Reasons for not volunteering: overcoming boundaries to attract volunteers

ABSTRACT

Research on volunteering has mainly focused on the explanatory demographics and functional motives to volunteer, but little is known about the reasons that people might have not to volunteer. However, these reasons need more academic attention, as they form the barriers that organizations have to overcome when attracting new volunteers. We examine a sample of 1248 respondents on whether they volunteer, are interested in volunteering, or have no interest to volunteer. We verify whether demographic differences exist between these groups. By means of an exploratory factor analysis, we analyze the reasons not to volunteer for those who have no interest to volunteer. This complements earlier research by focusing on the barriers that people might have, instead of the benefits of volunteering that have extensively been documented.     

Young People's Attitudes Towards British Political Advertising: Nurturing or Impeding Voter Engagement?

SUMMARY

This article presents findings from a national survey of ‘potential’ first time voters at the 2001 British General Election–specifically their attitudes towards the print advertising used by the main political parties during this election. In analysing the data, the authors were particularly interested in examining the claim that political advertising contributes to a sense of malaise–most acutely apparent among young people. While we found high levels of claimed advertising awareness, this was coupled with largely unfavourable attitudes towards most of the print advertising used in the election. Despite these judgements, most young people considered the advertising to be at least as persuasive as its commercial cousins. Not surprisingly the evidence provides a mixed picture in terms of the role political advertising plays in the political dispositions of young people. As a familiar discourse advertising offers the political classes an entry point to establish a dialogue with young sections of the electorate. However, for many young people, political advertising appears to help reinforce their predilection about politics being something one naturally distrusts.     

Entrepreneurial politicians

This paper explores the entrepreneurial experience (and spirit) of politicians. To what extent have they been involved in entrepreneurial activities? Are politicians more or less entrepreneurial than their voters? Are entrepreneurship policies more or less important to politicians compared to the voters they represent? The Members of the Swedish Parliament were asked the same questions regarding their entrepreneurial activities as found in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The empirical results indicate that when we analyse the statistical significance of the differences and control for individual characteristics, politicians have similar experiences and ambitions to the rest of the population when it comes to entrepreneurial activities. Politicians have a high potential for becoming entrepreneurs in the future, but seem to be less optimistic about how entrepreneurs are perceived in the cultural context. In addition, there is a substantial discrepancy between how politicians and voters perceive the ease of starting and running a business. Unlike politicians, voters do not agree that it is easy to start and run a business in Sweden.     

Targeting Young Voters in a Political Campaign: Empirical Insights into an Interactive Digital Marketing Campaign in the 2007 Finnish General Election

At general elections across Europe, turnout among young people tends to be significantly lower than among older voters. Therefore, this article examines a digital marketing campaign that was targeted at young voters in the 2007 Finnish general election. More specifically, this article aims to provide insights into the creative development process of a political marketing campaign and the nature of the client-agency relationship in political campaigns. The methodology adopted in this article consisted of in-depth interviews with key informants involved in the campaign planning and implementation. The results provide new empirical insights into the challenges that political campaigner may face when they target political marketing at young voters. In addition, the results suggest that there are differences between commercial and political marketing also in a digital marketing context. Finally, the results support the view that marketing professionals have a strong role in a creative development process of a political marketing campaign. The ideas put forth herein can certainly help advertising professionals to plan political marketing campaigns that engage young people in future elections and therefore aid candidates in their quest to achieve electoral success.     

Poverty as we never knew it: THE source of vulnerability for most of humankind

ABSTRACT

Most of humankind lives in poverty. Over 1.2 billion people survive on less than $1.25 per day, and around 2.7 billion people survive on less than $2.50 per day. Of course, these statistics do not take into account those living in relative poverty within the very highest development nations in the world. Yet few within entitled sectors of the global economy have had much to do with people living in poverty, except for occasional and indirect contact. Even basic ideas about poverty lack clarity; for example, what is the line between poor and not poor both within and among countries? Is it only about income or do other resources matter or act as substitutes for money when impoverished consumers engage their markets? Is poverty in the USA the same or different than poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? Answers to such questions are provided in this commentary through an examination of three different research projects conducted in poverty communities. Together, they reveal distinct patterns of results between more affluent and more impoverished consumers across the globe.     

Political Marketing: The Cause of an Emerging Democratic Deficit in Britain?

