Word of mouth (WOM) has always been one of the most credible and influential sources of information for a consumer. With the advent of the Internet, new mediums of communication, such as blogs and social networking sites, have opened up, allowing more consumers to gather WOM information more easily than ever before. In this study, I examine the usefulness of online WOM, particularly from blogs ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Over the past several years, decreased demand for and increased supply of imaging services has increased competition among outpatient imaging centers in the United States. This study hypothesizes that using a radiology sales representative and neuroradiologist as a team in marketing and sales will increase imaging referrals in outpatient imaging. MATERIALSANDMETHODS: Fro...

BACKGROUND In October, 2008, legislation was implemented in the city and county of San Francisco, California, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies. OBJECTIVE To characterise public awareness and perceptions of the ban on tobacco sales in San Francisco community pharmacies. METHODS A brief, anonymous survey was used to assess public awareness and perceptions of a ban on tob...

Word of mouth (WOM) has always been one of the most credible and influential sources of information for a consumer. With the advent of the Internet, new mediums of communication, such as blogs and social networking sites, have opened up, allowing more consumers to gather WOM information more easily than ever before. In this study, I examine the usefulness of online WOM, particularly from blogs ...

UNLABELLED Community pharmacies may place condoms in locked displays or behind glass, thereby reducing access and consequent use. OBJECTIVE Quantify sales and theft of condoms when condoms were unlocked and removed from behind glass in grocery pharmacies. METHODS Design. In this pilot study, condom displays were unlocked in selected pharmacies for three months. Participants. Eight grocery p...

INTRODUCTION Continued progress in implementing smoke-free laws throughout the United States would benefit from documenting positive economic effects, particularly for the hospitality industry. This study describes changes in sales revenue in bars and taverns since December 2005, when a statewide smoke-free law in Washington State went into effect. METHODS Using 24 quarters of inflation-adjus...

This paper studies optimal sales force compensation plans in a multi-period moral-hazard model when the firm wants to implement high effort in every period but only obtains aggregate information on sales. The sales agent chooses effort each period after observing previous sales and his incentive responsiveness might change over time. The paper derives conditions under which a linear incentive s...

The continued expansion of the casino industry has caused increasing concern regarding the cannibalization of other industries, and in particular, state lotteries. For example, Maryland Lottery sales flattened shortly after casinos began opening in the state. Although previous papers have found that casinos and lotteries have a negative relationship with each other, no previous research has ana...

urveillance of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical sales may someday be used to give public health offi cials an early warning about developing public health conditions. To acquire confi dence in this surveillance, it is necessary to establish fi rmly that OTC sales may be used to predict changes in clinical conditions with a useful time lead. This article reports the magnitude of correlation...