The Strategic Impact of Information on Firms and Markets: The Case of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Moorman Abstract `The Strategic Impact of Information on Firms and Markets: The Case of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990.` This research proposal examines the impact of information in firm behavior and market dynamics and addresses situations in which the flow of information goes beyond in a single firm to where information is available regarding most firms in an industry. The flow of information might result from proactive competitive moves by firms or from the actions of regulatory bodies or consumer groups.. For example, regulations may be removed and free the floe of information into markets or regulations may require the disclosure of information by firms. These external information flows are termed market information. The context for examining the impact of market information in this research is the influx of information created by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) passed by Congress in 1990 and implemented in 1994. The NLEA forced food manufacturers to communicate nutrition information using a standardized format referred to as the `Nutrition Facts` label. All of the projects investigated in this grant utilized a longitudinal quasi-experimental design with appropriate controls. This grant investigates several research issues. The first issue is to examine the impact of market information on product quality measures. This proposal extends initial work in this area by examining more complex, multi-attribute approaches to the measurement of product quality (e.g., taste and nutrition) and by assessing the impact on market efficiency and the nature of competitive rivalry among firms. The research will then examine the impact of firm resources and capabilities on the level and timing of product quality changes. If firm differences are found to produce differences in firm responses to market information, research will then investigate the impact of market information on the structure and dynamics of the food industry. A final component of this research program is to collect additional data to examine the impact of market information relative to control conditions. By utilizing historical data, non-food data, and international data, this research proposal provides a solid basis for establishing the impact of information on market dynamics. In terms of implications, this research seeks to augment existing theories by utilizing and interdisciplinary approach to the development of research questions and associated hypotheses. This approach produces several counter-intuitive predictions for each research topic and articles disseminating these results will be targeted across disciplines in marketing, strategic management, economics, and public policy. In addition to theoretical impact, this proposal also seeks to influence policy design. Specifically, by demonstrating that consumer behavior, managerial decision-making, firm-level responses, and industry-level effects are different from what might be expected from straight extrapolations of economics theories, regulators will have a better understanding of implications of various policy design choices.