Communicating brand gender through type fonts

The marketing literature suggests that positioning a brand in terms of brand gender (i.e., brand masculinity and brand femininity) generates favorable consumer responses, yet there is little research on how brand gender perceptions arise. This research examines whether type font can be employed to create brand gender perceptions in the context of unfamiliar brands. Building on the theoretical framework of personality inferences based on static cues, three studies involving a range of type fonts, brand names, and product categories demonstrate that type font influences consumers’ perceptions of brand gender. Type font effects emerged for brand names presented in isolation (Study 1), brand names presented on signage (Study 2a), and brand names on product labels (Studies 2b and 3). Importantly, type font effects on brand gender persisted in the presence of a competing brand gender cue (i.e., brand name with gender associations), and type font and brand name influenced brand gender perceptions independently. A fourth study demonstrates that type fonts representing the brands influence consumers’ likelihood to recommend the brand. The article concludes with a discussion of theoretical and brand management implications.     

Obtaining indirect internet access: An examination how reasons for internet non-use relate to proxy internet use

Internet non-use is increasingly concentrated in vulnerable groups of people, especially among ageing populations and those with low socio-economic status. As participation in society becomes largely dependent on use of internet-enabled technologies, internet non-users may seek alternative ways of using the internet. Proxy internet use (PIU), where internet non-users ask internet users to perform online activities on their behalf, is a strategy for obtaining (indirect) internet access. This study examines factors for engagement in PIU, focusing specifically on how non-users’ reasons for disengagement relate to their engagement in PIU. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that 47% of internet non-users in Slovenia who report having someone available for PIU in fact engage in PIU. In analysing four types of reasons for internet non-use—those related to interest, access, costs and skills—the results show that access issues are negatively related to engagement in PIU. Conversely, reasons related to skills issues are positively related to engagement in PIU. Considering that access to online services through PIU offers an important degree of digital inclusion, the results of this study have important policy implications. Policy initiatives tackling digital inequalities should be sensible to access and skills issues resulting in disengagement. For example, policies directed at providing and maintaining internet access at a household level may result in non-users’ increased opportunities for PIU. In contrast, skills policies should be directed at creating opportunities for informal and person-centred learning of digital skills, considering that non-users who are more aware of their deficiency in skills might be more aware of online opportunities.     

MEASURING INTERSECTORAL KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS: AN APPLICATION OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS TO ITALY

R&D spillovers are unanimously considered as one of the main driving forces of technical change, innovation and economic growth. This paper aims at measuring interindustry R&D spillovers. We apply an ‘uncertainty-sensitivity analysis’ to the Italian input–output table of intermediate goods split into 31 economic sectors for the year 2000. The value added of using this methodology is the opportunity of distinguishing between spillover effects induced by productive linkages (the Leontief forward multipliers) and those activated by R&D investments, capturing the uncertain and non-linear nature of the relations between spillovers and factors affecting them.     

Can good news be bad? The role of brand communication strategy and brand commitment in the announcement of product improvements

Although product improvements are usually good news, this research reveals that brands can be affected negatively depending on the level of brand commitment and on the type of communication strategy chosen by the brand. More specifically, this research examines how high-commitment consumers react to product improvements, and how these consumers respond to a communication strategy in which a brand admits that the new product version improves upon a previous inferior product (herein referred to as ‘honesty strategy’). Results of an online study reveal that product improvement is perceived more negatively by high- (compared to low-) commitment consumers, and that these consumers react more negatively and attribute manipulative intent when the brand uses an honesty strategy. This research shows that brands need to be cautious in communicating product improvements to consumers, particularly to its most committed ones. An admission that a product improvement significantly enhances the quality of a previous (inferior) product may backfire with committed consumers.     

High Job Performance Through Co‐Developing Performance Measures With Employees

According to various studies, employee participation in the development of performance measures can increase job performance. This study focuses on how this job performance elevation occurs. We hypothesize that when employees have participated in the development of performance measures, they perceive these measures to be of higher quality, which in turn elevates their attitudes toward, perceived social norms for, and perceived control over performing well in their jobs. Based on the theory of planned behavior, the latter three factors are hypothesized to increase job performance. Survey data from 95 employees as well as 88 of their managers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Employee participation in developing performance measures is found to be related to job performance, via perceived measurement quality and employees’ perceived control over performing well. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings, including the limitations of this study's design, and sketch a number of future research paths in this area. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Supplier development and cost management in Southeast Asia—Results from a field study

This paper is about supplier development when international companies have production sites in Southeast Asia and look for opportunities to switch from international suppliers to local suppliers. We conducted a field study involving site visits to companies in Thailand and Vietnam, and interviews at corporate supply chain departments. Some key observations are: cost management was a dominant motive for taking local supplier development initiatives. Furthermore, local sourcing and local supplier development were important for international companies to improve access to local customer markets. Firms deliberately assessed whether a particular supplier would likely be able to improve sufficiently to warrant investing in supplier development, which typically involved a combination of initiatives, requiring the international firm to take considerable efforts. Local sourcing strategies and priorities for supplier development initiatives tended to focus on items with low supply risk and low volume. These findings are discussed based on transaction cost economics, and we suggest that firms use several ways to reduce the risk of transaction-specific investments in supplier development initiatives.