The Impact of Price Level and Appeal Type in Hotel Advertising: A Pilot Study

Limited extant experimental research on advertising appeal effectiveness in the presence of price cues in a service offer provides the motivation for this study. While past research has found support for the effectiveness of both rational and emotional appeals in services marketing, this research, in the context of hotel advertising, shows that appeal type effectiveness may vary with the price level of the service. More specifically, this study finds that rational appeals are more effective than emotional appeals for low-priced hotels, but for high-priced hotels, rational and emotional appeals show no significant difference in influencing consumer evaluations of the offer.     

The Effects of Guilt-Appeal Intensity on Persuasive and Emotional Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Sponsor Motive

Studies examining the persuasive effects of guilt appeals have yielded mixed results. The current study hypothesizes that source motive (profit versus not for profit) is a key moderating variable underlying these inconsistences. A controlled experiment tested the moderating role of sponsor motive on the relationship between guilt-appeal intensity and persuasiveness of the appeal and ad liking. Findings confirmed the notion that sponsor motive moderates the effects of guilt appeals: When guilt appeals are commercially oriented there is a relative failure of high-intensity guilt appeals compared to moderate-intensity guilt appeals. Moderate-intensity guilt appeals cause more-positive brand attitudes than high-intensity appeals. Yet, when guilt appeals are nonprofit, increases in intensity of guilt communicated lead to positive results. As the guilt-intensity increased, ad liking and persuasiveness increased. It appears that guilt-appeal intensity did not have an effect on brand attitudes when the message was nonprofit.     

The Role of Culture in Creative Execution in Celebrity Endorsement: The Cross-Cultural Study

ABSTRACT

In advertising literature, an area rarely explored is cross-cultural studies on celebrity endorsements. A good deal may be learned from understanding how a culture's communication style can shape the type of advertising most effective for that culture. This study examines the creative styles (creative executional factors) found in the advertising of Korea and America. The two countries represent two distinct cultures—Korea being a collectivistic culture and the United States being individualistic. Both cultures affect the norms and rules that guide their inhabitants’ behavior, directly affecting communication styles. The study finds that embedded in the use of celebrity endorsement are cross-cultural characteristics. The details of these findings will be useful to international advertisers executing celebrity endorsement campaigns in different cultural settings.     

The Current Impact and Carryover of Advertising on Sales in the Restaurant Industry

ABSTRACT

A common source of conflict in the relationship between restaurant franchise and franchisee involves advertising fees. Conflict arises when the franchisee feels that he or she has not received an adequate return on his or her advertising investment. This paper reports the results of a study conducted on both the short-term and long-term effectiveness (duration) of advertising among restaurant chains. The findings suggest that only a small proportion of restaurant chains enjoy immediate, positive returns to their advertising fees. However, over half of all chains examined realized a significant carryover effect of advertising. Several explanations are offered as to why these results are found and recommendations are made as to how restaurant chains should react to these findings.     

Televised Consumption: Women,Advertisers and the Early Daytime Television Industry

This article looks at ways in which the US broadcasting and advertising industries conceptualized the female consumer in the immediate Post War period. It explores the emergence of daytime television and discusses broadcasters' views of their predominantly female audience. The article argues that by grasping the underlying principles that were developed in the early daytime television industry, one can gain a better understanding, not only of the manner in which female audience members were addressed in the 1950s, but also, to some extent, of the ways mass media address women today.     

出版物物流标准化与出版发行业发展研究

出版物物流是出版物发行的重要组成部分,是连接出版物生产与消费的纽带和桥梁。本文认为,实现出版物物流标准化是提高出版发行业经济效益,实现社会效益,降低企业乃至全行业流通总成本,促进产业发展的主要途径。文章指出了我国在出版物物流标准的制订、贯彻、执行等方面存在的主要问题即缺乏出版物物流相关标准,尚未形成标准体系,已有的标准和规范执行贯彻不力,企业各自为政、缺乏数据交换与共享等,并在此基础上提出了我国出版物物流标准化的实施建议,为制定出版物物流发展战略与政策,促进我国出版发行业健康发展提供决策支持。     

The Transformation of Transparency – On the Act on Public Procurement and the Right to Appeal in the Context of the War on Corruption

This article discusses the alleged anti-corruption effects of procurement reforms by presenting the European Act on Public Procurement and the increasing number of appeals filed by suppliers due to perceived misevaluations of tenders and perceived impairments of transparency. The delays and costs that arise from this right to appeal are studied in the Swedish context with the aim of contributing to the debate on corruption in two ways. First, instead of using the modern definition of corruption, the ancient definition is introduced to explain anti-corruption efforts, focusing on corruption as deviations from a pristine standard as opposed to corruption as the abuse of public power for private gain. Second, it will be argued that the fight against corruption in the practical implementation of the European Act on Public Procurement jeopardizes efficiency and might devaluate competence. However, striving for the total elimination of corruption–an evil that has to be fought disregarding the consequences–is integral in the war against it. Thomas Taro Lennerfors is a doctoral researcher in Industrial Economics and Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden (KTH). He is specialised in managerial aspects of corruption.     

