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1 – 10 of 663Abdulla Al-Towfiq Hasan and Md Takibur Rahman
The purpose of this study is to predict family takāful purchase intentions (FTPIs) using an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with relevant mediating and moderating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to predict family takāful purchase intentions (FTPIs) using an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with relevant mediating and moderating factors.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a survey of 384 Muslim employees who work in both government and private organizations. This study used partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM) for hypothesis testing, predictive relevance and measuring the effect size of the model.
Findings
The study found that attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), saving motives (SM), promotional campaign (PC) and religiosity (RG) directly contribute to the prediction of FTPIs. Furthermore, ATT and SM partially mediate between PC and FTPI. Moreover, RG significantly moderates the association between ATT, SN, SM and FTPI, while RG insignificantly moderates the link between PBC and FTPI.
Practical implications
This study provides insight into understanding the factors leading to an enhanced understanding of FTPI in a country where the industry is growing very fast. Further, the study suggests informative and persuasive promotions to encourage FTPI in Bangladesh and similar countries.
Originality/value
This study provides insights into previously unaddressed FTPI among Muslim employees in Bangladesh and similar countries. Prior work on determining FTPI has not focused on promotional campaigns and saving motives, and thus, this study has extended TPB to understand the phenomenon.
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This paper aims to investigate three promotional publications produced by the Postum Cereal Company – A Trip Through Postumville (1920), How I Make Postum (1924) and The Wonderful…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate three promotional publications produced by the Postum Cereal Company – A Trip Through Postumville (1920), How I Make Postum (1924) and The Wonderful Lunch Boxes (1925) – with the aim of understanding how language and other semiotic resources are used to promote its products as good and healthy choices.
Design/methodology/approach
The three publications were collected from the HathiTrust Digital Library and University of South Florida Tampa Special Collections. They were subjected to multimodal critical discourse analysis to tease out their subtle characteristics and how a combination of language, image, colour, typography and composition are used to represent certain ideas and values related to health and well-being.
Findings
The publications subscribe to three distinct genres – “inside the factory”, “friendly spokesperson” and “fictional world” – each of which are aimed at different target audiences. The first seeks to promote Postum as an open and transparent company; the second to promote Postum as a company that cares about its consumers; and the third to promote the health benefits of Postum in a fun and accessible manner. Nonetheless, they are united in their overall objective to link the regular consumption of Postum as essential for good health.
Originality/value
To date, few studies have been conducted on the Postum Cereal Company, while the limited research conducted on promotional publications has tended to overlook discourses of health and well-being. The three genres outlined in this study, thus, have the potential to foster a reappraisal of promotional publications and showcase their ability to offer new understandings on historical approaches to marketing, particularly the link with health and science.
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Hedonic value is commonly conceded as a determinant of behavioral intentions toward location-based advertising (LBA). However, the careful consideration of a mechanism behind…
Abstract
Purpose
Hedonic value is commonly conceded as a determinant of behavioral intentions toward location-based advertising (LBA). However, the careful consideration of a mechanism behind hedonic motivation and its subsequent impact on continuance intention is inadequate. This study aims to explore the formation of hedonic value and its motivation for prolonged usage toward LBA.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 486 mobile users was recruited to evaluate the research model using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
Results reveal that perceived utility and promotional offers are the strongest indicators of hedonic value. Moreover, social support and contextual convenience play an essential role in heightening hedonic value. Furthermore, the research lenses attempt to clarify the direct, indirect influences of hedonic value, irritation and perceived credibility on continuance intention.
Practical implications
The findings offer practitioners an understanding of how to improve hedonic value and continuance intention and develop effective LBA strategies in emerging markets.
Originality/value
This study narrows the gap of current literature by formulating a hedonic value-based continuance intention model based on uses and gratifications theory (UGT). Additionally, this work illuminates the insights into hedonic value toward LBA by identifying its motivations, including perceived utility, promotional offers, social support and contextual convenience.
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Zahra Sharifzadeh and Natasha T. Brison
This study aims to examine whether sport companies that promote gender equality through femvertising, an advertising trend that empowers women and confronts gender stereotypes…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether sport companies that promote gender equality through femvertising, an advertising trend that empowers women and confronts gender stereotypes, actually support women’s rights with institutionalized approaches to challenge gender issues. Some sport brands even have won awards for their femvertising efforts, however, not all of them have modified their policies and programs to support gender equality. Sport femvertising can be a new area for CSR-washing and this study investigated this potential.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a content analysis, this study compared sport brands' (award-winning vs non-award-winning) level of engagement in internal and external CSR activities regarding gender equality. Sport brands’ CSR attempts and number of women in leadership positions were analyzed through companies’ CSR reports, annual reports and websites.
