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The purpose of this study is to present an attempt to evaluate Italian olive oil brand competition thought the analysis of consumers’ visual perspective.

Through the implementation of a new information technology system called “Visual Marketing REL”, which furnishes eye-tracking measures, the authors were able to produce important information relative to the layout organization of to the Italian olive oil shelf, a strategic product of the agro-food chain. The research uses the “in situ” testing of the software developed.

The research, following up the thesis of sensorial marketing affecting choices, intends to identify an IT tool to facilitate the design of the shelf by increasing the efficiency of the retail mix. Results highlight that specific positioning could impact the differentiation effect and orientate consumers’ choices, thus increasing the efficiency of the retail mix.

To generalize the results would require many repetitions of different product categories. In this case, it would be possible to quantify the levels of correlation between visual information and sales.

This work opens important considerations in terms of strategic management of modern distribution, leaders and minor brands competitive relationship, as well as opportunities for producers of high-quality products, which could address their strategies to differentiation and niche market in cooperation with retailers.

The research aims to encourage the process of consumer choice and reduce information asymmetries.

The most important result is the connection among choices, visualization, differentiation strategy and positioning/ordering on the shelf. The layout management, in fact, could be used as a joint strategy of retailers as well as producers to emphasize quality and price differentiation, thereby increasing sales. Moreover, the study provides for the first time the outcomes of a brand new software “Visual Marketing REL”, highlighting its limits and positive elements.

This study was predicated on gaze behaviour in front-of-shelf orientation. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of the presence (absence) of competing brands on consumer attention in front-of-shelf orientation. The effects on visual attention investigated on the shelf were eye scan path of the total available area, information acquisition in extremities and mental effort.

Two experiments were performed using eye-tracking technology. The first study was conducted in a closed and static environment. The second study was performed in an open and dynamic environment. In these studies, the authors used, as an independent variable, the arrangement of brands on shelves (presence vs absence of competing) and evaluated the variations in the visual attention through three dependent variables: eye scan path of the total available area, information acquisition in extremities and mental effort.

Three hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis confirmed that scenarios of competitive brands are rather composed of natural complex scenes, so there is a greater number of eye fixations needed to identify and locate objects. In addition, the second hypothesis demonstrated that, in scenarios of competitive brands, there is an acceleration of information acquisitions causing an increase in peripheral vision at the ends of the shelf. Finally, the third hypothesis demonstrated that the presence of a greater attention effort in the scenario of competing brands was verified, since the mental effort variables (revisiting the shelf, noting and re-examining) were greater than in the scenario of non-competing brands.

Limitations of this study may be associated with the absence of top-down factors and a lack of results associated with evaluation and verification phases.

Gaze behaviour is susceptible to the information derived from the absence and presence of competing brands.

The purpose of this paper is to examine shelf management practices of grocery retail chains and their category captains (CCs) in the marketing of consumer packaged goods.

This is a qualitative, exploratory study that is set in a duopoly retail environment in the Asia-Pacific region. The study employed 18 in-depth interviews with executives and managers of two umbrella retail organisations and their suppliers/manufacturers. The method of data analysis employed was content analysis.

Despite CC input in merchandising decisions, it is the retail chains that have the final say on shelf matters. There is no risk of strategic loss of power in employing CCs to manage store product categories on behalf of, or in partnership with retailers provided the retail chains closely monitor the activities and decisions/recommendations of the captains.

The paper is developed from data obtained from the grocery retail industry of one economy. Future research would need to extend this study to other economies with similar as well as different conditions.

The research offers reassurance to grocery retail practitioners who may be contemplating lessening the burden of managing all their store categories by themselves and switching to CC arrangements. The reassurance is that the reported risk associated with loss of power is manageable.

The paper has created a typology termed the “category captain arrangement/grocery retail concentration matrix” and specific directions for further research.

Electric lighting accounts for a large share of energy consumption in commercial buildings. Utilization of daylight can significantly help to reduce the need for artificial lighting, increase workers productivity, customers’ satisfaction and consequently improve sales. However, excessive use of glazing and absence of lighting controls can contribute greatly to higher energy need for heating and cooling and cause undesired glare effects. Thus, optimizing the size, position and materials of external glazing, with the addition of deflectors and dynamic artificial lighting, can become key aspects in the design of sustainable low energy buildings. The purpose of this paper is to analyze daylight potential and energy performance of a hall-type commercial building, situated in the cold climate of Finland, by utilizing different combinations of skylights, windows and lighting controls.

The authors have used computer simulations to estimate daylight and energy performance of a single floor commercial building in relation to various combinations of skylights and windows with variable glazing materials, light deflectors and zonal lighting controls.

The results show that electric light energy saving potential ranges from a negligible 1.9 percent to a significant 58.6 percent in the case of glass skylights and wall windows using multi-zone lighting control. Total delivered energy ranges between increase of 1.5 and 21.2 percent in the cases with single zone lighting control and between decrease of 4.5 percent and increase of 4.5 percent in the cases with multi-zone control. The highest decrease in primary energy consumption was 2.2 percent for single zone and 17.6 percent for multi-zone lighting control. The research underlines the significant potential of electric light energy savings using daylighting strategies that, including the control of direct solar access for glare and internal gains, can be more than 50 percent.

