retailing as well as their expenditures at each of the 20 major supermarket chains. We find a small positive yet significant effect of loyalty program membership on share-of-wallet. This effect is seven times smaller than is suggested by a naïve model that ignores the endogeneity of program membership. The predictive validity of the proposed model is much better than for the naïve model. Our results show that creating loyalty program membership is a crucial step to enhance share-of-wallet, and we provide guidelines how to achieve this. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12169/ 2005-12-01T00:00:00Z This article presents an introduction to and analysis of an emerging area of research, namely decision neuroscience, whose goal is to integrate research in neuroscience and behavioral decision making. The article includes an exposition of (1) how the exponential accumulation of knowledge in neuroscience can potentially enrich research on decision making, (2) the range of techniques in neuroscience that can be used to shed light on various decision making phenomena, (3) examples of potential research in this emerging area, and (4) some of the challenges readers need to be cognizant of while venturing into this new area of research. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12205/ 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12170/ 2004-08-01T00:00:00Z Objective Written case simulations are increasingly being used to investigate clinical decision making. Our study was designed to determine the validity of written case simulations within a conjoint analysis approach. Study design and setting We developed a series of 32 written case simulations that differed with respect to nine clinical characteristics. These case simulations represented elderly patients with aortic stenosis. The clinical characteristics varied according to a fractional factorial design. We analyzed retrospectively all consecutive patients of 70 years of age or older with an aortic stenosis in three university hospitals. Results 34 cardiologists from three Dutch hospitals gave their treatment advice to each of these case simulations on a six-point scale (ranging from ‘certainly no’ to ‘certainly yes’ to surgical treatment). We compared the influence that the clinical characteristics had on the responses to these case simulations with their influence on the actual treatment decision for 147 actual patients in the same three hospitals. We found a strong agreement. This agreement was only slightly affected by the cut-off value used to dichotomize the treatment advice into a recommendation in favor of or against surgical treatment. Conclusion Written case simulations reflect well how clinicians are influenced by specific clinical characteristics of their patients. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12172/ 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z Based on measurements among 332 owner-managers, we investigate how the global shape of the utility function (i.e., S-shaped versus concave or convex over the total range of outcomes) relates to choice behavior. We find that the global shape of the utility function differs across decision makers (about one-third of the owner-managers exhibit an S-shaped utility function) and that the global shape is linked to organizational behavior (i.e., the production system employed), a result that does not change when using different methods to identify the decision maker's global shape of the utility function. The decision maker's risk attitude (risk averse or risk seeking) does not affect the choice of the production system. Whereas the degree of risk aversion, based on the local shape of the utility function, may be important in explaining owner-managers' trading behavior (Pennings and Smidts 2000), more structural organizational behavior appears to be linked to the global shape of the utility function. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/308/ 2002-10-25T00:00:00Z Met moderne beeldvormende technieken, de neuro-imaging-technieken, kan ge-meten worden waar en wanneer hersenactiviteit plaats vindt bij de uitvoering van een bepaalde taak. Zodoende kan de reactie van de hersenen gemeten worden op marketing stimuli zoals een reclamefilmpje of een verpakking, of als een klant moet kiezen tussen merken. In deze rede wordt een visie gegeven op de mogelijk-heden van onderzoek met behulp van hersenscans in marketing. De sterkten en zwakten van de vier belangrijkste neuro-imaging-technieken worden besproken (EEG, MEG, PET en fMRI), en de geschiktheid van deze technieken voor toepas-sing in marktonderzoek wordt bepaald. In een tweetal voorbeelden van consumen-tenonderzoek (reclameherinnering en merkkeuzeprocessen) worden de toepas-singsmogelijkheden ge??llustreerd. Er wordt geconcludeerd dat neuro-imaging unieke mogelijkheden opent voor marktonderzoek, maar dat nog veel fundamen-teel onderzoek nodig is voordat deze technieken ingezet kunnen worden in de praktijk. Het doel van neuromarketing is het beter begrijpen van de klant en haar reactie op marketing stimuli, door de processen in de hersenen direct te meten en in de theorievorming en stimuli-ontwikkeling te betrekken. Alhoewel de grootste nadruk ligt op het beter begrijpen van de klant door middel van theorievorming, moet het uiteindelijk ook de manager helpen bij het ontwerpen van effectievere marketing stimuli. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/173/ 2002-03-01T00:00:00Z Based on measurements with 332 owner-managers, the global shape of the utility function (i.e., S-shaped versus concave or convex over the total range of outcomes) appears to discriminate organizational behavior. Whereas the degree of risk aversion, based on the local shape of the utility function, may be important in explaining owner-manager's trading behavior, the global shape of the utility function appears to drive more structural organizational behavior. