Browsing by Author "Priilaid, David"

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    An explorative study of linear vs non-linear hedonic pricing of second-hand cars in South Africa
    (2025) Hendry, Stuart; Priilaid, David
    This study investigates the pricing dynamics of the top four entry-level used cars in South Africa, namely the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i10, Toyota Etios, and VW Polo Vivo. Using a hedonic pricing approach to develop four linear and four non-linear regression models the study analyses a comprehensive dataset of 4,386 second-hand vehicles collected from the Cars.co.za website in 2018 and focuses on eight key vehicle attributes, namely age, mileage, region (province of origin), transmission type, fuel type, colour, engine size, and sub-model variant. The use of hedonic pricing theory enables the deconstruction of overall vehicle price into marginal contributions of the eight attributes, thereby offering a detailed understanding of their marginal, relative value in determining fair market prices. For instance, characteristics such as age and mileage exhibited diminishing returns, highlighting that their impact on price decreases disproportionately as values increase. The research identifies asymmetrical relationships between vehicle price and its attributes through a comparative analysis of linear and non-linear regression models. The non-linear models, enhanced by the inclusion of dummy variables, outperformed linear models in terms of accuracy, offering a more precise tool for identifying value for money in the second-hand car market. This study integrates strategic marketing, and applied management elements to provide actionable insights for stakeholders across the used-car sector, including consumers, dealers, insurers, and manufacturers. The statistical analysis within an applied management framework is exploratory and the findings equip consumers with knowledge for making more informed purchasing decisions and assists dealers and insurers in refining pricing strategies and product offerings. Manufacturers are also advised to prioritize attributes significantly impacting resale value during the design and production phases. In light of increasing digitalization and technological disruptions, the study advocates for the development of a consumer-facing digital platform that incorporates hedonic pricing models. This would offer consumers a reliable tool to evaluate and compare used-car prices in an increasingly complex market and promote trust between buyers and sellers.
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    Cultural predictions of entrepreneurial orientation and the moderating role of entrepreneurial competencies on graduate entrepreneurial intentions: A cross-sectional survey of East Africa
    (2020) Katono, Isaac Wasswa; Priilaid, David; Human, Gert
    This research project examines a theoretical gap (impact of culture on entrepreneurial orientation EO) to try and mitigate a practical problem (unemployment) among graduates in three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Unemployment would be mitigated if only graduates embraced entrepreneurship by starting their own business projects, and many governments have encouraged their youth/graduates to do this. Unfortunately, graduate student interest in entrepreneurial activities in many countries in Africa is very low, and the three study countries are no exception to this trend. While many explanations have been advanced for this phenomenon, a key theoretical gap left unattended in entrepreneurship research is the way in which culture impacts upon EO and how this affects entrepreneurial intention (EI), yet EO is often considered the most important variable in the formative stage of a given project. A close look at how culture influences EO is important because EO is unexplainable without considering the socio-cultural framework in which it is embedded, since it can be supportive or a hindrance to entrepreneurship in different contexts. Thus the key question which this study tries to address is: „Does culture constrain the development of a strong EO, eventually leading to low start-up in this region?‟ Specifically, can the low graduate start-up in these countries be explained by the impact of five cultural orientation dimensions (ambiguity intolerance, power distance, masculinity, independence and interdependence) and ability perception variables (achievement motivation and learning goal orientation LGO) on two variables of EO namely risk taking and proactiveness? How does gender affect these relationships? Besides gender, this study also sought to know the level of prevalence in the study population of three other important culturally influenced variables in entrepreneurship literature namely experience, fear of failure and modernity in order to throw more light on the study problem In particular, given that individuals with a modern outlook are somehow liberated from firm cultural norms, this study sought to establish whether students with a more modern outlook differ from those with a less modern one in terms of the study variables. Further, does optimism another important culturally inclined characteristic of entrepreneurs moderate the relationship between EO and entrepreneurial intention? Some authors argue, however, that culture does not matter; rather, what matters are the entrepreneurial competencies of an entrepreneur. Hence another major question addressed in the current study is to what extent do entrepreneurial competencies (such as knowledge/networks) moderate the relationship between EO and entrepreneurial intention? Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), upper echelons theory and image theory, this study seeks to address these questions based on a pragmatic paradigm and thus a mixed methods approach in two phases. Phase one of the study was qualitative consisting of non- structured interviews and conversations with various stake holders and is the basis upon which the study instrument was refined. Phase two was quantitative, utilizing a cross-sectional survey research design based on a non random sampling to gather data from finalists in business faculties in three public and two private universities in the study countries (N=1086) during their classes. Data analysis consisted of three phases, comprising ten steps. Phase one was more of a preliminary analysis and consisted of five steps: Generation of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and normality tests in step 1, T-tests to gauge the prevalence of experience, fear of failure, and modernity as well as a MANOVA to gauge the prevalence of the cultural dimensions in each study country in step 2, Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by Varimax/promax rotation to examine the factor structures of the study dimensions in step 3, followed by examination of validity (construct validity, discriminant validity) and reliability for all study instruments (alpha and composite reliability, CR) in Step 4, while step 5 confirmed the factor structure of the measures using confirmatory factor analysis CFA (Lisrel 8.8). The second phase utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) based on latent variables (using AMOS 23) to first estimate a CFA model, followed by a structural baseline model for all data combined (omnibus model) in step 6. This was followed by fitting the baseline model into each country data set in step 7. In step 8, data was divided by gender into male and female samples and by modernity into low and high modernity groups and the baseline model was fitted into each of these four data sets. This was followed by invariance tests between the gender sets and modernity sets as a basis for their meaningful comparison (step 9). The third phase utilized the process macro in SPSS (step 10) to conduct the moderation analysis. Study findings indicate that in all three countries, only 50% of the respondents had some sort of start-up experience. A third (31%) of the students in the three countries indicated that fear of failure would prevent them from starting a business, while the rest indicated that it would not. Further, students who do not regard fear of failure as a barrier to entrepreneurial activities scored significantly higher on proactiveness, knowledge, achievement motivation and modernity in all the three countries, while in at least two of these countries, these people scored significantly higher on risk taking, networking and learning goal orientation. This finding confirms that fear of failure is an important barrier to graduate entrepreneurship in this region. Turning to the structural models in SEM, findings indicate that the low start-up rate in these countries can be attributed to the negative impact of ambiguity intolerance (the most problematic variable), power distance, and lack of an optimistic bias as well as possible negative attitude towards those with an independent cultural orientation. However, Independence and Interdependence support EO, in agreement with researchers who assert that both cultural variables are good for entrepreneurship. Theoretically, the study makes an extension of the TPB since achievement motivation predicts intention in all study samples (apart from Kenya and Tanzania). In terms of gender, there are no significant differences on the reported levels of risk taking; however females score significantly higher on proactiveness. Further structural models indicate that males are more achievement oriented than females, while the low modernity group seems to be more entrepreneurial than the high modernity group. Lastly, networks and knowledge moderate the relationship between risk taking/proactiveness and intention, while optimism does not. The study calls for a revision of the curriculum to include tolerance for ambiguity, proactiveness and autonomy courses in entrepreneurship education as well as a change in the mode of delivery of this subject. A transformation in the education systems of the three countries is needed to produce critical thinkers and to introduce entrepreneurship early in the education system to make everyone appreciate entrepreneurship, thus nurturing an entrepreneurial culture.
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    Symbolic and functional brand effects in the hedonic assessment of South African wines
    (2010) Priilaid, David; Van Rensburg, Paul
    Proceeding from work that identifies price as an extrinsic cue that can mediate between a wine’s perceived and intrinsic merit, the brand construct is presented as an additional potential mediator. Here we define (1) “functional” brands as representations of intrinsic (blind-tasted) quality, and (2) “symbolic” brands (as proxied by the difference between a wine’s intrinsic and extrinsic (sighted-tasted) evaluations) as placebos. Using a database of 8225 paired tastings (sighted and blind) of popular South African cultivars sampled over an eight year period, we control for contending price and vintage cues to identify the scale, character and distribution of a given set of functional and symbolic brand effects. Respectively these are identified as occurring in the frequency of roughly two-to-one. The 30 strongest of each are tabled. A subset of brands that present simultaneously as both functional and symbolic is further scrutinised. This set decomposes into two distinctive clusters located approximately one standard deviation left and right of the broader intrinsic mean. The smaller Zone of Symbolic Values is characterised by weak intrinsics and strong positive placebos. The second, larger Zone of Functional Values presents the opposite: negative placebos and strong functional intrinsics. Through the calibration and scaling of these brand-effects, wine producers can better understand what proportion of their product’s sight-driven appeal can ably be ascribed to a brand’s placebo as opposed to the underlying quality. Consequently their marketers may now more knowledgably amplify (or, where appropriate, down-play) the label-cue and adjust their wine marketing communication accordingly.