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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Peiman Alipour Sarvari, Alp Ustundag and Hidayet Takci

The purpose of this paper is to determine the best approach to customer segmentation and to extrapolate associated rules for this based on recency, frequency and monetary (RFM…

3795

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the best approach to customer segmentation and to extrapolate associated rules for this based on recency, frequency and monetary (RFM) considerations as well as demographic factors. In this study, the impacts of RFM and demographic attributes have been challenged in order to enrich factors that lend comprehension to customer segmentation. Different types of scenario were designed, performed and evaluated meticulously under uniform test conditions. The data for this study were extracted from the database of a global pizza restaurant chain in Turkey. This paper summarizes the findings of the study and also provides evidence of its empirical implications to improve the performance of customer segmentation as well as achieving extracted rule perfection via effective model factors and variations. Accordingly, marketing and service processes will work more effectively and efficiently for customers and society. The implication of this study is that it explains a clear concept for interaction between producers and consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

Customer relationship management, which aims to manage record and evaluate customer interactions, is generally regarded as a vital tool for companies that wish to be successful in the rapidly changing global market. The prediction of customer behaviors is a strategically important and difficult issue because of the high variance and wide range of customer orders and preferences. So to have an effective tool for extracting rules based on customer purchasing behavior, considering tangible and intangible criteria is highly important. To overcome the challenges imposed by the multifaceted nature of this problem, the authors utilized artificial intelligence methods, including k-means clustering, Apriori association rule mining (ARM) and neural networks. The main idea was that customer clusters are better enhanced when segmentation processes are based on RFM analysis accompanied by demographic data. Weighted RFM (WRFM) and unweighted RFM values/scores were applied with and without demographic factors and utilized to compose different types and numbers of clusters. The Apriori algorithm was used to extract rules of association. The performance analyses of scenarios have been conducted based on these extracted rules. The number of rules, elapsed time and prediction accuracy were used to evaluate the different scenarios. The results of evaluations were compared with the outputs of another available technique.

Findings

The results showed that having an appropriate segmentation approach is vital if there are to be strong association rules. Also, it has been determined from the results that the weights of RFM attributes affect rule association performance positively. Moreover, to capture more accurate customer segments, a combination of RFM and demographic attributes is recommended for clustering. The results’ analyses indicate the undeniable importance of demographic data merged with WRFM. Above all, this challenge introduced the best possible sequence of factors for an analysis of clustering and ARM based on RFM and demographic data.

Originality/value

The work compared k-means and Kohonen clustering methods in its segmentation phase to prove the superiority of adopted segmentation techniques. In addition, this study indicated that customer segments containing WRFM scores and demographic data in the same clusters brought about stronger and more accurate association rules for the understanding of customer behavior. These so-called achievements were compared with the results of classical approaches in order to support the credibility of the proposed methodology. Based on previous works, classical methods for customer segmentation have overlooked any combination of demographic data with WRFM during clustering before proceeding to their rule extraction stages.

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2008

Ana S. Branca

The purpose of this paper is to examine how demographic characteristics contribute to consumers' decision on bank delivery channels' usage, namely the direct and indirect…

3174

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how demographic characteristics contribute to consumers' decision on bank delivery channels' usage, namely the direct and indirect demographic influence on channel usage frequency via cognitive and affective mediators.

Design/methodology/approach

The consumer usage frequency pattern concerning the main bank delivery channels and its determinants are modelled and analysed with a questionnaire sent to 24,000 bank customers. This stage was preceded by a series of in‐depth interviews to bank managers and bank customers.

Findings

Empirical evidence suggests that demographic variables' influence over consumers' usage frequency decision has both a direct and indirect component. These influences are identified by delivery channel.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation derives from the nature of empirical results and their generalization to other samples and contexts. Nevertheless, precautions recommended in the literature to overcome this limitation were followed.

Practical implications

Bank managers will benefit from knowing, by channel, which demographic characteristics have the desired direct and indirect impact on usage frequency. This information will improve bank managers' efforts to encourage customers to favour a specific delivery channel.