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12206/ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Met een nieuwe neuro-imaging techniek om de activiteit in de hersenen te meten, de zogenaamde steady-state probe topography (SSPT), kan opgespoord worden welke scènes uit een tv-commercial door consumenten goed herinnerd worden. Uit een experiment blijkt dat scènes die langer dan 1,5 seconde duren en scènes die een snelle activatie in de linkerhersenhelft veroorzaken, een week later beter herkend worden. Door het toepassen van SSPT kunnen commercials gepretest worden om de herkenning en herinnering zo hoog mogelijk te maken. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20516/ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Met een nieuwe neuro-imaging techniek om de activiteit in de hersenen te meten, de zogenaamde steady-state probe topography (SSPT), kan opgespoord worden welke scènes uit een tv-commercial door consumenten goed herinnerd worden. Uit een experiment blijkt dat scènes die langer dan 1,5 seconde duren en scènes die een snelle activatie in de linkerhersenhelft veroorzaken, een week later beter herkend worden. Door het toepassen van SSPT kunnen commercials gepretest worden om de herkenning en herinnering zo hoog mogelijk te maken. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12132/ 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Employees' organizational identification was measured in three organizations. Results show that employee communication augments perceived external prestige and helps explain organizational identification. Communication climate plays a central role, mediating the impact on organizational identification of the content of communication. The relative impacts of employee communication and perceived external prestige on organizational identification differ between organizations; this was attributed to differences in reputation of the companies. Consequences of the results for the management of organizational identification are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12173/ 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z OBJECTIVETo determine how the decisions of Dutch cardiologists on surgical treatment for aortic stenosis were influenced by the patient's age, cardiac signs and symptoms, and comorbidity; and to identify groups of cardiologists whose responses to these clinical characteristics were similar. DESIGNA questionnaire was produced asking cardiologists to indicate on a six point scale whether they would advise cardiac surgery for each of 32 case vignettes describing 10 clinical characteristics. SETTINGNationwide postal survey among all 530 cardiologists in the Netherlands. RESULTS52% of the cardiologists responded. There was wide variability in the cardiologists' advice for the individual case vignettes. Six groups of cardiologists explained 60% of the variance. The age of the patient was most important for 41% of the cardiologists; among these, 50% had a high and 50% a low inclination to advise surgery. A further 24% were influenced equally by the patient's age and by the severity of the aortic stenosis and its effect on left ventricular function; among these, 62% had a high and 38% a low inclination to advise surgery. Finally, 23% of the cardiologists were mainly influenced by the left ventricular function and 12% by the aortic valve area. The presence of comorbidity always played a minor role. CONCLUSIONSThere were systematic differences among groups of cardiologists in their inclination to advise aortic valve replacement for elderly patients, as well as in the way their advice was influenced by the patients' characteristics. These results indicate the need for prospective studies to identify the best treatment for elderly patients according to their clinical profile. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/2671/ 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Conceptualizes the impact of information technology on marketing decision making. Argues that developments in information technology affect the performance of marketing decision-makers through different routes. Advances in information technology enhance the possibilities of collecting data and of generating information for supporting marketing decision making. Potentially, this will have a positive impact on decision-making performance. Managerial expertise will favor the transformation of data into market insights. However, as the cognitive capabilities of marketing managers are limited, increasing amounts of data may also increase the complexity of the decision-making context. In turn, increased complexity enhances the probability of biased decision processes, thereby negatively affecting decision-making performance. Marketing management support systems, also being the result of advances in information technology, are tools that can help marketers to benefit from the data explosion. The analysis leads to the expectation that the combination of marketing data, managerial judgment, and marketing management support systems will be a powerful factor for improving marketing management. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/42/ 2000-08-25T00:00:00Z In this paper we conceptualize the impact of information technology on marketing decision-making. We argue that developments in information technology affect the performance of marketing decision-makers through different routes. Advances in information technology enhance the possibilities to collect data and to generate information for supporting marketing decision-making. Potentially, this will have a positive impact on decision-making performance. Managerial expertise will favor the transformation of data into market insights. However, as the cognitive capabilities of marketing managers are limited, increasing amounts of data may also increase the complexity of the decision-making context. In turn, increased complexity enhances the probability of biased decision processes (e.g., the inappropriate use of heuristics) thereby negatively affecting decision-making performance. Marketing management support systems, also being the result of advances in information technology, are tools that can help marketers to benefit from the data explosion. These systems are able to increase the value of data and, at the same time, make decision-makers less vulnerable to biased decision processes. Our analysis leads to the expectation that the