Consumer research on sales promotions: A state‐of‐the‐art literature review∗

Many research traditions have dealt with consumer psychology and behaviour vis‐à‐vis sales promotions The consumer‐oriented approach seeks to identify the heavy users of promotions and to track their purchasing strategies involving the choice of a promoted brand The aim of the theory‐oriented research traditions is to test the explanatory power of various cognitive, attitudinal, behavioural and economic frameworks, be it to explain why and how consumers react to sales promotions or to understand when companies should promote This article exposes the specificity of each research tradition, its principal results and the most promising areas for future research     

Governance Systems in Family SMEs: The Substitution Effects between Family Councils and Corporate Governance Mechanisms

The main objective of this paper is to explore the role of family councils vis‐à‐vis corporate governance mechanisms. Particularly, the paper explores whether family councils perform only their distinctive family governance role or if they also substitute for the roles performed by corporate governance control mechanisms. Based on a sample of 243 Italian family SMEs, our research findings show that the family council partially substitutes the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors in playing their respective corporate governance roles of ownership and monitoring. These findings are interpreted in the light of both agency and relational perspectives.     

Can Africa compete with China in manufacturing? The role of relative unit labour costs

This paper examines sub‐Saharan Africa's (SSA ) bilateral trade and cost competitiveness with China. We document an extraordinary imbalance in the structure of bilateral trade in that China overwhelmingly exports manufactured products to SSA and almost exclusively imports primary products in return. Our principal means of assessing the competitiveness of SSA 's manufacturing sector vis‐à‐vis China are measures of relative unit labour costs (RULC ). We find that African RULC s declined over the 2000s as China's wages rose faster than Chinese productivity while the reverse was true for the SSA countries in our sample. Nevertheless, RULC s vis‐à‐vis China remain very high for many SSA countries. High RULC s along with weaknesses in the business climate suggest that most SSA countries are unlikely to be competitive in labour‐intensive manufacturing any time soon.     

Examining self‐perceived employability among immigrant women participating in vocational training in Taiwan

This study aimed to test the proposed model of self‐perceived employability (SPE) of immigrant women participating in vocational training in Taiwan by utilizing the developmental‐contextual model of career development as a framework. We examined the relationships among a distal contextual variable social welfare resources (SWRs), proximal contextual variables (vocational training experiences comprising the curriculum and instruction of vocational training, interpersonal relationships of vocational training and certificate examination guidance of vocational training), an individual‐level variable employment attitudes (EAs) and SPE using the model. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of 699 immigrant women attending vocational training in Taiwan and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings empirically supported the proposed model, which explained 63.5 per cent of the variance in SPE. This study found that SWRs influenced all vocational training experiences, which in turn, directly and indirectly influenced SPE vis‐à‐vis their effects on EAs. In turn, EAs influenced SPE.     

The internet as an opportunity to rethink the role of the intermediary

The advent of the Internet and the attending increase in the value chain inter‐linking has been understood as a harbinger of the death of the intermediary. This paper uses Williamson's (1975) forms of specificity (human‐, site and physical asset‐specificity) and the components of the traditional value proposition (content, context and infrastructure) to suggest that the function of the intermediary will be changed, but not eliminated. In this discussion, I draw on the cases of Volvo and Electrolux. Both companies have recently launched web sites in order to regain control of the interface with customers, or context, which thanks to the Internet, can now be virtualised. This allows their intermediaries to focus on their specific advantage, namely handling the activities related to the delivery and logistic infrastructure. The main implication for firms is to re‐examine the various steps along their value chains with a view to bringing in‐house, virtually, those components where the intermediaries had specific advantages‐but which moved to the producer's side as a result of the Internet. Hence intermediaries acquire a more specific and focused role. To the extent that this role lies at the heart of their core competence, involving the provision of convenient locational and infrastructural delivery systems and services they enjoy competitive advantage vis‐a‐vis the producer.     

