Brand wars: consumer–brand engagement beyond client–agency fights

Engaging consumers with their brands has emerged as a priority in marketers’ agenda. Brand decision-makers share a clear representational view of consumer-brand engagement (CBE). Despite this agreement, practitioners are currently finding hard to practically achieve CBE. The clash between an ideal representation of CBE focused on consumer protagonism and its fragile execution urges a rethinking of consumer-brand relationship modes and timeframe. We argue that this clash is nurtured by the long-established conflicting relational dynamics among brand decision-makers illustrated by client–agency (CA) disputes of which consumers represent the ending-point recipient. This paper reflects on how consumer protagonism as an inherent component of CBE is currently reshaping the relation dynamics among all brand actors. We represent CBE as a relational hub resting upon a co-creation rather than a separation logic. We finally provide a pragmatic reflection on the relationship culture required by CBE among actors beyond the CA dyad.     

Futures Contracts in Water Leasing: An Experimental Analysis Using Basin Characteristics of the Rio Grande,NM

Providing for increased water demands during periods of persistent drought and climatic variability may require water managers, users and planners to think differently about how water resources are allocated. A water marketing institution that allows water rights holders to reallocate water on a temporary basis could overcome these challenges with minimal conflict. In this paper, a water marketing institution that allows for the temporary reallocation of water rights in a spot and futures market is investigated. The results provide insight into three key questions: (1) how does trading impact the physical system, (2) does the value of water differ by trading agents, (3) how is economic welfare redistributed as a result of trading? Results of experimental treatments display minor impacts to the physical system, that prices differ across the different type of trading agents and the addition of a futures market has the ability to decrease market prices while increasing economic welfare as a futures market allows users to hedge against future water uncertainty.     

Firm-employee relationship strength—A conceptual model

This paper posits a model of firm-employee relationship strength that permits the future measurement of an index of the strength of intra-firm relationships between the firm and the employees of that firm. The relationship marketing literature currently provides no clear direction as to how to represent and measure the strength of firm-employee relationships. The proposed model emerges from an examination of previous marketing and non-marketing literature through exploration of possible concepts to represent measuring strong and productive work relationships, focusing on relationship strength as the construct of interest. The review of the literature on the concept of relationship strength results in the development of an index model of firm-employee relationship strength predicted by cooperation, balanced power, communication, attachment, shared goals and values, trust and the absence of damaging conflict. The article concludes with a list of contributions that the model provides to the relationship marketing literature, as well as suggestions for future research. This includes examination of the impact of the relationship that a firm has with employees on external firm relationships, most particularly with customers.     

The loan structure and housing tenure decisions in an equilibrium model of mortgage choice

The objective of this paper is to understand how loan structure affects (i) the borrower's selection of a mortgage contract and (ii) the aggregate economy. We develop a quantitative equilibrium theory of mortgage choice where households can choose from a menu of long-term (nominal) mortgage loans. The model accounts for observed patterns in housing consumption, ownership, and portfolio allocations. We find that the loan structure is a quantitatively significant factor in a household's housing finance decision. The model suggests that the mortgage structure preferred by a household is dependent on age and income and that loan products with low initial payments offer an alternative to mortgages with no downpayment. These effects are more important when inflation is low. The presence of inflation reduces the real value of the mortgage payment and the outstanding loan over time reducing mobility. Changes in the structure of mortgages have implications for risk sharing.     

IMC in digitally-empowering contexts: the emerging role of negotiated brands

In current digitally-empowering contexts, the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) paradigm may have lost its ‘original’ customer-centric focus. Drawing on service-dominant logic, the paper examines the changes to IMC when multiple sources of consumer power emerge as central in the value creation process. This change in the focus of IMC likely enables the emergence of negotiated brands, i.e. brands that focus on a marketplace where traditional marketer-created brand value may be replaced by buyer and seller co-created value. The paper argues that this novel type of brand structure represents an appropriate managerial response to multidimensional IMC approaches. As that occurs, four key issues (community-centric orientation, emergent strategy, hybrid communication mix, reciprocity-based assessment) emerge which lead to a number of research questions in the planning and execution of marketing communications in today’s digitally-empowered contexts. All these issues clearly highlight the consumers’ contributions to brand value co-creation, by reaffirming the ‘original’ outside-in perspective of IMC.     

Racial diversity and academic test scores in public elementary schools

This article examines the effect of racial diversity on academic achievement using panel data on San Francisco’s public elementary schools from 2003 to 2007. Theories argue that the relationship between racial diversity and academic achievement may be positive or negative. Few studies have examined the effect of racial diversity in US elementary schools. Fixed effects models are used to examine the relationship between racial diversity and academic performance in elementary schools. Controls for student differences and teaching staff differences are added as part of the education production function literature. Results show that racial diversity has little effect on academic achievement scores.     

Why good accountants do bad audits

On July 30, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act addressing corporate accountability. A response to recent financial scandals, the law tightened federal controls over the accounting industry and imposed tough new criminal penalties for fraud. The president proclaimed, "The era of low standards and false profits is over." If only it were that easy. The authors don't think corruption is the main cause of bad audits. Rather, they claim, the problem is unconscious bias. Without knowing it, we all tend to discount facts that contradict the conclusions we want to reach, and we uncritically embrace evidence that supports our positions. Accountants might seem immune to such distortions because they work with seemingly hard numbers and clear-cut standards. But the corporate-auditing arena is particularly fertile ground for self-serving biases. Because of the often subjective nature of accounting and the close relationships between accounting firms and their corporate clients, even the most honest and meticulous of auditors can unintentionally massage the numbers in ways that mask a company's true financial status, thereby misleading investors, regulators, and even management. Solving this problem will require far more aggressive action than the U.S. government has taken thus far. What's needed are practices and regulations that recognize the existence of bias and moderate its effects. True auditor independence will entail fundamental changes to the way the accounting industry operates, including full divestiture of consulting and tax services, rotation of auditing firms, and fixed-term contracts that prohibit client companies from firing their auditors. Less tangibly, auditors must come to appreciate the profound impact of self-serving biases on their judgment.     

无中生财 利用网络以开发无形资产

全球最大的会计师事务所亚瑟·安徒生公司的负责人巴里·里伯特绕着宾馆的会议厅走了一圈,就像大学里的蓝球教练一样,他一边走一边指着听众、就是当地的业务经理们说,"你们一文不值.你们坐的椅子都比你们自己更值钱,他们是资产,你们可是开销."     

Tarnished gold: US farm commodity programmes after 50 years

It is fifty years since the introduction of the US farm commodity programmes launched under the New Deal. Based on the concepts of relief, recovery and reform, the New Deal gave new hope to farmers emerging from the Great Depression. But how successful were these programmes? Don Paarlberg believes they were miscarried, becoming preferential, profligate and perennial. With the recent recession and the introduction of new farm legislation, the author speculates as to whether history will repeat itself.     

The new US farm policies

This article is an early assessment of the agricultural policies of the Carter administration, particularly as they relate to Western Europe. The author examines emerging US farm policy with regard to: price and production, grain reserves, attitude toward the Common Agricultural Policy of the EEC, trade in agricultural products, and commodity agreements.