Search results

With the rising concern for the planet and people dimensions of the triple-bottom-line, an increasing number of firms are using cause-related marketing (CRM) to create a win-win situation for all stakeholders. With growing internet and social media access the Indian consumer is being invited to participate in such campaigns through digital platforms. The purpose of the present study is to examine consumer perceptions about select digital CRM campaigns in terms of perceived fit between the brand and the cause being promoted and the extent of participation effort required by the campaign and further to investigate the relationship between these two variables and consumers’ intentions to participate in the campaign, engage in positive word-of-mouth about it and their brand purchase intentions.

Six online CRM campaigns in the consumer products space were taken up for study. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire in an online mode, which provided an advertisement snapshot and a brief description of each CRM campaign. Items to measure variables under examination were adapted from the extant literature. Three versions of the questionnaire were created, with each version involving two of the six campaigns. Thus, each respondent was responding to items pertaining to two campaigns only. A total of 242 responses were collected, using non-probability sampling.

The study indicates overall positive responses to the digital CRM campaigns included in the study. It finds that for the online CRM campaigns taken up for examination, respondents perceive a high extent of brand-cause fit. A fit between the cause being promoted and the brand’s sphere of activity is a factor that needs to be considered for its impact on consumer willingness to participate in the campaign and intention to engage in positive word-of-mouth about it. The study does not indicate a significant relationship between participation effort for online campaigns and consumer behavioural intentions. Consumer participation intentions and word-of-mouth intentions are found to be positively related to intentions to purchase the brand associated with the campaign.

In their efforts to design effective CRM campaigns, marketers should use creativity in looking for a common thread, which ties their business or brand with the cause being promoted. Consumers tend to perceive this congruence between the cause and the brand and this impacts their behavioural responses. It is possible that the fact that consumers are not required to make a purchase but are being invited to support a cause by performing a non-transaction-based activity, may also underlie their positive response to this genre of CRM activities. The study provides an understanding of factors that contribute to the effectiveness of non-purchase-based online CRM campaigns in garnering consumer engagement with the campaign and the brand.

The results provide important insights regarding non-transaction based digital CRM campaigns and the relationship between brand-cause fit, perceived participation effort and targeted changes in consumers’ behavioural intentions. Online CRM campaigns involving consumer participation in forms other than brand purchase are an emerging area of effort towards customer engagement and thus warrant further investigation.

Regulatory frameworks in Australia encourage employee participation in decision making (PDM) on the basis that participation benefits work effort, job satisfaction and commitment. Although the literature supports this premise, there is little evidence that patterns of causal inference in the relationship are clearly understood. This study aims to examine for structural and causal inference between PDM and the work environment over time.

Structural equation modeling was used to examine longitudinal, matched sample data for causal inferences.

The paper finds that participation in decision making appears to promote job satisfaction and commitment, whereas task variety and work effort foster participation.

The use of quantitative, self report data, small samples and cross industry data as well as possible overlap between commitment foci may limit the transferability of the findings. It is also important to note causality is merely inferred.

Although participation in decision making positively influences work effort, autonomy and commitment, practitioners need to be mindful of keeping a balance between employee and employer needs. Job satisfaction and commitment are at risk in the long term if participation is viewed merely as a survival strategy for coping with work effort and task variety.

The paper examines inferred causality within a participative decision‐making framework and addresses the previously neglected need for multi‐site and longitudinal studies.

A distinct view of customer participation in services classifies the characteristics of the participation process as experience- versus outcome-oriented, each of which affects customer participation success uniquely for different types of services (utilitarian vs hedonic). This study aims to investigate if service managers should differentiate and focus on distinct characteristics according to the service types.

Two consumer experiments serve to assess the potential moderating effect of service type on consumer preferences for experience- versus outcome-oriented forms of customer participation.

The two empirical studies affirm the proposed moderating effect of service type on the effect of experience- and outcome-oriented customer participation characteristics. Experience-oriented characteristics work better for hedonic than for utilitarian services, and one study confirms a stronger positive effect of outcome-oriented characteristics for utilitarian services.

Further research should replicate the experimental findings with a field study. Furthermore, continued research could analyze the mediators of the interaction of co-production characteristics with the service type in greater detail.

Managers can design the characteristics of the customer participation processes according to the nature of the service (hedonic vs utilitarian) and, thus, maximize customers’ willingness to pay.

This study offers a new perspective on customers’ reactions to customer participation in services: depending on the service type or situation in which a service is being consumed, different customer participation characteristics lead to (financial) success.

This paper examines several sources of support for contact employees in service encounters. These sources of support, including organization support, supervisory support, and customer's participation, are proposed to affect the attitudes and behaviors of employees, and consequently affect customer's perceptions of employees' service quality. This study, which combines perceptions from customers and their contact employees, shows that three sources of support for employees contribute significantly to job satisfaction and employee service quality, while perceived organizational support and customer participation affect service effort. Also, the empirical results indicate that both employee service effort and job satisfaction play strong, central roles in determining customers' perceptions of employee service quality. They were found to be effective mediators linking employees' cognitive appraisal of various sources of support to service quality.

This research aims to explore the significance of cooperative efforts in promoting financial participation to enhance the socio-economic empowerment of the rural Muslims.

The primary study with a structured questionnaire has been conducted taking a sample of 398 rural Muslim respondents from various rural regions of south India through proportionate stratified sampling techniques. Regression analysis, paired sample t-test and structural equation modelling (SEM) through statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 26 & SPSS analysis of moment structures (AMOS) 23 software have been implemented to test the relationship.