Originality/value

In the literature, only the direct influence of demographics is compared to the innovation attributes in order to explain the innovation adoption decision. By clarifying the impact of demographic variables, the paper provides a more robust perception on their role as determinants of the bank delivery channels' usage.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2000

Sydney Roslow, Tiger Li and J.A.F. Nicholls

Explores seasonal differences in the purchase behaviour of shoppers in Cyprus. The analysis investigates situational factors and demographic/lifestyle attributes associated with…

5836

Abstract

Explores seasonal differences in the purchase behaviour of shoppers in Cyprus. The analysis investigates situational factors and demographic/lifestyle attributes associated with consumers’ shopping behaviour in summer and winter. The situational factors include the frequency with which consumers shopped in a large Cypriot market, the usual time of day they shopped, their travel time to the market, the time they spent in it, and whether they were motivated by price/value considerations; the demographic/lifestyle elements encompassed age, gender, education, income, and the transportation mode consumers employed to reach the market. Differences were found in shopping patterns between the two seasons. For instance, in the winter, consumers purchased adult’s clothing to a greater extent than in the summer. In contrast, in the summer consumers purchased more food or beverage and spent more money than in the winter. Based on the findings, the paper includes explicit recommendations for marketing action. The results indicate that store managers can be proactive in their marketing efforts by being aware of situational influences on customers’ purchase behaviour.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 34 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 14 August 2023

Christiana Osei Bonsu, Chelsea Liu and Alfred Yawson

The role of chief executive officer (CEO) personal characteristics in shaping corporate policies has attracted increasing academic attention in the past two decades. In this…

1577

Abstract

Purpose

The role of chief executive officer (CEO) personal characteristics in shaping corporate policies has attracted increasing academic attention in the past two decades. In this review, the authors synthesize extant research on CEO attributes by reviewing 232 articles published in 29 journals from the accounting, finance and management literature. This review provides an overview of existing findings, highlights current trends and interdisciplinary differences in research approaches and identifies potential avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

To review the literature on CEO attributes, the authors manually collected peer-reviewed articles in accounting, finance and management journals from 2000 to 2021. The authors conducted in-depth analysis of each paper and manually recorded the theories, data sources, country of study, study period, measures of CEO attributes and dependent variables. This procedure helped the authors group the selected articles into themes and sub-themes. The authors compared the findings in various disciplines and provided direction for future research.

Findings

The authors highlight the role of CEO personal attributes in influencing corporate decision-making and firm outcomes. The authors categorize studies of CEO traits into three main research themes: (1) demographic attributes and experience (including age, gender, culture, experience, education); (2) CEO interactions with others (social and political networks) and (3) underlying attributes (including personality, values and ideology). The evidence shows that CEO characteristics significantly affect a wide range of specific corporate policies that serve as mechanisms through which individual CEOs determine firm success and performance.

Practical implications

CEO selection is one of the most crucial decisions made by corporations. The study findings provide valuable insights to corporate executives, boards, investors and practitioners into how CEOs’ personal characteristics can impact future firm decisions and outcomes that can, in turn, inform the high-stake process of CEO recruitment and selection. The study findings have significant practical implications for corporations, such as contributing to executive training programs, to assist executives and directors attain a greater level of self-awareness.

Originality/value

Building on the theoretical foundation of upper echelons theory, the authors offer an integrated theoretical framework to consolidate existing empirical research on the impacts of CEO personal attributes on firm outcomes across accounting and finance (A&F) and management literature. The study findings provide a roadmap for scholars to bridge the interdisciplinary divide between A&F and management research. The authors advocate a more holistic and multifaceted approach to examining CEOs, each of whom embodies a myriad of personal characteristics that comprise their unique identity. The study findings encourage future researchers to expand the investigation of the boundary conditions that magnify or moderate the impacts of CEO idiosyncrasies.

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2021

Carlos Pombo and Maria Camila De La Hoz

This paper examines how the board of directors' attributes in terms of educational and professional backgrounds –that is board capital-, and demographics influence institutional…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines how the board of directors' attributes in terms of educational and professional backgrounds –that is board capital-, and demographics influence institutional ownership across listed companies in Latin America.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on unique hand-collected information of directors' educational and professional attributes across 427 firms in Latin America, the authors analyze the effects of directors' educational attainment, professional experience and demographic diversification on institutional investors' holdings.

