The impact of technology on the Arab communication style and culture: Implications for marketing

‘Culture is communication and communication is culture,’ as Hall (1976, Beyond culture, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday) reminds us. The main purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of technology on the Arab communication style. The Internet is a unique environment with particular characteristics that might cause shifts in people's communication styles. The setting/context of online communication is very different from face-to-face communication and thus assumptions about communication styles need to be reexamined. The data analysis indicates that significant changes to the Arab culture are taking place and these changes are likely to have an impact on marketing practices in the region.     

Multinational corporate website strategies and influencing factors: A comparison of US and Korean corporate websites

This study, using a content analysis method, explored whether and to what extent multinational corporate websites targeting different markets are standardized. It also tested three organizational factors – country of origin, company size, and product type – for their potential influence on the level of corporate website standardization. A sample of 52 top US-based multinational companies and 52 Korea-based multinational companies was drawn and a total of 104 pairs of websites for these companies were content-analyzed. Overall, the degree of website standardization was not significantly different between companies based in the two countries. The results suggest that both US and Korean multinational corporations tend to maintain their websites in a similar way when targeting the home and foreign markets. Among the three organizational factors, only product type – B2B versus B2C products and durables versus non-durables – was found to be significantly associated with the level of website standardization. This study makes important contributions to the research literature by offering new information on the current state of multinational corporate website strategies and advancing our knowledge about international marketing communications on the Internet and influencing factors.     

Quantifying the positive effects of sponsor level,length, prominence and relatedness on recall and residual recall rates over time

This study is the first multi-year examination of the relative influence of the four main variables said to influence sponsorship recall. Sponsor recall data were collected from season ticket holders (STHs) of 10 professional sports teams, over periods ranging from 3 to 5 years per team. Across those teams and over that time, 309 sponsor–team relationships were examined, and sponsor recall data from over 117,000 individual STHs were collected. Sponsorship length and level were shown to have the strongest impact on recall, followed by relatedness and prominence. These variables affected both the recall of current sponsors and the decay rates of residual recall following the end of a sponsorship. The average rates of sponsor recall growth and decline have been derived from these data, giving managers a tool by which to benchmark sport sponsorship recall performance.     

Strategic IMC: From abstract concept to marketing management tool

Although integrated marketing communication (IMC) has progressed towards mid-range maturity level, its full-scale adoption has been impeded by a lack of consensus on its defining constructs. The purpose of this study is to move from abstraction to define the construct of strategic integration (SI) and develop this into a management tool, thus making an important contribution to both the theory and practice of IMC. Drawing from both IMC and strategic management literature, the construct of SI is operationalised into a number of key factors and a well-cited management model, Fuchs' ‘integration valuator’ is explored as the starting point of a measurement tool for IMC. To do this, a Delphi study invites the scrutiny of an expert panel of world-leading IMC researchers and practitioners. The panel validated the model construction process, redefined overarching constructs and key factors with a high degree of consensus, supported a process measure, suggested a weighted evaluation measure and recognised the importance of developing such a measure. They delivered clear and consistent imperatives guiding model development. The result is a measure of SI that evaluates organisational proficiency and diagnoses the integration of IMC campaigns. It also advances theory by providing a better understanding of the construct of SI.     

Exciting on Facebook or competent in the newspaper? Media effects on consumers’ perceptions of brands in the fashion category

Abstract

Media investments are continuously shifting from traditional media like newspapers to digital alternatives like websites and social media. This study investigated if and how media choice between the two rival channels can influence consumers’ perceptions of a novel brand. 504 Swedish retail fashion customers participated in an experiment to evaluate the identical advertisement placed either in a national newspaper or on Facebook. The results revealed that advertising in a newspaper can have a positive effect on brand equity facets and purchase intention through brand personality perceptions of being competent, while advertising on Facebook have similar effects but through perceptions of being exciting. Besides some evidence that choice between traditional and new media affects brand personality this study is one of the first attempts to incorporate media channel choice into the broader customer-based brand equity framework. The results from this particular study suggest that media channel choice should be considered from a brand equity building perspective at least in the fashion category. This study shows that different media channels could complement each other strategically, as traditional media channels still can have valuable and unique contributions to brand building through brand personality perceptions, especially for brands striving to be perceived as competent.     

Adoption and Implementation of Internal Marketing Systems by Ghanaian Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This paper explores the concept of internal marketing (IM) as an internal supportive system that could provide the infrastructure for a strategic business take-off. It investigates how IM, as a concept, is understood and made practical in the context of Ghanaian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This qualitative research method was used due to the nature of the enquiry. The government of Ghana is constantly searching for more effective ways of assisting SME performance, through various strategic growth and development schemes. Despite the fact that much has been said in the literature, the IM concept remains elusive. Most SMEs are not aware of IM and demonstrate little understanding of the concept. And SMEs have problems with the implementation of IM. The manufacturing sector demonstrates more IM orientation than does the service sector. This paper unravels sociocultural factors that frustrate the practice of IM among Ghanaian SMEs and calls for a greater awareness of the concept by stakeholders. Suggestions include more general business support for SMEs to improve performance and subsequently grow. The paper finishes by drawing attention to management implications within the practice of IM.     

A Conceptualization of the Employee Branding Process

SUMMARY

We propose a conceptual model of the employee branding process in which the employee brand image is driven by the messages employees receive and the mechanisms within employees' psyches that enable them to make sense of those messages. The model identifies various sources through which messages are delivered and describes the contributions of those sources to the employee branding process. The psychological contract is identified as a perceptual mechanism central to the employee branding process. The model specifies the consequences of the employee branding process and describes a feedback loop through which managers can monitor the process.     

Customer Perception in the Health Care Sector:

Customer perceptions of quality play a major role in the success or failure of an organization. Their perception also serves to determine their level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This paper will discuss those factors that the customer perceives as "quality" factors and how those factors affect satisfaction. The second section of the paper will look at who is (or should be) responsible for implementing and carrying out the goals of a quality improvement program. A case study of a large hospital located in the American Midwest is also presented. Finally, recommendations for the best way to begin a quality improvement program (i.e., measure customer perceptions of quality, involving everyone, and making a real commitment to this program--forever) will be given.     

中小物业公司服务营销的模式研究

近年来,我国的住房改革不断推进,房地产市场进入高速发展阶段,物业管理产业也逐步发展起来,各类物业公司以各种方式进入了市场,其中形式灵活的中小物业公司发展最快,对物业管理市场的影响也最大。但是,由于中小物业的发展中存在着更多不规范的因素,因此存在的问题也最多。作者认为,物业管理行业是属于服务业,根据现代服务管理的研究成果,服务业就是以服务产品价值取得企业效益的,价值形成的关键就是服务产品的设计。这样对于发展中的中小物业公司来讲,建立一套设计符合业主需求的服务产品的模式是非常重要的,这是其服务升级和规范化的一个必经阶段,也是其形成利润源泉的关键。     

铁路货运营销体系建设研究

在对加强铁路货运营销体系建设的必要性进行分析的基础上,研究和探讨了构建铁路企业货运营销体系的基本框架及主要内容,并提出了当前应当采取的对策建议,即:以市场化为导向,切实转变营销理念;以品牌化为标准,构筑有竞争力的铁路货运产品;以网格化为途径,实现营销区域全覆盖;以规范化为目标,营造铁路货运营销价格优势;以网络化为核心,全面提升铁路营销服务水平;以职业化为手段,大力提升营销人员能力与素质。