Understanding Responsible Leadership: Role Identity and Motivational Drivers

This article contributes to the emerging discussion on responsible leadership by providing an analysis of the inner theatre of a responsible leader. I use a narrative approach for analyzing the biography of Anita Roddick as a widely acknowledged prototype of a responsible leader. With clinical and normative lenses I explore the relationship between responsible leadership behavior and the underlying motivational systems. I begin the article with an introduction outlining the current state of responsible leadership research and explaining the kind of magnifying glasses used to examine the case. I continue with a brief summary of Anita Roddick’s development from childhood to adulthood, which provides the biographical background for exploring her motivational systems as a leader. Against this backdrop, I analyze the relationship between motivational drivers and a responsible leadership identity as revealed by Roddick in different behavioral leadership roles. I conclude the article by providing a number of lessons learned for responsible leadership and the development of future global leaders. Dr. Nicola M. Pless is a former Vice President of leadership development at a large financial services institution. Currently she is Reader in Responsible Leadership at the University of St. Gallen and Research Director of the HSG-INSEAD Initiative on Responsible Leadership. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational theory and social issues from the University of St. Gallen and a diploma in clinical organizational psychology from INSEAD where she is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow. She is editor of “Responsible Leadership”, published by Routledge in 2006.     

Self-referencing and consumer evaluations of larger-sized female models: A weight locus of control perspective

In two experiments, we show that the beliefs women have about the controllability of their weight (i.e., weight locus of control) influences their responses to advertisements featuring a larger-sized female model or a slim female model. Further, we examine self-referencing as a mechanism for these effects. Specifically, people who believe they can control their weight (“internals”), respond most favorably to slim models in advertising, and this favorable response is mediated by self-referencing. In contrast, people who feel powerless about their weight (“externals”), self-reference larger-sized models, but only prefer larger-sized models when the advertisement is for a non-fattening product. For fattening products, they exhibit a similar preference for larger-sized models and slim models. Together, these experiments shed light on the effect of model body size and the role of weight locus of control in influencing consumer attitudes.

Advertising Decision Makers' and Consumers' Perceptions of Media Substitutability

The purpose of this article is to assess the perceptions of advertising media substitutability among consumers, media planners, and media providers. Data were collected from three different samples using structured questionnaires and CATI interviewing. The results suggest that some degree of substitution does indeed exist in all three groups. This means that if first media choices are unavailable all groups are likely to consider others as possibly providing the best buying information. This study adds to the scarce literature that focuses on perceptions of media substitutability and provides results for both demand and supply side of the media market. It also suggests that such perceptual studies may be helpful in a re-examination of current policy and advertising management decisions.     

Effectiveness of Indecent Language in Advertising on Young Adult Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intent

This study applies both the Dual Mediation Hypothesis and Schema Congruity Theory to examine the effectiveness of mild controversial advertising executions on young adult consumer cognitions, affect, and behavior. Findings from this study suggest that advertisements featuring mild indecent language result in more positive advertisement attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions than when decent language is used. Young adult consumers also report more positive advertisement and brand attitudes, and a greater likelihood of purchase when they perceive the advertisement to be congruent with their existing schema, regardless of whether the execution is mildly controversial or noncontroversial in nature. The findings of this study are important to advertisers in the development of effective creative execution techniques.     

E-mail Advertising in Syria: Assessing Beliefs,Attitudes, and Behaviors

The present study aimed at assessing Syrian consumers' beliefs regarding, attitude, and behavioral responses toward e-mail advertising and investigating the relationships among those variables. A cross-sectional survey was conducted and it yielded 273 valid responses. The proposed model was analyzed and tested using a structural equation modelling approach. Our findings showed that both informativeness and entertainment beliefs positively predicted Syrian consumers' attitudes toward e-mail advertising. Additionally, attitude was found to fully mediate the relationship between beliefs regarding and behavioral responses toward e-mail advertising.     

More Isn't Always Better: Exploring the Influence of Familiarity When Using Multiple Celebrity Endorsers

Marketers continually employ celebrity endorsers as a promotional tactic to enhance brand awareness and increase sales. Frequently, companies will use multiple celebrities to endorse the same product, but feature them individually across a series of concurrent advertisements. While this tactic is often used in practice, its effectiveness has not been thoroughly examined within the academic literature. Our research investigates the value of using multiple concurrent endorsers and the moderating role that celebrity familiarity has on attitudes toward the brand and purchase intentions. Results suggest that using multiple endorsers concurrently is not always the best approach.     

广告对社会福利的影响及最优投放水平分析

本文首先对广告的作用,包括经济作用与社会作用做了定性的描述,然后运用经济学模型对广告与社会福利的关系进行了分析并探讨了最优的广告投放水平,最后分析了广告的负外部性因素对社会福利的影响。     

甘肃、新疆民俗旅游广告之现状、作用及前景

甘肃、新疆两地不仅有独特的自然风光，还有多姿多彩的民俗文化，民俗旅游潜力巨大。但两地广告业发展相对滞后，因此两地还应充分挖掘当地的民俗文化资源，注重民俗文化与现代时尚的结合，进一步提高广告制作的专业化水平，促进两地民俗旅游广告的发展。     

Consumer Believability of Information in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising of Prescription Drugs

Direct to consumer (DTC) advertising has attracted significant research attention, yet none has focused on empirical assessments of its overall impact on U.S. consumers nationally, and tying assessment to relevant behavioral outcomes. This paper addresses the ethical issue of DTC advertising providing a balance of product and risk information that is both understandable and believable, and contributes direction to those exploring this phenomenon. Richard F. Beltramini is currently Professor of Marketing in the School of Business Administration at Wayne State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and served on the faculty of Arizona State University for fifteen years. His teaching interests include advertising and marketing management, research, and strategy. His primary research focus is on the believability of marketing communications information, and he has published in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, and a variety of other journals, conference proceedings, and books as well as co-editing Gift Giving: A Research Anthology. Dr. Beltramini has served on the Editorial Review Boards of a number of academic journals, as guest editor of special issues of the Journal of Business Ethics and the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, as international president of the American Academy of Advertising, as a member of the American Advertising Federation's National Academic Committee and several other professional and business organizations, and is active as a consultant to several international organizations. He is the recipient of several national competitive grants and awards for his teaching and research, including the National Science Foundation, is the only faculty recipient of both his school’s Excellence in Research and Excellence in Teaching awards, and is currently the first Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow. Prior to academe, Dr. Beltramini worked for Texas Instruments, Inc. and The Drawing Board, Inc., both in Dallas, and he has also worked as a Visiting Research Professor for J. Walter Thompson Advertising in Chicago, Honeywell Information Systems in Phoenix, and the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.     

The morality of spending in Finnish youth consumer culture

This article discusses the morality of spending (i.e. the unnecessary spending) as well as the freedom of spending in Finnish consumer narratives written by 16‐ to 19‐ year‐old pupils. First, the study explores different meanings of the unnecessary spending discourse. Second, the study argues that young consumers are using a wastrel metaphor (i.e. a squanderer, a prodigal son/daughter) as a symbol of liberation from the shame of spending. A narrative research approach is applied for the collection and analysis of data and illustrating the results. The qualitative data were collected in five upper secondary schools between November 2001 and May 2002. The morality of spending comprises various significances, although the discourse is often pleasure‐oriented for youth. Some youngsters define the unnecessary spending as a criticism of the consumer society. Furthermore, the discourse strengthens self‐control as well as helps to arrange both positive and negative consumer experiences. Thus, the morality of spending is a part of the process of growing up as a consumer and constructing a consumer identity.