African Entrepreneurs and International Coordination in Petty Businesses: The Case of Low-End Mobile Phones Sourcing in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper examines the contribution of African entrepreneurs to world trade through global coordination. Unlike the multinational giants which earn impressive profit through global sourcing, small African entrepreneurs survive by identifying opportunities in petty businesses and exploiting narrow profit margin. Through careful economic calculation, they buy low-end goods from one part of the globe and sell them in the other part. Their self-interest activities enhance global well-being. This paper begins with an Austrian perspective of international entrepreneurship and global coordination. The theory is illustrated by African entrepreneurs who source Shenzhen-made mobile phones in Hong Kong and sell them in Africa. By arbitraging price differentials, they earn pure entrepreneurial profit. A detailed case study of the global coordination of a Tanzanian entrepreneur will be presented. This paper concludes that, as a result of the effort of African entrepreneurs, low-end mobile phones manufactured in Shenzhen are shipped to Hong Kong and consumed by people in Tanzania, bringing benefits to all parties concerned. The case study fully illustrates the principle of the ‘invisible hand’ in the global market.     

Advertising non-premium products as if they were premium: The impact of advertising up on advertising elasticity and brand equity

Non-premium brands occasionally emulate their premium counterparts by using ads that emphasize premium characteristics such as superior performance and exclusivity. We define this practice as “advertising up” and develop hypotheses about its short- and long-term impact on advertising elasticity and brand equity respectively. We test the hypotheses in two large-scale empirical studies using a comprehensive dataset from the automotive industry that includes, among others, the content of 2317 television ads broadcast over a period of 45?months. The results indicate that advertising up increases (decreases) short-term advertising elasticity for non-premium products with a low (high) market share. The results also show that an intensive use of advertising up over time leads to long-term improvements (reductions) in brand equity for expensive (cheap) non-premium products. Furthermore, an inconsistent use of advertising up leads to reductions in brand equity. The results imply that managers of non-premium products with a low market share can use advertising up to increase advertising effectiveness in the short run. However, advertising up will only generate long-term improvements in brand equity for expensive non-premium products. Finally, to avoid long-term reductions in brand equity, advertising up should be consistently used over time.     

Overcoming the Trend Toward Healthier Foods: The Impact of Advertising and Intangibles on Investor Returns in the Packaged Food Industry

The study analyzes the impact of advertising, goodwill, and other intangibles on investor returns in the consumer packaged food and beverage industry during 2008–2012, a timeframe during which smaller brands wrestled $18 billion in sales away from large manufacturers of processed foods. The findings demonstrate that those firms that were able to allocate a greater percentage of their revenue to their ongoing advertising efforts were able to enhance investor holding period returns (HPR). In addition, those firms with a higher ratio of intangible assets other than goodwill to total assets were also able to enhance HPR. However, there was not a significant positive relationship between the ratio of acquired goodwill to total assets and HPR. Hence, packaged food and beverage manufacturers are advised to seek competitive advantages through their own brand-building efforts rather than seeking to enhance investor returns through a strategy based on company mergers and acquisitions.     

A brand preference and repurchase intention model: the role of consumer experience

Consumer brand preference is an essential step towards understanding consumer choice behaviour, and has therefore always received great attention from marketers. However, the study of brand preference has been limited to traditional marketing focusing on functional attributes to maximise utility. But now the shift to experiential marketing broadens the role of the brand from a bundle of attributes to experiences. Technological advancements have helped to increase the similarities between brand attributes and product commoditisation. Consequently, consumers cannot shape their preferences among brands using rational attributes only. They seek out brands that create experiences; that intrigue them in a sensorial, emotional and creative way. This study seeks to develop a model that provides an understanding of how brand knowledge and brand experience determine brand preference and to investigate its impact on brand repurchase intention. Accordingly, exploratory focus group discussions are employed followed by a survey of mobile phone users in Egypt. The findings provide insights into the relative importance of consumer perceptions on different brand knowledge factors in shaping brand preferences. It also demonstrates the significance of consumers’ experiential responses towards brands in developing their brand preferences that in turn influence brand repurchase intention. The model therefore offers managers a new perspective for building strong brands able to gain consumer preferences.     

The Competitive Effects of Advertising in the US Automobile Industry, 1970‐94

Is advertising anticompetitive? One school of thought in industrial economics holds that advertising increases profits and reduces consumer welfare by creating spurious product differentiation and barriers to entry. Another school focuses on the informative character of advertising, claiming that advertising makes markets more competitive and reduces profits by supplying consumers with information about price and quality. We distinguish these views by examining the effect of advertising on competition in the US automobile industry. Our data include advertising, sales, profit, and market-share figures for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler over a 25-year period from 1970 to 1994.We ask if advertising increases or decreases profitability, controlling for market structure and other factors affecting demand.Wefind that these firms cannot increase their profits above normal levels by increasing their advertising expenditures. This evidence supports the view that advertising serves primarily to transmit information, not to create entry barriers.     

