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1 – 10 of over 1000Farzaneh Amani and Adam Fadlalla
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into enterprise resource planning (ERP) research by framing ERP intellectual contributions using a knowledge-centric taxonomy that was…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into enterprise resource planning (ERP) research by framing ERP intellectual contributions using a knowledge-centric taxonomy that was originally proposed as an organizing framework for classifying conceptual contributions in marketing. Thus the paper provides a better understanding of existing gaps and future opportunities in ERP research.
Design/methodology/approach
Using MacInnis framework, the authors classified a sample of 300 ERP articles published during the period 2000-2014 into a topology of four generic contributions types and eight sub-types.
Findings
The findings indicate that whereas the explicating type received the most attention by researches, the debating type received the least. It also seems that there is a temporal dimension to the different types of conceptual contributions. Identification of usefulness of the ERP systems to business was not addressed as would have been predicted by the build-evaluate lens of March and Smith framework.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this research is that only used articles from scholarly journals, and did not include conference proceedings, books, and other outlets. Another limitation is that the search criteria was title-based, which may have missed some relevant papers. Research implications include highlighting the importance of a knowledge-centric view of ERP research, and practical implications include the call for robust measurement criteria for ERP benefits and rigorous ERP comparison schemes.
Originality/value
The main contribution is providing an alternative approach to framing the ERP intellectual contributions. The proposed taxonomy revealed major areas of focus and opportunities for future ERP research emphasis. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first instantiation of MacInnis framework into ERP research.
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Nebojsa S. Davcik, Rui Vinhas da Silva and Joe F. Hair
This paper aims to look into contemporary thinking within the brand equity paradigm, with a view to establishing avenues for further research on the drivers of brand equity…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to look into contemporary thinking within the brand equity paradigm, with a view to establishing avenues for further research on the drivers of brand equity formation, enabling a more in-depth understanding of the antecedents of brand equity and its determinants, as well as the development of an improved instrument to measure brand equity. The brand equity paradigm and its importance for marketing theory have been in the research focus for more than two decades. There is no agreement in the literature how to develop a unique measure of brand equity, neither what are the sources, drivers or determinants.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop the relating conceptual study through the differentiation and integration as specific conceptual goals. The authors present a taxonomic framework of brand equity grounded on a synthesis of contemporary approaches to the theme.
Findings
The authors identify gaps in the brand equity literature. The analysis and development of the conceptual study in this paper shall serve as beacons for future research and provide valuable theoretical insights on the determinants of brand equity formation and the development of better brand equity measurement tools.
Originality/value
The authors synthesized contemporary approaches in the field, identified research gaps and proposed open questions that should be tackled, as well as provided avenues for future research. The authors argue that creation of a unifying brand equity theory should be based on three pillars: stakeholder value, marketing assets and brand financial performance outputs.
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Amelie Burgess, Dean Charles Hugh Wilkie and Rebecca Dolan
Despite increased emphasis on diversity marketing, much remains unknown about how brands should approach diversity. This paper aims to understand what constitutes a brand’s…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite increased emphasis on diversity marketing, much remains unknown about how brands should approach diversity. This paper aims to understand what constitutes a brand’s approach to diversity (BATD), establish a categorisation of such approaches, outline the effects on audience connectedness and establish a future research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper draws on critical theory and practical exemplars to present a conceptualisation of BATD.
Findings
Using two determinants, depth of diversity integration and order of entry, it is possible to categorise BATD into four types: transformative, adaptive, passive and performative. Early adoption and greater depth of diversity approaches (i.e. multidimensional to an intersectional representation of identities) provide optimal opportunities for evoking connectedness.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptual typological framework for BATD helps delineate how varying levels of diversity depth and order of entry influence audience connectedness. A detailed agenda for further research can guide ongoing diversity research.
Practical implications
Creating a typology reduces complexity and helps marketers recognise the differing components, manifestations and effects of their diversity approach. To increase connectedness and reduce audience scepticism, marketers must seek deeper-level diversity integrations and adopt approaches earlier.