SUMMARY

Political marketing, as a set of techniques for policy design and development, was welcomed as a route towards a more participatory form of democracy. However, as New Labour attempted to rebrand itself to suit key segments of the electorate, we find that voters are not participating to any greater extent. In fact sections of the electorate are rejecting the democratic process, feeling that parties have little care for those outside their target segment. This paper questions the way New Labour employed marketing and, drawing on primary data, relates this to the dramatic fall in turnout in 2001.     

Young British partisans’ and non-voters’ processing of attack election advertising and the implications for marketing politics

Abstract

This article presents an empirical study of young partisans’ and non-voters’ processing of attack ad messages utilised in the 2010 British general election. Expanding understanding of how these messages are processed is important because they can aid electoral and civic engagement, which is declining amongst youth. Currently, there is limited understanding of how youth process these ad messages and how they influence their engagement. We applied motivated reasoning to explore this in a national survey in England with 18- to 22-year-old British first-time voters, with data from 646 respondents presented in this article. Overall, our young partisans and non-voters employed motivated reasoning – (de)selection and critical appraisal – in their ad processing, thereby advancing understanding of how youth process attack election advertising. Concerns surrounding the use of attack election advertising emerge, suggesting the need for greater appraisal of the relevance of marketing in the development of election campaign strategies.     

Can Experiences With a Country's Foods Improve Images of That Country?

ABSTRACT

This study examines how experience with other countries’ foods affects people's images of those countries, as well as the strength of such images. The findings show that foods are effective cultural elements that can enhance country images. People who have eaten a country's foods reveal more favorable country images than those who lack such experiences. Country images are even more favorable when people have more positive and many food experiences. Furthermore, positive country image effects are greater for people in opposite-hemisphere countries than for those in neighboring countries. Finally, people who prefer certain attributes of a country's foods provide more favorable ratings for related product attributes from that country, indicating affect transfer from food experiences to other product categories. These findings have key implications, especially for policy makers and researchers who seek effective ways to improve country images.     

The Third Vote Experiment: Enhancing Policy Representation of a Student Parliament

Since voters are often swayed more by the personal image of politicians than by party manifestos, they may cast votes that are in opposition to their policy preferences. This results in the election of representatives who do not correspond exactly to the voters’ own views. An alternative voting procedure to avoid this type of election failure is prompted by the approach implemented in internet voting advice applications, like the German Wahl-O-Mat, which asks the user a number of questions on topical policy issues; the computer program, drawing on all the parties’ answers, finds for the user the best-matching party, the second-best-matching party, etc. Under the proposed alternative election method, the voters cast no direct votes. Rather, they are asked about their preferences on the policy issues as declared in the party manifestos (Introduce nationwide minimum wage? Yes/No; Introduce a speed limit on the motorways? Yes/No, etc.), which reveals the balance of public opinion on each issue. These embedded referenda measure the degree to which the parties’ policies match the preferences of the electorate. The parliament seats are then distributed among the parties in proportion to their indices of popularity (the average percentage of the population represented on all the issues) and universality (frequency in representing a majority). This paper reports on an experimental application of this method during the election of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Student Parliament on July 4–8, 2016. The experiment shows that the alternative election method can increase the representativeness of the Student Parliament. We also discuss some traits and bottlenecks of the method that should be taken into account when preparing elections.     

Political Advertising and the Older Electorate

An experimental study involving samples of young and old voters examines whether older people are more susceptible to various types of political advertisements (positive versus negative and ambiguous versus clear) than are their younger counterparts. Our results extend research from cognitive psychology into political advertising and confirm age-related differences that favor younger people. The results are mixed regarding the persuasive impact of political advertisements. Specifically, younger people actually show greater attitudinal vulnerability and the oldest voters show the greatest behavioral vulnerability.     

An Election Method to Improve Policy Representation of a Parliament

Since voters are often swayed more by the charisma, personal image and communication skills of the individual candidates standing for election than by the parties’ political manifestos, they may cast votes that are actually in opposition to their policy preferences. Such a type of behavior, known as ‘irrational voting’, results in the election of representatives who do not correspond exactly to the voters’ own views. The example of the 2013 German Bundestag shows that the method used to elect it results in inadequate policy representation. The analysis of these elections (see, Tangian, 2016) led to an alternative method which is discussed in this paper. In the alternative method the voters’ policy preferences are taken into account explicitly by means of embedded referenda, testing the matching of the candidates’ policy profiles with that of the electorate. Then the parties are indexed, not with respect to the percentage of votes received but with respect to their representativeness indices of popularity (the average percentage of the population represented) and universality (frequency in representing a majority), as introduced in the previous paper mentioned. The method is then hypothetically applied to redistribute the Bundestag seats among the party factions, producing a considerable gain in the representativeness of the Bundestag. Finally, we discuss mixed election procedures combining the elements of traditional voting schemes with the proposed method.     

