What signals matter for social startups? It depends: The influence of gender role congruity on social impact accelerator selection decisions

Social impact accelerators (SIAs) seek to select startups with the potential to generate financial returns and social impact. Through the lenses of signaling theory and gender role congruity theory, we examine 2324 social startups that applied to 123 SIAs globally in 2016 and 2017 and find that SIAs are more likely to accept startups that signal their economic and social credibility. Moreover, while we find that the influence of these signals is strongest when they are congruent with the stereotypes associated with the lead founder's gender, men seem to experience better outcomes from gender incongruity than women.     

What makes crisis response strategies work? The impact of crisis involvement and message framing

This study investigates the moderating impact of crisis involvement and message framing on the effect of crisis response strategies on post-crisis attitude toward an organization. In the experiment, 274 respondents participate in a 2 (crisis response strategy: match vs. mismatch) × 2 (crisis involvement: low vs. high) × 2 (message framing: emotional vs. rational) between-subjects factorial design. The results show that in the case of high crisis involvement or in the case of rational framing of crisis communication, crisis response strategies that match the crisis type increase the post-crisis attitude toward the organization. In the case of low crisis involvement or in the case of emotional framing of crisis communication, the impact of a matched or mismatched crisis response strategy on the post-crisis attitude toward the organization does not differ. In addition, the study suggests that crisis involvement has a moderating impact on the efficacy of message framing in terms of post-crisis attitude toward the organization, which depends on whether the crisis response strategy matches the crisis type or not.     

Going digital? The impact of social media marketing on retail website traffic,orders and sales

Given the rapid proliferation of digital technology, social media has become a key digital marketing strategy to promote business products, with the ultimate aim of maximising profits. Yet, empirical evidence on the impact of social media as a marketing tool remains underexplored. Using unique data over a 12-month period from a major online retailer, this paper examines the impact of daily social media activity on daily business outcomes: website traffic, orders and sales. Key findings reveal that social media leads to increased web traffic, but it does not produce a significant rise in product orders and sale income. Though, larger social media campaigns tend to result in significantly higher number of orders and sale income, and Facebook emerges as the most effective channel. Our results also reveal that the effectiveness of social media marketing varies across products depending on their complexity, cost and brand status. Taken together, these results offer a better understanding of the ways social media marketing impact businesses and provide intelligence on how to allocate resources to develop marketing campaigns.     

New opportunities in social media for ad-restricted alcohol products: The case of ‘Yeni Rakı’

The rapid diffusion and technological evolution experienced in the new format of the Internet, particularly social media, have forced many brands to keep pace with this ongoing process in order to engage with their customers. Social media utilize multiple Internet-based communication platforms, including, but not limited to, blogs and social networking sites. This paper aims to examine how social media can be used to interact with consumers in the case of ad-restricted alcohol products, providing a case study from Turkey. The explored case provides an example of a well-planned, creative campaign that successfully exploits the opportunities provided by interactivity. The analysis of an alcohol product is critical due to the fact that such products face many restrictions, thus calling for a more creative and efficient approach to the design and implementation of social media practices, and their integration into integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaigns. This case will contribute to the articulation of the best ways to shape both business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer dialogue and fruitful applications of this new IMC tool.     

What if your owners also own other firms in your industry? The relationship between institutional common ownership,marketing, and firm performance

The growth in institutional holdings of public firms has led to increased interest in the concept of common ownership, in which the same investor owns stakes in multiple firms within the same industry. Economic theory suggests that common ownership could affect firm performance, but little empirical research has examined the nature of this effect or how a firm’s extant marketing potentially relates to this effect. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a relationship between common ownership and firm performance that is moderated by the firm’s extant marketing capabilities and its relative marketing strategic emphasis. Our empirical approach employs data from over 43 million institutional holdings to develop a measure of common ownership and accounts for empirical issues like endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity. The results document a positive relationship between common ownership and firm performance and provide some evidence that this effect is stronger for firms with lower marketing capabilities and a relative strategic emphasis towards R&D spending. These results suggest that public policymakers should consider the firms’ extant strategic marketing when assessing regulations on common ownership.     

The role of social value creation in business model formulation at the bottom of the pyramid – Implications for MNEs?