combination of marketing data, managerial judgment, and marketing management support systems will be a powerful factor for improving marketing management. Implications of our analysis are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12574/ 2000-05-23T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10/ 2000-03-21T00:00:00Z Employees' Organizational Identification (OI) is measured in a customer service organization. Particularly the effects of employee communication and perceived external prestige (PEP) on OI were evaluated. Results show that employee communication affects OI more strongly than PEP. One aspect of employee communication, the communication climate, appears to play a central role: it mediates the impact on OI of the content of employee communication. These results suggest that the importance of how an organization communicates internally is even more vital than the question what is being communicated. Consequences of the results for managing and synchronizing internal and external communication are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12174/ 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z Two major approaches to measuring risk attitude are compared. One, based on the expected utility model is derived from responses to lotteries and direct scaling. The other measure is a psychometric approach based on Likert statements that produces a unidimensional risk attitude scale. The data are from computer-assisted interviews of 346 Dutch owner-managers of hog farms, who made decisions about their own businesses. While the measures demonstrate some degree of convergent validity, those measures based on lotteries were better predictors of actual market behavior. In contrast the psychometric scale showed more agreement to self-reported measures of innovativeness, market orientation, and the intention to reduce risk. In light of the higher predictive validity of lottery-based measurements, we recommend elicitation methods based on the expected utility paradigm. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12175/ 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z In a field experiment, Social Facilitation Theory (SFT) and Affiliation Theory (AT) were applied to waiting. SFT predicts the effects of 'waiting alone' or 'waiting with others' on the waiting experience. As predicted, when the wait is long, waiting with others makes it less acceptable. Under these conditions, waiting times are also less accurately estimated. AT prescribes the conditions under which one shows preference to wait with others; a preference which proves to be stronger when one feels anxious or uncertain during the wait. These results imply that though customers may prefer to wait with others, the effects of group waiting can be detrimental to the acceptability judgment and interfere with the estimation of the waiting time duration. This has implications for the design of waiting rooms. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12176/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z A major concern for service managers is to counteract negative effects of waiting. In this study, the effects of objective waiting time and waiting environment on satisfaction with the service were investigated. Two elements of the waiting environment were distinguished: the attractiveness of the waiting room and the presence of television (TV) as an explicit distracter. The mediating role of three subjective variables (perceived waiting time, acceptable waiting time and the (cognitive and affective) appraisal of the wait) was explored. Waiting appears to influence satisfaction quite strongly. The adverse effects of waiting can be soothed more effectively by improving the attractiveness of the waiting environment than by shortening the objective waiting time. Objective waiting time influences satisfaction mainly via a cognitive route: through perceived waiting time (in minutes) and the long/short judgment of the wait. Perceived attractiveness of the waiting environment operates mainly through affect, and thus serves as a mood inducer. The acceptable waiting time appears to be a critical point of reference, since surpassing it provokes strong affective responses. Although the presence of TV did not result in the expected effect of distraction, the tendency to watch it was found to be dependent on the length of the wait (and thus, boredom). http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20518/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/2676/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z Marketing decision makers are confronted with an increasing amount of information. This leads to a complex decision environment that may cause decision makers to lapse into using mental-effort-reducing heuristics such as anchoring and adjustment. In an experimental study, we find that the use of a marketing decision support system (MDSS) increases the effectiveness of marketing decision makers. An MDSS is effective because it assists its users in identifying the important decision variables and, subsequently, making better decisions based on those variables. Decision makers using an MDSS are also less susceptible to applying the anchoring and adjustment heuristic and, therefore, show more variation in their decisions in a dynamic environment. Low-analytical decision makers and decision makers operating under low time pressure especially benefit from using an MDSS. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12204/ 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z In a field study, the concept of intrinsic, risk attitude is investigated. Intrinsic risk attitude concerns the relationship between risk attitude, measured by the utility function u(x), and strength of preference, measured by the value function v(x). We study farmers' decision-making vis-a-vis price risk and obtain assessments of risk attitude and strength of preference in two consecutive years in a sample of 253 respondents. This design enables us to investigate the temporal stability of intrinsic risk attitude. Our findings show that risk attitude and strength of preference are two distinctive constructs. More specifically, the hypothesis of a linear relationship between u (x) and v(x) is clearly rejected in favor of an exponential relationship. This exponential relationship implies that our respondents exhibit a constant absolute intrinsic risk attitude for different price levels, during a time period. Differences between respondents in direction and degree of intrinsic risk attitude are substantial and the majority of the respondents are intrinsically risk seeking. No statistically significant change in intrinsic risk attitude could be detected between the two years of measurement. However, the correlation between measures across time appears to be low. In the discussion, issues for further research are identified. