5 research outputs found
Reputation based Buyer Strategies for Seller Selection in Electronic Markets
No full textReputation based adaptive buying agents that reason about sellers for purchase decisions have been designed for B2C ecommerce markets. Previous research in the area of buyer agent strategies for choosing seller agents in ecommerce markets has focused on frequent purchases. In this thesis, we present reputation based strategies for buyer agents to choose seller agents in a decentralized multi agent based ecommerce markets for frequent as well as infrequent purchases. We consider a marketplace where the behavior of seller agents and buyer agents can vary, they can enter and leave the market any time, they may be dishonest, and quality of the product can be gauged after actually receiving the product. Buyer agents exchange seller agents' information, which is based on their own experiences, with other buyer agents in the market. However, there is no guarantee that when other buyer agents provide information, they are truthful or share similar opinions. First we present a method for buyer agent to model a seller agent's reputation. The buyer agent computes a seller agent's reputation based on its ability to meet its expectations of product quality and price as compared to its competitors. We show that a buying agent acting alone, utilizing our model of maintaining seller agents' reputation and buying strategy does better than buying agents acting alone employing strategies proposed previously by other researchers for frequent as well as for infrequent purchases. Next we present two methods for buyer agents to identify other trustworthy buyer agent friends who are honest and have similar opinions regarding seller agents, based on sharing of seller agents' information with each other. In the first method, buyer agent utilizes other buyer agents' opinions and ratings of seller agents to identify trustworthy buyer agent friends. Reputation of seller agents provided by trustworthy buyer agent friends is adjusted to account for the differences in the rating systems and combined with its own information on seller agents to choose high quality, low priced seller agent. In the second method, buyer agent only utilizes other buyer agents' opinions of seller agents to identify trustworthy buyer agent friends. Ratings are assigned to seller agents by the buyer agent based on trustworthy friend buyer agents' opinions and combined with its own rating on seller agents to choose a high quality, low priced seller agent to purchase from. We conducted experiments to show that both methods are successful in distinguishing between trustworthy buyer agent friends, whose opinions should be utilized in decision making, and untrustworthy buyer agent friends who are either dishonest, or have different opinions. We also show that buyer agents using our models of identifying trustworthy buyer agent friends have higher performance than a buyer agent acting alone for infrequent purchases and for increasing numbers of sellers in the market. Finally we analyze the performances of buyer agents with risk taking and conservative attitudes. A buyer agent with risk taking attitude considers a new seller agent as reputable initially and tends to purchase from a new seller agent if they are offering the lowest price among reputable seller agents. A buyer agent with conservative attitude is cautious in its approach and explores new seller agents at a rate proportional to the ratio of unexplored seller agents to the all the seller agents who have sent bids. Our results show that, when buyer agents are making decisions based on their own information, a buyer agent with conservative attitude has the best performance. When buyer agents are utilizing information provided by their trusted friends, a buyer agent with risk taking attitude and using only trusted friend buyer agents' opinions of seller agents has the best performance. In summary, the main contributions of this dissertation are: 1.A new reputation based way to model seller agents by buyer agents based on direct interactions. 2.A protocol to exchange reputation information about seller agents with other buyer agent friends based on the friends' direct interaction with seller agents. 3.Two methods of identifying trustworthy buyer agent friends who are honest and share similar opinions, and utilizing the information provided by them to maximize a buyer agent's chances of choosing a high quality, low priced seller agent to purchase from
Re-evaluating green marketing strategy : a stakeholder perspective.
