Search results

1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 11 March 2014

Harry A. Taute and Jeremy Sierra

Companies should move beyond product attribute positioning to fostering affective-laden relationships with customers, as customers often want to feel engaged with the brand they…

4988

Abstract

Purpose

Companies should move beyond product attribute positioning to fostering affective-laden relationships with customers, as customers often want to feel engaged with the brand they purchase. These brand tribal members share something emotively more than mere brand ownership. As measures of brand engagement continue to evolve, proven instruments measuring brand tribalism and studies investigating its explanatory power are limited. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this research fissure by offering a three-study approach, leaning on Sahlin's anthropological theory of segmented lineage.

Design/methodology/approach

In Study 1, the authors develop and evaluate the measurement properties of a brand tribalism scale. Using survey data in Study 2 and Study 3, the applicability of brand tribalism on brand-response variables across two technological contexts is examined.

Findings

Data drawn from ordinary brand users confirm scale validity while questioning the efficacy of communal social structures to affect brand attitude and repurchase intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Moving consumers from occasional brand users to members of their brand tribe should be one of many company objectives. The studies here offer acumen as to why such objectives should be pursued and how they can be met.

Originality/value

The data from the three studies lend insight to the importance of brand tribalism, its measurement properties, and raise issues regarding its effect on key brand-related outcomes.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2021

Cid Goncalves Filho, Flavia Braga Chinelato and Thiago Mendes Motta Couto

This study aims to empirically demonstrate the direct impact of brand tribalism on brand loyalty, revealing how the intrinsic elements of brand tribalism operate within an arena…

1159

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to empirically demonstrate the direct impact of brand tribalism on brand loyalty, revealing how the intrinsic elements of brand tribalism operate within an arena of high self-expressive brands.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative survey was carried out. A structured questionnaire was applied to active members of motorcycle clubs. It was obtained 336 responses and structural modeling was applied to test a hypothetical model.

Findings

This research shows that community and lineage were significantly related to brand loyalty, with a sense of community demonstrating the most decisive influence. Therefore, the study reveals that loyalty can be built through brand tribalism across strategies that foment collective social identity and friendship sentiments among brand consumers.

Practical implications

To increase brand loyalty, managers should associate their brands with the sense of community of tribe members and create associations within the brand and its consumers through brand communication and experiences, reinforcing brand owners’ lineage’s singularity.

Originality/value

This is the unique study demonstrating how to forge brand loyalty through brand tribalism’s multidimensional perspective, presenting findings on how its intrinsic factors can boost loyalty within self-expressive product brands.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 July 2018

Maximiliano E. Korstanje

This paper aims to revolve around two problems which, though imagined as different, can be addressed altogether. On one hand, the advance of terrorism as a major threat to the…

1802

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to revolve around two problems which, though imagined as different, can be addressed altogether. On one hand, the advance of terrorism as a major threat to the tourism industry, while – on the other – we discuss the ontological nature of tourism as a rite of passage, which is vital to keep the political legitimacy of officialdom. At the time, paradoxically, social scientists shrug off tourism as a naïve commercial activity, while the main tourist destinations are being attacked by jihadism. This suggests the disinterest of ones associates to the interests of others.

Design/methodology/approach

The author holds the thesis that tourism derives from ancient institutions, which illuminated in the growth of Occident and the formation of hospitality. Capitalism hides the importance of tourism as a mere trivialization as a bit-player. However, a closer look reminds precisely the opposite. The recent attacks perpetrated at main destinations reveal tourism as an exemplary (symbolic) center of the West, a source of authority and power for the existing hierarchal order.

Findings

The issue captivates the attention of scholars, officials and policymakers, and at the same time, epistemologists of tourism receive a fresh novel debate regarding the origins of tourism.

Originality/value

It is a great paradox that tourism would be selected as a target for jihadism but at the same time a naïve activity for social scientists or at the least by the French tradition. Despite the partisan criticism exerted on tourism as an alienatory force, this work showed two important aspects, which merits to be discussed. At a closer look, tourism should be understood as “a rite of passage” whose function associates to the revitalization of those glitches happened during the cycles of production. Second, and most important, tourism accommodates those frustrations to prevent acts of separatism or the rise of extreme conflict among classes.

Details

Journal of Tourism Analysis: Revista de Análisis Turístico, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2254-0644

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1991

Masudul Alam Choudhury

The article makes a comprehensive study of the development ofsocial economic thought in the history of economic doctrines. Traces ofsocial economic development are dated back to…

Abstract

The article makes a comprehensive study of the development of social economic thought in the history of economic doctrines. Traces of social economic development are dated back to the Physiocrats and moral philosophers and reference is made to the early Arab works in the developments of these social economic doctrines. The social economic thought in the classical school of economic theory is critically studied. It is shown that with the advancement of economic theory in the hands of the neoclassical school and its latter‐day developments social economic doctrines receded from mainstream economics. The contemporary social economists in North America have fallen into the trap of these neoclassical approaches applied to the study of social economic phenomena. The article also shows that similar neoclassical and ethically neutral traces continue in the works of the mixed economy theorists, institutionalists, macroeconomists, monetarists, rational expectations hypothesists, public and social choice theorists of all types. Thus, the whole gamut of mainstream economics is shown to be trapped in an epistemological and methodological quandary as to how ethical phenomena are to be treated rationally in the framework of economic theory.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 18 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Michael Sheriff and Moreno Muffatto

Entrepreneurship ecosystems could be useful road maps for the formulation of entrepreneurship policies for countries in Africa. The twenty-first century economic development…

2881

Abstract

Purpose

Entrepreneurship ecosystems could be useful road maps for the formulation of entrepreneurship policies for countries in Africa. The twenty-first century economic development agenda lay a lot of emphasis on the pivotal role that entrepreneurship plays in the growth of economies, job creation and poverty alleviation especially in Africa. But without the right entrepreneurial ecosystems to enhance the formulation of pertinent entrepreneurship policies, achieving entrepreneurial economic growth will be difficult. The existing frameworks for the development of entrepreneurship ecosystems are based on research that has been conducted elsewhere. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Entrepreneurship research in Africa has rarely focused in understanding and evaluating the entrepreneurship ecosystems. In this paper, we have attempted to examine the present state of the entrepreneurship ecosystems in four countries (Botswana, Egypt, Ghana and Uganda) in Africa. Despite the fact that extant literature on the concept is limited, it has been reviewed to provide a picture of entrepreneurship ecosystems. Relevant national and international documents were also examined to evaluate the present state of entrepreneurship ecosystems in these countries.

Findings

The findings from each of the countries though they depict a static situation, justify the proposition that entrepreneurs are omnipresent, it is only the entrepreneurship environment that accounts for the differences in entrepreneurial economic growth and the cross-countries comparisons shows the dissimilarities in national entrepreneurship environments.

Research limitations/implications

In conclusion, a broad process to develop entrepreneurship ecosystems initiatives is suggested alongside the crucial roles that governments and other stakeholders should play which implies that a National Entrepreneurship Mission might be necessary.

Originality/value

Multiple case studies that have compared entrepreneurship ecosystems of countries in Africa are very rare. This study though explorative, is one of the first. The findings and conclusions could be useful for a detailed study to map out pertinent and self sustaining entrepreneurship ecosystems that are necessary for the formulation of entrepreneurship policies.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1981

Desmond Bell

A Community Studies tradition based on the theory and methods of a functionalist social anthropology has since the 1930's been the dominant one in both characterising the social…

Abstract

A Community Studies tradition based on the theory and methods of a functionalist social anthropology has since the 1930's been the dominant one in both characterising the social structure of rural Ireland and in theorising social change in Ireland in general. This social anthropological method, while of possible utility in the study of primitive cultures and peoples, confronts certain difficulties when attempts are made to employ pure ethnographic analysis as a method for studying social change in either urban or rural settings in industrialising societies like Ireland. Despite attempts to do so, the Community Studies tradition has been unable to establish a coherent method for the study of local social systems and their structural relations of dependency on wider social, economic and political forces at play in capitalist social formations. Instead, it has fallen on an isolationist approach to studying local areas. In Irish sociology this abstractionism is inevitably undergirded by some variant of the modernisation thesis in which ‘traditional life and culture’ is progressively ‘threatened’ by the onslaught of urban‐industrial modernity.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2009

Toke Bjerregaard, Jakob Lauring and Anders Klitmøller

Functionalist models of intercultural interaction have serious limitations relying on static and decontextualized culture views. This paper sets out to outline newer developments…

7401

Abstract

Purpose

Functionalist models of intercultural interaction have serious limitations relying on static and decontextualized culture views. This paper sets out to outline newer developments in anthropological theory in order to provide inspirations to a more dynamic and contextual approach for understanding intercultural communication research in cross‐cultural management (CCM).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the established approaches to the cultural underpinnings of intercultural communication in CCM and examines how newer developments in anthropology may contribute to this research.

Findings

The standard frameworks for classifying cultures in CCM are based on a view of culture as static, formal mental codes and values abstracted from the context of valuation. However, this view, underwriting the dominating research stream, has been abandoned in the discipline of anthropology from which it originated. This theory gap between intercultural communication research in CCM and anthropology tends to exclude from CCM an understanding of how the context of social, organizational and power relationships shapes the role of culture in communication.

Practical implications

The paper proposes to substitute the view of culture as comprising of abstract values and codes as determinants of communication with concepts of culture as dynamically enfolded in practice and socially situated in specific contexts, in order to give new directions to theories on intercultural communication in CCM.

