Workplace heterogeneity and wage inequality in Denmark

Wage inequality is on the rise in most developed economies, and this phenomenon has fostered a growing body of research on its potential drivers. Using German data over the period 1985–2009, Card et al. (The Quarterly Journal of Economics 2013, 128(3), 967-1015) argue that rising workplace heterogeneity has contributed substantially to the rise in wage inequality. I revisit their findings in two ways. First, because the generalization of their findings remains an open question, I apply their methodological approach to Danish register data and test whether rising workplace heterogeneity explains a significant share of the rise in wage inequality in Denmark. I find that, contrary to Germany, workplace heterogeneity remained practically stable over time, and this pattern contributed slightly negatively to the rise in wage inequality. Second, I complement Card et al.'s (2013) methods with the variance decomposition exercise proposed by Song et al. (2019) to identify more precisely the sources of the rise in wage inequality in Denmark. Although the rise in wage inequality is partly a between-establishment phenomenon, I show that the strengthening of assortative matching patterns and the rising heterogeneity of workers within establishments are the main drivers of growing inequality.     

Employer branding: Attracting and retaining talent in financial services

This study develops and investigates a framework for better understanding employer branding. More specifically, the overall purpose is to provide a deeper understanding on how employer branding is used to attract and retain talent. An extensive literature review leads to a proposed conceptual framework focusing on two key research questions: How can the relationship between corporate branding, internal branding and employer branding in service industries be described? And, How can the role of corporate values in delivering the brand promise be described? A qualitative, case study approach is used to collect data from a financial services company in Sweden. The data collected and analyzed reveals that the areas of employer, internal and corporate branding are not mutually exclusive, but instead an intertwined collection of branding issues that together form the corporation’s core values. All of this together is what allows the corporation to in turn deliver its brand(s) promise to several stakeholder groups.     

Consumer Preferences as Drivers of the Common Bean Trade in Tanzania: A Marketing Perspective

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of bean grain quality characteristics on market price. The data were collected from retail markets in Tanzania. Hedonic pricing provides a statistical estimate of premiums and discounts. Implications for the development of bean markets include the following: (a) extension agents should identify cost-effective ways to educate producers on targeting urban market niches based on consumer preferences for varieties, (b) breeding for bruchid-resistant beans and use of appropriate storage technologies would alleviate the problems of storage damage, and (c) a portfolio of grain quality characteristics to fit consumer preferences in local markets should be required.     

Exploring Convenience Food Consumption Through a Structural Equation Model

In this study the model of convenience orientation suggested by Scholderer and Grunert (2005 Scholderer, J. and Grunert, K. G. 2005. Consumers, food and convenience: The long way from resource constraints to actual consumption patterns. Journal of Economic Psychology, 26: 105–128. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is applied in order to examine consumer behavior in the context of convenience food usage. The empirical results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics affect behavior both directly and indirectly through perceived time resources and convenience orientation toward meal preparation and clearing up. Findings seem to be important for all the bodies involved in the marketing of convenience food products because they describe the way various consumer characteristics interact, affecting the consumption of such products.     

The Effect of Cross-Channel Price Dis/parity on Ethicality Evaluations and Purchase Intent: The Moderating Role of Price Frame

Using a scenario-based survey with a factorial between-subject experimental design, this study examines the effect of price dis/parity across multiple channels of distribution on customers' ethicality evaluations and purchase intent, with the focus on the moderating role of price frame. Results show that when the varying prices of the disparity policy were all lower than or equal to the uniform price of the parity policy, consumers did not evaluate the disparity policy as significantly less ethical than the parity policy, and were more likely to purchase from the firm with the disparity policy. However, when at least one of the varying prices of the disparity policy was higher than the uniform price of the parity policy, they evaluated the disparity policy as less ethical, and, therefore, were more likely to purchase from the firm with the parity policy, despite price incentives offered by the disparity policy. This finding suggests that the success of a cross-channel price disparity policy depends on the price frame.     

The brand personality dimensions of business-to-business firms: a content analysis of employer reviews on social media

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand personalities that employees are creating of their employer brands, in particular business-to-business (B-to-B) brands, when describing these brands on social media. We examine how the brand personalities, based on written online reviews, differ between high- and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Methodology/Approach: 6,300 written employee reviews from a social media platform, Glassdoor, are used for content analysis in DICTION, to determine the brand personality dimensions they communicate (J. L). An independent B-to-B brand ranking data source, Brandwatch, is used as a reference to various brands’ level of ranking, while an ANOVA test is used to determine whether there is a difference in the brand personality trait means when comparing high and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Findings: Our findings suggest that a strong social media presence does not equate to a strong employer brand personality perception among employees, since there are no significant differences between B-to-B firms based on their rankings.