This paper presents an exploratory study of how social value creation and business models may be interrelated in the context of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) business formation. We develop our analysis around five case studies of actual businesses set up in rural India by people in the BOP. We attempt to draw implications from the performance of the business models in the BOP for what MNE strategies of engagement with the BOP may learn from the processes we analysed.     

The parochial realm,social enterprise and gender: the work of Catharine Cappe and Faith Gray and others in York, 1780–1820

Catharine Cappe and Faith Gray, and a wider group of women to whom they had strong network ties, founded a number of philanthropic enterprises in York, England, in the 1780s. Their activities were largely focused on the provision of sickness benefits to single and married women and the management of schools for girls that had a substantial occupational training element. The social enterprises they formed or operated were long-lasting – in the case of the York Female Friendly Society (YFFS) operating well into the twentieth century. The article considers the role of parochial networks in creating and sustaining social enterprises in the late Georgian period and the ways in which the women’s activities were both shaped by gender, and in turn, shaped gender relations.     

The role of social networks and institutions in the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms: Do they matter?

Drawing upon network theory and institutional theory, this paper examines the influence of networks on the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms. Our case analysis suggests that within the context of the Russian environment, networks play a much less important role in the internationalization process than it is usually assumed in the literature. For the Russian entrepreneurial firms examined in our study, the most important factor in their internationalization was their engagement in honest business practices that established trust and commitment in their relationships with international business partners. This study underscores the importance of the institutional context of an entrepreneurial firm’s country.     

Do you want me to watch this ad on social media?: The effects of norms on online video ad watching

This study examines the influences of norms on consumers’ intentions to watch online video ads on social media. The social norms approach and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) were adopted as theoretical frameworks. In addition, the effects of interpersonal and social influences on the three personal-level norms were examined as the antecedents of normative perceptions. To test the hypothesized model, an online survey was conducted with 313 undergraduate students. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the measurement constructs of the model, and a structural equation modeling was used to identify the relationships among constructs in the model. Findings indicate that personal injunctive norms and subjective norms were positively related to consumers’ intention to watch online video ads. Interpersonal and social influences were positively related to three normative perceptions regarding online video ad watching. The findings of this study contribute to the research stream on social norms approach and TRA and provide practical implications for advertising and marketing practitioners.     

How does ad relevance affect consumers' attitudes toward personalized advertisements and social media platforms? The role of information co-ownership,vulnerability, and privacy cynicism

Consumers' responses to the use of their personal data for personalized advertising by platform providers are paradoxical. Drawing from psychological ownership theory and the collective information boundary, this study examines how the social relevance and personal relevance of ads impact consumers' attitudes toward advertisements and social media platforms. Basing on 350 responses, we confirm that perceptions of information co-ownership and feelings of vulnerability play a serial mediating role in the positive relationship between ad relevance and consumer attitudes. Specifically, ad relevance increases consumers' perceptions of social media platforms as co-owners of their personal information, which in turn reduces feelings of vulnerability and improves their attitudes toward personalized advertisements and social media platforms. Privacy cynicism negatively moderates the indirect effects of information co-ownership perceptions on two attitude variables mediated through feelings of vulnerability. Our research findings provide a new perspective on the personalization–privacy paradox and offer platform providers new insights into improving their personalized advertising performance and user–platform relationships.     

The Influences of Customer Relationship Metrics on Shareholder Value: What Should Be Done and What Has Been Done?

The contribution of customer relationship (CR) metrics to shareholder value is practically unknown in research and practice. Existing studies report rather ambiguous results. We develop a proposal to identify and measure the multidimensional influences in a valid and reliable way. By comparing existing studies to each other and to our framework, we can find possible reasons for their ambiguity: First, the studies are actually not compatible while using various CR metrics and performance measures. Second, several conceptual and methodological differences also place the comparability of their results in question. The application of our framework should explain the inconsistent outcomes of existing studies and indicate a consistent and general influence of CR metrics on shareholder value.     

The Gap between Male and Female Pay: What Does the Case of Hotel and Catering Tell Us?

This article discusses the gap between men's and women's pay with particular reference to the hotel and catering industry.

The general causes of pay inequality are reviewed and their relevance to hotel and catering assessed. The general conclusion is that the dismantling of the Wages Councils, the fragmentation of pay structures and the contracting out of Catering services are all likely to cause a deterioration in Women's pay relative to men's. Furthermore, the gap between the average pay of men and women is likely lo compare even less , favourably in the ,future. The effect of this deterioration may be masked if increasing numbers of men are forced to compete with women for low paid jobs in service industries.     