The research outcome demonstrated a remarkable difference in the rural Muslim’s socio-economic conditions before and after availing the loans from cooperatives. Consequently, an extension of cooperative efforts widens the scope of financial participation which again has positively enhanced rural Muslim’s socio-economic empowerment.

This study will help various policymakers, academicians and communities to take necessary action for the upliftment of a particular community. The research further adds on to the existing research on the need and importance of cooperative efforts as an alternative finance for marginalised community in developing and emerging countries.

The result of this study is only confined to south India, posing a limitation for the study. Apart from the geographical restriction, the study solemnly covers the rural Muslim community extracting other sections of the society. Hence, for more generalisable pictures of the current results, further research is recommended from other stakeholders’ perspectives.

This study aims to examine factors that impact participation of diverse university students in an academic sustainability certificate and Office of Sustainability internships at the University of Georgia, recognizing the need for diverse voices and perspectives in addressing sustainability challenges and the current lack of diverse representation in the field.

A convenience sample of 77 student organizations and 35 departments, schools and colleges associated with the university was identified. The questionnaire was created using the Qualtrics online survey platform and distributed via email to potential participants. A total of 234 completed responses were collected. Descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the demographic composition of the sample. One-way ANOVAs were performed to examine the relationship between respondent demographics and perceptions of sustainability and participation in campus sustainability programs. Post hoc tests were conducted using Fisher’s least significant difference procedure.

Significant relationships were observed between perceptions of sustainability and race and current gender. A significant relationship was observed between race and participation in campus sustainability programs. Overall, students from diverse backgrounds believe that sustainability efforts contribute to racial justice and equity. Additionally, students from diverse backgrounds do want to participate in campus sustainability programs; however, there may be barriers preventing their participation.

This study examines how students from diverse backgrounds perceive sustainability efforts, as well as their interest in participating in campus sustainability programs. The results of this study can be used to inform recruitment and program development strategies for sustainability programs at higher education institutions. At the time of publication, no study could be located that examines the current study outcomes.

Participation is not a new idea but recently it has received renewed attention. This article examines how participation is viewed from two perspectives: industrial democracy and organisational development. Despite the use of some common participative techniques such as quality circles, the underlying differences in ideology of industrial democracy and organisational development have significant impacts on the implementation of participation. This article examines the differences and explores the practical and research implications.

This article considers the recent emphasis on the importance and value of citizen participation, involvement, and engagement in local government and how active participation extends to public budgeting. The inclusion of citizen participation in local government budget processes challenges the traditional budget discourse between managers and representatives. Active citizen participation provides valuable comments and insight as well as complexity and challenges to administrative processes. This article discusses the themes, opportunities, techniques and strategies developed in this symposium to expand citizen participation in public budgeting. Continued discussion and innovation in active citizen participation in budgeting is encouraged.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and further explain the phenomena of supplier participation in addressing the sustainability-oriented objectives of a supply chain. Specifically, the paper explains how a buyer can integrate sustainability concerns among its suppliers. The study is based in the context of the Indian school feeding (mid-day meal) program and approaches the issue from the perspective of a mid-day meal provider.

This paper first explains how the mid-day meal providers in India explicitly address the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. Thereby, it conducts an exploratory case study on a renowned meal provider with the objective to understand the nature of its efforts toward supplier participation through in-depth interviews.

As evident in the case, from the buyer’s perspective, the key to success in winning supplier participation in addressing the sustainability-oriented supply chain objectives largely revolves around efforts along the critical aspects of policy development, policy implementation, and intent building with suppliers.

This paper propagates a threefold value by outlining the central importance of the focus on efforts and challenges for understanding supplier participation in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). First, the paper is among the initial studies to focus on ground-level efforts and challenges for a mid-day meal provider, and outlines best practices. Second, the case presents revelatory insights on SSCM from the perspective of supplier participation. For example, it demonstrates the relevance of supply-chain-based social identification in governing supplier willingness to participate in a buyer’s SSCM. Third, the findings also extend critical implications toward SSCM theory and practice.

Rulemaking (the process agencies use to make new health, safety, social and economic regulations) is one of the US Government's most important policymaking methods and has long been a target for e-government efforts. Although broad transparency and participation rights are part of its legal structure, significant barriers prevent effective engagement by many citizens. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

RegulationRoom.org is an online experimental e-participation platform, designed and operated by Cornell e-rulemaking Initiative (CeRI), the cross-disciplinary CeRI. Using the Regulation Room as a case study, this paper addresses what capacities are required for effective civic engagement and how they can be nurtured and supported by an online participation system.

The research suggests that effectively designing and deploying technology, although essential, is only one dimension of realizing broader, better online civic engagement. Effective e-participation systems must be prepared to address procedural, social, and psychological barriers that impede citizens' meaningful participation in complex policymaking processes. The research also suggests the need for re-conceptualizing the value of broad civic participation to the policymaking processes and for recognizing that novice commenters engage with policy issues differently than experienced insiders.

The paper includes a series of strategic recommendations for policymaking seeking public input. While it indicates that a broader range of citizens can indeed be meaningfully engaged, it also cautions that getting better participation from more people requires the investment of resources. More fundamental, both government decision makers and participation designers must be open to recognizing non-traditional forms of knowledge and styles of communication – and willing to devise participation mechanisms and protocols accordingly.

This paper describes lessons from a unique design-based research project with both practical and conceptual implications for more, better civic participation in complex government policymaking.