This research combines accurate daylight and energy assessment for commercial hall buildings based in cold climate region with multiple design variations. The novelty of this work is the consideration of interior elements, shelves and deflectors, in the calculations. This is made possible through the combined use of validated simulation platforms for detailed annual daylighting and electric lighting calculation (Radiance and Daysim) and energy analysis (IDA-ICE, Equa Simulation AB). This method allows to obtain a reliable assessment of the potential of using natural light sources in buildings.

Public relations activities as they relate to the roles of the circulation librarian in an academic library are discussed. The position of the circulation librarian as the public relations officer of his or her library in fulfilling the objectives of the institution and the library are also discussed. Services must be acceptable and the only way to make them acceptable is through public relations activities. The quality of the circulation librarian is highlighted for good public relations results. The services of the circulation librarian who uses public relations tools to function are also discussed as well as the ways the impact can be felt. This discussion highlights the similarity of the activities of the circulation librarian and the public relations officer of any establishment, and how they affect their organisation in positive ways.

Systems thinking is well established as an important perspective within the management field. However, the perspective is not always as all-encompassing as sometimes argued. This paper addresses the importance of including structural elements as a part of systems thinking in relation to organizational change. The purpose of the paper is to analyze how organizational infrastructure may influence processes and outcomes of organizational change initiatives.

The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of the introduction of lean in a large Swedish manufacturing company. The case study comprises three embedded cases, and the empirical material is based on interviews, observations and document studies. The material has been analyzed with a systems perspective, focusing on the interplay between ideas, infrastructure and behavior in the organization.

This paper suggests that organizational infrastructure may have a profound impact on organizational behavior. Consequently, an ambition to change organizational routines will be influenced by not only people’s sense-making and behavior but also the technology and infrastructure with which people interact.

Thus, alignment between all these entities will facilitate the change process and increase the likelihood of successful organizational change. Thus, systems thinking requires stronger attention to organizational infrastructure to better understand organizational change processes, and a philosophical approach needs to be balanced against behavioral and technical aspects of change.

This paper challenges much of the received knowledge and assumptions about systems and suggests an expansion of systems thinking.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel approach based on utility mining for store layout.

A utility mining-based data mining algorithm is utilized in this paper.

A real-life case study in a supermarket is conducted to illustrate the proposed approach. The findings show that the proposed approach can be used easily and efficiently to arrange store layout.

There are two limitations to this study. First, space allocation to each product family is not considered. Second, product placement in each product family is not taken into account in the proposed approach.

In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for business intelligence in retail business. The proposed approach uses a utility-based data mining approach, namely, the high-utility itemset mining (HUIM) algorithm, to rearrange store layout and to determine the relations among product families. The quantities and prices of items purchased corresponding to product families are taken into account in the proposed approach to address the needs in practice. Business intelligence software is also developed as an integral part of the proposed approach to utilize the HUIM algorithm.

Gives a definition of merchandising explaining how and why it works effectively. Discusses its power and cost‐effectiveness as a means of ensuring a final pre‐purchase exposure of consumers to persuasive or informative material. Investigates five merchandising techniques: manipulation of store traffic flow; shelf positioning; allocation of limited shelf space between competing claims; use of point‐of‐sale material; and special displays. Shows how these can be used profitably by the retailer and wholesaler. Presents a ten‐part plan for an organized approach to merchandising.

This paper aims to test the similarity of the results of on-screen eye tracking compared to mobile eye tracking in the context of first fixation location on stimuli.

Three studies were conducted altogether with 117 participants, where the authors compared both methods: stationary eye tracking (Tobii Pro X2-60) and mobile eye tracking (Tobii Pro Glasses 2).

The studies revealed that the reported average first fixation locations from stationary and mobile eye tracking are different. Stationary eye tracking is more affected by a centre fixation bias. Based on the research, it can be concluded that stationary eye tracking is not always suitable for studying consumer perception and behaviour because of the centre viewing bias.

When interpreting the results, researchers should take into account that stationary eye tracking results are affected by a centre fixation bias. Previous stationary eye tracking research should be interpreted with the centre fixation bias in mind. Some of this previous work should be retested using mobile eye tracking. If possible small-scale pilot studies should be included in papers to show that the more appropriate method, less affected by attention biases, was chosen.

Managers should trust research where the ability of package design to attract attention on a shelf is tested using mobile eye tracking. The authors suggest using mobile eye tracking to optimise store shelf planograms, point-of-purchase materials, and shelf layouts. In package design, interpretations of research using stationary eye tracking should consider its centre fixation bias. Managers should also be cautious when interpreting previous stationary eye tracking research (both applied and scientific), knowing that stationary eye tracking is more prone to a centre fixation bias.

While eye tracking research has become more and more popular as a marketing research method, the limitations of the method have not been fully understood by the field. This paper shows that the chosen eye tracking method can influence the results. No such comparative paper about mobile and stationary eye tracking research has been done in the marketing field.

This paper aims to examine the potential for adjacent brands to influence sales of a focal brand. Specifically, this paper examines whether the type of adjacent brand (market leader or non-market leader competitor) and its promotion (featuring or discounting) have an effect on sales of a focal product.

Store-level scanner data supplemented with in-store audits are used.

It is demonstrated that adjacent brands and their specific marketing activities influence focal brand sales in specific ways, and that market leaders have a disproportionate and different effect than other competitors on the sales of adjacent brands.

Recent marketing research has suggested that brand activities such as featuring and discounting and in-store environmental stimuli such as shelf allocation and displays can have an important effect on category and individual brand sales. Prior work in this area, however, has not explicitly considered the potential influence of relative shelf positions (i.e. adjacencies) on brand and category sales.