Higher aims fulfilled: The Social Capital Academy as a means for advancing underrepresented students in comprehensive university business schools

Current research underscores how a college education can reflect broader social inequality via the disproportionate flow of resources to elite universities and advantaged students. In contrast, underresourced comprehensive universities disproportionately serve minority, first-generation, and working-class students. This article argues that the comprehensive university is uniquely positioned to reduce social inequality and that the comprehensive university undergraduate business school (CUUBS) should test a new approach to education. The article also advocates a substantive response to social inequality by (1) focusing on undergraduate business education within comprehensive universities rather than MBA programs in well-funded, elite business schools, (2) implementing a strategic emphasis on career-related jobs (CRJs) for underrepresented students, and (3) helping students pursue CRJs via the development of a Social Capital Academy (SCA). This article describes the benefits of an SCA for underrepresented students, its requirements and benefits for universities and business communities, and the possibilities for scaling the program to address social inequality. Future applications of the SCA to STEM-related fields are also explored.     

Cause-related marketing: More buck than bang?

Starbucks, Target, and Nike are just a few of the businesses partnering today with not-for-profit organizations in cause-related marketing campaigns. These campaigns are implemented for a dual purpose: on one hand, to raise awareness, support, and donations for social causes such as global hunger relief, and on the other, to enhance corporate reputations, customer loyalty, and financial gains for companies. An example of cause-related marketing is an effort organized by Macy's, Pfizer, and other businesses on behalf of the American Heart Association. The program has raised over $32 million in donations for the charity, while generating over 1 billion media impressions for corporate sponsors. In this article, we discuss the concept and practice of cause-related marketing, as well as some of its social-ethical complexities. We end with suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of this popular marketing tool and form of corporate philanthropy.     

社会资本理论视角的企业慈善捐赠行为研究

企业慈善捐赠行为是企业履行企业社会责任的重要方式。本文站在社会网络的视角,基于社会资本理论分析了企业履行社会责任的慈善捐赠行为。结果表明:企业慈善捐赠行为能够提高企业所处网络其它主体对它的信任度和义务认同度,可以提高企业的社会资本丰度;企业慈善捐赠行为对社会资本的纵向关系资本、横向关系资本和社会关系资本三个维度都具有积极的影响,各分维度社会网络主体往往更倾向与慈善企业建立连结关系。     

Status reinforcing: Unintended rating bias on online shopping platforms

Online shopping platforms have gradually begun to use hierarchical loyalty programs to distinguish customers. Previous studies have focused mainly on the effect of such programs on loyalty and repurchase behavior, and little is known about how customer statuses in hierarchical loyalty programs affect their online product evaluations. Drawing on social status and social conformity theory, this study investigates the impact of customer status on the valence of online reviews. An instrumental variable is proposed to address the endogeneity issue. The results show that a customer's need for status leads to a negative rating bias when leaving online reviews. At the same time, people encounter social pressure from crowds. The need for social conformity can alleviate such rating bias. This study contributes to the understanding of the effect of social status on post-purchase behavior and provides practical implications for both managers and platforms.     

She shares,but he does not: Gender differences in the sharing of charity‐related content on social networking sites

Online social networks are widely used methods of communication. This research examines gender differences in people's tendency to post charity‐related messages. In general, compared to males, females show more empathic concerns with online charity‐related messages, which increases their willingness to post messages on their online social networking sites. However, message framing is key. Females' higher tendency only holds for charity messages that focus on benefits to others or the feelings of others, not for messages that are self‐focused. This research also identifies one way of improving men's willingness to post. Messages that are framed by focusing on negative consequence appeals can increase empathic concerns, which can increase males' willingness to share online charity messages on online social networking sites.     

Accumulation versus instant loyalty programs: The influence of controlling policies on customers' commitments

Loyalty reward programs play an important strategic role attracting and retaining customers. Surprisingly, reward redemptions receive minimal research attention. Despite widespread reward program offerings, evidence suggests customers increasingly abandon them due to controlling (restrictive) redemption policies, such as blackout dates. The present study considers controlling redemption policies' effect on consumer commitment levels for accumulation-based and instant loyalty programs across social and economic award types. A 2 (low/high controlling) × 2 (accumulation/instant program) × (social/economic rewards) design tests hypotheses informed by cognitive evaluation and rational choice theories. Results show firms employing accumulation programs with highly controlling policies should highlight their social rewards (e.g., a hotel with blackout dates on redeeming rewards would want to highlight their special lounges or dining areas); whereas, low controlling policies work best when offering financial rewards (e.g., free upgrades or percentages off). In instant programs, the type of reward generally does not influence consumers' commitment levels.     

Perceived benefits of loyalty programs: Scale development and implications for relational strategies

Positive outcomes of loyalty programs are clear for firms, yet little research examines customer perceptions. To address this gap, this article investigates various perceived benefits of loyalty programs using a multi-benefit framework based on utilitarian, hedonic, and relationship literature. Two quantitative studies, involving 658 French members of loyalty programs, provide a 16-item scale that measures five types of perceived benefits: monetary savings, exploration, entertainment, recognition, and social benefits. The five dimensions have different impacts on satisfaction with the program, loyalty to the program, and perceived relationship investment of the firm. This article offers a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for relationship marketing strategies.     

