Sales promotion practices of consumer goods companies in an advanced developing country

In recent years, manufacturers of consumer and industrial goods as well as service firms have been increasingly thinking in global terms and paying more attention to sales promotion in their overall promotional programmes and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumer sales promotion practices of consumer goods producing companies in the advanced developing country of Turkey. It was discovered that sales promotion activities are gaining importance in overall promotional practices of Turkish companies, though there are differences in its use by type of industry, size of company, area of business and locus of decision-making within the firm. Furthermore, differences were detected between companies using sales promotions versus other forms of promotional techniques such as mass media advertising, personal selling and publicity. Study findings may be applicable to other developing countries that are at a similar level of socio-economic, market and technological development as Turkey.     

Leisure book reading and purchasing: an analysis of Turkish consumers

Tracking studies all over the world report a decline in time devoted to reading in all age groups. There is a common stereotype indicating that people prefer other leisure activities to reading books. Low levels of book readership and book purchasing has always been a matter of discussion in Turkey. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to develop a better understanding of Turkish people’s involvement with books. To achieve this aim, a research survey via self‐administered questionnaire to collect data about leisure time reading, book purchasing and related attitudes was prepared. The sample represents 601 people from eight cities. It was found that around 80% of the sample had read at least one book within the last 6 months, and 58% had purchased a book for her‐ or himself. In addition, a Likert scale with 26 items was utilized to understand the attitudes of respondents to book reading, purchasing and book marketing activities. A factor analysis was also used to check the possibility of reducing the number of attitude items on the scale. Four factors emerged as a result of the factor analysis, labelled as ‘high involvement in books’, ‘preference towards more visual products’, ‘economy factor’ and ‘books must be heavily promoted’. Furthermore, ANOVA and t‐tests were performed to analyse whether attitudes change with demographic variables. Contrary to common beliefs about book readership, this study has revealed favourable attitudes towards book reading and purchasing.     

Rating versus ranking: What is the best way to reduce response and language bias in cross-national research?

We propose solutions to two recurring problems in cross-national research: response style differences and language bias. In order to do so, we conduct a methodological comparison of two different response formats—rating and ranking. For rating, we assess the effect of changing the commonly used 5-point Likert scales to 7-point Likert scales. For ranking, we evaluate the validity of presenting respondents with short scenarios for which they need to rank their top 3 solutions. Our results – based on two studies of 1965 undergraduate and 1714 MBA students in 16 different countries – confirm our hypotheses that both solutions reduce response and language bias, but show that ranking generally is a superior solution. These findings allow researchers to have greater confidence in the validity of cross-national differences if these response formats are used, instead of the more traditional 5-point Likert scales. In addition, our findings have several practical implications for multinational corporations, relating to issues such as selection interviews, performance appraisals, and cross-cultural training.     

Geography of immigrant clusters in global cities: a case study of San Francisco

Cities throughout the world – particularly global cities – are becoming increasingly heterogeneous as a result of international migration movements. During the past three decades, the influx of immigrants into metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco has increased demand for housing, exacerbating the already tight housing markets in these cities. This article focuses on the spatial distribution and housing conditions of immigrants in San Francisco using primarily the 2000 US census data on population and housing down to the census tract level. Building on past research on ethnic enclaves and communities, this article applies spatial analysis methods to identify clusters where Chinese, Filipino and Mexican households – the largest foreign‐born groups in San Francisco – live. The article argues that different immigrant groups show distinct spatial clustering patterns and that there are significant variations in housing outcomes for immigrants within and outside of ethnic clusters. These differences are largely in the direction predicted by the spatial assimilation theory. However, findings such as the high incidence of homeownership within Chinese and Filipino clusters suggest that contemporary immigrants do not necessarily view ethnic clusters as transitory. These findings help to confirm other recent studies showing that immigrants are now spatially clustered in ways that may no longer fit theoretical models derived from the settlement patterns of late nineteenth‐century immigrants. The article contributes to literature concerned with ethnic clusters in US inner cities and the housing conditions of immigrants in global cities. A travers le monde, les villes, surtout les villes planétaires, sont de plus en plus hétérogènes à cause des mouvements migratoires internationaux. Au cours des trois dernières décennies, l'afflux de migrants vers les zones métropolitaines comme New York, Los Angeles et San Francisco a accru la demande de logements, resserrant les marchés déjàétroits dans ces grandes villes. L'article s'attache à la répartition spatiale et aux conditions de logement des immigrants à San Francisco à partir, essentiellement, de données provenant du recensement américain 2000 sur la population et l'habitat par régions sociales. S'inspirant de recherches antérieures sur les communautés et enclaves ethniques, l'étude applique les méthodes d'analyse spatiale pour identifier les regroupements de foyers chinois, philippins et mexicains (groupes d'étrangers les plus nombreux à San Francisco). Les différents groupes d'immigrants présentent des modèles d'agrégation spatiale distincts et leur logement varie considérablement selon que les populations se trouvent dans ou hors des regroupements ethniques. Ces divergences traduisent largement l'orientation prévue par la théorie de l'assimilation spatiale. Toutefois, des résultats tels que le poids de l'accession à la propriété dans les groupes chinois et philippins suggèrent que les immigrants actuels ne jugent pas forcément ces regroupements ethniques comme transitoires. Ainsi sont corroborées d'autres études récentes montrant que les immigrants sont désormais regroupés dans l'espace selon des modèles qui ne correspondent plus aux types théoriques dérivés des schémas d'implantation de la fin du dix‐neuvièmesiècle. L'article contribue au débat sur les regroupements ethniques dans les quartiers déshérités américains et sur les conditions de logement des immigrants dans les villes planétaires.     