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/2664/ 1996-10-01T00:00:00Z In this paper we present the results of an experimental study of the impact of the quality of a marketing decision support system (MDSS). The experiment was conducted in the MARKSTRAT environment. The quality of an MDSS was operationalized as the predictive precision of its simulation models. The results show that marketing decision-makers using a high-quality MDSS outperform marketing decision-makers using a medium-quality MDSS. The superior performance with the high-quality MDSS was obtained for both low and high time-pressure. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12520/ 1994-05-01T00:00:00Z Verhoogt het gebruik van marketing management support systemen de kwaliteit van marketingbeslissingen? En zo ja, onder welke omstandigheden? Aan de hand van een experimenteel laboratoriumonderzoek met het simulatiespel MARKSTRATonder 80 marketing managers en 160 studenten, kan de eerste vraag positief worden beantwoord. Omstandigheden als tijdsdruk, ervaring in het nemen van marketingbeslissingen en de analytische capaciteiten van de gebruikers vormen een belangrijk aandachtspunt als het gaat om de implementatie en de kostenlbaten-afweging bij de aanschaf van een systeem. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20525/ 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z Het SERVQUAL-model met bijbehorende standaardvragenhijst is een hulpmiddel bij de diagnose van kwaliteitsproblemen in dienstverlening. De methode mag zich in een groeiende belangstelling verheugen bij dienstverleners in de praktijk. In dit artikel worden de resultaten vergeleken van een toepassing van de methode bij een zevental dienstverlenende organisaties. Hierdoor wordt inzicht verkregen in de betrouwbaarheid en validiteit van de methode en in de praktische bruikbaarheid. Daarnaast wordt met deze vergelijking een referentiekader geboden voor de grootte van de versehillende gaps in het model. Op deze wijze kan een organisatie haar eigen resultaten met de methode afzetten tegen onze resultaten bij de zeven organisaties. Uit de bevindingen blijkt dat het model op veel punten een betrouwbaar en valide beeld geeft van de externe kwaliteitstekorten en de inteme oorzaken daarvoor. Verbeteringen in de methode kunnen met name aangebracht worden bij: de meting van de verwachtingen (biedt te weinig extra informatie), de meting van de inteme organisatiegaps (weinig bruikbaar want erg globaal) en de meting van de antecedente factoren voor de inteme gaps (te onbetrouwbaar). Concrete aanbevelingen worden gedaan om de waarde van de methode te verhogen. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20522/ 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z Hoeveel en welke studenten zijn voorstander respectievelijk tegenstander van de OV-studentenkaart en waarom? Dit waren enkele van de vragen die, voorafgaand aan de invoering van de verplichte OV-kaart (januari 1991), zijn onderzocht in voorjaar 1989 bij een steekproef van 931 studerenden aan het MBO, HBO en WO. Als theoretisch kader bij de analyse van deze vragen is gebruik gemaakt van het onderscheid dat Abell maakt in klantengroepen, klantenfuncties en alternatieve techno1ogieën en van het Fishbein en Ajzen attitudemodel. Het bleek destijds dat de helft van de studerenden de kaart een onaantrekkelijk nieuw produkt vond. Deze tegenstanders haddeneen reis- en vervoersgedrag waardoor zij zeer weinig openbaar vervoerskosten maakten. Dit kwam ofwel omdat men weinig reisde (men woont dicht bij ouders en studieplek), ofwel omdat men wel veel reisde maar dit met eigen vervoer deed (autobezitters en meerijders, motor- of bromfiets). Beide groepen zouden er door de invoering van de kaart, bij ongewijzigd reis- en vervoersgedrag, financieel op achteruit gaan vanwege de korting op de basisbeurs. Compensatie van de financië1e achteruitgang door bet substitueren van eigen vervoer door openbaarvervoer werd problematisch geacht omdat men de bereikbaarheid van de reisdoelen met openbaar vervoer als slecht beoordeelde. Vergeleken met de tegenstanders reisden de voorstanders reeds veel met openbaar vervoer zodat zij financieel (vrijwel) quitte zouden spelen of er op vooruit zouden gaan. Uit de intenties tot verandering in reisgedrag bleek dat er vooral een toename van het reisgedrag met het openbaar vervoer te verwachten was in de daluren (bezoeken aan familie, vrienden, recreatiedoelene.d.) en niet in de spits. Als belangrijkste conclusie van de resultaten kan genoemd worden dat wanneer een niet-verplichte OV-kaart geïntroduceerd zou zijn tegen een hogere prijs dan de huidige korting op de basisbeurs, dit beter zou hebben gespoord met de wensen in de markt dan de huidige verplichte OV-kaart. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12166/ 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z The objectives of the study were: a) to review, discuss and test a number of theories on individual decision making under risk; much attention is specifically given to the definition and empirical testing of the concept of relative risk attitude, b) to investigate in a large scale survey the validity, reliability and practical feasibility of measurement procedures for measuring subjective probability distributions, risk attitude, and strength of preference, and c) to develop and test a model which describes the farmer's decision making process with respect to the choice of a marketing strategy for ware potatoes.