A cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between eco-innovation and customers boycott behaviour

Retailers are under pressure to utilise eco-innovation to improve their operations and reduce customers boycotts as a result of the growing concerns of customers about environmental issues. Thus, this paper examines the effect of eco-innovation (i.e., reactive eco-innovation, proactive eco-innovation) on customers boycotts behaviours across various cultural environments. It also explores the role of ethical ideology (i.e., idealism, relativism) on this relationship. Based on psychological contract violation theory was used to develop our study model. We collected data from 3392 consumers from four different countries to test the study model. The results indicated that company's reactive eco-innovation is positively related to customers boycotts behaviour and this relationship is stronger in the developed societies (i.e., UK, USA) than in the developing societies (i.e., Saudi Arabia, Egypt). Furthermore, proactive eco-innovation has a negative effect on boycotts. This link is stronger in the in the developing societies (i.e., Saudi Arabia, Egypt) than in the developed societies (i.e., UK, USA). Psychological contract violation and environmental concerns were found to mediate this relationship. Moreover, our study found that idealism has a negative influence on boycotts while relativism has a positive effect on boycotts. Our study offers meaningful theoretical and managerial implications for retailers in different cultural contexts.     

Political institutional structure influences on innovative activity

This study draws upon previous research on political institutions to examine country-level measures of innovative activity over a ten-year period within 24 developed nations. Investigating the relationship between political institutional structures and two types of innovative activity (i.e., basic and applied) reveals that political institutions have an important role in determining the number and nature of innovative opportunities for firms and entrepreneurs. Findings suggest that countries with political institutional structures characterized by weak state authority and corporatist societies generate greater levels of basic innovative activity. Further, national political institutions typified by strong state authority and corporatist societies were found to create higher levels of applied innovative activity.     

High‐performance work systems in Asian companies

High‐performance work systems (HPWSs) have recently attracted considerable interdisciplinary interest in the field of management, industrial relations and economics. There is rising interest in using high‐performance work practices, because evidence showed that organizations that implemented such systems recorded remarkable success, especially in organizations in Western countries. The purpose of the study is to explore the extent to which HPWSs are used in organizations in three selected Asian societies and determine the extent to which HR systems directly enhance performance. Research from organizations in three Asian societies showed mixed results. A strong relationship between HR practices and the outcome measure—i.e., subjective performance ( profitability)—was observed. Managerial implications and future research direction will be discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Profiling shoppers’ coping behaviours during a pandemic crisis: A regulatory focus perspective

Using the regulatory-focus theory (i.e. promotion- and prevention-focused concepts), the research investigates shoppers' positive/negative coping behaviours and segmentation linked to COVID-19. Supported by an online survey with 213 shoppers conducted after the first national lockdown (March 2020), factor analysis identified a set of four shopping factors meaningful to profile shoppers’ coping behaviours and segmentation. Positive coping is represented by quality-, price- and brand-focused shopping factors, whereas negative coping is represented by store-focused. The resultant three shopper segments are known as the mindful shopper (positive and negative coping), and the indulgent and the optimal shoppers (more positive coping).     

Purpose and object of anti-consumption

A counter movement of anti-consumption runs from the very beginning of mass-consumption societies. Four distinct types of anti-consumers, simplifiers, global impact consumers, market activists, and anti-loyal consumers, have emerged in recent years. The primary focus of anti-consumption research has been on market activists and anti-loyal consumers. This article focuses on the other two groups (i.e., the simplifiers and global impact consumers). The authors address the need for scale development to measure the general anti-consumption attitudes of these two groups. The goal is to improve the ability to identify anti-consumption attitudes and to gain a better understanding of how anti-consumption relates to other key constructs such as self-consciousness, self-actualization, and assertiveness.     

Gender differences in entrepreneurial propensity: Evidence from matrilineal and patriarchal societies

We examine whether men and women in patriarchal and matrilineal societies differ in their propensity to engage in entrepreneurship. We conduct two studies. Study 1 involves face-to-face interviews to identify individuals who are in the process of starting a new business. We find that men in patriarchal societies are more likely than women to initiate action to start a new business. This result, however, is reversed in matrilineal societies, where women are more likely than men to do so. The results of causal mediation tests suggest that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and fear of business failure explain the gender gap in both societies. Study 2 involves a controlled experiment in the lab that captures individuals' willingness to invest in the creation of a new venture. The results of the experiments are consistent with the survey data: men in patriarchal societies and women in matrilineal societies invest more in new venture creation in a simulated environment. We therefore rule out the simplistic view that women are inherently less likely to enter into entrepreneurship due to innate differences across genders. Rather, gender differences in entrepreneurial propensity are outcome of socialization.     

