Search results
1 – 10 of over 11000Zain ul Abedin Janjua, Gengeswari Krishnapillai and Mobashar Rehman
This study explored the antecedent and consequent relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) competency, sustainability tourism marketing and brand equity…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored the antecedent and consequent relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) competency, sustainability tourism marketing and brand equity in rural community-based homestays in Malaysia. This study also examined how the political support by local authorities benefitted this sustainable rural tourism product development.
Design/methodology/approach
Homestays operators from three states in Malaysia–Kuala Lumpur/Selangor, Pahang and Pulau Pinang–participated in the study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect responses and to test research hypotheses.
Findings
The study's model empirically demonstrated ICT competency, sustainability tourism marketing practices and political support by local authorities' construct which are essential explanatory variables of homestay brand equity. The model shows high levels of consistency between the theoretical design and the empirical results of its constructs, contributing as a new step in the tourism sustainability literature.
Research limitations/implications
This study enables us to explain the “triple bottom line” theory when applied in combination with ICT competency, brand equity and newly introduced construct “political support by local authorities”.
Practical implications
The study results in evidence of crucial implications for policymakers. Policymakers should enhance cost-effectiveness, policy integration (integration of economic, environmental and social goals), and transparency and accountability to achieve United Nations' and Malaysia's sustainable tourism goals.
Originality/value
This study is an early attempt to highlight the importance of sustainable tourism marketing and brand equity in rural community-based homestays in Malaysia. This study also emphasizes that the local political authorities are the most crucial rural tourism stakeholders, and they play a key role in sustainable rural tourism transformation.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to elaborate on the interface between water scarcity and consumption and, specifically to focus on, how consumers’ perceptions and views towards (un)sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to elaborate on the interface between water scarcity and consumption and, specifically to focus on, how consumers’ perceptions and views towards (un)sustainable water consumption can inform the development of sustainable water practices and environmental policies.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology was adopted, consisting of 34 in-depth interviews with consumers, in four cities in the United Kingdom (UK). The semi-structured interviews sought to examine sustainable water consumption practices in more depth within an unexplored context, and secondary data were also used to explore the phenomenon in more depth.
Findings
The findings provide novel theoretical and empirical insights around the invisibility and imperceptibility of (un)sustainable water consumption. The findings suggest how interdisciplinary and collaborative practices can enhance more responsible and sustainable consumption of water resources in the UK.
Practical implications
The study can inform marketing strategies on community engagement with localised water sustainable actions and encourage policymakers to develop concrete marketing communications and increased public awareness regarding water scarcity.
Social implications
Considering the slow growth of water scarcity, the findings can prompt marketing scholars to explore similar phenomena, within seemingly unaffected countries, urban centres, industries and marketplaces.
Originality/value
Previous studies focused on the measurement of household water consumption in the water-scarce context of the Southern Hemisphere. Challenging geographical perceptions of water shortage, this study focuses on the UK and highlights how the multidimensional, finite and invisible nature of water consumption requires collaborative efforts in tackling water scarcity.
Details
Keywords
Young-Ah Kim, Kyung-Ah Kim and Peter G. Moffatt
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of government support policies and research and development (R&D) activities on product innovation under market uncertainty.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of government support policies and research and development (R&D) activities on product innovation under market uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies logistic regression analysis to a sample of 4,000 South Korean manufacturing firms in order to investigate the impact of government policies and R&D activities of the firm on firm innovation performance, with particular interest in the moderating role of the firm's perceived market uncertainty (PMU).
Findings
Policies supporting industry/university/institute/local collaboration are found to have greater benefit under high PMU. Surprisingly, support for a consortium among different-sized firms has a negative effect on product innovation, although this negative effect disappears under high PMU. Both support for the protection of intellectual property (IP) and support for the resolution of manpower shortages have strong positive effects on the propensity to innovate products, but in both cases the moderating effects of uncertainty are negative. Finally, all types of R&D activities have positive effects on the propensity to innovate, more so for new product innovation than for improved product innovation.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine analytically the moderating effect of PMU in the effectiveness of government policies promoting innovation in the manufacturing sector. The study is potentially useful both for policymakers in deciding which policies to implement under prevailing market conditions; and for entrepreneurs choosing between different forms of government support, particularly given the abnormal levels of market uncertainty prevailing in the Covid-19 era.
Details
Keywords
Hajar Fatemi, Erica Kao, R. Sandra Schillo, Wanyu Li, Pan Du, Nie Jian-Yun and Laurette Dube
This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This research sheds light on how consumers think and talk about natural food within the context of food well-being and health.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a keyword-based approach to extract user generated content from Twitter and used both food as well-being and food as health frameworks for analysis of more than two million tweets.
