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In industrialised countries water service providers (WSPs) must provide an appropriate level of service with an acceptable performance at an acceptable cost to customers. In the UK a move towards sustainable development is now also a major goal for WSPs. However, the imposition of institutional systems and regulatory targets still encourage the adoption of less sustainable technologies or solutions by the water industry. It is within this context, that the Sustainable Water industry Asset Resource Decisions (SWARD) project has developed a set of decision support processes that allow WSPs to assess the relative sustainability of water/wastewater system asset development decisions. A Guidebook has been produced that takes the WSP and its stakeholders through the processes essential to incorporating sustainability in asset investment decision‐making. Several case studies that demonstrate the SWARD principles in application are included within the Guidebook, the experience of which is described in this paper.

Issues such as managing brand image, assessing advertising medium effectiveness and collecting market intelligence are common practice for higher education institutions (HEIs). Consequently, understanding the information needs of potential students to the HEI when they make their decisions is paramount. The aim of this survey is to analyse the decision‐making criteria of new undergraduates enrolling at a UK HEI on their first day in terms of marketing activities employed throughout the decision‐making period during their last 12 months. Focusing in particular on the effectiveness of the dissemination of information with the influences on their decisions of whether or not to keep this HEI in their preferred set and to enrol (purchase) will be investigated.

The research was designed to establish the key marketing communication activities that contribute to the student decision‐making process. A survey of 318 students enrolling on their first day at a Welsh (traditional) university was achieved from a sampling frame of 469. In order to supplement the literature, four semi structured in‐depth interviews with university staff (the School Manager, School Admissions Tutor, Head of Central Marketing, and Head of Central Recruitment) were also held. These interviews identified the key marketing communication themes (information sources with the application of new technologies in disseminating information during the decision‐making period) that acted as the foundation for the questionnaire. The respondents were asked to consider each phase of the decision‐making process and rank the information sources that had the most impact upon them. Hence a critical incident approach was employed.

The results show that the respondents did receive adequate information, with details of the programme of study being most important, but they would have preferred greater use of electronic sources and especially from current undergraduates on a regular basis. If the HE senior management knows the impact in terms of the timing and content of marketing activities on potential HE students, there is a better chance of matching the information sources to the needs of the students.

HEIs can do more for potential HE students by trying to offer the most relevant information that will satisfy each of their information needs. It is beneficial for all parties concerned that potential students are better informed and prepared to make those decisions. This is especially true as potential students are frequently young and living at home, planning to consume this “good experience” over a relatively long period of time, and the financial risks with opportunity costs involved are substantial. By addressing potential students' concerns and offering more “tailor‐made” communication strategies to suit them, HEIs can easily segment the market place and then position themselves within the competitive environment.

This study aims to investigate the use of mobile phones in enhancing human capabilities and agricultural development among small-scale farmers in selected rural districts of Tanzania. The study assessed the potential capabilities acquired by farmers, factors that influence farmers in building their capabilities and achieving development outcomes.

The study used Sen’s capability approach as a guiding framework to investigate the link between mobile phones and agricultural development. A case study design was employed whereby focus group discussions were used to collect data.

The use of mobile phone services enabled rural farmers to build their financial, human and social capabilities. Rural farmers faced personal and non-personal conversion factors that influenced them in building capabilities and achieving development outcomes. The use of mobile phones led to various development outcomes. The typical development outcomes were related to access to information and communication services and reduction of transport costs. Rural farmers experienced family conflicts due to protectiveness exercised by couples through the use of mobile phones, criminal incidences such as theft and the fear of being recorded when making a phone call.

The study findings have the potential of influencing policy and practice. The findings are useful in promoting the value of mobile phones usage in empowering rural farmers and communities. The telecommunication sector and other key stakeholders can use the study findings in setting the basis for prioritising the improvement of telecommunication infrastructure in the rural areas.

The purpose of this study is to survey the associations among innovation perspective on value priorities, i.e. hedonic vs utilitarian facets, satisfaction among customers and behavioral intents for online fashion apparels in the Asian economic context, i.e. Indian market.

The research used a hypo-deductive strategy and all the constructs were amended from the previous scholarly work. The two-step methodology with structural equation modelling in terms of covariance-based methodology was deployed to weigh the measurement and structural models.

