Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of online advertising spending on automobile sales through both search and non-search advertising.

Sales data of the top 52 vehicle models were collected in two consecutive years in China. The advertising spending data of both formats were collected from a leading consulting company and a major search engine company. Then several empirical models were proposed to evaluate the effects of online advertising on automobile sales. Two extended models were further investigated for search advertising.

The results revealed that both formats of online advertising have significantly positive effects on automobile sales. However, excessive spending on non-search advertising does not help sales and a moderate budget is preferred. On the other hand, spending on search advertising has no such constraint to improve the vehicle sales.

The empirical findings have proved the importance of online advertising to the automobile companies and thus can help companies improve their decision making in online advertising allocation strategies.

This study provides a better understanding of the relationship between online advertising spending and automobile sales, and helps business to define sophisticated online advertising strategies to improve sales performance.

Taxonomies (e.g., classification schemes) are valuable in that they clarify and create conceptual and theoretical frameworks to integrate a large variety of research (Brinkmann, 2002; Crié, 2003). In addition, taxonomies draw attention to the importance of a subject and provide a framework for organizing what we know and what we have yet to explore (Berenbaum, Raghavan, Le, Vernon, & Gomez, 2003). This article develops a taxonomy to explore the ethical considerations of advertising professionals. A netnographic study was conducted and the results are presented. A taxonomy is developed in which advertising practitioner concerns are classified into four categories: (1) societal impact, (2) industry norms and rules, (3) my ethical dilemmas, (4) others’ behavior, and (5) industry responses. This research supports and extends previous academic research into advertising ethics.

Are White and Asian job applicants advantaged in access to professional jobs relative to Black and Latinx job applicants at the initial screening stage of the hiring process? And, are the mechanisms of advantage for White applicants different than the mechanisms for Asian applicants? In this chapter, the author proposes a theoretical framework of “parallel mechanisms” of White and Asian advantage during hiring screening – that White and Asian applicants are advantaged compared to Black and Latinx applicants, but that the mechanisms of advantage subtly differ. The author focuses specifically on mechanisms related to two important factors at the hiring interface: referrals and educational attainment. The author applies the concept of parallel mechanisms to a case study of software engineering hiring at a midsized high technology firm in Silicon Valley. The author finds that at this firm, White applicants are advantaged at initial screening relative to Black and Latinx applicants due to average racial differences in applicant characteristics – namely having a referral – as well as differences in treatment by recruiters. For Asian applicants, average racial differences in possession of elite educational credentials, as well as racial differences in recruiter treatment, explain the racial disparity in callbacks. The author discusses the implications of parallel mechanisms of advantage for racial inequality in a multiracial context, and for organizational policy meant to address racial disparities during organizational hiring processes.

Rob Griffin, senior vice president and U.S. director of search for Media Contacts, a communications consulting firm, is faced with the task of optimizing search engine marketing (SEM) for Air France. At the time of the case, SEM had become an advertising phenomenon, with North American advertisers spending $9.4 billion in the SEM channel, up 62% from 2005. Moving forward, Griffin wants to ensure that the team keeps its leading edge and delivers the results Air France requires for optimal Internet sales growth. The case centers upon Air France's and Media Contacts' efforts to find the ideal SEM campaign to provide an optimal amount of ticket sales in response to advertising dollars spent. This optimal search marketing campaign is based on choosing effective allocation of ad dollars across the various search engines, as well as selecting appropriate keywords and bid strategies for placement on the search result page for Internet users.

In determining the optimal strategy, the case presents background information on the airline industry as well as the Internet search options available at the time, including Google, Microsoft MSN, Yahoo!, and Kayak. Additionally, background information is provided on SEM and its associated costs and means of measuring the successfulness of each marketing effort. The case illustrates how one must first determine the key performance indicators for the project to guide analysis and enable comparison of various SEM campaigns. Cost per click and probability to produce a sale differ among publishers. Therefore, using a portfolio application model's quadrant positions can be used to determine optimal publisher strategies. Additionally, pivot tables help illustrate campaigns and strategies that have historically been most successful in meeting Air France's target Internet sales. Multiple recommendations on how Media Contacts can assist Air France in improving its SEM strategy can be derived from the data provided.

Students learn how to optimally leverage the Internet in generating customer sales in a cost-effective manner. Students will analyze and manipulate a variety of data using pivot tables to determine optimal strategies for obtaining maximum total online bookings through the various online channels available. Using a portfolio application model, students can determine an optimal publisher strategy and complete copy improvement analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of job search and human capital of the unemployed in the Russian Federation for obtaining a job the following year.

Cross‐sectional data on human capital and job‐search strategies from different years of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey are used in different probit specifications to present and analyse empirical results.