Findings
Only few differences between two groups (award-winning vs non-award-winning) of sport brands were observed regarding their gender equality CSR engagement. In some cases, non-award-winning sport brands had a greater percentage of women in leadership and practiced more internal gender equality CSR.
Originality/value
This paper provides valuable information about the potential of femvertising as an advertisement, as well as CSR strategy. Results of this study broaden our understanding of how sport companies embraced this advertising/CSR technique and the repercussions. Findings provide guidance for sport marketers who seek to improve their brand image through femvertising.
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Beatrice Luceri, Fabrizio Laurini and Sabrina Latusi
The study develops a decision support system for the spatial distribution of store flyers, identifying a number of factors related to the demand and the competition influencing…
Abstract
Purpose
The study develops a decision support system for the spatial distribution of store flyers, identifying a number of factors related to the demand and the competition influencing the complexities of their allocation to the target population.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was developed incorporating the insights found in existing marketing literature and bypassing the limitations of the managerial practices. To this end, an in-depth discussion with a panel of retailers was held. The model was tested in collaboration with a retail chain.
Findings
The proposed system is flexible and provides an almost endless array of solutions in accordance with the retailer's strategic approach to the market. It captures the key trade-offs that need to be made during the decision-making process of a retailer with limited marketing resources.
Practical implications
The traditional managerial approach, based on a set of operational steps, is overtaken by a model that systematically considers the interrelationships between the decision-making factors involved.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt to analyse spatial distribution of store flyers, a topic that has yet to be explored in retail marketing research. The paper conceptualises the key variables which affect the optimisation problem and reviews the different streams of extant research to obtain the appropriate insights.
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Sumana Laparojkit and Muttanachai Suttipun
This study aims to examine the causal factors of customer motivation, trust and loyalty, influencing the level of repurchase intentions of local tourists travelling during…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the causal factors of customer motivation, trust and loyalty, influencing the level of repurchase intentions of local tourists travelling during pandemic COVID-19 crisis in Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
The population of this study comprised all Thai local tourists travelling in Thailand. Using simple random sampling of local tourists on travel in Thailand, quantitative data were collected from 500 tourists as the sampling, representing Northern Thailand, North-Eastern Thailand, Central Thailand, Southern Thailand and Bangkok. Path analysis, including correlation matrix and factor confirmation, was used to test the causal factors influencing the level of repurchase intentions.
Findings
Motivation trust, customer trust, customer loyalty and repurchase intentions of Thai domestic tourism were on a high level. In addition, there were positive influences of customer motivation, trust and loyalty on the level of repurchase intentions by local tourists travelling in Thailand.
Originality/value
The study results demonstrate that the social exchange theory can be used to explain the influences of customer motivation, customer trust and loyalty on repurchase intentions of domestic Thai tourism.
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Emily Caitlin Lily Knox, Hayley Musson and Emma J. Adams
Many adults fail to achieve sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this paper is to understand how workplaces most effectively promote physical…
Abstract
Purpose
Many adults fail to achieve sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this paper is to understand how workplaces most effectively promote physical activity for the benefit of public health.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via two online surveys. First, 3,360 adults employed at 308 workplaces across England self-reported their MVPA, activity status at work and frequency of journeys made through active commuting. From this sample, 588 participants reported on the policies and practices used in their workplace to promote physical activity. Factor and cluster analysis identified common practice. Regression models examined the association between the workplace factors and engagement in physical activity behaviours.
Findings
Five factors emerged: targeting active travel, availability of information about physical activity outside the workplace, facilities and onsite opportunities, sedentary behaviour, and information about physical activity within the workplace. Further, five clusters were identified to illustrate how the factors are typically being utilised by workplaces across England. Commonly used practices related to promoting active travel, reducing sedentary behaviour and the provision of information but these practices were not associated with meeting MVPA guidelines. The provision of facilities and onsite exercise classes was associated with the most positive physical activity behaviour outcomes; however, these structures were rarely evident in workplaces.
Originality/value
Previous research has identified a number of efficacious actions for promoting physical activity in the workplace, however, research investigating which of these are likely to be acceptable to worksites is limited. The present study is the first to combine these two important aspects. Five common profiles of promoting physical activity in worksites across England were identified and related to physical activity outcomes. Guidance is given to workplace managers to enable them to maximise the resources they have for the greatest gains in employee health. Where feasible, facilities, and classes should be provided to achieve the most positive outcomes.