Hear nothing,do nothing: The role of word of mouth in the decision-making of older consumers

Abstract

In some product categories, older consumers (aged 65+) tend to be more brand loyal, have smaller consideration sets and defer purchase more than younger consumers. This conservative behaviour may arise, in part, because older people are more socially isolated and thus receive less social influence relating to product options. In this multi-study research, the volume of word of mouth (WOM) is used as an indicator of social influence. The WOM received by men and women falls substantially beyond age 65, indicating that a deficit in advice may be part of the explanation for conservative decision-making. To test this proposition, the duration of customer tenure of the current brand (how long the respondent has been a customer) is used as a measure of purchase deferral and, as predicted, tenure is longer when less WOM is received. This evidence indicates that some older consumers experience a degree of social isolation, which affects their decision-making. In marketing and social policy, there is a need to promote procedures, technologies and institutions that help older people to connect with others.     

Servbrand Framework: A Business-To-Business Services Brand Equity Framework

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The research reported on here set out to develop a tailored branding model for business to business (B-to-B) services by applying the brand resonance pyramid to a selected B-to-B services context.

The brand resonance pyramid was developed based on research that was predominantly consumer product or individual brand oriented, though one of the objectives when the model was developed was that “the model had to be versatile and applicable to all possible kinds of brands and industry settings. As more diverse applications of branding continued to emerge for products, services, organizations, people, places, and so forth, the model needed to have far-ranging relevance”. The brand resonance pyramid therefore had to be applicable to any context, including B-to-B services contexts. However, consumer goods branding strategies are not directly transferable to B-to-B or services markets and there are documented differences between the B-to-B and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets and products and services contexts. There is also doubt regarding the validity of the contention that the brand resonance pyramid should be applicable to the B-to-B sector.

Methodology: Using an interpretivist qualitative research approach and an exploratory research strategy, the Servbrand framework was developed empirically by applying the brand resonance pyramid to a selected B-to-B services context. Fourteen useful in-depth interviews were obtained from appropriate and information rich participants that represented more than 14 of the 89 organization that were included in the selection frame. Some of the participants were responsible for the relevant decisions of more than one organization.

Findings: The results from the study reported on here (summarized as Figure 5) prompted the inclusion of a people dimension and elevated the importance of relationships in an amended B-to-B services brand equity framework. The people brand-building block includes the dimensions of attitude and demeanor, personality and values, personableness, product knowledge and client knowledge. Relationships, as the ultimate aim of the framework, concern both interpersonal relationships and partnerships.

The article presents a conceptual framework to guide effective brand building strategies in a selected B-to-B services context. Researchers can use the framework to test its applicability in other contexts, which will contribute to the amendment of a significant brand equity management framework.

The Servbrand framework can assist marketing practitioners to improve the effectiveness of strategic brand management for B-to-B services.

Contribution: The empirical research contributes to three areas of brand equity research, namely: 1) the offering type – by investigating service offerings rather than product offerings; 2) the brand level – by investigating organization-level brands rather than product-level brands; and 3) context – by investigating a B-to-B context rather than a B2C context. A revised brand resonance pyramid is proposed and called the Servbrand framework.     

Rock festivals as marketplace icons

ABSTRACT

Rock festivals occupy an important place in contemporary consumer culture. This Marketplace Icons contribution elaborates on 50 years of rock festivals’ history to trace how festivals have moved from a status of a simple musical event to that of myth. I argue that the iconicity of rock festivals is based on two fundamental ideas: they reside in popular culture as theatrical mythical performances that push artistic and scenic limits, and they are a unique liminal field of expression and liberation for many people.     

The Triumph of Creativity over Communication

Abstract

This review summarizes experimental evidence from advertising and related disciplines on the effects of physically attractive communicators and models on opinion change, product evaluation, source perception, and recall, among other dependent measures. The evidence indicates that attractive (vs. unattractive) communicators consistently are liked more, are perceived in more favorable terms, and have a positive impact on the products with which they are associated. Source attractiveness is also related positively to agreement although the effects appear to be less consistent, especially when the communicator is female. The review includes a critical assessment of previous studies and presents specific directions for future research.     