The Epistemic Consumption Object and Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer‐Object Theory in Consumer Research

We introduce the concept of the epistemic consumption object. Such consumption objects are characterized by two interrelated features. First, epistemic consumption objects reveal themselves progressively through interaction, observation, use, examination, and evaluation. Such layered revelation is accompanied by an increasing rather than a decline of the object’s complexity. Second, such objects demonstrate a propensity to change their “face‐in‐action” vis‐à‐vis consumers through the continuous addition or subtraction of properties. The epistemic consumption object is materially elusive and this lack of ontological stability turns the object into a continuous knowledge project for consumers. Via this ongoing cycle of revelation and discovery, consumers become attached to the object in intimate and quasi‐social ways. Therefore, the concept of the epistemic consumption object brings the “object” directly into theorizations of consumer‐object relations, extending current theories of relationship, product involvement, and consumption communities. We draw from research with individual online investors to illustrate the theory of the epistemic consumption object.     

Are pharmaceutical ads affording consumers a greater say in their health care? The evaluation and self-empowerment effects of different ad appeals in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Given the pharmaceutical industry's immense global importance, drug manufacturers are currently spending approximately one third of sales revenues on marketing their products. A neglected area of inquiry is pharmaceutical marketing's contribution to consumer empowerment. The present investigation proposes an Advertising-Empowerment-Model which was tested in Brazil, the most important pharmaceutical drug market in Latin America. The model includes ad-, product- and health-related variables. Based on survey data from 241 Brazilian subjects (non-student sample), the model received support for four different ad appeals (informative, emotional, mixed and CSR). Results indicate that the mixed appeal ad led to the highest degree of empowerment in all three empowerment categories (message empowerment, self-medication empowerment, and health empowerment) and was followed by the informative and emotional ad appeals. The CSR appeal obtained the overall lowest scores. Implications regarding the relevance of empowerment in international advertising are discussed. Additionally, limitations and directions for further research are addressed.     

Defining Ownership: An empirical assessment of the ownership measures

Ownership is considered to be one of the crucial governance mechanisms; however, there have been no systematic attempts at validating the construct and measures used to operationalize ownership. We review the current understanding of ownership and the measures used by each perspective, namely blockholder/dispersed shareholder perspective, owner identity perspective, and aggregated ownership perspective. We thereafter critique each of these perspectives, offer hypotheses regarding their validity, and empirically assess each ownership measure vis‐à‐vis firm performance outcomes. We utilize a sample of 3,990 US firms to test our hypotheses and find no consistent results for the blockholder measure, or for the owner identity measure. However, the aggregated ownership measure consistently accounts for significant increases in explanation of variance in firm performance. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ASEAN‐China Free Trade Area: A Bane or Boon for ASEAN Countries?

At the ASEAN Summit in November 2000, the leaders of ASEAN and China agreed to enhance economic cooperation and integration with the goal of establishing an ASEAN‐China Free Trade Area (FTA). This decision was a natural response to a number of important global and regional developments of the past decade. Since the signing of the framework agreement, policymakers from China and ASEAN member states have already started their negotiations on the specific terms and features for this proposed FTA. While such an FTA would hold the potential of yielding enormous economic benefits, it also causes some sense of apprehension and uncertainty in some quarters, due to the common perception that China is already a strong competitor in trade and attracting foreign investment. To examine the economic basis for such concern, this paper analyses the economic implications of this proposed free trade area from the ASEAN economies’ perspective. Specifically, it examines how competitive ASEAN countries are vis‐à‐vis China, evaluate the scope for strengthening China‐ASEAN trade and the impediments facing Chinese and ASEAN investors in each other's markets, and recommends policy measures to maximise the benefits and minimise the hardships resulting from an ASEAN‐China FTA.     

The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Services

This paper has two main objectives: first, to consider country specific determinants that attract services FDI, and second, to compare the importance of these determinants vis‐à‐vis traditional determinants that attract manufacturing FDI. Using OECD countries as our sample, and 1980 to 2003 as our time period, we consider the determinants of inward FDI in a panel setting. Our results provide empirical evidence to support the view that no new theories may be necessary to explain the determinants of services FDI.     

Magic mirror on the wall,who is the fairest of them all in top corporate positions in Brazil?

This article seeks to bring to light the discriminatory issues in Brazilian corporations through the analysis of respondents’ projections to ambiguous pictures. The respondents are top managers from a Brazilian company and MBA students from a Brazilian business school who have the power to promote people and make career path decisions. The survey shows that, in spite of improvements related to female financial independence, influence and leadership power in corporations, there is still a lot to be done to give women and Afro‐descendants the same types of opportunities as white men. Women are perceived as running the show from the sidelines, if at all. The responses also suggest that women are required to fit in a male dominated environment, whether regarding their attire or the decoration of the workplace. White males are seen as having the fastest career path, white women as having a slower one and black men as having the slowest of all three. The dilemma for multinationals settling in Brazil is to pursue their headquarters' equal opportunity policies or blend into local practices, which would not be acceptable under their home directives. Similarly, it is the same for Brazilian corporations expanding abroad.     

