Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for organic versus conventionally produced cotton apparel, and to explore the role of purchase behaviors, apparel attributes and consumer beliefs about organics in purchase decisions. Design/methodology/approach -A 2nd priced auction was used to estimate WTP, along with a follow-up survey to collect information on participants' demographics, attitudes and behavior. Findings -On average, participants were willing to pay a 25 percent premium for an organic cotton t-shirt over the visibly similar t-shirt made from conventionally produced cotton. Participants who pay for their own clothing or make purchase decisions alone were not willing to pay a premium. Previous history of purchasing organic foods, perceived product quality, fit and the participant's race were also significant predictors of WTP. Research limitations/implications -A more representative sample and the inclusion of other product categories are necessary to generalize the relationships found in this study. Practical implications -This research helps to profile the organic cotton consumer. Findings suggest that retailers need to consider the income of target consumers when making decisions about carrying organic apparel products. Further, consumers with a history of purchasing organic products appear to carry that purchase behavior across product categories. When marketing organic apparel products, the perception of a higher quality product may yield a higher WTP. Originality/value -The paper is one of the first to use an experimental auction in estimating WTP for apparel. Relevant consumer beliefs about organics, purchase behaviors and apparel product attributes are also explored.

Research has established a relationship between willingness to pay to price premium and brand equity, however, most studies used stated preference data, which are hypothetical situations. Although the experimental auction methodology has been well documented in the previous literature, its application in understanding brand equity has been minimal. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between brand equity and consumers' willingness to pay a price premium for branded apparel products using revealed preference methodology. In order to determine the relationship, the BeckerDegroot-Marshack experimental auction mechanism was used with the endow-andupgrade approach followed with a survey. The survey included 10 multidimensional brand equity questions adopted from the Yoo and Donthu brand equity scale, demographics, previous brand experiences, importance of apparel product attributes and beliefs about brands. The experiment resulted in 100 usable observations. Brand equity was analysed using a composite score on the multidimensional brand equity measurement (Yoo and Donthu), willingness to pay a price premium was analysed using descriptive statistics and Tobit regression analysis was used to analyse the relationship between brand equity and the willingness to pay a price premium. Findings indicated that the overall brand equity score, a belief that there are more choices in branded merchandise and the importance of brand in making clothing purchase decisions had a modest positive and significant influence on the willingness to pay a price premium. The higher the brand equity, the higher the importance of brands in making clothing purchase decisions, and belief that there are more choices in branded merchandise, the higher the price premium a consumer was willing to pay.

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Grant writing has become the new normal expectation for university research funding. At the same time, researchers encounter increasingly fierce competition for these limited, historically low, funds. The new reality for grant seeking seems bleak in that there exist low funding rates, constrained university budgets, and the need for universities to remain the center for research and economic development. However, with a better understanding of the process the new normal need not be so bleak.The purpose of this session was to shed insights on the federal grants programs by providing an insider's perspective on the nuances of federal grant writing, projections for future funding, and a vision for charting the future.