The conclusions reveal that value priorities in terms of hedonic vs utilitarian dimensions have a substantial influence on satisfaction, and satisfaction significantly affects intentions for online apparels. Additionally, customer satisfaction performs the role of a partial facilitator between hedonic and utilitarian values and purchase intents. In comparison to hedonic, utilitarian priorities display a superior outcome on customer satisfaction and purchase intents for fashion apparels getting sold online portals.

The research will facilitate online researchers and fashion managers recognize the underlying dimensions of innovation-led perspectives on values, i.e. hedonic vs utilitarian, for satisfaction and behavioral intents.

The study results will assist online marketers, fashion portals and specialists recognize the characteristics of hedonic vs utilitarian dimensions to improve satisfaction facets and behavioral intents for online fashion apparels.

The present scholarly work presents useful insights related to social transformation with respect to innovative online fashion apparel buying paradigms.

In an Asian market context, the paper is pioneer work to examine the comparative relationships among value priorities, e.g. hedonic vs utilitarian dimensions and their influence on satisfaction and purchase intents for the fashion apparels sold online sector a two-dimensional measure of consumption values.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve a better understanding of the current phenomenon regarding challenges of and potential for increased international recruitment and enhancement of the teaching and learning experience in Thai HE. The focus on what made these people choose Thailand, and their actual perceptions and experiences in Thai universities, are two main foci of this paper.

A qualitative approach through narrative interviews was selected as the researchers did not want to constrain this study with preconceived notions that might unduly steer the findings. During the interviews, detailed notes were taken, and the conversations were taped recorded, and then transcribed and analysed. The analytic approach adopted was a thematic analysis. NVivo qualitative data analysis software (QSR International Pty Ltd Version 11, 2017) was used to help organise and analyse the data.

The findings show that availability of scholarships, word-of-mouth referrals, and geographical and cultural proximity to a home country appear to be important pull factors. A series of interviews with international students from many different cultures, from both developed and developing countries, yielded some surprising insights including strong research support in some disciplines and the fact that academic life is personalised in Thai universities.

The findings from this study suggested that engaging returnees as ambassadors, creating links between international student community and home student community before, during and after the education abroad experience could potentially help Thai HE to be more marketable at a global scale. International students have potentials to be future contacts for inducing the flow of international students evident by the social network or word-of-mouth referrals as one of the prominent pull factors.

The findings from this paper provide advice and guidance on how values-based, rather than purely numbers-driven strategies can help Thai HEIs across the country to be more attractive to students and to enhance their experience once they come to study in Thai HEIs.

This study will make an important critique of current theories of academic mobility that primarily focus on developed countries. Current literature in international education favours native English language countries and overlooks experiences of international students in developing countries. This study will contribute to the existing literature which is lacking in reported perceptions and experiences of international students in Asian countries, particularly the new emerging educational hub in Southeast Asia like Thailand. The paper includes experiences of students from developed countries such as Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the USA, filling in the gap in the current literature that dominantly reports experiences of Asian students in the developed English-speaking countries. Additionally, this study also reports the experiences of international students from the countries that are lesser known in the context of international education, including Cambodia, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda.

This study aims to examine the antecedents and performance consequences of three types of communication technology (phone, e-mail and internet) in cross-border business-to-business relationships.

Based on the proposed theoretical framework six hypotheses are advanced and tested. The authors use regression analysis on data from a survey of American exporters combined with secondary data on emerging European markets.

This research finds that relationship-level variables are better predictors of ICT use than country-level variables, and that ICT use impacts dyadic performance. More specifically, information exchange predicted all three communication modes, while the use of warnings predicted both inter-personal communication methods. From an institutional standpoint, the authors find that bureaucratic barriers predict both phone and e-mail communication. At the firm level, it is found that firm-level technological skills are a significant predictor for the use of internet-based data exchange. The paper also finds that increased frequency of phone and e-mail communication among dyadic partners improves performance.

Although micro-level variables are found to be more important, country variables still bring interesting insights and should not be ignored. Also, newer technologies should be explored in future research.

The authors explore antecedents of information/communication technology (ICT) use at three levels: country or macro level, dyadic (or inter-firm relationship) level, and firm capabilities (intra-firm). At the country level, the authors move beyond infrastructure to examine the impact of institutional factors, such as government red tape. At the relationship level, the authors include trust-type social norms, but extend the analysis to incorporate the use of unilateral influence attempts, such as warnings.

