Designing corporate brand experience in an online context: A qualitative insight

This study explores the dimensions and components of corporate brand experience in an Internet setting. Corporate brand experience (CBE), which is a source of a company's added value, could be an effective way to position a corporate brand in relation to the overall corporate marketing strategy. However, the concept of CBE has attracted very little attention from previous research, thereby our understanding of what the concept is and how to operationalize it is limited. Previous brand experience research is mainly focused on the conceptual understanding of brand experience itself, and/or the product brand level (rather than at corporation level). Understanding CBE is important because corporate brand equity (e.g. corporate image, brand loyalty) is dependent not only on how one is satisfied with the product (mostly addressed by functional/performance values of product), but also through the values of the corporation (corporate brand values). This study thus contributes theoretically to the corporate and online branding literature by proposing underlying new dimensions and components of CBE in an online environment. A series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with 32 online banking respondents informs the study. We identify five main themes and 26 sub-themes of corporate brand experience — corporate visual identity, functionality, emotional, lifestyle and corporate/self-identity. Financial service providers can address these dimensionalities during the process of brand positioning and when designing their corporate marketing in an online setting.     

Antecedents of firm performance in emerging economies: Business groups,strategy, industry structure,and state support

A rich literature has investigated the antecedents of firm performance in developed economies, resulting in a consensus view that firm resources and strategy are the key determinants. Several arguments, however, suggest that in emerging economies other factors are more important for firm performance. This study analyzes the impact of firm strategy and industry structure as well as business group membership and state support on firm performance in an advanced emerging economy, Turkey. Using a data set compiled from a selection of the 1000 largest manufacturing firms in this country, the study employs several regression models to identify the main determinants of firm performance as measured by productivity and net profit margin. In contrast to studies of developed economies, the investigation finds that firm-related factors (competitive strategies) do not significantly influence performance; instead factors related to industry structure and business group membership are the strongest determinants of firm performance; further, state support interacts with business group membership and is positively related to productivity.     

Impact of component supplier branding on profitability

In recent years, many business-to-business (B2B) component supplier (CS) firms have added branding to their marketing toolbox. By extending the logic of ingredient branding to B2B components, they aim to create “pull” from B2B end customers by building a strong CS brand image among their customers' customers. In contrast with the established “push” approach of building strong relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it is unclear whether and under which conditions CS branding is a worthy strategy. On the one hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that suppliers can leverage strong CS brand image in negotiations with increasingly powerful OEMs to enhance their financial performance. On the other hand, many B2B managers believe that branding does not work in their industry context and erodes profitability. We build a data set consisting of survey measures and archival data across a broad set of industries. Our results indicate that the financial outcomes of CS branding largely depend on the characteristics of the CS and OEM industries. Unlike dyadic OEM–CS relationships, which enhance profitability invariably across industry contexts, CS branding is effective only in well-defined situations. CS branding initiatives can enhance return in CS industries with substantial levels of product differentiation and technology intensity. However, unfavorable results may arise in industry contexts in which OEM–end customer relationships or OEM brands are important.     

Conveying conscientiousness: Exploring environmental images across servicescapes

The study explores how conscientiousness gets conveyed across servicescapes in two specific retail contexts: a supermarket and an organic food store, both of which claim an environmentally oriented branding strategy. Data collected from a qualitative approach and a photo elicitation technique consist of 20 semi-structured interviews with consumers of organic food products. The present study contributes to extant retailing literature by demonstrating that a conscientious corporate brand image requires long-term, comprehensive dedication by retailers. Moreover, this study contributes to research into retailer branding by uncovering a nostalgic dimension of conscientious branding, which in this setting means acknowledging the effects of the past.     

Gender identity and brand incongruence: when in doubt,pursue masculinity

Gender identity is the extent to which an individual identifies with masculine or feminine personality traits. Sex roles in Western societies continue to evolve, so this research examines the developing relationship between gender identity and consumer responses to gendered branding. Grounded in self-congruency theory [Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 287–300], the present research reports an experiment that supports a congruence relationship between gender identity and brand response. Masculine consumers prefer masculine brands. The results also show incongruent brand rejection where masculine consumers react negatively to feminine brands although feminine consumers are more accepting of masculine brands. Further, the results suggest that gender identity is a more effective dimension for customer segmentation than biological sex. Overall, the results suggest that masculine brands are more effective than other gendered brand profiles for masculine, feminine, and androgynous consumers.     

成人英语学习特点分析及对策

文章从成人英语学习者的特点出发 ,提出培养与激发成人学习英语的兴趣与动机应立足于成人学习者特点 ,并从四个方面论述了有效提高成人英语教学的方法     

宏观型对冲基金的经营策略分析

投资策略和融资策略共同决定宏观型对冲基金的自身业绩和它对金融市场的宏观影响。交易部署和杠杆比例相互联系并最终决定基金能够取得多少回报。由于市场环境的改变,大量宏观型对冲基金已经从以往的宏观策略和新兴市场策略为主转向更加保守的价值与市场中立策略。宏观型对冲基金的宏观经济效应源于其风险管理行为模式而非其主观意图。     

基于4V理论的中国人寿安徽分公司营销策略研究

在概述4V营销理论的基础上,文章运用SWOT分析框架具体分析了国寿安徽分公司实施4V营销策略的必要性和可能性,并运用4V理论提出了公司在实践中寿险营销者应注重综合运用多种策略和手段,影响消费者的购买行为,以达到扩大销售、增加利润的目的;最后从人员配备、员工培训、信息化建设和政企关系等角度提出了实施4V营销组合策略的保障措施。     

一种劳资关系理论的新探索：劳资关系周期理论

劳资关系的矛盾与冲突日益加剧,实现劳资关系的和谐与稳定,对我国构建和谐社会有着极其重要的意义.企业中劳方与资方之间存在"劳资关系周期",各周期中具有不同的特点和应对策略.企业应通过构建和谐劳资关系享受收益,增加自身的无形资产,从而提高企业核心竞争力.     

Competitive environments and protective behavior

The class of two-person competition games is introduced and analyzed. For any game in this class the set of Nash equilibria is convex and all Nash equilibria lead to the same payoff vector. Competition games are compared to other competitive environments such as unilaterally competitive games and rivalry games. Moreover, protective behavior within competitive environments is analyzed. For matrix games it is known that protective strategies profiles exactly correspond to proper equilibria. It is shown that this result can be extended to the class of unilaterally competitive games.