Findings
The authors found that consumers mostly discuss food marketing and less frequently discuss food policy. Their results show that tweets regarding naturalness were significantly less frequent in food categories that feature naturalness to an extent, e.g. fruits and vegetables, compared to food categories dominated by technologies, processing and man-made innovation, such as proteins, seasonings and snacks.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides numerous implications and contributions to the literature on consumer behavior, marketing and public policy in the domain of natural food.
Practical implications
The authors’ exploratory findings can be used to guide food system stakeholders, farmers and food processors to obtain insights into consumers' mindset on food products, novel concepts, systems and diets through social media analytics.
Originality/value
The authors’ results contribute to the literature on the use of social media in food marketing on understanding consumers' attitudes and beliefs toward natural food, food as the well-being literature and food as the health literature, by examining the way consumers think about natural (versus man-made) food using user generated content of Twitter, which has not been previously used.
Details
Keywords
Mahima Mathur and Sanjeev Swami
This paper provides a managerial overview of social marketing in India to improve the understanding about its nature and utility in addressing the needs of India's social sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides a managerial overview of social marketing in India to improve the understanding about its nature and utility in addressing the needs of India's social sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a qualitative research methodology by conducting an extensive review of relevant theories, concepts and past studies related to social marketing, focusing on the Indian context. Select case studies have also been studied and presented to elucidate how social marketing programs are conducted by various forms of organisations in India.
Findings
First, the meaning of social marketing, its distinction from commercial marketing and some pertinent challenges faced by social marketers are discussed. Thereafter, a brief overview of the role of competition, cost and barriers towards conducting an effective social marketing program is provided. Lastly, we propose a scheme of organisations sponsoring social marketing in India and discuss the future perspectives.
Practical implications
The study enables a deeper understanding of social marketing discipline for policy makers, social marketing professionals and organisations sponsoring social marketing initiatives in India.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on social marketing in the Indian context by conducting a broad overview with the aim of improving the understanding of social marketing which may help realise its full potential in the future.
Details
Keywords
Odai Falah Mohammad Al-Ghaswyneh
Although the livestock sector is considered to be an important segment of the Saudi Arabian economy, its contribution, including the multiple sources of commercial income it…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the livestock sector is considered to be an important segment of the Saudi Arabian economy, its contribution, including the multiple sources of commercial income it provides, is underestimated. This industry provides thousands of jobs in various related sectors and meets national demand for food. This study aims to examine the impact of breeding inputs such as animal production, marketing processes and operation and legislation on livestock sector efficiency and strategic food security.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted an exploratory approach. The sample consisted of specialists in industrial production and livestock breeders in the northern region of Saudi Arabia. The relative importance index was used to analyze the data, which was evaluated using structural equation modeling in SPSS.
Findings
The results show the significant influence of breeding inputs, markets and legislation on increasing the efficiency of the livestock sector and the impact of livestock on strategic food security. They also highlight the need to motivate governments to focus on this sector, especially by reducing taxes on breeders’ income and lowering livestock costs accordingly. The Saudi Arabian Government should also facilitate innovative agreements to create global markets for the export of surplus livestock products. In addition, a marketing process is lacking in all areas of production and the local and international marketing of livestock products, which requires the support of different sources of fodder and establishment of markets for specific types of meat slaughter, packaging and sales.
Research limitations/implications
This research was limited to the northern region of Saudi Arabia.
Practical implications
This study highlights the importance of marketing processes and activities according to marketing operations as they used in study instrument to explore their impact on in the marketing livestock sector for national food security strategies and guides future studies in this field.
Social implications
This research recommends that decision-makers support marketing in the livestock sector and reduce production taxes.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, no previous related research has been conducted in the field of food security.
Details
Keywords
Abhijit Roy, Marat Bakpayev, Melanie Florence Boninsegni, Smriti Kumar, Jean-Paul Peronard and Thomas Reimer
Technological progress and the advancement of the 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) are well underway. However, its influence on the transformation of core sectors from the…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological progress and the advancement of the 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) are well underway. However, its influence on the transformation of core sectors from the perspective of consumer well-being remains under-explored. Seeking to bridge this gap in the marketing and public policy literature, this study aims to propose a conceptual framework to explicate how data-driven, intelligent and connected IR 4.0 technologies are blurring traditional boundaries between digital, physical and biological domains.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper using primarily a literature review of the field. The authors position the work as a contribution to consumer well-being and public policy literature from the lens of increasingly important in our technology-integrated society emerging technologies.
Findings
The authors define and conceptualize technology-enabled well-being (TEW), which allows a better understanding of transformative outcomes of IR 4.0 on three essential dimensions of consumer well-being: individual, societal and environmental. Finally, the authors discuss public policy implications and outline future research directions.