Opportunities to Improve Entrepreneurship Education: Contributions Considering Brazilian Challenges

This paper identifies challenges and opportunities for enhancing higher education in entrepreneurship considering student perceptions concerning both their demand for entrepreneurship education and their entrepreneurial intention as well as previous studies that present the points of view of experts. The main focus is Brazilian higher education, but the results address challenges that cross borders, such as the need for a practical approach. The study analyzed the data from the Brazilian version of the 2011 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) obtained with an online questionnaire answered by 25,751 Brazilian students from 37 colleges and universities. To give a reference for a better understanding of Brazilian statistics, data were compared to those of the 2011 international GUESSS involving also 25 other countries and 64,079 responses from them. Three hypotheses were tested. The results show that entrepreneurship education has a significant negative effect on student entrepreneurial intention and also on self‐efficacy. The same occurs between entrepreneurial intention and students' demand for entrepreneurship education. Brazilian students present higher levels of entrepreneurial intention and are significantly more motivated to take courses and activities in entrepreneurship than those students in the international sample. Approximately 50 percent of Brazilian students are potential entrepreneurs. One of the opportunities identified is to take advantage of students' positive attitudes and their high demand. The opportunities could play an important role in overcoming the challenges recognized, among which are the need for a more practical approach and the need for larger and diversified educational offerings beyond business planning. The challenges make Neck and Greene's recommendations, presented in a 2011 issue of JSBM, particularly important for Brazil. The last three sections propose different explanations, suggestions for more research, and practical recommendations.     

Sodium content in foods: Brazilian consumers’ opinions,subjective knowledge and purchase intent

This study attempted to gain insights on Brazilian consumers’ subjective knowledge of sodium content in processed and homemade foods and their purchase intent for products with reduced‐sodium content. A questionnaire was distributed to 409 consumers selected by convenience quota sampling. We found that Brazilian consumers were concerned about the amount of salt (sodium chloride) in the products they consumed, regardless of educational levels, income, age, lifestyles, or health conditions. However, they still considered their consumption to be above WHO‐recommended limits and had little subjective knowledge about the term ‘sodium’. While processed products were considered the main contributors of high‐sodium intake, participants were not concerned about addition of salt at the table and salt in homemade food. The majority of respondents rarely read the sodium content on food labels; however, men and older individuals were more likely to read label information on sodium content. Products with reduced sodium were found to have market appeal, which justifies investments in research to develop these products. Therefore, in addition to the efforts to reduce sodium in the processed‐food industry, it is necessary to promote awareness about the importance of food labelling, especially sodium content, and the need to reduce salt in homemade food and additions during meals.     

Investigating the gap between citizens' sustainability attitudes and food purchasing behaviour: empirical evidence from Brazilian pork consumers

Consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned with sustainable production and consumption. Recently, a comprehensive study ranked 17 countries in regard to their environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers. Brazil was one of the top countries in the list. Yet, several studies highlight significant differences between consumers' intentions to consume ethically, and their actual purchase behaviour: the so‐called ‘Attitude‐Behaviour Gap’. In developing countries, few studies have been conducted on this issue. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate the gap between citizens' sustainability‐related attitudes and food purchasing behaviour using empirical data from Brazil. To this end, Brazilian citizens' attitudes towards pig production systems were mapped through conjoint analysis and their coexistence with relevant pork product‐related purchasing behaviour of consumers was investigated through cluster analysis. The conjoint experiment was carried out with empirical data collected from 475 respondents surveyed in the South and Center‐West regions of Brazil. The results of the conjoint analysis were used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify clusters of Brazilian citizens with diversified attitudes towards pig production systems, using socio‐demographics, attitudes towards sustainability‐related themes that are expected to influence the way they evaluate pig production systems, and consumption frequency of various pork products as clusters' background information. Three clusters were identified as ‘indifferent’, ‘environmental conscious’ and ‘sustainability‐oriented’ citizens. Although attitudes towards environment and nature had indeed an influence on citizens' specific attitudes towards pig farming at the cluster level, the relationship between ‘citizenship’ and consumption behaviour was found to be weak. This finding is similar to previous research conducted with European consumers: what people (in their role of citizens) think about pig production systems does not appear to significantly influence their pork consumption choices. Improvements in the integrated management of this chain would better meet consumers' sustainability‐related expectations towards pig production systems.     