Findings

Results show that grey investor ownership favors directors with graduate studies and diverse boards regarding gender and nationality. Independent investors value the directors' professional experience like former founders of a firm. Grey investors are more concerned with firm corporate governance mechanisms, consistent with the agency view. In contrast, independent institutional investors focus on business opportunities following the board of directors' resource-based view.

Research limitations/implications

This study shows that board capital becomes a key determinant for institutional ownership in emerging markets.

Originality/value

This study extends previous literature on institutional investor preferences by providing empirical evidence that firm board capital becomes a collective asset that is central for institutional investors' investment choices for an emerging market case.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 47 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2022

Gustavo Morales-Alonso, José Antonio Blanco-Serrano, Yilsy Núñez Guerrero, Mercedes Grijalvo and Francisco José Blanco Jimenez

This research aims at the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) framework – How can cognitive traits for entrepreneurship be used by…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims at the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) framework – How can cognitive traits for entrepreneurship be used by incubators and accelerators?

Design/methodology/approach

In this research the authors analyze the factors that catalyze the founding of new technology-based firms. From a practitioner stand-point, the GEM posits that these factors can be classified as contextual, social and individual factors. The present study focuses on the latter, looking into how demographic characteristics, possession of human capital and cognitive traits interrelate. The authors rely on a sample of 141 technological new ventures being incubated in Madrid, Spain, which is analyzed with the multilayer perceptron technique.

Findings

The results show that cognitive traits, as defined in the TPB, act as the “last mile” in the entrepreneurial decision process, while demographic and human capital factors appear to antecede them. These results are relevant for incubators and accelerators, which now gain a better, more complete understanding of success factors of their incubatees.

Originality/value

This research deals both with practitioners' view of entrepreneurship and with scientific literature, intertwining both with the purpose of providing valuable information for incubators and accelerators.

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2019

Sadia Mansoor, Erica French and Muhammad Ali

A narrow focus of past diversity research and inconsistent findings have contributed to a lack of understanding of how to manage diversity for positive outcomes. Focusing on age…

1059

Abstract

Purpose

A narrow focus of past diversity research and inconsistent findings have contributed to a lack of understanding of how to manage diversity for positive outcomes. Focusing on age, gender and ethnic diversity, this paper aims to review literature on group objective demographic diversity and individual perceived demographic diversity to present an integrated multilevel framework for our improved understanding and to present testable propositions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a thorough review of 51 empirical studies of demographic diversity at individual and group levels to propose a multilevel framework.

Findings

Drawing on information elaboration theory, social categorization theory and social identity theory, an integrated multilevel framework is proposed at individual and group levels. The framework suggests that demographic diversity (age, gender and ethnicity) aids positive information elaboration processes, while also causing negative social categorization processes. These processes impact individual and group outcomes. The framework also identifies moderating factors not sufficiently addressed in the demographic diversity literature. Propositions and implications for future research in the field of demographic diversity are presented.

Originality/value

This review provides an integrated multilevel framework of objective and perceived demographic diversity and its positive and negative processes and effects at both individual and group levels, drawn from information elaboration, social categorization and social identity theories.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 43 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 February 2010

Jabir Ali, Sanjeev Kapoor and Janakiraman Moorthy

The purpose of this paper is to develop a marketing strategy for a modern food/grocery market based on consumer preferences and behaviour.

13307

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a marketing strategy for a modern food/grocery market based on consumer preferences and behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 101 households having sufficient purchasing power were personally surveyed with a structured questionnaire. These households are spread across the well‐developed Gomtinagar area of Lucknow city. Simple statistical analysis such as descriptive statistical analysis, frequency distribution, cross tabulation, analysis of variance, and factor analysis to assess the consumers' preferences for food and grocery products and market attributes were carried out.

Findings

The preferences of the consumers clearly indicate their priority for cleanliness/freshness of food products followed by price, quality, variety, packaging, and non‐seasonal availability. The consumers' preference of marketplace largely depends on the convenience in purchasing at the marketplace along with the availability of additional services, attraction for children, basic amenities and affordability. Results suggest that most of the food and grocery items are purchased in loose form from the nearby outlets. Fruits and vegetables are mostly purchased daily or twice a week due to their perishable nature, whereas grocery items are less frequently purchased.

