Determinants of muslim consumers’ Halal meat consumption: applying and extending the theory of planned behavior

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of Halal meat consumption within Turkish Muslim immigrants in Germany using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework. The role of self-identity as a Muslim, dietary acculturation in the host culture, moral obligation to purchase Halal meat, and trust on the authenticity of Halal meat is explored. A quantitative research methodology using an online questionnaire survey was used. Cross-sectional data were collected through a survey of 464 Muslims originating from Turkey and currently living in Germany. A positive personal attitude toward the consumption of Halal meat, motivation to comply others, the perceived control over consuming Halal meat, and the availability of Halal meat predict the intention to eat Halal meat among Muslims. This study is one of the few studies investigating the determinants of Halal meat consumption in a Muslim population in Germany using the TPB within a food, religion, and migration context.     

An Algorithm for Allocating Sponsored Recommendations and Content: Unifying Programmatic Advertising and Recommender Systems

Retailing and media platforms recommend two types of items to their users: sponsored items that generate ad revenue and nonsponsored ones that do not. The platform selects sponsored items to maximize ad revenue, often through programmatic auctions, and nonsponsored items to maximize user utility with a recommender system (RS). We develop a binary integer programming model to allocate sponsored recommendations considering dual objectives of maximizing ad revenue and user utility. We propose an algorithm to solve it in a computationally efficient way. Our method is a form of postfiltering to a traditional RS, making it widely applicable in two-sided markets. We apply the algorithm to data from an online grocery retailer and show that user utility for the recommended items can be improved while reducing ad revenue by a small amount. This multiobjective approach unifies programmatic advertising and RS and opens a new frontier for advertising and RS research. We provide an extended discussion of future research topics.     

Are maximizers blind to the future? When today’s best does not make for a better tomorrow

A number of studies have demonstrated that a maximizer’s tendency to settle for only the best choice option leads them to discard the past and feel dissatisfied in the present. The current study, however, investigates whether maximizers’ quests for perfection blinds them toward the future. A study of 522 respondents drawn from a probabilistic sample of the US population examines a series of hypotheses related to how a maximizer views the future. Consistent with the resource slack theory (i.e., the overestimation of the amount of time that will be available in the future), maximization tendencies diminish the consumer’s ability to look ahead to the future, both directly and indirectly, through the intervening roles of both regret and polychronicity (i.e., multitasking). Maximizers do not estimate future task demand accurately as they associate strong feelings of regret with their previous choices and dismiss them as poor decisions. Additionally, low polychronicity hinders their capacity to set aside sufficient time resources to be devoted to future tasks when engrossed in a current task. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed before concluding with further research avenues and limitations.     

Foreign Product Purchase Behavior in Transition Economies: An Empirical Analysis of Product Information Sources Among Georgian Consumers

SUMMARY

This article analyzes the product information sources that consumers in transition economies, specifically in Georgia, utilize when they consider purchasing foreign products. We surveyed 313 consumers in Georgia regarding 9 sources of product information (experiential knowledge, word of mouth, in-store promotions, television, packaging information, radio, newspapers and magazines, salespeople, and billboards). The findings indicated that personal experience and word of mouth are the 2 most frequently used and highly valued sources of information while salespeople and radio are the 2 least frequently used and least influential sources of information. Education, age, and ethnocentrism exhibited significant impact on the experience source.     

Reinforcing Cultural Identity by Appealing to Local Cultural Cues: National Identity Formation and Consumption in High-Context Cultures

Traditionally, U.S. firms have successfully used American appeal (hard-sell approach) as a unique selling proposition in Europe, Japan and in the developing world. However, the anti-American sentiments around the world due to the Iraqi and Afghan wars and recent upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa have negatively influenced consumer judgments about American-labeled global brands in international markets during the last decade. Such consumer perceptions may lead to a favorable environment for new competitors to emerge in specific markets, and these products may take significant market share away from global U.S. brands.     

Culture,Perceived Value,and Advertising Acceptance: A Cross-Cultural Study on Mobile Advertising

Abstract

Adverting standardization has been widely discussed since 1990s. Recently, this discussion has been extended to mobile advertising. When it comes to adopt a standardization or localization strategy, it is important that marketers understand how mobile advertising is perceived in different markets. This study examines the impacts of four perceived values of mobile advertising on young Australian and Chinese consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising. The findings suggest that perceived functional value have the most positive effect on mobile advertising acceptance, followed by credibility and interactivity value. Further analyses reveal that culture moderates the relationships between perceived values and advertising acceptance.     

Micro-foundations of organizational design and sustainability: The mediating role of learning ambidexterity

This paper builds on prior scholarly works by examining the relationship between organizing paradox (formalization and decentralization), and organizational levels of learning paradoxes, i.e. exploration and exploitation, and firms’ outcomes (organizational creativity, organizational resilience and organizational energy). Using data from 98 executives and 325 senior employees working across a diverse range of firms operating in the Middle East, the findings suggest that organizing paradox (formalization and decentralization) has a positive impact on learning ambidexterity. In addition, we also found that learning ambidexterity has a positive impact on both organizational resilience and organizational energy. Furthermore, the results indicate that learning ambidexterity mediates the relationship between organizing paradox and organizational creativity. These findings provide important insights into the micro-foundation aspects of organizational ambidexterity.     

Impact of employees’ perceived threat of market competition on unethical marketing and selling practices: Moral disengagement and ethical leadership

This study draws on the social cognitive theory to examine the effect of perceived market competition on employees’ unethical marketing and selling practices. The boundary conditions associated with this relationship were examined, and we posit that perceived market competition is related to unethical marketing and selling practices through the mediating mechanism of moral disengagement. We further propose that ethical leadership moderates the relationship between the perceived threat of market competition, moral disengagement, and tendency toward unethical marketing and selling practices. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 387 employees working in the banking sector in Pakistan. Our results suggest that moral disengagement had a full mediation effect between the perceived threat of market competition and tendency of employees toward unethical marketing and selling practices. Moreover, ethical leadership moderated the relationship between moral disengagement and the tendency of employees toward unethical marketing practices. The research findings indicate that when field employees encounter threat perceptions due to market competition, they have a propensity toward engaging in unethical marketing and selling practices when they can activate moral disengagement. This study also found that ethical leadership negatively moderates the relationship of moral disengagement with employees’ tendency toward unethical marketing and selling practices.