Research Implications: Extant literature has mostly explored the impact of either critical reviews or favourable customer ratings and reviews on company performance, with very little research focusing on the B-to-B context. In addition, research employing DICTION for the purposes of content analysis of reviews is sparse. The methodology used in this study could thus be employed to further compare and contrast the reviews from a single company, dividing top and low starred reviews to compare discrepancies.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show how online shared employee experiences of employer brands contribute to the formation of a distinct employer brand personality. From a managerial viewpoint, engaging with current and past employees and being cognizant of the online narratives that they share on social media, may be an early indicator of where the firm is lacking (or showing strength) in its’ employee engagement. This would offer a way for firms to both understand their employer brand personality as well as gauge how they compare to top employers in a specific sector or industry.

Originality/Value/Contribution: The study attempts to grow the literature of employee brand engagement in a B-to-B context, by recognizing the important role that employees play in engaging with their employer brand online. Two main contributions are offered. The first contribution relates to the finding that employees perceive highly-rated B-to-B brands as being more competent, exciting, sincere and sophisticated than low-rated B-to-B brands. Second, the methodology used in this study proves to be a novel and accurate way of comparing employee reviews and perceived employer brand personality, with the employer-created intended brand image.     

An Alternative Lens for Understanding Technology Acceptance: An Equity Comparison Perspective

Many studies of technology acceptance have noted that new technology can have far-reaching effects, dramatically changing the environment (e.g., work, home, school) in which we use the technology. The current research considers an equity comparison perspective on technology acceptance and usage in the context of online discussion tools based on the equity implementation model (EIM). The EIM applies equity theory to assess user net outcomes related to adopting new technology in comparison to the net outcomes of other technology stakeholders. Facilitating conditions with the new technology are investigated as a moderating factor on intentions and usage. Equity theory and social comparisons provide an alternative lens for understanding technology acceptance that may capture broader issues related to the changes resulting from new technology. This research describes what we believe to be a first effort to operationalize social comparisons of equity in the context of technology acceptance. A survey instrument measuring social comparisons of net outcomes is developed, and a longitudinal, empirical study is conducted in the context of online discussion forums. The research model is also investigated within a nomological network of technology acceptance constructs. The results indicate that the model provides explanatory power comparable to existing models of technology acceptance and that outcome comparisons provide unique insight beyond known determinants of intentions and usage.     

Corporate Use of Social Media: Technology Affordance and External Stakeholder Relations

Business organizations are beginning to recognize the substantial potential of social media for enhancing corporate communications with external stakeholders, including investors, customers, and the general public—all of whom can affect firms’ financial future. Social media applications reach a wide spectrum of external stakeholders, help them express themselves and connect with one another, and engage them in ongoing conversations with the firm. Despite growing interest in this area, there has been limited research on this important topic. Accordingly, we focus on wikis, social networking sites, micro-blogging sites, and video-sharing sites, among many social media applications, and identify their respective beneficial attributes within the context of external communication. In so doing, we illuminate the prominent technical features of the four social media applications and review the existing literature in order to identify how business organizations take advantage of the unique features to facilitate their communicative activities in practice. We ground our analyses in validated conceptual frameworks in the fields of information systems and communication, such as the notion of technology affordances and Hutton’s (1999) framework for public relations. As a result, we suggest the “Eight Affordances” of the four social media applications that help corporate communicators. This study expands the social media and technology affordance literature into the important, yet understudied, external communications field.     

The Effects of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Country of Origin on Polish Consumers' Evaluation of Foreign Manufactured Products

The admission of Poland to the European Union may be perceived as the symbolic crowning of a long period of economic transformation. Poland today is not only an emerging market but an emerging culture experiencing a strong economic development wherein old ideals are confronted with new Western values. On this background, the objective of this research is to assess the level and impact of consumer ethnocentrism and the effect of country of origin on consumers’ evaluation of and buying intentions toward foreign manufactured products. Medium-expensive consumer durables—design furniture and fashion clothes—imported from Denmark are examined. Findings show consumer ethnocentrism is present and that more than one-fifth of consumers are highly ethnocentric but also that ethnocentrism has no direct effect on the evaluation of product quality or on buying intention for either of the products from Denmark.     

A network economic game theory model of a service-oriented internet with choices and quality competition

This paper develops a new dynamic network economic model of Cournot-Nash competition for a service-oriented Internet in the case of service differentiation and quality competition. Each service provider seeks to maximize its own profit by determining its service volumes and service quality. We utilize variational inequality theory for the formulation of the governing Nash equilibrium as well as for the computational approach. We then construct the projected dynamical systems model, which provides a continuous-time evolution of the service providers service volumes and service quality levels, and whose set of stationary points coincides with the set of solutions to the variational inequality problem. We recall stability analysis results using a monotonicity approach and construct a discrete-time version of the continuous-time adjustment process, which yields an algorithm, with closed form expressions at each iteration. The algorithm is then utilized to compute the solutions to several numerical examples. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted.