Search results

1 – 10 of 82
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 May 2021

Donna Smith, Jenna Jacobson and Janice L. Rudkowski

The practice of frontline employees articulating their brand voice and posting work-related content on social media has emerged; however, employee brand equity (EBE) research has…

14509

Abstract

Purpose

The practice of frontline employees articulating their brand voice and posting work-related content on social media has emerged; however, employee brand equity (EBE) research has yet to be linked to employees’ social media activity. This paper aims to take a methods-based approach to better understand employees’ roles as influencers. As such, its objective is to operationalize and apply the three EBE dimensions – brand consistent behavior, brand endorsement and brand allegiance – using Instagram data.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research uses a case study of employee influencers at SoulCycle, a leading North American fitness company and examines 100 Instagram images and 100 captions from these influential employees to assess the three EBE dimensions.

Findings

Brand consistent behavior (what employees do) was the most important EBE dimension indicating that employees’ social media activities align with their employer’s values. Brand allegiance (what employees intend to do in the future) whereby employees self-identify with their employer on social media, followed. Brand endorsement (what employees say) was the least influential of the three EBE dimensions, which may indicate a higher level of perceived authenticity from a consumer perspective.

Originality/value

This research makes three contributions. First, it presents a novel measure of EBE using public Instagram data. Second, it represents a unique expansion and an evolution of King et al.’s (2012) model. Third, it considers employees’ work-related content on social media to understand employees’ role as influencers and their co-creation of EBE, which is currently an under-represented perspective in the internal branding literature.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 July 2023

Carolina Nicolas, Angelica Urrutia and Gonzalo González

Explore the use of Gender-Fair Language (GFL) by influencers on Instagram.

1273

Abstract

Purpose

Explore the use of Gender-Fair Language (GFL) by influencers on Instagram.

Design/methodology/approach

The clustering methodology. A digital Bag-of-Words (BoW) Method called GFL Clustering BoW Methodology to identify whether an inclusive marketing (IM) strategy can be used. Thus, this research has a methodological and practical contribution to increasing the number of marketing technology tools.

Findings

This study is original as it proposes an inclusive digital marketing strategy and contributes with methods associated with digital transfers in order to improve marketing strategies, tactics and operations for inclusive content with a data integrity approach.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the limitations of the application programming interface (API) of the social network Instagram, a limited number of text data were used, which allowed for retrieving the last 12 publications of each studied profile. In addition, it should be considered that this study only includes the Spanish language and is applied to a sample of influencers from Chile.

Practical implications

The practical contribution of this study will lead to a key finding for the definition of communication strategies in both public and private organizations.

Originality/value

The originality of this work lies in its attractive implications for nonprofit and for-profit organizations, government bodies and private enterprises in the measurement of the success of campaigns with an IM communicational strategy and to incorporate inclusive and non-sexist content for their consumers so as to contribute to society.

摘要

研究目的

本研究擬探究有影響力的人士在使用即時電報 (Instagram) 時、如何使用性別中立語言。

研究設計/方法/理念

研究使用了聚類分析法;具體來說, 研究人員採用一個叫 GFL聚類詞袋法的數位詞袋分析法, 去確定研究可否使用信息管理策略。因此, 本研究在行銷科技方面、添加了一個工具, 就此而言, 本研究在學術的研究法和實務方面、均作出貢獻。

研究結果

本研究建議了一個包括一切的數位行銷策略;研究亦構建了若干與數位傳輸有關的方法, 以能利用數據完整性的理念, 為行銷策略、行銷戰術和市場營銷, 在內容的全面包含度方面取得改善。

研究的局限/啟示

因為社交網站即時電報的應用程式介面有其局限, 故使用了少量的文本數據, 這可使每個被探討的傳略的最後12個發佈能被撿回。另外需注意的是、本研究只涵蓋西班牙語, 而且, 研究使用的樣本只是來自智利有影響力的人士。