Originality/value
This study offers a novel conceptualisation of BATD by defining it, distinguishing it from related research themes and moving beyond single diversity dimensions and marketing mix elements. Further, audience connectedness is positioned as a critical consequence as it can instigate desirable brand outcomes, benefit those identities represented and promote a more inclusive society.
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Iain Davies, Caroline J. Oates, Caroline Tynan, Marylyn Carrigan, Katherine Casey, Teresa Heath, Claudia E. Henninger, Maria Lichrou, Pierre McDonagh, Seonaidh McDonald, Sally McKechnie, Fraser McLeay, Lisa O'Malley and Victoria Wells
Seeking ways towards a sustainable future is the most dominant socio-political challenge of our time. Marketing should have a crucial role to play in leading research and impact…
Abstract
Purpose
Seeking ways towards a sustainable future is the most dominant socio-political challenge of our time. Marketing should have a crucial role to play in leading research and impact in sustainability, yet it is limited by relying on cognitive behavioural theories rooted in the 1970s, which have proved to have little bearing on actual behaviour. This paper aims to interrogate why marketing is failing to address the challenge of sustainability and identify alternative approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The constraint in theoretical development contextualises the problem, followed by a focus on four key themes to promote theory development: developing sustainable people; models of alternative consumption; building towards sustainable marketplaces; and theoretical domains for the future. These themes were developed and refined during the 2018 Academy of Marketing workshop on seeking sustainable futures. MacInnis’s (2011) framework for conceptual contributions in marketing provides the narrative thread and structure.
Findings
The current state of play is explicated, combining the four themes and MacInnis’s framework to identify the failures and gaps in extant approaches to the field.
Research limitations/implications
This paper sets a new research agenda for the marketing discipline in quest for sustainable futures in marketing and consumer research.
Practical implications
Approaches are proposed which will allow the transformation of the dominant socio-economic systems towards a model capable of promoting a sustainable future.
Originality/value
The paper provides thought leadership in marketing and sustainability as befits the special issue, by moving beyond the description of the problem to making a conceptual contribution and setting a research agenda for the future.
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Joy Parkinson, Lisa Schuster and Rebekah Russell-Bennett
This paper aims to integrate existing thinking and provide new insights into the complexity of behaviours to improve understanding of the nature of these behaviours. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to integrate existing thinking and provide new insights into the complexity of behaviours to improve understanding of the nature of these behaviours. This paper expands social marketing theory by introducing the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability–Behaviour (MOAB) framework to assist in understanding the nature of social marketing behaviours by extending the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability (MOA) framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that proposes the MOAB framework to understand the complexity of behaviours.
Findings
This new tool will provide social marketers with an improved understanding of the differences between behaviours targeted by social marketers. Specifically, it provides a definition and application of complexity in social marketing that will facilitate the development of consumer insights and subsequent social marketing programs that more sufficiently account for the complexity of target behaviours.
Research limitations/implications
This proposed MOAB framework offers a foundation for future research to expand upon. Further research is recommended to empirically test the proposed framework.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to advance the theoretical base of social marketing by providing new insights to understand the nature of the behaviour in social marketing to assist social marketers to move beyond attempts to treat all behaviours as if they are the same.
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Jian-Jun Wang, Huiyuan Liu, Xiaocong Cui, Jiao Ye and Haozhe Chen
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of a physician’s prosocial behavior on a patient's choices in the online health community (OHC) context. Moreover, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of a physician’s prosocial behavior on a patient's choices in the online health community (OHC) context. Moreover, the authors explore how such effects differ across different online word-of-mouth (WOM) and professional titles.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by the motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) framework, this paper develops hypotheses and an econometric model. Then this paper used spline regression to test hypotheses on 6,204 physicians at The Good Doctor (www.Haodf.com), which is one of the largest Chinese OHCs. The authors conducted the propensity score matching and difference-in-difference method (PSM-DID) to address the concern about the bias caused by possible endogeneity concerns.