The promise of a decentralized internet: What is Web3 and how can firms prepare?

What is Web3, and what does it mean for established companies? Web3 describes a broad range of emerging internet applications for blockchain technology (i.e., a decentralized, public database that allows information to be securely recorded on a network of computers rather than verified and controlled by centralized entities). Central to this evolution of the internet are four distinct blockchain-enabled applications: fungible tokens (cryptocurrencies), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and metaverses. In this article, we define each of these applications and discuss their capacity to increase peer-to-peer interactions, decrease large companies’ control of information and services, and facilitate access to user networks at a much lower cost than currently possible. These distinctions make Web3 both a natural evolution of Web 2.0 and a broader paradigm shift that may fundamentally alter the online interface, organizational structure, and business practices. We conclude by addressing how established companies can prepare for a more decentralized internet.     

The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know?

A literature review article provides a comprehensive overview of literature related to a theme/theory/method and synthesizes prior studies to strengthen the foundation of knowledge. In the growing International Business (IB) research field, systematic literature reviews have great value, yet there are not many reviews published describing how researchers can design and develop classic review articles. In explaining the purpose, methodology, and structure of a systematic review, we provide guidelines for developing most insightful and useful review articles. By outlining steps and thumb rules to keep in mind, we present an overview of different types of review articles and explain how future researchers could potentially find them useful. In addition, we introduce nine articles finally selected for this special issue of systematic literature review-Looking back to look forward International Business research in the days to come.     

The Structure of Labour Markets in the Hotel and Catering Industry: What do Employment Law Cases Indicate?

The allocation of labour in the hotel and catering industry remains an under-researched and little understood process. Direct empirical observation of the labour market involves methodological difficulties requiring a major research project. An attempt is made to explore the labour market by analysing the facts of employment law cases which must be considered as secondary sources of data. The main conclusions are that the labour market approximates to the neo-classical model and that recent legislation has not provided statutory protection for employees at work.     

The role of social commerce for enhancing consumers’ involvement in the cross-border product: Evidence from SEM and ANN based on MOA framework

Although cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has experienced rapid development, severe issues remain, including information asymmetry and uncertainty. Social commerce platforms have emerged to provide consumers with new approaches to solving these issues and enabling shopping decisions. However, there is still a dearth of knowledge about the underlying mechanism that explains why and how CBEC consumers employ social commerce platforms to facilitate information processing. To address this critical issue, we employed SEM and ANN analytical approaches to examine the research model developed from the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) framework. The results revealed associations between the identified motivational factors (information seeking, serendipity, relaxation, and symbolic motivation), opportunity factors (time availability, platform empowerment, and electronic Word-of-Mouth), the ability factor (self-efficacy), involvement, and purchase intentions. In addition, an importance ranking of the most critical drivers of consumers’ shopping decisions was derived from various antecedents.     

The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Mission Impossible for Western Small- and Medium-Sized Firms?

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have come under pressure to adopt private regulatory initiatives such as supplier codes of conduct in order to address poor working conditions in global supply chain factories. While a well-known literature explores drivers and outcomes of such monitoring schemes, this literature focuses mainly on large firms and has ignored the growing integration of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global supply chains. Furthermore, the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in SMEs primarily emphasizes domestic initiatives and not global challenges. Focusing on the Business for Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), this article examines the positions of private actors, who demand and supply private regulation as well as the positions of those firms, who are the targets of such schemes. As the BSCI has grown its membership, MNCs increasingly request that SMEs meet BSCI requirements in global supply chains even though compliance is a “mission impossible” for many smaller firms. As a result of this development, the private regulatory system is facing growing strain.     

The impact of advertising,goodwill, and other intangibles in the retail foodservice industry: Do intangible investments bite into investor returns?

Utilizing a sample of U.S. publicly traded foodservice retailers, this study examines the impact of advertising, goodwill, and intangible assets on investor holding period returns. The results show that neither advertising nor intangible assets have a positive and significant impact on holding period returns. Goodwill, however, does have a positive and significant impact on holding period returns. Foodservice retailers may therefore want to question the effectiveness of growth strategies based on a firm’s own investments in either advertising or intangible assets. Instead, building a foodservice retailing business through mergers and acquisitions may prove a better use of company resources.