實務方面的啟示

本研究在實務方面的貢獻是、它為探討在公共機構和私營機構內使用的溝通策略的定義上、帶來重要的啟發和發現。

研究的原創性/價值

本研究的原創性在於它給營利和非營利組織、政府機關和私人企業帶來頗具吸引力的啟示。而這些啟示是與測量以包括一切的行銷溝通策略進行的專門活動是否成功有關的。另外, 涵蓋一切和無性別歧視的內容被納入供消費者使用, 以此為社會帶來裨益。

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 May 2021

Juliane Lohmann, Marina Schmitz and Silvia Damme

The topics of gender and sustainability are firmly anchored within a social discourse. Based on both factors, customers are placing demands on companies and have specific ideas on…

Abstract

The topics of gender and sustainability are firmly anchored within a social discourse. Based on both factors, customers are placing demands on companies and have specific ideas on how they should be represented in advertising. The case study presented herein combines these two topics and examines the portrayal of gender in the external marketing communication of the fair fashion label ARMEDANGELS. By analysing individual Instagram publications, the case study identifies how the topic is generally portrayed on the company’s channel. Furthermore, the perspectives of customers are determined through conducted interviews. When comparing the two sides, it becomes apparent that customers mostly approve of the attempt to break with conservative gender roles as well as an equal representation of the male and female personas. In addition to expanding the theoretical considerations of the triple bottom line as well as the S-O-R model, we derive recommendations for ARMEDANGELS and for other companies in the fashion industry. For customer retention purposes, companies should therefore focus on aligning the sexes, breaking with the general gender binary and integrating LGBTQ+ communities in future marketing measures.

Details

Emerald Open Research, vol. 1 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3952

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Appearance as Capital
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-711-1

Abstract

Details

Appearance as Capital
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-711-1

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 July 2022

Lauren Alex O'Hagan

This paper aims to historicise the contemporary chlorophyll trend through the first academic study of its early marketing in Sweden (1950–1953). Using multimodal critical…

1177

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to historicise the contemporary chlorophyll trend through the first academic study of its early marketing in Sweden (1950–1953). Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, it demonstrates how brands used advertisements to convince female consumers of chlorophyll’s necessity to fulfil certain aspirational goals.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 150 advertisements for chlorophyll products were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive, as well as 600 additional advertisements for the three most popular products (toothpaste/mouthwash, sanitary towels and soap) from 1940 to 1950 and from 1954 to 1964. Then, multimodal critical discourse analysis was used to investigate how the products were marketed before, during and after the chlorophyll trend, identifying the general themes and linguistic/semiotic structures of the advertisements.

Findings

This paper shows how the commercial use of chlorophyll offered a lucrative opportunity for marketers, acting as a “tabula rasa” on which they could use discourses of science, nature, idealised femininity and luxury to draw connections with health, modernity and beauty, despite the product having no real purpose or value.

Originality/value

Viewing this fad from a historical perspective emphasises how brands, marketers and influencers continue to capitalise on the anxieties of female consumers with promises around beauty, hygiene and health. It, thus, offers us critical distance to reflect on contemporary claims about chlorophyll’s health benefits to make informed choices.

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 July 2022

Lauren Alex O’ Hagan

This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the…

1263

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the marketing practices of the Swedish toothpaste brand Stomatol (1910–1940). Through visual social semiotic analysis, it explores how the brand was a pioneer in lifestyle marketing, using discourses of modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” to sell its toothpaste.

Design/methodology/approach

Two hundred Stomatol advertisements were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive and analysed using visual social semiotics. The analysis considers how the idea of a cultural Swedishness centred around modernity and beauty developed between 1910 and 1940, and how both linguistic and semiotic resources were used to make these claims seem credible.

Findings

At a time when its main adversaries were capitalising upon science in their advertisements to construct authority and credibility, Stomatol instead targeted lifestyle. Modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” were central themes of their marketing campaigns, yet the way these themes were articulated varied between 1910 and 1940 in accordance with changing popular discourse. This made Stomatol more competitive than other toothpaste brands because it was able to sell an experience rather than a product, turning it into Sweden’s most popular toothpaste.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the importance of case studies to challenge the assumption that toothpaste brands have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years (a claim based on Anglocentrism). It also showcases the need to further investigate non-Anglo countries when conducting research into lifestyle marketing to build a more nuanced perspective on its origins and the supposed novelty of (largely) US practices. Thus, Stomatol makes an important case for Sweden as a trailblazer in lifestyle marketing.

