Wireless digital advertising: nature and implications

The convergence of the Internet and wireless telecommunications in the late 1990s has opened the way for a plethora of data services for the mobile handset user. One potential area of development is wireless advertising. The personal, always-at-hand nature of devices, along with the ability to assess context dependence (e.g. time and location), presents a rich platform for wireless advertising. Using a range of wireless platforms, operators will be able to offer very different advertising services that go beyond those of the wired Internet. The purpose of this paper is to review the emerging technologies, applications and research issues associated with wireless advertising. It concludes with some predictions on the future role of wireless advertising.     

Why Richards Bay grew as an industrial centre: Lessons for SDIs

This article critically examines the rapid industrialisation and phenomenal growth of Richards Bay since the early 1960s. Detailed consideration is given to the nature of the development and the various factors that contributed to the unusual economic success of the locality. The article highlights the important role played by government but suggests that other factors were more important for the development of Richards Bay. Some of these factors include the natural advantages and competent functioning of the various institutions operating in the region. Despite the success of Richards Bay, the article highlights various gaps in its development, and draws together a number of suggestions for more economically sustainable growth in other localities.     

Anticounterfeiting Strategies and Their Influence on Attitudes of Different Counterfeit Consumer Types

This article reports the findings of two studies that were designed to determine the effectiveness of several anticounterfeiting strategies on the counterfeit purchasing behavior of the participants, through a mixed methods research approach. In Study 1, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 50 consumers of counterfeit brands in order to investigate their attitudes. Drawing on the results, which revealed four different consumer types (struggle, spurious, indifferent, and liberated), Study 2 was undertaken with a further 128 consumers (32 from each type) to further define each group's type and identify the best anticounterfeit strategies suited to each. The findings suggest that counterfeit purchasing may be reduced if a specific strategy is adapted to suit each typology. Overall, positive rather than negative strategies were found to be more effective for the struggle and spurious consumers compared with indifferent and liberated consumers. The findings also reveal that the acquisition of affordable genuine merchandise may be the key to preventing counterfeit purchasing.     

Tracking a Growth Industry: The Development of Marketing Research Services in Canada

The marketing research industry in Canada has grown rapidly during the past twenty years or so, both in the number of users of research and the number of practitioners offering professional marketing research services, and in the type of research being done. The changing nature of the Canadian market-place, coupled with a growing appreciation of the cultural diversity of the country and of the fact that Canadian consumers are not exactly like Americans, has contributed to m increasing acceptance of marketing research in Canadian business. In addition, the use of research techniques in public sector and not- for-profit organisations has become generally accepted in recent years. The techniques used in Canadian marketing research have also undergone considerable change, as researchers are now making much greater use of recently-available technology, computer-based simulations, and automated data capture at the check-outs of retail stores. Possibly the greatest change has been in the increased use of qualitative techniques, reflecting marketers' increased concern for the deeply-held opinions and attitudes of consumers.     

Investigating guanxi dimensions and relationship outcomes: Insights from Sino-Anglo business relationships

This study aims to develop and test a concept for improving Anglo-Chinese business relationships. By piecing together and incorporating both Chinese and western relationship constructs into a cohesive framework and testing this on a sample of Taiwanese importers, the study conceptually and empirically advances our understanding of the discipline further. Specifically, three facets of guanxi, namely ganqing (an affective element), renqing (reciprocation and favor), and xinren (personal trust) are conceptualized to determine cooperation and coordination, which in turn lead to improved performance. Based on a sample of 208 buyers (surveying perceptions of their relationships with Anglo suppliers), we provide empirical support for our concept and reveal that ganqing, renqing and xinren are crucial for fostering the development of such Sino-Anglo relationships. By providing an international flavor in terms of the constructs outlined and the importer-exporter context, the study provides fresh insights to help broaden our horizon further and understand more about relationships in an international context. Several implications are extracted from the study which a) western marketers importantly need to practice as they grapple to enter Chinese markets and nurture business relations, b) Chinese buyers can consider when managing their supplier portfolios and c) academics can use to help measure important relational constructs and undertaking research in a Chinese context.     

Redressing gender inequality in employment: the national and sub-regional policy 'fit'

This article examines the 'fit' between policy development regarding gender inequality in employment at sub-regional and national (UK) level, in particular focusing on the experience of women. Drawing on research undertaken in Coventry and Warwickshire, the article explores the question of how policy development at sub-regional level fits with national policy, and whether the sub-region is an appropriate, or effective, level at which to develop policy on gender inequality in employment. It is argued that while there needs to be recognition of the limited ability of sub-regional policy to confront structural issues, policy development at this level does offer potential strengths in redressing both gender inequality in employment and the relative lack of a gender dimension in local economic development.     

Publicly-funded UK agricultural R&D and 'social' total factor productivity

Most studies concerned with measuring the rate of return to publicly‐funded agricultural R&D investment have found high returns, suggesting under‐investment, and calls for increased expenditure have been common. However, the evaluation of returns tends to measure the effect of research expenditure against growth in total factor productivity (TFP), based on market inputs and outputs. When compared against growing public unease over the environmental effects of pursuing agricultural productivity growth, TFP indices become a misleading measure of growth. This paper integrates some non‐market components into the TFP index. The costs of two specific externalities of agricultural production, namely fertiliser and pesticide pollution, are integrated in a TFP index constructed for the period 1948–1995. This adjusted, or ‘social’, TFP index is measured against UK public R&D expenditures. The rates of return to agricultural R&D are reduced by using the ‘social’ as opposed to the traditional TFP index. Whilst both remain at justifiable levels, previous studies appear to have over‐estimated the effect of agricultural R&D expenditures. Furthermore, with changes in policy towards more socially acceptable but non‐productivity enhancing outcomes, such as animal welfare, rural diversification and organic farming, the future framework for analysing returns to agricultural R&D should not be so dependent on productivity growth as an indicator of research effectiveness.