Originality/value
The authors highlight specific gaps in the literature on IR 4.0. First, past studies in consumer well-being did not incorporate substantial changes that emerging IR 4.0 technologies bring, especially across increasingly blurring digital, physical and biological domains. Second, past research focused on individual technologies and individual well-being. What is unaccounted for is the potential for a synergetic, proactive effect that emerging technologies bring on the aggregate level not only to individuals but also to society and the environment. Finally, understanding the differences between responses to different outcomes of technologies has important implications for developing public policy. Synergetic, proactive effect of technologies on core sectors such as healthcare, education, financial services, manufacturing and retailing is noted.
Details
Keywords
Tanisha Wright-Brown, Sandy Brennan, Michael Blackwood and Jennifer Donnan
Almost five years after legalization, the unlicensed cannabis market is still thriving in Canada, and legacy cannabis retailers continue to face barriers to legal market entry…
Abstract
Purpose
Almost five years after legalization, the unlicensed cannabis market is still thriving in Canada, and legacy cannabis retailers continue to face barriers to legal market entry. This study aims to shed light on these challenges and offer policy recommendations supporting legacy retailers and the government’s goals of enhancing public safety and displacing the unlicensed market.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviewed online sources, including the media, gray literature, government, and other policy and legal websites, to identify legacy retailers’ challenges to entering the Canadian ecosystem since legalization and policy approaches of legalized jurisdictions with similar issues.
Findings
Legacy retailers face financial, legal and social barriers to entering the legal market. The Canadian government should focus on lowering and eliminating these barriers by developing programs that reduce financial risks and required capital, facilitate partnership programs and accelerators, provide innovative options that reduce overhead expenses, encourage pooled ownership to support small businesses, prioritize market entry for equity-deserving individuals and enable automatic expungement. A description of programs that have been implemented in other jurisdictions to address similar barriers is provided.
Practical implications
The policy recommendations in this paper would enable increased entrepreneurship and employment in a growing sector. While the tax revenue earned from the new market entrants may not be enough to support all the recommended policy initiatives, it could be reinvested to fund some of them creating sustainable growth opportunities.
Originality/value
The paper provides practical, timely policy recommendations on expanding the legal cannabis market in Canada and addressing unintended negative consequences of current policies.
Details
Keywords
Darshan Pandya, Gopal Kumar and Shalabh Singh
It is crucial for the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to implement a few of the most important Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and reap maximum benefits of…
Abstract
Purpose
It is crucial for the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to implement a few of the most important Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and reap maximum benefits of sustainability. This paper aims to prioritize I4.0 technologies that can help achieve the sustainable operations and sustainable industrial marketing performance of Indian manufacturing MSMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
I4.0-based sustainability model was developed. The model was analyzed using data collected from MSMEs by deploying analytic hierarchy process and utility-function-based goal programming. To have a better understanding, interviews were conducted.
Findings
Predictive analytics, machine learning and real-time computing were found to be the most important I4.0 technologies for sustainable performance. Sensitivity analysis further confirmed the robustness of the results. Business-to-business sustainable marketing is prioritized as per the sustainability need of operations of industrial MSME buyers.
Originality/value
This study uniquely integrates literature and practitioners’ insights to explore I4.0’s role in MSMEs sustainability in emerging economies. It fills a research gap by aligning sustainability goals of industrial buyers with suppliers’ marketing strategies. Additionally, it offers practical recommendations for implementing technologies in MSMEs, contributing to both academia and industry practices.
Details
Keywords
Asim Qazi, Ubedullah Khoso, Farooq Ahmad and Syed Ali Raza Hamid
The purpose of this study is threefold: firstly, to compare Pakistani and French consumers’ perceptions of well-being; secondly, to investigate how consumers in both countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is threefold: firstly, to compare Pakistani and French consumers’ perceptions of well-being; secondly, to investigate how consumers in both countries relate to food; and thirdly, to assess whether they associate food with well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty participants (15 French and 15 Pakistani) between the ages of 24 and 35 were interviewed, using convenience and snow bowling sampling. Data triangulation was performed by combining three qualitative techniques, word association, photo-elicitation-based interviewing and open-ended questions to explore consumer perceptions of well-being, food and food well-being.
Findings
The study’s findings suggest that well-being is a broad concept in which food is an ingredient. Food and well-being share common elements, and food well-being can be defined as an individual’s psychological, physical, social and societal relationship with food ascribed by affordability and food literacy.
Originality/value
Pleasure, sharing and respect emerged as dimensions of food well-being that can be applied to transfigure consumer behaviour and reduce over-consumption, food waste and hunger. The dimensions of well-being and food were explored for both countries to understand their cultural nuances and determine the influence of food on well-being. This comparative analysis will help researchers understand consumers’ preferences for food in various aspects from two regions. This study can potentially contribute to scale development in food and well-being, which can help researchers measure the effects of food and well-being in different sectors of the economy, particularly in health care. The most aspiring aspect of the current research is the insights unveiled during interactions with research participants, which will help develop consumer baseline feelings.
Details