Theory of planned behavior in consumer behavior research: A systematic literature review

This study aimed to systematically review and categorize studies on consumer behavior based on theory of planned behavior (TPB), its core constructs, or extensions, and to provide directions for future research agenda. Scopus and the Web of Science were consulted for studies based on TPB, its parts, or extensions. The inclusion criteria were studies published in peer-reviewed journals, in English, and within the past decade (i.e., between 2012 and 2021). Graphical methods were used to visually display research findings. For the purpose of literature clustering, MAXQDA 2020 software was employed. In total, 118 scientific, peer-reviewed sources were included in the review. Two categories, five clusters, and seven subclusters emerged from the literature set. The results revealed a significant research tendency toward exploring consumer green behavior and consumer purchase intention of food products. The least-explored research themes were focused on consumer intention toward and purchase behavior of clothing, green vehicles, and green personal care products. The review confirmed the growing prevalence of TPB in consumer behavior research aimed at exploring factors preceding behavior.     

How Product–Environment Brightness Contrast and Product Disarray Impact Consumer Choice in Retail Environments

A conceptual model is developed to predict how consumers respond to in-store displays as a function of the extent to which a product’s brightness level (i.e., its perceived light-emitting quality) contrasts with that of its background environment and the product’s level of disarray. We show that products whose brightness levels contrast more with those of the retail environment are more preferred because they visually “pop out” (e.g., a dark product in a brightly lit store environment). However, this preference reverses when the products that pop out appear in disarray (i.e., are perceived to have been previously touched by other shoppers). Because most stores are bright environments, darker (vs. lighter) products in disarray are more likely to be perceived as contaminated and less pleasant, leading to avoidance behaviors, evident in reduced sales and preference. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Evaluating Cross-Cultural Advertising

Advertising is now considered to be a key part of international trade and essential to the global interchange of goods and services. This paper examines the parameters of international advertising, its impact across world markets and its effect on con- sumer behavior. Currently, there is controversy concerning the benefits of using globalization over localization as an advertising strategy in reaching the consumer. For the multinational f i i making this choice, con- -------- sideration must focus on a number of different factors, including criterion5 of recognition, reach, reaction, size and expenditure. By analyzing the role advertising plays in given societies, international advertising spending, government regulations and the intended use of text and messages, each of these aspects is touched upon as it relates to this framework of decision-making. Overall, as the US market becomes more saturated, firms may be forced to target markets overseas, be it through the globalization and localization routes. Furthermore, successful entry into these markets requires both a clear understanding of the culture, where the devel- opment of advertising differs'in each country, as well as comprehen- sion of its laws and restrictions, an area which places greater limita- tions on advertising practices.     

Rulers of the world,unite! The challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence

A decade ago, we published an article in Business Horizons about the challenges and opportunities of social media with a call to action: “Users of the world, unite!” To celebrate its anniversary, we look at artificial intelligence and the need to create the rules necessary for peaceful coexistence between humanity and AI. Hence, we now are urging: “Rulers of the world, unite!” In this article, we outline six debates surrounding AI in areas like artificial superintelligence, geographical progress, and robotics; in doing so, we shed light on what is fact and what is utopia. Then, using the PESTEL framework, we talk about the six dilemmas of AI and its potential threat and use. Finally, we provide six directions on the future of AI regarding its requirements and expectations, looking at enforcement, employment, ethics, education, entente, and evolution. Understanding AI’s potential future will enable governments, corporations, and societies at large (i.e., the rulers of this world) to prepare for its challenges and opportunities. This way, we can avoid a scenario in which we return in 10 years to write the article: “Dreamers of the world, unite!”     

Consumer-Owned Community Flour and Bread Societies in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Between 1759 and 1820, 46 or more community flour and bread societies were established in England and Scotland. They were self-help retail organisations set up in response to rising bread and flour prices and to the perceived malpractices of intermediaries in the corn market. Unadulternated ‘pure’ flour and bread were sold to members at ‘prime cost’. The societies were a rudimentary form of ‘co-operative’ business organisation and were either owned directly by consumers or were operated indirectly through a friendly society. There were four main categories of flour and bread company, small flour clubs, shipwright societies (in naval dockyards), friendly society corn mills, and joint stock flour and bread companies. The large societies such as the Hull Anti Mill, the Sheffield Club Mill, and the Birmingham Flour and Bread Company were vertically integrated consumer organisations operating with transferable stock in breach of the 1720 Bubble Act. The means used to manage the societies were a combination of friendly society and company approaches. These institutions received actual or tacit support from the authorities and successfully fought the prosecution of the three largest societies.     