绿色营销、公益营销和社会营销的比较分析

绿色营销、公益营销和社会营销都是对传统营销观念的发展和修正,符合企业发展的基本规律。其中社会营销的内涵最为丰富,是和传统营销观念相对应的一种新的营销观念;绿色营销源于社会营销;公益营销是社会营销观念指导下的营销方式的创新;三种既有密切联系又各有侧重。不同的营销形式,在为企业营销行为提供新的选择的同时,也给企业提出了新的社会要求。一个理性的企业,在营销形式的选择上,应结合企业自身的具体情况,根据企业生产经营的发展阶段和企业所处的内外部特定环境,科学理性的选择有效的营销行为。     

REVERSE LOGISTICS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESOURCE COMMITMENT AND PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

In response to increasing volumes of returned products, firms are establishing programs to guide the reversal of flows in the supply chain, i.e., reverse logistics. With reverse logistics programs firms seek cost savings and efficiencies related to reclamation, redistribution, and disposal of products returned “upstream” to the retailer or manufacturer. This paper reports on a recent survey of electronics catalog retailers regarding reverse logistics program involvement. In addition to creating a profile of current reverse logistics activities in an industry characterized by high volumes of returns, the research also examines the relationship between investment in reverse logistics related resources and reverse logistics program performance.     

Product advertising versus ideas advertising

Social marketing programs which promote the use of a product, such as a condom, have certain advantages over programs which simply try to convince people to change their behavior. Of considerable importance, the success or failure of a social marketing program can be readily assessed through the level of sales of the promoted product. Most programs designed to alleviate poverty or advance social goals are extremely hard to measure, often leading to program inefficiency and even undetected failure. However, when a socially motivated program depends upon product sales, those sales can be quickly measured. Even though sales statistics alone are not enough to accurately judge the impact of family planning programs, they can still say much about relative program efficiencies. The brand advantage of promoting and selling branded products is also explained.     

Intra-organizational Volunteerism: Good Soldiers, Good Deeds and Good Politics

Despite the millions of hours donated to charity each year by employees on behalf of their employers there has been relatively little research into the motives for such pro-social behavior. The current paper extends Peterson’s (2004, Journal of Business Ethics 49, 371) study by exploring a unique form of employee volunteerism identified as intra-organizational, or employer-sanctioned volunteerism, and uniting the heretofore distinct charity support and organizational citizenship behavior literatures. Results of a preliminary study revealed that employee participation in such intra-organizational volunteer programs is motivated by charity, firm, and personal benefits. Managerial and research implications are presented.     

Disease management programs: program intervention, behavior modification, and dosage effect

Disease management programs provide highly personalized self- management support to consumers afflicted with chronic illnesses. Program interventions include the provision of health information, ongoing motivation, and support for behavior change, adherence to pharmacotherapy, development of self-efficacy, and the distribution of self-care tools. Interactions between program and patients are structured and repetitive over time. Consumer behavior change can result in measurable improvements in quality and medical cost savings from postponement or avoidance of preventable complications. We evaluated the impact on cost and quality of a comprehensive Diabetes Disease Management Program (DDMP) across ten US urban markets. A staggered implementation allowed for ten pre–post and five pair-wise comparisons. The DDMP demonstrated significant improvements in six diabetes-related quality indicators, lower cost, and a dose-response with greater than 6 months participation. We conclude that a DDMP improves quality of care and reduce overall medical costs.     

How push messaging impacts consumer spending and reward redemption in store-loyalty programs

Retailer loyalty programs (LPs) are pervasive in grocery retailing. However, participant spending and redemption typically wear off over time and traditional communication has not revealed very effective at maintaining program engagement. We study the impact of in-app mobile push notifications on consumer participation and reward collection in store-loyalty programs. Using a unique data set covering consumer spending before and during such a program, we estimate the effect of push messaging on expenditure and reward redemption during the program. We report positive effects of push messages on spending, and even stronger effects on redemption, relative to a control group not receiving such messages. Due to the savings dynamics, the total spending impact is larger for messages sent early on rather than late in the program, while the opposite holds for the total number of stamps redeemed. Conditioning on observable consumer characteristics, we allow for heterogeneous treatment effects and find that the spending and redemption effects of push messaging increase with high levels of pre-program spending. Our findings reveal which loyalty-program stakeholders benefit the most from mobile marketing campaigns, and help to formulate rules for campaign scheduling and targeting.     

A Tale of Two Cultures: Charity, Problem Solving, and the Future of Social Entrepreneurship

Two cultures are at play in the field of social entrepreneurship: an age-old culture of charity, and a more contemporary culture of entrepreneurial problem solving. These cultures permeate activities from resource providers to front line operations. Both have roots in our psychological responses to the needs of others and are reinforced by social norms. They can work hand-in-hand or they can be at odds. Some of the icons of the social entrepreneurship movement have spoken harshly about charity, yet most of them rely to some degree, at least early in their development process, on resources that are given out of a charitable impulse. The success of social entrepreneurship requires an integration of values from each of these cultures, in which the satisfactions of giving are correlated with social benefits of rigorous problem solving.     