Findings
The authors’ results show that a physician’s prosocial behavior improves a patient's choice only when the strength of a physician’s prosocial behavior is below the tipping point. In addition, the influence of a physician’s prosocial behavior is heterogeneous for physicians with different online WOM and professional titles. For physicians with higher online WOM, the effect of a physician's prosocial behaviors on a patient's choice is positive, while for physicians with lower online WOM, a physician’s prosocial behavior has no impact on a patient’s choice. For physicians with higher professional titles, the quantity of a physician’s prosocial behavior has a positive impact on a patient’s choice, while for physicians with lower professional titles the quality of a physician’s prosocial behavior has a positive impact on a patient’s choice.
Originality/value
This study contributes new knowledge and provides new perspectives to study a patient's choice by addressing the importance of physician's prosocial behavior. With the effort of explicitly explaining the complex mechanisms, this study encourages physicians' engagement in a physician’s prosocial behavior and gives some implications on how to perform the behaviors strategically.
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Jaqueline Pels, Luis Araujo and Tomas Andres Kidd
In developing economies, 30% of the gross domestic product on average is undertaken by unregistered businesses. The informal economy leads to high opportunity costs by preventing…
Abstract
Purpose
In developing economies, 30% of the gross domestic product on average is undertaken by unregistered businesses. The informal economy leads to high opportunity costs by preventing gains from trade with strangers. To overcome this obstacle, sellers who usually operate in the informal economy should strive to move to formal markets. Current theories are drawn from a view of markets as institutions governed by formal and informal rules. In a nutshell, informal-formal market transitions must be met with a regulative solution. However, the overall results have been disappointing. This failure invites a re-diagnosis of the problem that informal sellers face to act in formal markets and suggesting novel solutions. This paper aims to address this gap.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper. The authors adopt MacInnis’s (2011) framework to characterize the approach to theory development.
Findings
The authors argue that extant views of formal/informal markets differences address only one of Scott’s (2014) three pillars (regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive). By drawing on Bourdieu’s legacy, the authors propose a cultural-cognitive reading of institutions and suggest it offers a lens to understand the problem as an access challenge, and thus a marketing problem. This perspective allows us to conceptualize informal/formal markets as two distinct institutional fields and argues that all individuals inhabit a particular habitus and contend that moving between markets requires a habitus shift. Thus, acting in formal markets involves bridging a habitus gap. Finally, the authors argue the need for a market-facing intermediary that takes on a market habitus bridging role.
Research limitations/implications
The authors suggest future research efforts could benefit from this new conceptual lens as a means of re-diagnosing other forms of market access that have produced disappointing results.
Practical implications
By looking at differences between formal and informal markets as a habitus gap, the allocation of public funds to support transitions can be better targeted and spent.
Social implications
The concept of market-facing intermediaries suggests that the beneficiary (e.g. informal seller) and target populations can be different. This insight could catalyze social innovation and trigger novel perspectives to design systemic solutions.
Originality/value
Conceptualizing the formal-informal market transition as a habitus gap suggests new directions to resolve access challenges and a new mediator solution.
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Thomas Boysen Anker, Ross Gordon and Nadia Zainuddin
The emerging consumer-dominant logic of marketing captures consumers’ active and primary role in a range of mainstream marketing processes such as branding, product development…
Abstract
Purpose
The emerging consumer-dominant logic of marketing captures consumers’ active and primary role in a range of mainstream marketing processes such as branding, product development and sales. However, consumers’ active role in driving pro-social behaviour change has not yet received close attention. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and explore consumer dominance in social marketing. The authors propose a definition of consumer-dominant social marketing (CDSM) and explicate five key elements which underpin the phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual study offers an analysis informed by exemplars with significant representations of consumer-dominant pro-social behaviours and projects. The methodological approach is characterised as “envisioning conceptualisation”, which is explained in terms of MacInnis’ (2011) framework for conceptual approaches in marketing.