Searching through friends and directly are the most common search methods, implying a large trust in networks. Moreover, people tend to do the right thing when trusting their networks; in 1994, searching via friends and directly were the only methods with a positive impact. People used fewer methods in 1994 and the impact of job searching is also higher in the latter two samples. This indicates a society gradually adapting to unemployment. As regards human capital, it is worth noticing that the results in 2004 are in accordance with several predictions of human capital theory, whereas the impact of medium education and work experience in the samples based on earlier years is weaker. This suggests that more people have had time to upgrade their skills, to obtain relevant work experience and/or to obtain a post transition secondary education in 2003.

This paper identifies the importance of both different job‐search strategies and human capital when searching for a job in the Russian Federation. The result presented may be of interest to both policy‐makers and scientists.

The purpose of this research is to explore a method for the determination of users' representations of search engines, formed during their interaction with these systems. Determines the extent to which these elicited “mental models” indicate the system aspects of importance to the user and from this their evaluative view of these tools.

The repertory grid technique is used to elicit a set of constructs that define facets within the mental model of an individual. A related technique of laddering then considers each of the user's constructs to determine the reasons for its importance within the user's mental model.

The model derived from the qualitative data comprises three hierarchical strata and conveys the interrelations between basic system description, evaluative description, and the key evaluations of ease, efficiency, effort and effectiveness. Two additional layers relating to the perceived process and the experience of emotion are also discussed.

Ten participants is considered to be optimum for obtaining constructs in a repertory grid, but limits the findings to the context of the user group and the systems used in this study.

The methodology has not previously been used to determine mental models of search engines and from these to understand users' evaluative view of systems. The resulting model of key evaluations with the conjunctions of procedural elements suggests a framework for further research to evaluate search engines from the user perspective.

The Internet and social media have fundamentally transformed the ways in which individuals find jobs. Relatively little is known about how demand-side market actors use online information and the implications for social stratification and mobility. This study provides an in-depth exploration of the online recruitment strategies pursued by human resource (HR) professionals. Qualitative interviews with 61 HR recruiters in two southern US metro areas reveal two distinct patterns in how they use Internet resources to fill jobs. For low and general skill work, they post advertisements to online job boards (e.g., Monster and CareerBuilder) with massive audiences of job seekers. By contrast, for high-skill or supervisory positions, they use LinkedIn to target passive candidates – employed individuals who are not looking for work but might be willing to change jobs. Although there are some intermediate practices, the overall picture is one of an increasingly bifurcated “winner-take-all” labor market in which recruiters focus their efforts on poaching specialized superstar talent (“purple squirrels”) from the ranks of the currently employed, while active job seekers are relegated to the hyper-competitive and impersonal “black hole” of the online job boards.

Although there is a burgeoning stream of research on lateral hiring (LH), lack of integration of the literature has obscured the past accomplishments and future directions remain unclear. The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise the existing literature on LH in the spirit of further development of this field.

The paper is based on an extensive review of the literature across multiple social science disciplines.

The study integrates the existing streams of research in such a way that human resources and personnel practitioners see the relevance of research and how they can mitigate the negative effects of LH. The study demonstrates how employers can acquire, develop and retain scarce human capital (HC) to help improve their competitiveness.

The main limitation of the review is that the search might have overlooked studies that employed specialised terminologies or keywords not used here.

The study outlines a number of implications for theory and human resource management.

This study advances research on LH by developing an integrated conceptual framework of how the attributes of the target employee, current employer and potential employer influence how LH is considered, instigated, responded to and accepted. The findings highlight the increasingly important role played by HC in developing sustainable competitive advantage.

This study aims to explore the use of gamification elements by micro and small e-tailers to enhance customer loyalty. Additionally, this research seeks to identify the most promising gamification elements that can be utilised for this purpose.

The authors adopt a qualitative approach to examine the impact of gamification on online customer loyalty to micro and small e-tailers. Data were gathered using a combination of two types of expert interviews. Semi-structured interviews were held with micro and small e-tailers while large e-tailers served as the control group. Structured interviews based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) models were conducted to determine the most promising gamification elements.

The content analysis reveals that gamification has significant potential for fostering customer loyalty and offering various other benefits. However, small e-tailers often refrain from implementing gamification solutions due to the resource requirements in terms of finances, time, information technology and human capital. By assigning weights as an essential step in MCDA models, the authors determined that badges, medals, quests, avatars and competitions are the most promising gamification options for small e-tailers’ efforts to enhance customer loyalty.

The study makes a unique contribution to the understanding of the usefulness of gamification in augmenting customer loyalty and identifying essential gamification elements for micro and small e-tailers.

Old boy networks are exclusive elite networks of white males that afford inside information, facilitate advancement, and provide support to each other. Understanding old boy networks is important because it represents a culturally specific form of cronyism that has significant negative consequences for international business. As a corrective to more optimistic scholarship on the benefits of social networks in organizations – and in line with critical assessments of other network phenomena, such as guanxi – we explore the generic social processes that give rise to old boy networks in society using Social Closure Theory and consider the consequences of old boy networks in organizations through the lens of Relational Inequality Theory. Specifically, we highlight research on network membership and gender, race, and class inequality in hiring, socialization, and assessment. We conclude by discussing the implications of old boy networks for international business.