Research limitations/implications

This paper analyses the buying behaviour of the consumers under survey with respect to food and grocery items. These consumers are in a relatively advantageous position in terms of purchasing power and awareness of health and nutrition.

Practical implications

The results may help the food processors and outlet owners to understand a diversified set of preferences for products and market attributes, so that they can make better decisions in the emerging organized food and grocery retail environment.

Originality/value

The topic is relatively less researched in emerging markets especially where organized retail is still in its early stages.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 112 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2019

Henning Ahlf, Sven Horak, Andreas Klein and Sung-Won Yoon

The purpose of this study is to understand how employees of an organization build and maintain successful business relationships by analyzing major antecedents of relationship…

1416

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand how employees of an organization build and maintain successful business relationships by analyzing major antecedents of relationship quality and relationship commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the authors develop a conceptual framework and formulate hypotheses regarding the relationships between demographic homophily, interpersonal communication, trust and dependent variables of perceived relationship quality and relationship commitment. This paper tests hypotheses presented in this study with the help of a structural equation model, based on a data sample from South Korea.

Findings

Unlike common thinking, demographic homophily does not directly increase the perceived relationship quality. The authors find a significant direct effect of interpersonal communication on relationship commitment but no effect of commitment on perceived relationship quality. Both seem to play independent roles but are positively influenced through the emergence of trust.

Research limitations/implications

By applying demographic homophily and interpersonal communication as antecedents and trust as mediator and main driver, the authors research effects on perceived intra-organizational relationship commitment and perceived relationship quality. In detail, the authors confirm the hypothesized centrality of trust in intra-organizational relationships between demographic homophily, interpersonal communication and dependent variables of perceived relationship quality and relationship commitment. Nevertheless, the authors surprisingly find neither significant evidence that demographic homophily increases the perceived quality of a relationship, nor does it lead to higher communication intensity directly, even in an environment (i.e. Korea), where it would be expected.

Practical implications

Based on the findings of this study, there are several practical implications. Understanding the interpersonal relationship characteristics in an intra-organizational setting enables managers to optimize organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Intra-organizational relationships between employees’ are highly dependent on mutual trust as an indicator for relationship quality and relationship commitment. Organizations can also benefit from the understanding of the mechanisms of demographic homophily and interpersonal communication for the establishment of interpersonal trust as well.

Originality/value

Research about the effect of demographic homophily and interpersonal communication and the central role of trust in an intra-organizational approach to business relationships on perceived relationship quality and relationship commitment is scarce. The mutual testing of the effects and interaction of established constructs like demographic homophily, interpersonal communication and trust on perceived relationship quality and commitment constitutes the main contribution of this study to the literature on management and business relationships. The insights of this study about interpersonal bonding help companies to establish long-term business relationships.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2023

Shoukat Ali, Ramiz ur Rehman, Shoaib Aslam, Ismail Khan and Ghulam Murtaza

This paper empirically investigates the impact of board diversity in terms of demographic and cognitive dimensions on financial distress likelihood in an emerging Chinese market…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper empirically investigates the impact of board diversity in terms of demographic and cognitive dimensions on financial distress likelihood in an emerging Chinese market to explore whether the Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) power moderates the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypothesized relationships, demographic diversity through gender, age and nationality, and cognitive diversity through education, expertise and tenure, are taken as independent variables to investigate their impact on the probability of financial distress measured by the Altman China Z score. Data is collected for 13,740 firm-year observations from 2009 to 2018. This study employs panel data regression under fixed effect assumptions. Further, to control the possible endogeneity issue, this study uses a two-step System Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) model as a robust check.

Findings

The results reveal that board diversity is positively associated with financial distress Z score, suggesting that diverse boards are helpful in reducing the likelihood of financial distress. Moreover, CEO power positively moderates this relationship. It means that board diversity, in the presence of powerful CEOs, is more effective in reducing financial distress likelihood by controlling the wrong financial decisions taken by top executives to reap personal benefits. Further, the robustness model confirms the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.

Originality/value

To the best of researchers' knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies to investigate board diversity by constructing demographic and cognitive board diversity indexes as a determinant of financial distress likelihood in China. Further, researchers found no study in the literature using CEO power as a contextual variable on the relationship between board diversity and financial distress.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 61 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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