基于市场良性发展理念的广告监管创新模式——以深圳市市场监督管理局广告监测中心为例

广告市场发展的不规范性使得政府的广告监管工作成为必然。广告监管的理念应以促进广告行业良性、健康发展为导向,在整体、动态、开放的监管方式下创新监管模式,客观公正地为广告主、广告经营者、广告发布者以及受众服务。     

The Gambler,the Carrots,and the Cook: A Critical Evaluation of Investment Potential in the Vietnamese Software Industry

The Vietnamese software industry has shown substantial development in recent years. On the basis of interviews with informed respondents this article investigates the condition and potential for further development of the industry, using a soft systems approach. Finegold's eco-system model is used to build a model of the industry. Partnerships and networks are identified as important factors in industry evolution, with the key role played by venture capital. Furthermore, the Vietnamese government and its institutions will continue to have a significant influence on the industry.     

The Drivers of Climate Change Innovations: Evidence from the Australian Wine Industry

This study examined the drivers of climate change innovations and the effects of these innovations on firm outcomes in a sample of 203 firms in the South Australian wine cluster. The results of structural equation modeling analysis suggest that absorptive capacity has a direct effect on climate change innovations, and stimulates knowledge exchanges (KEs) between firms in the cluster. KEs between firms in the cluster in turn directly affect the climate change innovations. The findings suggest a perhaps counterintuitive interrelationship between firm- and cluster-level impacts, in which KEs between firms in the cluster play a partial mediating role in the innovation process. The study further finds that climate change innovations are related to firm performance (FP) and reductions in greenhouse gases (GHGs): mitigative innovations lead to greater GHG reductions while adaptive innovations impact on FP. Contributions of the findings are discussed, as are future research directions.     

国际化背景下中国饭店业跨国战略

中国饭店业是中国改革开放最早的行业,也是最早接触国际先进水平的行业,很多优秀的企业管理方法最先在饭店业中应用进而逐渐推广开来。但因脱胎于计划经济时代的中国饭店业,发展受到我国市场经济发展水平和体制转轨因素的双重制约,同发达国家的饭店业相比,我国饭店业缺乏与之公平竞争的制度平台。为此,中国饭店业面对国际市场的竞争,如何形成有效的走出去战略,是目前尚需充分研究的战略管理领域。     

The effect of media,product and message factors on ad persuasiveness: the role of affect and cognition

The effects of media, product and advertising strategy variables on consumers' thoughts and feelings are investigated. Both direct and indirect paths from the advertising variables to ad persuasiveness measures are also analysed with the indirect paths leading through affective and cognitive responses. Two hundred and forty television and magazine ads are analysed with respect to advertising variables, affect, cognition and ad persuasiveness. Results indicate that advertising variables are indirectly linked to ad persuasiveness with the indirect path occurring through affective and cognitive responses.     

Cournot and Bertrand Competition when Advertising Rotates Demand: The Case of Honda and Scion

We develop a model to explain why firm behavior differs in the market for small cars. Firms such as Honda compete in output (Cournot) and produce marketing campaigns with universal appeal, while firms such as Scion compete in price (Bertrand) and produce targeted marketing campaigns. We show that this mixture of Cournot and Bertrand behavior can occur when advertising rotates demand. When behaving as a Cournot-type firm such as Honda, it is more profitable to pursue a mass-market advertising campaign that rotates demand counterclockwise when it faces relatively low unit costs and a flat demand function. When behaving as a Bertrand-type firm such as Scion, it pays to pursue a niche-market advertising campaign that rotates demand clockwise when it faces relatively high unit costs and a steep demand.     

河南省煤炭产业链物流发展对策研究

分析中部物流的特点,正视自然资源分布是影响物流产业分布的重要因素,明了中部物流产业集聚应是依托能源工业和制造业所形成,对河南省能源(煤炭)产业链物流发展进行研究,将有助于找到突破中部物流发展瓶颈的良方。     

旅游环境中民族文化的生态适应性变化研究——以张家界郝坪、包谷山土家族为例

旅游开发作为民族地区政府主导的经济行为,它所造成的社会影响与移民、传媒、族际交流等因素有着本质区别。选取了分别处于旅游影响辐射地带和核心区的两个村庄,采用实证研究法,以风俗礼仪、工艺传承、宗教节庆为测量指标,观测旅游环境中民族文化的变化特征,发现民族文化持有者群体在不同程度表现出实践行为和精神认同的分裂,在旅游业起步、发展阶段的背弃和成熟阶段的回归,集中体现了民族旅游区的文化嬗变是一个通过文化元素的生态制衡和文化主体的自觉选择,最终达成生态适应的过程。