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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 December 2023

Katri Weckroth and Elina Närvänen

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel qualitative activity focus group (AFG) method for studying consumption practices. This participatory method, which is inspired by…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel qualitative activity focus group (AFG) method for studying consumption practices. This participatory method, which is inspired by practice-theoretical thinking, combines focus group discussions with activities that represent the practices at the centre of the research.

Design/methodology/approach

The application of the AFG method is demonstrated with an empirical study of the transition to plant-based food consumption practices in Finland, involving four group sessions of 13 participants.

Findings

The findings from the empirical application of the AFG method illustrate that its key strength is the ability to foster fruitful and natural discussions on routine consumption practices that connect with discursive and practical dimensions and thus generate multidimensional data in resource-efficient ways.

Originality/value

The AFG method extends the methodological approaches in practice theory–oriented research, responding to the call for creative, real-life-reflecting methods that are able to grasp the discursive and embodied dimensions of practices. The method is proposed to be particularly suitable for research on mundane consumption practices.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 October 2023

Ulla-Maija Sutinen, Roosa Luukkonen and Elina Närvänen

This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday…

1443

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday lives, marketers have also shifted their focus to these channels. Literature on this phenomenon is still scarce and often takes a quite narrow view of the role of marketing in social media. Furthermore, the experiences of the adolescents are seldom considered.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sociocultural approach and netnographic methodology, this study presents findings from a research project conducted in Finland. The data consist of both social media material and focus group interviews with adolescents.

Findings

The findings elaborate on unhealthy food marketing to adolescents in social media from two perspectives: sociocultural representations of unhealthy foods in social media marketing and social media influencers connecting with adolescents.

Originality/value

The study broadens and deepens the current understanding of unhealthy food marketing to adolescents taking place in social media. The study introduces a novel perspective to the topic by looking at it as a sociocultural phenomenon.

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2020

Sonja Lahtinen and Elina Närvänen

The purpose of this research is to explore how consumers co-create sustainable corporate brands (SCBs) by framing brands with a newly adopted sustainability orientation.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore how consumers co-create sustainable corporate brands (SCBs) by framing brands with a newly adopted sustainability orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative data were generated from four focus groups consisting of altogether 25 Finnish millennial consumers. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the resulting themes were classified as different framings.

Findings

The findings indicate three ways of framing SCBs: as signs of corporate hypocrite, as threats that increase societal fragmentation and as signs of corporate enlightenment. These framings are based on two components: the perceived attributes and activities of the corporate brand.

Practical implications

The role of corporate brands is expanding from the business sphere towards actively influencing society. Yet, sustainability activities can be risky if consumers, as primary stakeholders, deem them unacceptable, unethical or untrustworthy. This research supports brand managers to succeed in co-creating SCBs as contributors to societal and environmental well-being, at a time when multiple stakeholders consider this a worthwhile endeavour.

Originality/value

The theoretical contribution is twofold: firstly, the paper extends the sustainable corporate branding literature by demonstrating how SCBs are co-created through an interactive framing process between the corporation and primary stakeholders, and, secondly, it contributes to the constitutive approach to corporate social responsibility communication (CSRC) research by showing how millennial consumers frame corporate brands that communicate corporations' newly adopted sustainability orientation.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 August 2020

Tiina-Kaisa Kuuru and Elina Närvänen

This paper aims to study the embodied nature of service employees’ work in human touch contexts.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the embodied nature of service employees’ work in human touch contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts the practice theory as its interpretive approach, using focus group interviews with service employees from different industries.

Findings

The study identifies four practice bundles related to the embodied dimension of service employees’ work: orienting, attuning, connecting and wrapping up. The findings illustrate how employees’ knowledge, skills and capabilities are used via the body.

Practical implications

The study provides guidance for managers to use an embodied perspective in the management of service employees.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the discussion on embodiment in service encounters by highlighting the embodied nature of service employees’ work.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Elina Närvänen and Christina Goulding

The purpose of the paper is to build a sociocultural perspective of brand revitalization. Maintaining brands and bringing them back to life in the market has received much less…

5292

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to build a sociocultural perspective of brand revitalization. Maintaining brands and bringing them back to life in the market has received much less interest than their creation. Moreover, the existing literature is dominated by the marketing management paradigm where the company’s role is emphasized. This paper addresses the phenomenon of brand revitalization from a sociocultural perspective and examines the role of consumer collectives in the process.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a data-driven approach, the study builds on the case of a consumer brand of footwear that has risen to unprecedented popularity without traditional marketing campaigns. Data were generated using an inductive theory building approach utilizing multiple methods, including interviews, participant observation and cultural materials.

Findings

The paper presents a conceptual model of cultural brand revitalization that has four stages: sleeping brand, spontaneous appropriation, diffusion and convergence.

Practical implications

Implications for companies in consumer markets are discussed, suggesting ways to facilitate the process of sociocultural brand revitalization.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the literature first by offering a sociocultural brand revitalization scenario that highlights the interplay between the actions of consumers and the company, second, by examining the interaction between the symbolic meanings associated with the brand and the practices used by consumers and, third, by offering insights into the relevance of national identity in creating brand meaning.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 50 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 May 2020

Elina Närvänen, Hannu Kuusela, Heli Paavola and Noora Sirola

This paper's purpose is to develop a meaning-based framework for customer loyalty by examining how consumers make sense of customer loyalty through meanings and metaphors.