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Abdelhamid K. Abdelmaaboud, Ana Isabel Polo Peña and Abeer A. Mahrous
This study introduces three variables related to brands that have the potential to enhance university students' advocacy intentions. The research explores how university brand…
Abstract
Purpose
This study introduces three variables related to brands that have the potential to enhance university students' advocacy intentions. The research explores how university brand identification, the perceived prestige of the university brand and the social benefits associated with the university brand impact students' advocacy intentions. Additionally, the study examines the moderating role of gender in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional surveys of 326 undergraduate students enrolled in a Spanish university, and structural equation modeling was used to test and validate the conceptual model.
Findings
The findings from the structural equation modeling indicate that university brand identification, perceived university brand prestige and university brand social benefits significantly influence students' advocacy intentions. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis reveals a gender difference in the factors influencing advocacy intentions. Female students demonstrate significance in all three antecedents, whereas male students only show significance in university brand identification and perceived university brand prestige.
Practical implications
The current study's findings provide several insights for higher education institutions in developing enduring and committed relationships with their students.
Originality/value
This study offers relevant insights into the body of research on university branding, explaining the students' advocacy intentions through the variables of university brand identification, perceived university brand prestige and university brand social benefits. Also, this study is a novelty in introducing empirical evidence for the importance of the moderating role of students' gender.
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Honglei Li and Eric W.K. See-To
This study aims at building a framework for the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) response under the social media environment. The elaboration likelihood model was adopted to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at building a framework for the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) response under the social media environment. The elaboration likelihood model was adopted to explain how message source credibility and message appeal jointly influence the eWOM response process, while source credibility provides a central route and message appeal plays a peripheral route for information processing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a scenario design to test the decision behavior in the Facebook environment through message content manipulation. A convenience sampling method was adopted in this study. We collected 203 valid questionnaires and tested this research model with LISREL 8.8. This study used a two-stage structural equation modeling data analysis method with LISREL 8.8, by which the measurement model was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis for the reliability and validity of the research model, and the causal relationship among factors was assessed through exploratory factor analysis .
Findings
The results showed that 53% variance of eWOM responses could be explained by message source credibility and emotional message appeal from the elaboration likelihood model perspective. Message source credibility plays a central role in the social media environment. The model was further tested with a demographic profile analysis for both gender and age. It is found that a female user is influenced by both source credibility and emotional appeal, but a male user is only influenced by message source credibility. The mature age group is more responsive to eWOM messages.
Research limitations/implications
The sample might not represent all social networking sites (SNS) users. The participants represent a small segment of the Facebook population around the globe. Secondly, this research design could be improved by using more recreational messages to test the effects of message appeal and message source credibility. Thirdly, the mobile phone is a type of physical product rather than an experiential product. Future studies could try to identify the same eWOM determinants with different SNS functions, for example, the inbox message function. Similarly, Facebook users are allowed to use both text and pictures to disseminate promotional messages.
Practical implications
This study provides an insight for SNS administrators regarding the determinants of driving more customer responses toward a message. Message source credibility and message appeal are identified as the antecedents for eWOM responses in SNS. Companies could make use of this finding to improve their marketing communication strategy in SNS. The finding can inform administrators of the importance of focusing on both customers’ psychological state and message attributes during the dissemination of promotional messages to improve the efficiency of the promotional effort. Companies aimed at receiving different types of eWOM responses in SNS may need to consider other factors for creating their promotional messages.
Originality/value
Previous studies have mainly identified factors influencing eWOM responses from the people-centered variables such as personal traits and social relationships. This study proposes that the eWOM response is a dual information processing process that can be explained by the ELM. When a user processes information in SNS, he follows both the central route and the peripheral route (i.e. source credibility and message appeal) which can influence the eWOM response. It is the first time that the source credibility is investigated as the central route in ELM model.
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While researchers have studied the impact of social media on tourist behaviour Milano et al. (2011) and Hays et al. (2013), very few studies have explored the impact of social…
Abstract
Purpose
While researchers have studied the impact of social media on tourist behaviour Milano et al. (2011) and Hays et al. (2013), very few studies have explored the impact of social media on sustainable tourism, and thus, it can be said to be in its “infancy” (Han et al., 2017). There exists a “knowledge gap” not just with tourists but also with researchers, as the issue on sustainable tourism consumption is “rarely investigated directly in tourism researches” or consumer behaviour studies, and there is often discrepancy in literature on the issue (Cohen et al., 2014; Bray et al., 2011). While the potential for social media in promoting sustainable tourism is known considering the use of it for socialisation and knowledge sharing, empirical researches to make in depth enquiry on the same is “rare” (Ali and Frew, 2010; Sarkar et al., 2014). Also, the differences between markets for sustainable tourism amongst different markets needs to explored further (Weber, 2019). The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by proposing a conceptual framework and empirically testing how social media can be used to generate and promote sustainable tourism demand among through evidences from Indian tourists. RQ1: what are the key drivers to use social media by sustainable tourists? RQ2: can social media promotions help sustainable demand generation through spreading awareness and connecting fellow sustainable tourists?