Do Cold Images Cause Cold-Heartedness? The Impact of Visual Stimuli on the Effectiveness of Negative Emotional Charity Appeals

Previous research shows that negative emotional charity appeals tend to be more effective than other emotional charity appeals because they evoke sympathy. However, feelings of loneliness reduce individuals' ability to sympathize with others. Based on grounded cognition research, we propose that exposure to images of cold objects will lead to feelings of physical coldness, which in turn will increase perceptions of loneliness, such that negative emotional charity appeals that are viewed following exposure to cold (versus neutral or warm) images will be less effective at eliciting donations. Findings from four studies provide support for this hypothesis and delineate the link between the presence of certain commonplace visual images in the media and their influence on the effectiveness of embedded negative charity appeals, and identify a new context effect that attenuates the effectiveness of charity appeals.     

The financial impact of loyalty programs in the hotel industry: A social exchange theory perspective

With increased competition across the hotel industry for frequent travelers, who generate a disproportionate portion of revenue, loyalty programs appear to be a rational response to the competitive environment. The question remains, however, as to whether these programs are effective at increasing the profitability of hotel operators. This study analyzes the impact of customer loyalty programs on the industry specific performance metrics of occupancy rate, revenue, and operating margin. Utilizing a comprehensive database of 36 different hotel brands (e.g., Marriot, Hilton) encompassing 31 loyalty programs and 435 different hotel properties, we examine whether a loyalty program is indeed an effective tool to increase operating margin. In summary, empirical results suggest that investment in hotel loyalty programs has a positive impact on occupancy rates and profitability. And although the overall effect is modest, these results have several managerial implications for the hotel industry.     

Measuring physician contribution to the healthcare safety net

There are an estimated 46 million Americans without health insurance and an even larger number for whom health insurance does not cover all needed medical services. These individuals and families have to rely more and more on government programs and physicians’ willingness to provide uncompensated services, most often described by providers as charity care. Previous studies have shown a downward trend in the percent of physicians willing or able to provide charity care. We extend this research by examining the results of the Medical Group Management Association's Cost Survey of Medical Group Practices for 2005, 2006, and 2007. It is important to examine the uncompensated care reported by medical groups because groups have policies that may govern how much, if any, charity care their physicians provide. This survey data shows that, overall, the number of medical practices providing charity care continues to decline. The results and analysis of the survey data indicate that uncompensated (charity) care is being offered by less than half of medical practices, and at less than 2% of total gross charges. We examined the results by potential explanatory variables: population density, practice size, physician practice specialty, practice ownership structure, payer mix, and practice financial performance. Results were consistent across all categories; charity care is declining. These results have major policy implications for both the federal government and all state governments, especially in light of the current recession and proposed healthcare reform legislation.     

The Role of Belief in Making a Difference in Enhancing Attachment to a Charity Sport Event

Charity sport events provide charitable organizations with a mechanism to communicate the mission of the charity to a large participant base, while fostering a meaningful event experience for event participants. This research examines the relationship among motives for charity sport event participation, participant belief in making a difference, and attachment to the event. In making this examination, an online questionnaire was administered to participants in the 2007 Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) LIVESTRONG Challenge (N = 568). Through structural equation modeling, the results demonstrate that belief in making a difference mediates the relationship between social and charity motives and attachment. Suggestions are made for marketing communication, highlighting belief in making a difference via rituals, symbols, and social media to assist in attracting and retaining participants.     

Social networks and social media: Understanding and managing influence vulnerability in a connected society

Influence vulnerability has recently become a concern across society and in business. Such vulnerabilities increase as social networks are leveraged by different entities, oftentimes through social media, to affect how we think and behave. While many instances of social influence are positive and beneficial, others can be quite negative and lead to harmful outcomes for organizations and individuals such as reputational damage and an inability to control desirable thoughts, narratives, and behaviors. In general, they can decrease people’s freedom of thought and behavior. This article draws on the concepts of social embeddedness and network commitment to outline people’s influence vulnerabilities. It then proposes three guidelines to help reduce influence vulnerabilities based on the concepts of trustworthiness, network commitment, and self-management.     

关于公益营销的策略探讨——以“欧莱雅世博礼仪讲堂”为例

后危机时代,我国经济快速发展,品牌竞争加剧,更多企业借助重大事件开展公益营销,进行公益宣传,增加品牌资产。在营销传播视角多元化和企业社会责任兴起的背景下,研究企业的公益营销具有现实意义。以“欧莱雅世博礼仪讲堂”为例,这一活动有力地把握了市场环境,找到了利益相关者的共同点,使公益活动与品牌主体得到了完美融合,并对公益营销策略做出了有益的启示：注重传播的互动性、适配性和完整性。