The paper aims to explore the relevance of key marketing concepts, including market orientation, marketing competencies and resources, and competitive marketing strategies, in explaining international market success among smaller agri‐food companies.

The paper presents a multi‐case research, involving five small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), from different agri‐food sub‐sectors. The research employed a semi‐structured interview guide, and subjected the generated data to meaning‐oriented content analysis procedure.

Evidence points to the influential impact of adopting a marketing orientation; developing advantage‐generating competencies in the product, channel and relationship management areas; leveraging strategically‐relevant managerial, production and brand/reputational resources; and deploying appropriate competitive marketing strategies.

Limitations and implications of the research generally relate to the use of a small, non‐representative sample and the less than robust specification of the major constructs explored in the study. Future researchers should strive to obtain larger samples, develop a set of relevant hypotheses and test same using appropriate statistical techniques.

Findings offer a set of important lessons for smaller agri‐food companies and policy makers seeking to improve performance levels in international markets. They also add to the limited body of knowledge on the key influences on international marketing success within the agri‐food sector.

The purpose of this study is to investigate cross cultural differences in the impact of online retailer reputation and retail quality on consumers' emotional and cognitive (i.e. perceived risk) reactions, which lead to purchase intention, based on stimulus‐organism‐response (S‐O‐R) model.

Two cultures, US (individualism, low uncertainty avoidance) and South Korea (collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance) were chosen for comparison for their contrast in cultural characteristics. Multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in order to compare the structural model in two different cultures.

The results indicate that while the overall mechanism underlying the decision making process is similar for the two countries, differences are found in the relative importance of the factors determining consumers' cognitive and emotional reactions as well as their intention to purchase online.

The majority of the respondents were female and their evaluation was mostly towards online apparel websites. It did not bias the result of this study as the two sample sets were comparable in their demographics and online shopping behavior, yet the result may be generalized to a limited extent.

The results suggest that retailing strategy may vary in response to cultural differences. In East Asian countries that share Confucian values, targeting consumer emotion through experiential cues may not yield as significant result as it may in the USA.

This study will add value to the current literature by examining the cultural difference in consumer psychological process and its consequent effect on purchase intention focusing on reputation as key external stimuli.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of salespersons' attributions about managerial e‐monitoring on salespersons' customer orientation.

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the six study hypotheses. A main effects model was used to test the first two hypotheses, with a comparison of regression models used to identify pure modifiers.

The results of this study found informing attributions enhance customer orientation. This effect, however, can be weakened under highly bureaucratic organizational cultures. Similarly, the ability of controlling attributions to hamper customer orientation is less pronounced in cultures described as more bureaucratic.

Building on self‐determination theory (SDT), the authors' study provides an explicit test of e‐monitoring and examines the nature and effects of information and controlling attributions. Given a low variance extracted value attained for bureaucratic culture, future research investigating the underlying dimensions of bureaucratic cultures is warranted. Likewise, more tests of the cognitive mechanisms behind salespersons' attributions are needed to further extend SDT.

Managers seeking to improve customer orientation through the use of e‐monitoring might be best served by encouraging a salesperson's informing attributions. This might be accomplished by clearly communicating the purposes of the e‐monitoring to members of the salesforce.

By investigating the positive and negative effects of e‐monitoring on salesperson customer orientation, this study offers concrete implications for researchers and practitioners on a topic that previously has been examined in the literature only via speculative post hoc analysis.

Drawing on consumer behavior and service marketing literature, the aim of this paper is to empirically examine how customers' justice judgment and consumption emotions affect customer relationships and their post consumption behaviors in a service recovery context.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to test the conceptual model, using a sample of nearly 600 delayed airline passengers.

Perceived justice and consumption emotions are important elements affecting customers' evaluation of service recovery. The three dimensions of service recovery justice and customers' positive and negative emotions have direct or indirect influence on customers' satisfaction with service recovery (SSR), customer trust, and their repurchase intentions and word‐of‐mouth recommendations. Theoretical and managerial implications were drawn based on the findings.

The current study sought to extend the existing literature by not only analyzing the effects of perceived justice and consumption emotions on satisfaction with service recovery (SSR), but also investigating how customer SSR would influence their sense of trust for the company and their behavioral intentions. In addition, many prior studies adopted experimental methods and post survey methods. Those methods have various validity problems. This study attempted to overcome those problems by using on‐the‐spot investigation methods to study customers' evaluation of service recovery in real service failure situations.