Findings
As a phenomenon, CDSM operationalises the following elements: power, agency, resources, value and responsibility. The authors demonstrate how these elements are interconnected and define their meaning, significance and implications in the context of social marketing and pro-social behaviour change. The authors also identify this new form of social marketing as existing on a continuum depending on the level of involvement or dominance of the consumer and of social marketers; at one end of this continuum, exclusive CDSM is entirely consumer-driven and does not engage with businesses or organisations, while on the other end, inclusive CDSM encompasses partnership with external stakeholders to achieve pro-social behaviour change.
Research limitations/implications
The existence of inclusive and exclusive CDSM points towards an intricate power balance between consumers, mainstream social marketers and businesses. While this study identifies and explains this substantial distinction, it is an important task for future research to systematise the relationship and explore the optimal balance between consumer activism and involvement of formalised organisations such as charities and businesses in pro-social behaviour change projects.
Practical implications
The study provides social marketing professionals with an understanding of the benefits of harnessing consumer empowerment to enhance the impact of social marketing interventions.
Originality/value
The study makes a theoretical contribution by introducing, defining and explicating consumer dominance as a substantive area of social marketing.
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Claudio Baccarani and Fabio Cassia
The purpose of this paper is to understand how the resource integration processes that occur within service ecosystems affect both the well-being of the entire ecosystem and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand how the resource integration processes that occur within service ecosystems affect both the well-being of the entire ecosystem and the well-being of specific focal actors (i.e. customers) in the ecosystem. Specifically, this paper considered cases in which customers’ well-being results from simultaneous participation in a multiplicity of service ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
An illustrative example, taken from the tourism context, was used to develop a conceptual framework (of which customers were the focal actors) to evaluate service ecosystem outcomes.
Findings
The results showed that the well-being of focal actors (i.e. customers) should be evaluated by considering the outcomes that arise in the interlocking service ecosystems in which the customers simultaneously participate. Further, in relation to these interlocking service ecosystems, high levels of well-being within a single ecosystem did not necessarily cause focal actors to experience high levels of well-being.
Research limitations/implications
To ensure the creation of positive customer experiences, the co-creating actors (e.g. the service providers) must first identify each of the interlocking service ecosystems in which customers simultaneously participate and then establish interactions with other relevant actors.
Originality/value
By considering the complex relationships between the well-being of a service ecosystem as a whole and the well-being of specific focal actors (e.g. customers) in an ecosystem, this study advances knowledge about evaluations on the performance of service ecosystems.
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Jawwad Z. Raja and Thomas Frandsen
Previous research has predominately focused on the servitization strategies of western manufacturers in advanced economies, neglecting the potential for servitization in those…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has predominately focused on the servitization strategies of western manufacturers in advanced economies, neglecting the potential for servitization in those which are emerging, such as China. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the external service partner network of a European manufacturer providing services in China, in order to develop a better understanding of the resulting and associated challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth case study approach was used to examine the parent company, its subsidiary in China and the related service partner network. Data collection involved all three actors and took place in Denmark and China.
Findings
The findings suggest that motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) need not only be mutually reinforcing for the organization attempting to move toward services but also aligned between organizational units, as well as with the service partner network. Furthermore, the findings suggest that while service partners are typically closer to the market, they may not be able to deliver the higher value-added services requiring customization.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to a single manufacturer attempting servitization in China. Future studies may consider other case firms in other markets.
Practical implications
The MOA framework provides a basis for understanding the managerial challenges of aligning and coordinating the MOA elements amongst different actors.
Originality/value
This paper contributes by exploring servitization in an emerging market through the MOA framework in order to better understand the challenges and complexities. Servitization is found to be a dynamic phenomenon which should be understood as a movement that is also dependent on an external service partner possessing the necessary capabilities. In turn, this requires understanding the MOAs of all actors in a network and how they may be influenced in order for the MOA elements to be mutually reinforcing.
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