The marketing and public relations practices of Australian performing arts presenters

Although arts organisations are often said to be underdeveloped in marketing and management areas, it is unclear whether this is actually an intentional response to the atypical environment in which they exist, or simply a result of limited skills and resources. This paper looks at performing arts presenters (PAPs) in two Australian States, profiling what they do in the way of marketing, how sophisticated they are at it and the reasons they behave the way they do. In‐depth interviews with marketing managers indicated that PAPs are confused about the role of marketing, relying instead mainly on public relations. While it was widely acknowledged that marketing would be beneficial, the marketing that is executed is generally ad hoc and basic. This lack of marketing action is due primarily to a paucity of skills and resources and a historical preference for public relations, not as a considered response to the arts environment. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Exploring social change through social media: The case of the Facebook group Indignant Citizens

This study examines the role of social media in facilitating the network of a social movement, the novel forms of exchange networks that are fashioned by participants of this movement and the drivers and effects of individuals’ engagement therein. Specifically, using the lens of political consumerism, we look at the movement of self‐described Indignant Citizens in Greece to reveal the underlying motivations for participants to engage in this social movement, the dynamics of their engagement and the ways in which Indignant Citizens’ online presence enables identity expression, community building and social change. We draw on interpretive analysis of findings from eight focus groups with members of Indignant Citizens. The findings reveal how this movement and the shared identity developed amongst its members empower our participants by giving them a voice and engage them in role mobilization, drive specific actions towards the conceptualization of a shared utopia and provide them with a platform to organize action and employ desired practices for the co‐creation of useful and gratifying exchanges.     

Narrow Framing and Retirement Savings Decisions

Theoretical studies suggest narrow framing underlies individuals' saving decisions. When narrow framing is applied to retirement savings decisions, narrow framers tend to make decisions about present consumption without considering future consumption, i.e., saving for consumption in retirement. Time preference for the present and narrow framers' preference to maintain the status quo lead to a decision that is less likely to increase savings for retirement. This study provides empirical evidence that narrow framing bias affects retirement savings decisions. Using a two‐part model, the probit estimation indicates narrow framers anticipated being less willing to increase retirement savings contributions compared to broad framers, and the OLS regression estimates that narrow framers anticipated contributing less than broad framers. Here, narrow framers anticipated being less willing to increase retirement savings (62.6% vs. 71.9%) and contributing less ($70.90 vs. $88.40) than broad framers, thus providing empirical evidence regarding the effects of behavioral biases on financial decisions.     

Low involvement processing - a new model of brand communication

This paper contradicts the traditional rational view of brand choice and offers a radical new model of how consumers are influenced by advertising. The model holds that the way in which advertising and other forms of brand communication are mentally processed means consumers build up powerful but simple brand associations and these in turn are able to influence their brand decisions intuitively.     

8th International Conference on Corpor@te and M@rketing Communications (CMC)

This article addresses self-gift giving both from a consumer perspective and from the point of view of brands' promotional messages. Self-gifts may be regarded as personal acquisitions which are distinguished from other purchases by a particular motivation and context – quite literally, gifts to oneself. Our knowledge of this phenomenon from the consumer side remains limited, despite evidence of its importance in understanding consumer decisions. Furthermore, there is no empirical research addressing the extent to which organisations make use of the concept of self-gifts in their marketing activities. This paper addresses these gaps using a two-stage methodology. First, it enhances the understanding of self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) by 14 in-depth interviews with consumers. Then, drawing on the self-gift themes which emerged from the interviews, it presents the results of a content analysis of marketing communications for two selected product categories. The combined methodology offers new and rich insights into the theoretical understanding of self-gift consumer behaviour and provides recommendations for practitioners differentiating their marketing communications.     

Low involvement processing—a new model of brands and advertising

This article puts forward a new theory of how advertising and other brand learning is processed and stored by consumers. The theory, based on low involvement processing, discusses how advertising creates brand associations which drive intuitive brand purchase decisions. The model explains why we frequently find it difficult to demonstrate that advertising has played an effective role in strengthening brands.     

Structural transformation and smallholder agriculture: an information‐theoretic analysis of the Nicaraguan case

In light of continued debate regarding the capacity of small‐scale agricultural producers to compete amidst globalization and/or liberalization, we examine recent trends in the distribution and use of agricultural landholdings in developing nations via refined exploration of the Nicaraguan case. With nationally‐representative, Living Standards Measurement Survey‐type data for the years 1998, 2001, and 2005, we employ Markov chain methods within an information‐theoretic framework in an attempt to advance the analysis of structural transformation in developing countries beyond the examination of trends in mean farm sizes or Gini coefficients, approaches ill‐suited to the detection of the apparent complexities of structural change. Further, while Markov chain analysis has witnessed relatively widespread application in the investigation of structural transformation in developed nations, we offer a novel methodological extension by allowing for the simultaneous exploration of structural transformation across multiple dimensions–namely, structural change in both the distribution and use of agricultural landholdings—as well as the incorporation of microlevel determinants of farm size and land use change. The results of the inquiry, above all, suggest that Nicaragua's agricultural and livestock sector is characterized by a definitive persistence of smallholders. While a moderate tendency toward bifurcation in the distribution of landholdings would appear to obscure any immediate relationship between operational landholdings and land productivity, we contend that such trends are, in fact, consistent with the often observed inverse farm size‐productivity relationship.