The Impact of Sustainability Aspects in the Meat Sector: A Cluster Analysis Based on Consumer Attitudes and Store Format Choice

Several consumer studies have shown considerable market potential for sustainable meat products, however, their markets shares are still marginal. In Germany, the sustainable aspects “organic,” “local origin,” and “animal welfare” are of special interest. To obtain a precise overview of potential target groups for these meat categories and their choice of store format, 620 German consumers were surveyed on their attitudes toward sustainable meat production and their shopping behavior. First, target groups based on consumers’ attitudes were identified by cluster analysis, taking into account possible overlaps. Consumers were also clustered by their store format choice and their preferred type of meat packaging. A cross tabulation of the results then provided insights into which store format and type of meat packaging is preferred by the target groups for sustainable meat products. Due to overlaps found in the target groups, the existence of important subgroups was shown. Amongst the target groups, only a slight preference for unpackaged meat products was found. Basically, the offer of sustainable meat products appears of interest for all store formats, with particular emphasis on supermarkets. The results of this study can support producers and retailers developing new and tailored marketing strategies for sustainable meat products.     

Beate Schneider 60 Jahre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Entgrenzung des Journalismus: empirische Evidenzen ohne theoretische Basis?

»De-differentiation« has become a kind of standard diagnosis in defining the state of current media communication. Especially social systems theory, which used to focus on the differentiation of systems, nowadays increasingly discusses phenomena of de-differentiation. Journalism research in particular is concerned that functional de-differentiation might result in a gradual loss of the social function of journalism. However, the question remains widely unsolved of how empirically observed indicators for de-differentiation processes relate to (systems) theory, or whether the idea of de-differentiation and social systems theory are, in principle, compatible. The paper discusses the relation between differentiation and de-differentiation, and tries to define the term of de-differentiation, which seems to be used in relation to diverse kinds of phenomena and at different levels. All in all it shows that de-differentiation and social systems theory are absolutely compatible. On the other hand, it also becomes clear that the theoretical debate about the strict focus on system boundaries and binary codes, which prevailed in the early stages of social systems theory in journalism research, has to be revisited in light of de-differentiation processes.     

Circular business model implementation: A capability development case study from the manufacturing industry

Circular business models (CBMs) have huge potential to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits, but CBMs have yet to be implemented widely in industrial settings. One reason is that they are often presented as one-size-fits-all solutions, but this is misplaced because product-specific criteria and company capabilities determine the correct choice and implementation of CBMs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how CBM selection and capability development facilitates the implementation of CBMs. For this purpose, we have adopted a qualitative research approach and undertaken 25 explorative interviews in three large Swedish manufacturing companies. In this paper, a CBM implementation framework consisting of two parts has been developed. The first part addresses the choice of the appropriate CBM based on tactical configurations. The second part provides a capability development path by explicating underlying routines that need to be progressively developed in order to move smoothly to more advanced CBMs.     

Gender diversity in academic publishing—comment on Galak and Kahn (2021)

Marketing Letters - Galak and Kahn (Marketing Letters, 2021) report that females and underrepresented minorities face a less favorable organizational climate within academic marketing as compared...     

Buchbesprechung

Buchbesprechung

Buchbesprechung     

Zur »medialen Entgrenzungsfähigkeit« journalistischer Arbeitsprozesse: Synergien zwischen Print-, TV- und Online-Redaktionen

The present paper deals with the forms of de-differentiation between print media, TV and online media. These forms are are promoted and supported by cross media strategies. The empirical analysis is based upon an inter- and intra-media comparison of the products of the print edition, the TV magazine and the online edition of the journalistic brands 〉Spiegel〈, 〉Stern〈 and 〉Focus〈. Media products are analysed via content analysis; the conditions and circumstances under which media content is produced are examined via face-to-face interviews. The central question is: How does the (economic) process of de-differentiation affect the composition of the media product and the conditions under which journalistic work takes place. The results indicate a complementary structure of different media types, which all fulfil a (more or less) unique journalistic function. Even if forms of de-differentiation between the media types of print, TV and online are more than ever technically possible and economically intended, there are relatively few — but manifest — indicators of processes of adaptation. Nevertheless, these few indicators are significant on the level of the communicators and tend to be less definitive on the (observable) level of the media output.