Consumer is weaker party in electronic contracts, especially business to consumer contracts (B2C). There are various legal systems in place to protect consumers. However, consumers still face a variety of problems. For example, they do not have enough choices in the markets and often have difficulties in understanding contract terms. More importantly, consumers still do not always have effectiv...

This meeting discussed the regulation, marketing and communication needs of these products from a consumer point of view. It was agreed, that clear and consistent messages are needed from health professionals, public authorities, industry and also the media. There is also a need to better understand the context in which choices of products are made. Research into these topics is reviewed in thi...

In the empirical and theoretical literature a consumer’s utility function is often assumed to be quasilinear. In this paper we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for testing if the consumer acts as if she is maximizing a quasilinear utility function over her budget set. If the consumer’s choices are inconsistent with maximizing a quasilinear utility function over her budget set, then w...

In the empirical and theoretical literature a consumer’s utility function is often assumed to be quasilinear. In this paper we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for testing if the consumer acts as if she is maximizing a quasilinear utility function over her budget set. If the consumer’s choices are inconsistent with maximizing a quasilinear utility function over her budget set, then w...

Older adults constitute a rapidly growing demographic segment, but stereotypes persist about their consumer behavior. Thus, a more considered understanding of age-associated changes in decision making and choices is required. Our underlying theoretical model suggests that ageassociated changes in cognition, affect, and goals interact to differentiate older consumers’ decision-making processes, ...

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of consumer behavior with switching costs in the market for paid television services. It is hypothesized that consumer choices of cable versus satellite providers are affected by the presence of switching costs, which in turn justifies forward-looking consumer behavior. The model allows for persistently heterogeneous consumer preferences. I esti...

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of consumer demand for deposits, in which banks provide di¤erentiated products, and product characteristics evolve over time. Consumers choose their banks based on the utility received from using their services, and incur a …xed cost when they switch banks. Consequently, consumer choices include which bank to use and when to switch. Utilizing th...