Understanding the link between customer feedback metrics and firm performance

Practitioners utilise customer feedback metrics (CFM's) to monitor business performance. However, the influence of CFM's on firm performance has been ignored. Thus, this paper aims to examine the effects of CFM's on firm performance. Our study collected data about CFM's, marketing efforts, and financial performance over the period 2005–2020 from American Customer Satisfaction Index. The present study used a multiple regression panel analysis to investigate the influence of different CFMs (i.e., SAT, Top-2-Box, NPS proportion, NPS value, and CES) on firm performance (i.e., gross margin, sales growth, and Tobin's Q), moderating by operating environment factors (i.e., munificence, power, and dynamism). Our results revealed that Top-2-box is the best predictor CFM's to compare firms in online booking, hotels, and online shopping industries, while consumer satisfaction is the best predictor for electronic and fixed telecom industries. CES is the best CFM's to compare companies in restaurants industries. Moreover, NPS is the best metric to compare different companies in holiday parks industries. The results provide considerable managerial implications for effective use of resources regarding investing in most suitable CFM's to enhance firm performance.     

Der europäische Haushalt bis 2020: Anspruch und Wirklichkeit

The Commission of the European Union (EU) has made a new proposal regarding the multiannual fi nancial framework through 2020. Raising expenditures with high added value for the EU (e.g. a trans-European transport network) is one important target of the proposal. Another important issue is a change to the fi scal system. The Commission intends to participate in the revenue of a new financial transaction tax. One problem of the proposal is the gap between desire and reality. A look at the structure of the expenditures through 2020 shows, like in the past, more than 40% of the budget is intended for the Common Agricultural Policy and not for European public goods or similar expenditures. This structure makes it unlikely to achieve high added value for the EU.     

Machines augmenting entrepreneurs: Opportunities (and threats) at the Nexus of artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to machines that are trained to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, interpret external data, learn from that external data, and use that learning to flexibly adapt to tasks to achieve specific outcomes. This paper briefly explains AI and looks into the future to highlight some of AI's broader and longer-term societal implications. We propose that AI can be combined with entrepreneurship to represent a super tool. Scholars can research the nexus of AI and entrepreneurship to explore the possibilities of this potential AI-entrepreneurship super tool and hopefully direct its use to productive processes and outcomes. We focus on specific entrepreneurship topics that benefit from AI's augmentation potential and acknowledge implications for entrepreneurship's dark side. We hope this paper stimulates future research at the AI-entrepreneurship nexus.Executive summaryArtificial intelligence (AI) refers to machines that are trained to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, interpret external data, learn from that external data, and use that learning to flexibly adapt to tasks to achieve specific outcomes. Machine learning is the most common form of AI and largely relies on supervised learning—when the machine (i.e., AI) is trained with labels applied by humans. Deep learning and adversarial learning involve training on unlabeled data, or when the machine (via its algorithms) clusters data to reveal underlying patterns.AI is simply a tool. Entrepreneurship is also simply a tool. How they are combined and used will determine their impact on humanity. While researchers have independently developed a greater understanding of entrepreneurship and AI, these two streams of research have primarily run in parallel. To indicate the scope of current and future AI, we provide examples of AI (at different levels of development) for four sectors—customer service, financial, healthcare, and tertiary education. Indeed, experts from industry research and consulting firms suggest many AI-related business opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue.Further, we elaborate on several of these opportunities, including opportunities to (1) capitalize on the “feeling economy,” (2) redistribute occupational skills in the economy, (3) develop and use new governance mechanisms, (4) keep humans in the loop (i.e., humans as part of the decision making process), (5) expand the role of humans in developing AI systems, and (6) expand the purposes of AI as a tool. After discussing the range of business opportunities that experts suggest will prevail in the economy with AI, we discuss how entrepreneurs can use AI as a tool to help them increase their chances of entrepreneurial success. We focus on four up-and-coming areas for entrepreneurship research: a more interaction-based perspective of (potential) entrepreneurial opportunities, a more activities-based micro-foundation approach to entrepreneurial action, a more cognitively hot perspective of entrepreneurial decision making and action, and a more compassionate and prosocial role of entrepreneurial action. As we discuss each topic, we also suggest opportunities to design an AI system (i.e., entrepreneurs as potential AI designers) to help entrepreneurs (i.e., entrepreneurs as AI users).AI is an exciting development in the technology world. How it transforms markets and societies depends in large part on entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can use AI to augment their decisions and actions in pursuing potential opportunities for productive gains. Thus, we discuss entrepreneurs' most critical tasks in developing and managing AI and explore some of the dark-side aspects of AI. Scholars also have a role to play in how entrepreneurs use AI, but this role requires the hard work of theory building, theory elaboration, theory testing, and empirical theorizing. We offer some AI topics that we hope future entrepreneurship research will explore. We hope this paper encourages scholars to consider research at the nexus of AI and entrepreneurship.     