22487

Abstract

Purpose

This paper's purpose is to develop a meaning-based framework for customer loyalty by examining how consumers make sense of customer loyalty through meanings and metaphors.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study based on in-depth interviews and focus group data in the retail context was conducted with Finnish customers. The data were analysed with qualitative data analysis techniques such as the constant comparative technique.

Findings

The empirical findings comprise eight loyalty meanings characterised by two dimensions. The first dimension is reflexive vs. routinised, and the second dimension is private vs. social. The loyalty types are dimensionalised through four metaphors: loyalty as freedom of choice; as being conventional and binding; and as belongingness.

Practical implications

The findings improve the way customer loyalty currently is understood in the retail setting. The paper proposes that customer insight that utilises thick data can be used to grasp loyalty meanings. These data are rich in context and detail, and they take into account customers' everyday lives. Utilising thick data in the form of storytelling fuels customers' meaning-making related to customer loyalty, potentially enriching their relationship with the retailer.

Originality/value

Customer loyalty has been driven largely by a transactional and company-centric perspective. This article presents an alternative view of customer loyalty that accounts for the variety of meanings that customers may assign to their loyalty-related thoughts and behaviours.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 48 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 February 2022

Hanna Leipämaa-Leskinen, Elina Närvänen and Hannu Makkonen

The purpose of this study is to define and analyse the emergence of collaborative engagement platforms (CEPs) as part of a rising platformisation phenomenon. Contrary to previous…

3007

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to define and analyse the emergence of collaborative engagement platforms (CEPs) as part of a rising platformisation phenomenon. Contrary to previous literature on engagement platforms (EPs), this study distinguishes between formalised and self-organised EPs and sheds light on collaborative EPs on which heterogeneous actors operate without central control by legislated firm actors.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on institutional work theory, this paper explores the institutional rules, norms and practices involved in the emergence of a new platform. This paper implements a longitudinal case study of a local food network called REKO and explores how engagement practices and institutional work patterns catalysed its emergence during 2013–2020.

Findings

The findings of this study show that actors engaged within the REKO platform participated in institutional work patterns of disruption, creation and maintenance, which drove the development of the platform and ensured its viability.

Research limitations/implications

This paper encourages future research to further explore how different types of EPs emerge and function.

Practical implications

The rise of CEPs pushes the dominant managerial orientation to progress from the management “of” a platform to managing “within” a platform. For managers, this means developing novel practices for engaging and committing a versatile set of actors to nurture open-ended, multi-sided collaboration.

Originality/value

This study contributes by conceptualising different types of platforms with a particular focus on CEPs and explicating the engagement practices and institutional work patterns that catalyse their emergence.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2014

Evert Gummesson, Hannu Kuusela and Elina Närvänen

– The purpose of this paper is to propose that the recasting of supplier and customer roles reconfigures the role of marketing.

4511

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose that the recasting of supplier and customer roles reconfigures the role of marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual paper that suggests the need to rethink the role of marketing in the strategic decision making of companies. The study accesses recent theories of marketing, service and value and provides illustrative case examples.

Findings

Consumers are progressively more active and the traditional supplier role of controlling consumers is less viable. The case examples show the variety of ways in which companies may adopt a new role in relation to customers and the market. The paper argues that adapting to this role change needs to take place at the highest level in the company and is the way to reinvent marketing strategy. This also necessitates marketing employing unconventional methodologies and relevant theory to address the complexity and ambiguity of current markets.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is a conceptual paper restricted to supplier and customer roles, albeit set in a broader context of stakeholders.

Practical implications

The marketing-oriented supplier of the future can design service systems and exert a certain control at the same time adapting to and supporting consumer initiatives through interaction in networks of stakeholder relationships.

Originality/value

Stressing the new roles of consumers and suppliers; reinventing the role of marketing, breaking with conventional marketing research methodology.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

Hannu Kuusela, Elina Närvänen, Hannu Saarijärvi and Mika Yrjölä

– The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the challenges of business-to-business (B2B) research relevance from the point of view of top executives.

2130

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the challenges of business-to-business (B2B) research relevance from the point of view of top executives.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten in-depth interviews with top executives from different B2B industries were conducted and analyzed by using Arndt’s (1985) elements of a healthy discipline, i.e. knowledge, problems and instruments.

Findings

The findings reveal 12 challenges that characterize contemporary B2B research relevance from a top executive perspective.

Research limitations/implications

The research offers genuine top executive insight. More research from different perspectives is needed to broaden the understanding of B2B research relevance.

Originality/value

Reflecting B2B research with the identified challenges can contribute to better research designs, narrowing the gap between B2B scholars and practitioners. Altogether, it contributes to the health of the B2B discipline. The study also introduces a new approach to analyzing research relevance by using the elements of scientific balance.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 29 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2015

Kari Neilimo, Hannu Kuusela, Elina Närvänen and Hannu Saarijärvi

The vision should ignite and facilitate strategic change as well as help a company to transform and reinvent itself in the face of competition. Too often executives use vision as…

Abstract

Purpose

The vision should ignite and facilitate strategic change as well as help a company to transform and reinvent itself in the face of competition. Too often executives use vision as a mere slogan without real relevance. The purpose of this study is to show how the vision guides strategic change.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study from a successful multi-format, multi-industry service business is used to illustrate the role of vision in strategic change management.

Findings

The article illustrates how the vision was used in practice in guiding the strategic transformation process of the case organization. The study presents four focal tasks of the vision and concludes with five practical guidelines for executives.

Originality/value

The article highlights the role of vision as an important tool for managing strategic change.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 43 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

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