The Developmental Impact of Asian Drivers on Kenya with Emphasis on Textiles and Clothing Manufacturing

(1251) Paul Kamau with Dorothy McCormick and Nicolas Pinaud Kenya has enjoyed a relatively diversified economy (at least by SSA standards), with light manufacturing industries in particular playing a significant growing role. The rise of Asian competition (locally, regionally and on third‐country markets), partly due to the erosion of trade preferences for clothing and footwear, has raised fresh policy challenges. The specific relevance of the clothing industry in the analysis of China’s and India’s impact on Africa is manifold: this is a low‐skilled labour‐intensive industry, and hence an avenue for African economies’ diversification; the competition from Asian producers vis‐à‐vis the SSA clothing industry is felt at the local, regional and global level (on third‐country markets): it is therefore direct and indirect; also, the Asian Drivers’ impact on African clothing industries has both a trade and investment dimension while being competitive and complementary.     

Excess control and the risk of corporate expropriation: Canadian evidence

Corporate governance in Canada was examined by looking at the ultimate ownership structure of a large sample of publicly traded firms. Results suggest that small investors in Canada are vulnerable to corporate expropriation in large firms. Despite the similarities in institutional indexes, Canada displays different patterns of ownership structure than sister Anglo‐Saxon countries (the U.S. and the U.K). More importantly, results suggest that excess control drives expropriation over and above the typical Jensen type of agency problems that are attributable to regular separation of ownership and control. Equally important, firms headquartered in Quebec appear to be undervalued vis‐à‐vis firms headquartered in the rest of Canada. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Price discovery in dual‐class shares across multiple markets

This paper proposes a new measure of price discovery that uses the spectral decomposition. The methodology is especially important in the context of large price systems, such as interest rate parities with spot and futures contracts or dual‐class shares in multiple markets. We employ high frequency data to study price discovery in dual‐class Brazilian stocks and their ADRs. We find that the foreign market is at least as informative as the home market and that shocks in the dual‐class premium entail a permanent effect in normal times, but transitory in periods of financial distress     

Predictors of credit card use and perceived financial well‐being in female college students: a Brazil‐United States comparative study

This article examines predictors of the financial well‐being of female college students living in São Paulo or New York, focusing upon the relationship with their credit card use behaviour. The results of structural equation models, based on 784 participants, suggest that financial self‐confidence and social comparison have an impact on the use of credit cards and exercise an influence on financial well‐being. Despite the fact that social comparison is more strongly predictive of credit card use among Brazilian women, credit card use behaviour has a greater impact on the well‐being of American women.     

The role of subsidiaries from emerging economies—A survey involving the largest Brazilian multinationals

Several research projects have been devoted to the study of the internationalization of Brazilian firms; however there is a lack of research related to the strategy and management of subsidiaries of Brazilian multinational corporations in other countries. This article seeks to contribute to filling this gap. An academic research study was conducted involving 30 Brazilian multinational corporations. Of the 93 subsidiaries involved, 66 foreign subsidiaries answered the questionnaires. The main results concern the identification of three factors and the proposition of a typology of Brazilian subsidiaries of multinational corporations: implementing subsidiaries; market‐exploiting subsidiaries, and aspirants to strategically relevant subsidiaries. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational Learning Capability: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study in the Context of Official Development Aid Project Teams

Although several studies have investigated Organizational Learning Capability (OLC), the question of its operationalization remains open. We review the OLC concept, analyze its relationship to Organizational Learning (OL), and assess the validity of its operationalization through three models (formative, reflexive, mixed). While part of the literature states that OLC has five dimensions (experimentation, risk taking, dialogue, interaction with stakeholders, and participation in decision making), our exploratory study of 41 Official Development Aid projects suggests the existence of an important sixth dimension for OLC: autonomy vis‐à‐vis the national supervisor. The theoretical and practical implications of this finding are then discussed. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.