Risk,uncertainty and the theory of planned behavior: A tourism example

The differential impacts risk and uncertainty have on travel decision-making were explored by examining the constructs' influence on the antecedents of intentions to visit Australia using the theory of planned behavior. Respondents were obtained from online consumer panels in South Korea, China and Japan. The South Korean and Chinese samples were general population samples, while the sample from Japan was an international travelers' sample. The extended model fitted the data well, explaining between 21 and 44 percent of the variance in intentions. Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control significantly impacted on intentions in all country samples, whereas attitudes toward visiting Australia were only significant in Japan. Subjective norms influenced attitudes and perceived behavioral control in all country samples. Finally, perceived risk influenced attitudes toward visiting Australia in South Korea and Japan, while perceived uncertainty influenced attitudes toward visiting Australia in South Korea and China and perceived behavioral control in China and Japan.     

Evidence on users’ attitudes towards road user charges—A cross-sectional survey of six Norwegian toll schemes

Attitudes towards road user charges have in the last decade become a focus of interest for researchers and planners in a number of disciplines including economics, transport planning and environmental sciences. Most of the literature has been based on single and/or hypothetical schemes and has a number of limitations, such as the potential differences in attitudes that might depend on whether users have actually experienced the gains of tolling are not considered. This paper gives further insight into user attitudes towards road user charges and overcomes some of the limitations observed in the literature. In particular, we examine attitudes towards six different Norwegian toll schemes with different characteristics and at different stages of implementation. The results show the following: (i) road users think negatively of tolls irrespective of the type of scheme or stage of charging; (ii) negative attitudes are highly correlated with the level of information given to users on the intentions of the tolling prior to implementation and (iii) toll levels significantly impact attitudes. Further, it is shown that attitudes vary significantly with socioeconomic characteristics. These findings demonstrate that governments need marketing strategies that clearly explain the benefits to users beforehand. Some of these strategies are proposed.     

Investigating CSR communication in SMEs: a case study among Danish middle managers

This paper seeks to analyse small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) managers' representations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CSR communication in a corporate communication perspective. The basic question is: how strategic is CSR communication in SMEs? Corporate communication and CSR theories are used to establish an ideal typology of CSR concepts informing an analysis of qualitative data in the form of interviews with three middle managers in two Danish SMEs. A CSR communication model published earlier by the authors is challenged from a SME perspective. Results from an Internet‐based questionnaire survey of 1071 SMEs pave the way for the analysis. Our analysis shows that SME managers clearly have an inside‐out approach to CSR, with a strong emphasis on the internal (corporate culture) dimension. However, SMEs and/or SME managers tend not to communicate externally about the CSR activities of the company. Based on these findings, the paper argues that CSR communication in SMEs is challenged by the global economy and is under revision. The contribution of the paper is to provide an insight into SMEs' present stage in relation to a possible future approach to strategic CSR communication. The paper also reminds us that SMEs have no interest in turning their local and authentic practice into a forced marketing and branding exercise, leaving them with an artificial picture of who they are and strive to be in the future. They should keep on acting locally but force themselves to think globally.     

The impact of scanning on employment in UK food stores: A preliminary analysis

New technology increasingly is being introduced into retailing at the operational level. One particular example is bar code scanning in food stores. By July 1986 there were 636 shops in the UK with operational scanning systems at point‐of‐sale, and of these 60 per cent were food stores. It has been suggested that scanning checkouts can cause change in employment structures and even job loss. This paper investigates some of the employment implications of laser scanning checkouts in a sample of food stores.     

Role Theory and the Management of Service Encounters

In this article, the contribution of role theory to our understanding and management of service encounters is highlighted. In the first section of the article the focus on social exchange within role theory is identified and commonalities between relational approaches to marketing and a role theoretical perspective are outlined. Thereafter the article outlines the specific contribution of role theory to our understanding of service encounters. Role theory, it is argued, permits better management of the interactive features of service provider-client interface and a clearer focus on role performance and the interpersonal dimensions of service quality. Role analysis offers both focus on role consistency in service provision and a framework for dealing with the uncertainty and evolution in long term service relationships. In services marketing, role can be incorporated as a factor in successful service performance and form a central framework for good service encounter management.     

The Importance of Store Operator on Superstore Employment Levels

Information from 175 superstores, operated by three companies, is used to investigate the importance of store operator in setting superstore employment levels and types of employment. Store operator is shown to be a significant factor determining employment numbers and types in British superstores.     

Does private-label production by national-brand manufacturers create discounter goodwill?

Discount stores have a private-label dominated assortment where national brands have only limited shelf access. These limited spots are in high demand by national-brand manufacturers. We examine whether private-label production by leading national-brand manufacturers for two important discounters (one hard and one soft) creates discounter goodwill. We estimate a selection model that is based on a sample of 450 manufacturer-category combinations from two leading discounters (Aldi in Germany and Mercadona in Spain), and we show that private-label production is indeed rewarded: national-brand manufacturers that are involved in such practices have a higher likelihood of procuring shelf presence for their brands. Moreover, while powerful manufacturers are intrinsically more likely to obtain shelf presence with soft discounters, manufacturers with less power can compensate for this by producing private labels. No such dependence on power exists for hard discounters.However, not all national-brand manufacturers are equally likely to produce private labels for discounters. We find that national-brand manufacturers are less likely to do so when: (a) they experience more sales growth, (b) it is more difficult to produce high-quality products in a specific category, (c) they invest more advertising support into their brands, and (d) they introduce more innovations. Moreover, a higher price differential relative to the discounter's private labels makes national-brand manufacturers less likely to engage in private-label production for hard discounters.     

Patent Settlements as a Barrier to Entry

We formulate a model of entry with two incumbent firms—a patent holder and an infringer—and a potential entrant, with asymmetric information about the validity of the infringed patent (patent strength) between incumbent firms and the entrant. Within this framework we show that patent settlements between the incumbent firms can be mutually beneficial even when the cost of trial is zero and the settlement agreement takes the form of a simple fixed license fee. For patents of intermediate strength, settlements are a tool for entry deterrence. The two parties agree on a high settlement amount which sends a credible signal to “outsiders” that the patent is not weak and therefore entry will not be profitable. This provides a novel explanation for the role of settlements and to the recent observation of high license fees negotiated in settlement agreements. It suggests that firms should disclose the settlement amount if they want to keep out further entrants. We also show that even nonreverse settlements that entail only a fixed fee can be anticompetitive because they are used to block entry.     

Challenges for land system science

While considerable progress has been made in understanding land use change, land system science continues to face a number of grand challenges. This paper discusses these challenges with a focus on empirical land system studies, land system modelling and the analysis of future visions of land system change. Contemporary landscapes are contingent outcomes of past and present patterns, processes and decisions. Thus, empirical analysis of past and present land-use change has an important role in providing insights into the socio-economic and ecological processes that shape land use transitions. This is especially important with respect to gradual versus rapid land system dynamics and in understanding changes in land use intensity. Combining the strengths of empirical analysis with multi-scale modelling will lead to new insights into the processes driving land system change. New modelling methods that combine complex systems thinking at a local level with macro-level economic analysis of the land system would reconcile the multi-scale dynamics currently encapsulated in bottom-up and top-down modelling approaches. Developments in land use futures analysis could focus on integrating explorative scenarios that reflect possible outcomes with normative visions that identify desired outcomes. Such an approach would benefit from the broad and in-depth involvement of stakeholders in order to link scientific findings to political and societal decision-making culminating in a set of key choices and consequences. Land system models have an important role in supporting future land use policy, but model outputs require scientific interpretation rather than being presented as predictions. The future of land system science is strongly dependent on the research community's capacity to bring together the elements of research discussed in the paper, via empirical data collection and analysis of observed processes, computer simulation across scale levels and futures analysis of alternative, normative visions through stakeholder engagement.