A tale of two marketplaces: Consumption restriction, social comparison, and life satisfaction

Analysis with reports from more than 56,000 consumers across 38 countries reveals that social comparison (upward/downward) moderates the relationship between consumption restriction and life satisfaction. Specifically, insufficient access to goods and services combined with the likelihood of making upward social comparisons lowers life satisfaction??this negative consequence also is exacerbated by poverty. Most studies focus on wealthier consumers given importance of material abundance to affluent lifestyles; this investigation suggests that materialism also influences lives of impoverished consumers. Challenging our conventional wisdom, these results reveal that social comparisons are significantly more powerful determinants of life satisfaction for people in much poorer, developing societies than for people in more affluent societies. Specifically, compared to their affluent counterparts, impoverished consumers experience greater decreases in life satisfaction when their access to goods and services is lower than others within their societies.     

Additional Capital Adequacy Requirements for Class 1 Lending - the Implications for Building Societies

In March 1990 the UK Building Societies Commission (BSC) published a Prudential Note (1990/1) entitled ‘Capital Adequacy and Class 1 Advances' which made important and significant amendments to the original capital adequacy calculus pertaining to Class 1 assets as set out in Prudential Note 1987/1. Against the backdrop of sharply rising mortgage arrears and provisions, this paper analyses the background to these requirements and assesses the potential impact upon individual societies and the industry as a whole. The main conclusion is that the new requirements could have a significant impact upon some building societies and may well accelerate the merger movement within the building society industry.     

Are socially responsible exchange-traded funds paying off in performance?

This study examines the Socially Responsible (SR) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by comparing their risk-adjusted performance with a matched group of conventional ETFs in the U.S. equity market. In contrast to prior studies that focus on actively managed mutual funds, we find that the risk-adjusted returns of SR ETFs are significantly lower than those of conventional ETFs during the 2005–2020 period. Such underperformance is only observed in non-crisis periods but not in economic crisis periods (i.e., the 2020 pandemic recession and 2008 financial turmoil). We attribute the observed underperformance of SR ETFs during the non-crisis periods to their limited diversification of unsystematic risks resulting from various negative or positive screens employed in the funds. We also find that net fund flows of the SR ETFs are less sensitive to past negative performance than are conventional fund flows. Collectively, our findings suggest that, instead of seeking wealth maximization, socially conscious investors may choose SR ETFs to gain non-economic utility.     

Aspects of Innovation in a Turbulent Market Environment: Empirical Evidence from UK Building Societies

The personal financial services market is currently experiencing a period of turbulence as the industry adapts to changes in the environment. This in turn has forced many of these institutions to consider a more innovative approach in their operations. A survey was conducted to investigate how one subset of this industry, building societies, are meeting this need for change. The results suggest that societies have begun to foster a more innovative organisation but that the level of innovation has not yet reached a satisfactory level.     

Passion for entrepreneurship or passion for the product? A conjoint analysis of angel and VC decision-making

Passion is important to venture investors, but what specifically do they want entrepreneurs to be passionate about? This study theorizes that angel investors and venture capitalists consider both entrepreneurs' passion for activities related to the product or service the venture provides (i.e., product passion) and passion for founding and developing new ventures (i.e., entrepreneurial passion). We demonstrate that both types of passion become more appealing when the investor perceives that the entrepreneur is highly open and receptive to feedback, suggesting that openness to feedback mitigates potential concerns associated with passion in its extremes. We further find that venture investors differ in their consideration of passion; angel investors and venture capitalists with more investing experience place greater emphasis on the combination of product passion and openness to feedback, whereas those with more entrepreneurial experience emphasize the combination of entrepreneurial passion and openness to feedback.     

Is self-knowledge the ultimate prize? A quantitative analysis of participation choice in online ideation crowdsourcing contests

Online crowdsourcing contests are a nascent but rapidly growing method among marketers and retailers to generate and solicit creative ideas. In two studies – a dynamic model with scraped data from a well-known crowdsourcing platform using Python (study 1) and a survey among real participants in online contests with conjoint analysis (study 2) – we explore how multiple design parameters influence participation in online contests. Our empirical results support the notion that both extrinsically (i.e., prize money) and intrinsically (i.e., feedback) motivating parameters can generate value for participants (i.e., expected utility). Comparatively, however, we find evidence that intrinsically motivating design parameters that provide self-relevant feedback (i.e., feedback from organizer) can be more impactful than extrinsically motivating design parameters (i.e., award size). We also show novel time-dependent effects: as a contest nears its end, important design parameters shift in their effects on participation rates— their role over time is non-monotonic. In particular, the effect of award size becomes non-significant, but feedback remains impactful. Our findings contribute to the crowdsourcing literature, especially regarding how self-knowledge (e.g., self-efficacy) affects utility and consumer co-creation through contest participation over time; the findings also can help retail managers and marketers enhance participation in idea contests.