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 October 2019

Katsuhito Yamaguchi and Masakazu Suzuki

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the spread of accessible e-books, especially ones of STEM much more in developing countries, an efficient/systematic scheme to localize…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the spread of accessible e-books, especially ones of STEM much more in developing countries, an efficient/systematic scheme to localize tools for producing/reading them should be established. Furthermore, even in many advanced countries, Print-disabled people still do not have a good tool to write a content including technical notations such as mathematical formulas in their own local language. This work is aimed at giving a practical solution for those problems.

Design/methodology/approach

Here, multilingual support in a tool to produce accessible STEM contents and its new localization scheme are discussed.

Findings

It is shown that the accessible STEM-document editor can be customized easily for print-disabled people so that they can read and author a material including complicated technical notations in their own local language. The localization for Vietnamese and other various languages actually has been worked on.

Originality/value

The Vietnamese version was completed, and some prototype versions for the other languages were also given. It is expected that the software can contribute to improve STEM accessibility much more in many countries.

Details

Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-6263

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 November 2019

Hitalo Alberto de Souza Faria Castilho, Matheus Souza De Resende, Eduardo Ramos de Oliveira Franco Montoro, Vinicius Akio De Almeida Shotoko, Michele Nascimento Jucá and Eli Hadad Junior

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether greater participation of venture capital/private equity (VC/PE) funds in the companies’ capital structure at the moment of initial…

1263

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether greater participation of venture capital/private equity (VC/PE) funds in the companies’ capital structure at the moment of initial public offering (IPO) contributes to the reduction in the underpricing of their shares.

Design/methodology/approach

Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, mean difference test and cross-sectional regression were used. The final sample consisted of 89 companies making IPO in Brasil Bolsa Balcão between 2007 and 2017.

Findings

The participation of VC/PE funds was shown to mitigate the effect of information asymmetry on managers and shareholders, thus reducing the underpricing of companies at the moment of IPO (H1). However, the expectation that a greater participation of these funds promotes further reduction in a potential underpricing (H2) was not confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

One can highlight the small amount of IPOs during the sampling period due to the occurrence of international and national economic crises, as well as the difficulty in obtaining information on the participation of VC/PE funds in the companies’ capital structure.

Practical implications

It was observed that information asymmetry had a mitigating effect from the presence of these funds in the companies, which can improve the pricing of their shares, decrease the costs and make volume captions viable for investments, in addition to giving credibility to the market information effectiveness.

Originality/value

This study differs from others in that it assesses not only the influence of VC/PE funds on the reduction of the underpricing of IPO shares, but also the participation of these funds in the capital of these companies.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 November 2023

Sue-Ting Chang and Jia-Jhou Wu

The study aims to propose an instrument for measuring product-centeredness (i.e. the extent to which comment content is related to a product) using word embedding techniques as…

2418

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to propose an instrument for measuring product-centeredness (i.e. the extent to which comment content is related to a product) using word embedding techniques as well as explore its determinants.

Design/methodology/approach

The study collected branded posts from 205 Instagram influencers and empirically examined how four factors (i.e. authenticity, vividness, coolness and influencer–product congruence) influence the content of the comments on branded posts.

Findings

Post authenticity and congruence are shown to have positive effects on product-centeredness. The interaction between coolness and authenticity is also significant. The number of comments or likes on branded posts is not correlated with product-centeredness.

Originality/value

In social media influencer marketing, volume-based metrics such as the numbers of likes and comments have been researched and applied extensively. However, content-based metrics are urgently needed, as fans may ignore brands and focus on influencers. The proposed instrument for assessing comment content enables marketers to construct content-based metrics. Additionally, the authors' findings enhance the understanding of social media users' engagement behaviors.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 124 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

1 – 10 of 82