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 350 Indian tourists were reached through Google forms distributed through various channels, amongst which 265 responded with a response rate of 75.7%. The data were coded and checked for any outliers and missing values. To avoid any biases, incomplete forms were not counted and after data cleaning, 250 respondents were found to be appropriate with all the responses. Analysis of demographic and travel profile was done through SPSS 22 to check variances in the groups, frequencies and chi square values were calculated. Since this is an exploratory study, the aim was more on prediction rather than model confirmation, thus the technique used and found to be appropriate was partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
Variances of social media were used in the demographic groups and found that there was no significant difference found as per age and education. Even variation of travel habits was found to be not significant with social media use. It can be seen that social media promotion activities indeed create awareness amongst people about sustainability; creating awareness about sustainability indeed leads to connecting green tourists together. On the other hand, social media promotional activities may not necessarily connect potential green tourists together; awareness positively impacts the generation of sustainable demand is also supported. It can be seen that merely connecting potential green tourists does not necessarily create demand. Social media promotion activities are indeed instrumental in creating a sustainable demand amongst tourist.
Research limitations/implications
This study takes into account the informational and environmental knowledge aspect of sustainable behaviour adoption by green tourists (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007; Miller, 2003; Chan et al., 2014). This study draws implications based on the behaviour of Indian tourists and thus, the generalisation to other countries may not be as accurate as Indians differ culturally from the world at large. Even though the study involves different age groups, the mean age is of younger Indian tourists, which is also often considered as the most active users of social media and thus likely to be impacted more. Also, it is believed that these younger green consumers who are already inclined towards sustainability tend to seek more information on ethical issues (Finney, 2014). The sample size of the study is very small (n = 250) and was only checked for variation amongst gender and profession; other aspects such as income and employment (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007; Miller, 2003) have been kept out of the study and thus not included as a part of demographics. More demographic characteristics can be taken into account to study if they play a mediating role in generating sustainable demand as a part of the analysis of this conceptual framework proposed.
Practical implications
Internet allows users to obtain information about products and brands to its users through various social media such as blogs, forums, wikis content sharing, etc. (Hennig-Thurau and Walsh, 2003; Reilly and Weirup, 2010). Strategies can thus be formulated to target sustainable tourists with sustainable destinations and amenities, so as to attract those tourists who appreciate and commit to the cause of sustainability (López-Sánchez and Pulido-Fernández, 2016). Using social media as a promotion tool can help in educating customers (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010) on the various sustainable tourism services they intend to offer, as the results supports the use of social media promotion for generating sustainable demand amongst the tourists. Also, the sustainable tourism providers can make use of promotional activities focussing on building online pro environmental tourist-based communities using the user generated contents which can positively lead to adoption of collective social behaviour and sustainable practices (Han et al., 2017). Specifically, the use of short interactive messages can be used for social media promotions, so as to increase “organisation prominence” amongst the green target groups online (Strähle and Gräff, 2017). While it was noted that different markets react differently to the idea of sustainability, and thus, different markets need to be explored deeper (Weber, 2019); this study attempts to provide a perspective of Indian tourists which not just adds to the literature on Indian tourist behaviour but also provides a viewpoint of the Asian tourists. It also enriches the existing literature on the use of AIDA model for services and tourism specifically which as a theoretical base is unexplored.
Originality/value
The study adds to the rising interest in understanding the behavioural changes in tourists (Hall, 2016) and provides insights on “the versatility of the topic of relationship between sustainable tourism and marketing” (Font and McCabe, 2017). While ethical consumption is essential to preserve resources, the study of this area of consumer behaviour is “under examined”, as majority studies focus on products, very few studies elucidate on encouraging it through social marketing (Newholm and Shaw, 2007). Thus, this study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by proposing a framework for generating sustainable demand amongst tourists so that they are inclined socially and sustainably both through the use of social media. It is often noted that tourists are unwilling to change their travel behaviour as a result of lack of awareness or due to hesitance of sacrificing (Juvan and Dolnicar, 2014; Miller et al., 2010). This study provides empirical evidence that supports the awareness of sustainability as a means of generating sustainable demand amongst tourists. Knowledge regarding tourism demand helps in the further development of tourism products and its marketing initiatives (Weber, 2019). Thus, it allows tourism players to understand that Indian tourists are open to sustainable tourist practices if enough information is provided to them.
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