Originality/value

Scant research has compared intercultural communication research in CCM with new anthropological developments. New insights from anthropology are analyzed in order to open up analytical space in CCM.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2009

Haim Hazan

Old age, in its most intense and extreme aspects involving frailty, dementia, Alzheimer's and death, is more often ignored rather than discussed in contemporary anthropology…

Abstract

Purpose

Old age, in its most intense and extreme aspects involving frailty, dementia, Alzheimer's and death, is more often ignored rather than discussed in contemporary anthropology, remaining largely inaudible and invisible. This paper explores the marginal position of the study of old age in contemporary anthropology against the backdrop of the prominence of the post‐colonial agenda. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the comparison between the neglected Third Age and the abundantly discussed Third World in the context of the anthropological discourse on others.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper on ageing.

Findings

This paper explores the marginal position of the study of old age in contemporary anthropology against the backdrop of the prominence of the post‐colonial agenda. The comparison between the neglected Third Age and the abundantly discussed Third World is discussed in the context of the anthropological discourse on others. Studying the old‐as‐other reveals two types of alterity: that which is culturally constructed as different vs that which is essentially different. The others that dominate the agenda of contemporary anthropology are culturally constructed, while the old‐as‐other is an ontological essence. The condition of being old, it is argued, is essentially beyond culture, constituting an extra‐cultural materiality. As such, the old‐as‐other does not answer to the anthropological dictum of representing the “natives' point of view” and cannot fit the contemporary hermeneutics of anthropological relativism. Contemporary anthropology, which resists essential objects such as the savage and the old, thus ignores the raw materiality of old age while producing ethnographically‐informed commentaries on eldercare.

Originality/value

The paper is original in highlighting the juxtaposition between the savage and old age that is used to facilitate an understanding of the contemporary discipline of anthropology as a regime of social constructionism, which fails to confront and represent the bare materiality of old age.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 29 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2018

Alice Rose Bryer

The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the ways in which actors may resolve the contradictions between the social and private aspects of accounting. It pursues…

1332

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the ways in which actors may resolve the contradictions between the social and private aspects of accounting. It pursues this aim by developing theory and knowledge of the roles of belonging in the politics of budgeting.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the paper develops a Latourian anthropological theory of belonging as a social practice. It shows how this makes a significant departure from actor-network Latourian studies, shifting the focus onto the emotional and cognitive capacities that may enable actors to work through and gradually overcome the socio-political conflicts that budgeting can provoke. Second, to identify such a practice, it studies a Spanish cooperative involved in collective responses to socio-economic and political instability.

Findings

The study finds that the emotional and cognitive work by which the actors assembled their collective practice of belonging was influenced by their interactions with budgets, and, in turn, mediated the way they dealt with budgets, giving rise to more enabling roles and effects. It traces, for example, how planning and cost reduction supported abilities to relate the actors’ problems and anxieties to broader social problems, fostering more positive emotions including empathy, enthusiasm, and respect.

Research limitations/implications

The findings offer a complementary, but alternative view of the socio-political character of budgeting techniques to prior studies, which advances understanding of how actors could shape more enabling roles and effects.

Practical implications

Involving budgets in discussions and meetings can increase the scope for work that leads to greater freedom, social cohesion, and wellbeing.

Originality/value

This is the first study to demonstrate how belonging can be actively assembled through budgeting. It has particular value for understanding how alternative organizations can use accounting to avoid fragmenting and degeneration.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2018

Claudio Gnoli

The current debate between two theoretical approaches in library and information science and knowledge organization (KO), the cognitive one and the sociological one, is addressed…

Abstract

Purpose

The current debate between two theoretical approaches in library and information science and knowledge organization (KO), the cognitive one and the sociological one, is addressed in view of their possible integration in a more general model. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Personal knowledge of individual users, as focused in the cognitive approach, and social production and use of knowledge, as focused in the sociological approach, are reconnected to the theory of levels of reality, particularly in the versions of Nicolai Hartmann and Karl R. Popper (three worlds). The notions of artefact and mentefact, as proposed in anthropological literature and applied in some KO systems, are also examined as further contributions to the generalized framework. Some criticisms to these models are reviewed and discussed.

Findings

Both the cognitive approach and the sociological approach, if taken in isolation, prove to be cases of philosophical monism as they emphasize a single level over the others. On the other hand, each of them can be considered as a component of a pluralist ontology and epistemology, where individual minds and social communities are but two successive levels in knowledge production and use, and are followed by a further level of “objectivated spirit”; this can in turn be analyzed into artefacts and mentefacts. While all these levels are relevant to information science, mentefacts and their properties are its most peculiar objects of study, which make it distinct from such other disciplines as psychology and sociology.

Originality/value

This analysis shows how existing approaches can benefit from additional notions contributed by levels theory, to develop more complete and accurate models of information and knowledge phenomena.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 74 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000