IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlogis/v9y2025i1p29-d1590549.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cognitive-Biased Decision on Courier Express Parcel Market and the Effect of Narratives

Author

Listed:
  • Csilla Bartucz

    (Doctoral School of Regional and Business Administration Sciences, University of Széchenyi István, 9026 Győr, Hungary)

  • Edit Süle

    (Department of Corporate Leadership and Marketing, University of Széchenyi István, 9026 Győr, Hungary)

  • Adrián Horváth

    (Department of Logistics and Forwarding, University of Széchenyi István, 9026 Győr, Hungary)

Abstract

Background: Extensive research highlights the economic benefits of collaboration among parcel delivery service providers, yet mutually advantageous cooperative arrangements remain limited in Hungary’s online shopping sector. Service providers typically prefer to operate independently rather than cooperate with competitors. However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered industry dynamics, leading to increased collaboration. Methods: Against this backdrop, this study explores two key research questions. First, it examines the role of economic narratives in shaping market dynamics. Second, it investigates the cognitive biases influencing decision-makers during the pandemic, based on an analysis of Hungary’s parcel delivery sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key actors in the logistics industry, and the data were analyzed using abductive thematic analysis. Results: The findings reveal that specific economic narratives, such as those emphasizing efficiency and safety, indirectly influenced market mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the shift in consumer demand towards contactless parcel lockers created new incentives for collaboration. Additionally, this study demonstrates that decision-makers exhibited cognitive biases such as risk aversion, which affected their willingness to cooperate. Conclusions: The research concludes that strong economic incentives can override these biases, fostering collaboration among service providers.

Suggested Citation

  • Csilla Bartucz & Edit Süle & Adrián Horváth, 2025. "Cognitive-Biased Decision on Courier Express Parcel Market and the Effect of Narratives," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:9:y:2025:i:1:p:29-:d:1590549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/9/1/29/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/9/1/29/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beckert, Jens, 2011. "Imagined futures. Fictionality in economic action," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Daniel Fonseca Costa & Francisval Carvalho & Bruno César Moreira & José Willer Prado, 2017. "Bibliometric analysis on the association between behavioral finance and decision making with cognitive biases such as overconfidence, anchoring effect and confirmation bias," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(3), pages 1775-1799, June.
    3. John Olsson & Daniel Hellström & Henrik Pålsson, 2019. "Framework of Last Mile Logistics Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Deng, Yuntian & Shao, Shiping & Mittal, Archak & Twumasi-Boakye, Richard & Fishelson, James & Gupta, Abhishek & Shroff, Ness B., 2022. "Incentive design and profit sharing in multi-modal transportation networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1-21.
    5. Leonor Teixeira & Ana Luísa Ramos & Carolina Costa & Dulce Pedrosa & César Faria & Carina Pimentel, 2023. "SOLFI: An Integrated Platform for Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Logistics’ Operations—Study, Design and Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, February.
    6. George A. Akerlof & Robert J. Shiller, 2010. "Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9163.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Csilla Bartucz & László Buics & Edit Süle, 2023. "Lack of Collaboration on the CEP Market and the Underlying Reasons—A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Bahram Alidaee & Haibo Wang & Lutfu S. Sua, 2023. "The Last-Mile Delivery of Heavy, Bulky, Oversized Products: Literature Review and Research Agenda," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Tomislav Letnik & Katja Hanžič & Giuseppe Luppino & Matej Mencinger, 2022. "Impact of Logistics Trends on Freight Transport Development in Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Di Bella, Gabriel & Grigoli, Francesco, 2019. "Optimism, pessimism, and short-term fluctuations," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 79-96.
    5. Francesco Ciampi & Alessandro Giannozzi & Giacomo Marzi & Edward I. Altman, 2021. "Rethinking SME default prediction: a systematic literature review and future perspectives," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(3), pages 2141-2188, March.
    6. Elisa Darriet & Marianne Guille & Jean-Christophe Vergnaud, 2021. "Financial Literacy and Numeracy," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 21031, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    7. Liu, Siqi & Yin, Chao & Zeng, Yeqin, 2021. "Abnormal investment and firm performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Gric, Zuzana & Ehrenbergerova, Dominika & Hodula, Martin, 2022. "The power of sentiment: Irrational beliefs of households and consumer loan dynamics," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Lenka Mynaříková & Vít Pošta, 2023. "The Effect of Consumer Confidence and Subjective Well-being on Consumers’ Spending Behavior," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 429-453, February.
    10. Tianlong Yu & Hao Yang & Xiaowei Luo & Yifeng Jiang & Xiang Wu & Jingqi Gao, 2021. "Scientometric Analysis of Disaster Risk Perception: 2000–2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Kevin D. Hoover, 2014. "Man and machine in macroeconomics," Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy, L'Harmattan, issue 67, pages 15-34.
    12. Bahareh Mansouri & Subhasmita Sahu & M. Ali Ülkü, 2023. "Toward Greening City Logistics: A Systematic Review on Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility in Managing Urban Distribution Centers," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Jesper Akesson & Sam Ashworth-Hayes & Robert Hahn & Robert Metcalfe & Itzhak Rasooly, 2022. "Fatalism, beliefs, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 147-190, April.
    14. Botor, Benjamin & Böcker, Benjamin & Kallabis, Thomas & Weber, Christoph, 2021. "Information shocks and profitability risks for power plant investments – impacts of policy instruments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    15. Snežana Tadić & Mladen Krstić & Ljubica Radovanović, 2024. "Assessing Strategies to Overcome Barriers for Drone Usage in Last-Mile Logistics: A Novel Hybrid Fuzzy MCDM Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, January.
    16. Felix Chopra & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2023. "Home Price Expectations and Spending: Evidence from a Field Experiment," CEBI working paper series 23-03, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    17. Òscar Jordà & Moritz Schularick & Alan M. Taylor & Felix Ward, 2019. "Global Financial Cycles and Risk Premiums," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 67(1), pages 109-150, March.
    18. Solomon Sorin & Golo Natasa, 2013. "Minsky Financial Instability, Interscale Feedback, Percolation and Marshall–Walras Disequilibrium," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 167-260, October.
    19. Feng Li & Zhi-Ping Fan & Bing-Bing Cao & Xin Li, 2020. "Logistics Service Mode Selection for Last Mile Delivery: An Analysis Method Considering Customer Utility and Delivery Service Cost," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    20. Darriet, Elisa & Guille, Marianne & Vergnaud, Jean-Christophe & Shimizu, Mariko, 2020. "Money illusion, financial literacy and numeracy: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:9:y:2025:i:1:p:29-:d:1590549. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.