Appropriate technology assessment: A note on policy considerations

This paper summarizes various positions on appropriate technology and its relation to technological dependence, and certain contradictions within the concept are pointed out. An alternative approach to policy questions in appropriate technology assessment and independence is then proposed using a framework involving three economic sectors—the consumer goods sector, capital goods sector, and technological change sector.     

The Immoral Economy of Housing in Turkey

This paper presents an examination of the political, social and economic coordinates of informal housing in Turkey within an analytical framework in which the complex interaction between the organizing principles of reciprocity, redistribution and exchange is taken into account. The discussion is centered on two ideas: (1) both redistribution and reciprocity incorporate a moral principle which can be defined as ‘the unequal treatment of the unequal’ as opposed to the moral neutrality of market exchange which takes place between formally equal trading partners; and (2) in certain contexts where redistributive processes are not institutionalized in a rule-based, depersonalized manner but involve relations which take place within informal networks of reciprocity, the element of moral relativity that forms their basis might lead to situations where they lose their legitimacy and generate negative social consequences. The paper thus introduces a moral dimension into the discussion of informal sector activity by complementing Karl Polanyi's approach with Marshall Sahlins' typology of different types of reciprocity and shows that particular systems of redistribution might lead to the emergence of forms of negative reciprocity which shape both the market and the political process in a highly undesirable manner. Cet article présente un examen des coordonnées politiques, sociales et économiques du logement informel en Turquie, utilisant un modèle analytique dans lequel l'influence mutuelle entre les principes d'organisation, de réciprocité, de redistribution et d'échange, est prise en considération. La discussion porte sur deux idées: (1) la redistribution et la réciprocité comprennent toutes deux un principe moral qui peut être défini comme ‘le traitement inégal de l'inégal’, par opposition à la moralité neutre de l'échange de marché qui prend place entre des partenaires de commerce formellement égaux; et (2) dans certains contextes, lorsque les processus redistributifs ne sont pas institutionnalisés d'une façon formelle et impersonnelle mais incluent des relations qui prennent place dans des réseaux informels de reciprocité, l'élément de relativité morale qui forme leur base pourrait conduire à des situations où ils perdraient leur légitimité et auraient des conséquences sociales négatives. Cet article introduit donc une dimension morale à la discussion de l'activité du secteur informel en complémentant l'approche de Karl Polanyi avec la typologie des différents types de réciprocité de Marshall Sahlins, et montre que certains syst èmes de redistribution pourraient conduire à la naissance de formes de réciprocité négatives qui modèleraient de manière hautement indésirable et le processus du marché et le processus politique.     

Effectiveness of the Financial Ratios in the Determination of the Fraudulent Financial Statements＂ Turkey Practice

Large-scale accounting scandals which were reflected to the world public opinion particularly in the 2000s （such as Enron, Lucent, Xerox, and Parmalat Bank for Reconstruction） carried the matter of fraudulent financial reporting which was made to deceive the financial statement users （Fraudulent Financial Report （FFR）） to the forefront in the agenda of the academicians, operators, and regulatory authorities. As in every crime action, the most effective measure to be taken in preventing FFR events is to try to prevent the FFR before arising. In order to achieve this, in the most effective manner, FFR events should be determined in the formation process. In this study, fraudulent financial statements are tried to be determined by using financial ratios. For this, financial statements of 22 companies which transact in the textile industry in Istanbul Stock Exchange （ISE） were examined. Twenty-three financial ratios were selected for the purpose of determining the risk of fraudulence in the financial statements of the selected companies. These ratios increased in value by multiple regression analysis. The findings which were obtained in the study indicated that some financial statements had the risk of fraudulence. It was concluded that the ratios of inventory/current asset, total debt ratio, and equity turnover rate were a good indicator in the determination of fraudulent financial statements.     

Exploring the interaction of firm-level change and national institutional environments in shaping employment and union relations: a comparative case study of four European airlines

Drawing on the example of the airline industry, this paper explores in a longitudinal comparative case study the question of how firm-level changes and national institutional environments interact in shaping employee and union relations. Adding to previous research in comparative institutional analysis and comparative employment relations, we illustrate that the way in which industry pressures and national-level effects play out to influence employee and union relations depends on firm-level changes, mainly in the form of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries. We show in particular that depending on firm-level changes, the very same firm might engage differently with a given institutional context at different points in time. Hence, our work illustrates the importance of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries in explaining the shifting interaction between the firm and its institutional environment, and its implications for changing employee and union relations within firms.     

Global convergence of consumer spending: Conceptualization and propositions

The convergence versus divergence debate has persistently presented a puzzle in the scholarly literature. Forces of globalization created a wave of convergence. Yet, the recent worldwide events have changed the course of globalization, slowing its seemingly unavoidable forward direction. It is, therefore, incumbent upon international business scholars to reexamine the convergence versus divergence debate in the contemporary world economy. Despite the central role that global convergence plays in international business decisions, the literature is lacking a conceptualization of the convergence construct in terms of consumer spending behavior. Offering a new perspective derived from the convergence-divergence-crossvergence (CDC) framework and the coevolution theory, the authors define and conceptualize the convergence construct associated with consumer spending behavior. The proposed conceptual framework is comprehensive, offers refinements to the convergence phenomenon, and leads the way for further development of new theories in the international marketing domain.