No full textPurpose The present study aims to examine the influence of stakeholders on green marketing strategy (GMS). Marketing literature recognizes that stakeholders play a significant role in influencing organizations and markets, but has not targeted a single integrated approach to examine the relationship between stakeholder management and GMS. Design/methodology/approach This research comprised several phases, including the development of a typology of GMS, an analysis of how managers prioritize stakeholders, a study of the influence of stakeholders on GMS, and an analysis of the influence of the organizational context on managers’ perception of the stakeholders. The hypotheses were validated using multivariate correlational techniques. Findings The study identified the stakeholders associated with GMS and their impact on the strategy adopted by the firms, and established how this is moderated by the firm’s own economic sector and organizational characteristics. Research limitations/implications Future studies might replicate and extend the research in other industries and countries to ascertain whether environmental concerns have different effects in other contexts. Practical implications The surveys on GMS and stakeholder perception undertaken in the present survey are a potential source of information for managers because they can be used as a self diagnostic tool to determine if a firm’s attitude to the environment is reactive or proactive. Originality/value Results show that the organizational “greening” process is not a linear, one dimensional progression, rather an uneven process in which several GMS profiles prioritize different stakeholders. The results also reveal that underlying perceptual, behavioral, and organizational factors influence GMS implementation.Green marketing; Environmental management; Stakeholder analysis; Spain;
Selective <i>I</i><sub>Kur</sub> Inhibitors for the Potential Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation: Optimization of the Phenyl Quinazoline Series Leading to Clinical Candidate 5-[5-Phenyl-4-(pyridin-2-ylmethylamino)quinazolin-2-yl]pyridine-3-sulfonamide
No full textThe Marketing-Entrepreneurship Interface: A Contextual and Practical Critique of the Role of Entrepreneurship
No full textIn the late nineteen eighties, Hills proposed that marketing scholars should pay far more attention to entrepreneurship and the smaller enterprise. He founded an annual research symposium and associated proceedings published under the title of Research at the Marketing/Entrepreneurship Interface. The symposia and proceedings still flourish and both the Academy of Marketing in the UK and the American Marketing Association have special interest groups for this area.
This thesis is concerned with the contribution that entrepreneurship can make to understanding this interface. Without a robust definition of entrepreneurship, the interface simply becomes a study of a very common and disparate organisational form - Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). There is no shame in this for they deserve our interest, support and help. Without an understanding of the entrepreneurship component of the interface that help and support might be less effective than we, and they, would desire. Small business is not a little large business, they operate in very different circumstances with very much fewer resources to hand, and, because of who they are may have very different motivations and skill sets. Not necessarily worse but different. So entrepreneurial marketing might offer different insights, and help, compared to a standard academic approach to small business.
This is a PhD by published work and twenty-three submissions are organised into four themes and form a core for discussion. The first theme considers appropriate definitions of entrepreneurship and the role they play in conceptualising the interface. The second theme considers how adopting an entrepreneurial marketing approach could guide and inform the SME in two particular respects: addressing critical situations and developing and maintaining appropriate relationships. This theme is considering entrepreneurial marketing within the SME. The third theme considers firstly entrepreneurial marketing extended away from the SME to larger organisations in both public and private ownership and to a particular form of public art where participants can be small or large and in either public or private ownership. Secondly the experience of organisations within a cluster and SMEs within a conflict zone are considered. The distinguishing focus of this third theme is that it extends the interface away from the traditional focus on SMEs. Whilst it was natural for the interface to arise out of a desire to understand a neglected organisational form in marketing – it can be applied in other contexts. The final theme considers how the author’s conceptualisation of the interface has informed their teaching and the implications for practical business support.
A fundamental argument that is made in respect of understanding the role of entrepreneurship within entrepreneurial marketing is that we should not treat entrepreneurship as an absolute attribute which would direct us into classifying people simply into entrepreneurs as opposed to non-entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs range from the exceptional ‘stellar’ entrepreneur to those who are imitative of current market offerings and we should work across this range appropriately.
Having discussed both an appropriate definition and role for entrepreneurship within the marketingentrepreneurship interface the implications of such a view are illustrated through considering the different contexts discussed in themes two and three above and reflecting upon the delivery of teaching programmes based partly or wholly on the notion of the marketing-entrepreneurship interface.
The work is a critique of the role of entrepreneurship within the interface. The contexts selected and discussed draw out practical lessons for a wide range of individuals from undergraduates through SMEs to larger organisations in either private or public ownership