Formal voice mechanisms and portfolio career workers’ prosocial voice in Japan and Korea: the mediating role of managers’ issue-related leadership activities

ABSTRACT

This study analyses the relationship between formal voice mechanisms and prosocial voice among portfolio career workers (PCWs) in Japan and Korea. We particularly focus on the leadership activities of managers as human resource management agents and issue sellers. Under similar conditions, data on 400 and 409 PCWs in Japan and Korea, respectively, are gathered through web-based longitudinal surveys conducted in 2017 and 2018. The findings are threefold. First, when PCWs perceive that formal voice mechanisms are activated, they also rate the levels of their managers’ issue-related leadership activities more highly. Second, when PCWs evaluate the issue-related leadership activities of managers as being at a high level, they perceive that employment relations are based on a social exchange relationship. Third, when PCWs perceive employment relations based on a social exchange relationship, they provide their prosocial voice more actively. These results are discussed relative to the internal labour market models of Japan and Korea.     

Political Opinion Leadership and Electoral Behavior

SUMMARY

A micro-model that focuses on political opinion leadership within an extended nomological network is developed and tested. Data were gathered from a sample of voters in an election. The results indicate that political opinion leadership played a central role in the voting behavior. Key antecedents to opinion leadership were voter involvement, subjective knowledge, and indirectly, information seeking behavior. Important consequences were voting stability, perceived risk and political satisfaction.     

Understanding the New Potato Futures Contract and Its Implications for Marketing

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an economic interpretation of the prices for the recently introduced potato futures contract trading on the New York Cotton Exchange, based on a review of economic literature. Potatoes differ from other commodities traded on futures markets, because they are stored from one crop year to the next. Harvest contract prices are expected to be similiar each year when first introduced for trading, but become more variable as specific supply and demand information for that year becomes available. Spreads across crop years will be much less correlated than spreads within a crop year. Inverse carrying charges are not expected within the crop year.     

The brand personality dimensions of business-to-business firms: a content analysis of employer reviews on social media

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand personalities that employees are creating of their employer brands, in particular business-to-business (B-to-B) brands, when describing these brands on social media. We examine how the brand personalities, based on written online reviews, differ between high- and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Methodology/Approach: 6,300 written employee reviews from a social media platform, Glassdoor, are used for content analysis in DICTION, to determine the brand personality dimensions they communicate (J. L). An independent B-to-B brand ranking data source, Brandwatch, is used as a reference to various brands’ level of ranking, while an ANOVA test is used to determine whether there is a difference in the brand personality trait means when comparing high and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Findings: Our findings suggest that a strong social media presence does not equate to a strong employer brand personality perception among employees, since there are no significant differences between B-to-B firms based on their rankings.

Research Implications: Extant literature has mostly explored the impact of either critical reviews or favourable customer ratings and reviews on company performance, with very little research focusing on the B-to-B context. In addition, research employing DICTION for the purposes of content analysis of reviews is sparse. The methodology used in this study could thus be employed to further compare and contrast the reviews from a single company, dividing top and low starred reviews to compare discrepancies.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show how online shared employee experiences of employer brands contribute to the formation of a distinct employer brand personality. From a managerial viewpoint, engaging with current and past employees and being cognizant of the online narratives that they share on social media, may be an early indicator of where the firm is lacking (or showing strength) in its’ employee engagement. This would offer a way for firms to both understand their employer brand personality as well as gauge how they compare to top employers in a specific sector or industry.

Originality/Value/Contribution: The study attempts to grow the literature of employee brand engagement in a B-to-B context, by recognizing the important role that employees play in engaging with their employer brand online. Two main contributions are offered. The first contribution relates to the finding that employees perceive highly-rated B-to-B brands as being more competent, exciting, sincere and sophisticated than low-rated B-to-B brands. Second, the methodology used in this study proves to be a novel and accurate way of comparing employee reviews and perceived employer brand personality, with the employer-created intended brand image.     

The Second Meaning of the Word “Creative” Should Be First in the Hearts of Advertising People

Abstract

Those who complain that pressure to sell is squeezing the creativity out of advertising forget, if they ever knew, that the second meaning of the word “creative” is “PRODUCTIVE”.

As the author points out, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary even spells it in capital letters.

Advertising should be interesting to the best prospects for the product advertised rather than to people who make advertising.

Writers and art directors are not typical of the mass market and the things which interest them do not necessarily interest the mass market.

Productive advertising, that is creative advertising, in the best sense of the word, talks to the best prospects for the product about things that interest them. It uses words and picures that the prospects can appreciate and understand.

It is a challenge to the highest skills of the best creative people which may be why there isn't too much productive advertising around.