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This paper aims to investigate how direct mail consumption contributes to brand relationship quality. Store flyers and other direct mailings continue to play a significant role in many companies’ communication strategies. Research on this topic predominantly investigates driving store traffic and sales. Less is known regarding the consumer side, such as the value that consumers may derive from the consumption of direct mailings and the effects of such a value on brand relationship quality. To address this limitation, this paper tests a causal model of the contribution of direct mail value to brand commitment, drawing on a value framework that integrates social theory of engagement regimes and literature on experiential customer value.

The empirical work of this paper is based on a rigorous four-study mixed methods design, involving qualitative study, confirmatory factor analysis and partial least squares structural modeling.

The authors develop two second-order formatively designed scales – familiar value and planned value scales – that illustrate the role of engagement regimes in consumer behavior. Although both types of value contribute equally to direct mail attachment, they exert contrasting effects on other mediational consumer responses, such as reading and gratitude. Finally, the proposed theoretical model appears to be robust in predicting customers’ brand commitment.

This study provides new insights into the research on consumer value and brand relational communication.

This study is the first to consider consumer benefits from the social perspective of engagement regimes.

Theodore Levitt's 1983 article on the globalization of markets has left in its wake a pitched battle between advertising agency converts and opponents, and a reassessment of many corporate strategies. Objections that there are only about three global brands‐Coke, McDonald's, and Kodak‐do not deter Proctor & Gamble from setting up global new product planning or N. V. Philips from realigning its advertising accounts worldwide. To illustrate its commitment to the issue, a major agency even recently changed its name to Needham Harper Worldwide.

Over the past decade, corporate philanthropy has undergone two fundamental transformations – strategic refocusing and globalization. Faced with scarcer resources and downsizing, leading firms have redefined philanthropy by tying it directly to corporate strategies and business units. Philanthropy is now seen as a component of long‐term competitiveness, rather than a short‐term image builder and sales generator. Internationally it can not only enhance and unify a global image, but also help open emerging markets through much‐needed social programmes. This high potential is unfortunately matched by an equally high risk. Global philanthropy can represent an ethical minefield, owing to extreme difficulties in monitoring subsidiary operations. In order to address this issue, presents a dual strategic framework for multinationals and their non‐profit counterparts. Adopts a stepwise approach, starting with a mission review and moving to a partner screening process, an internal audit and action plan, followed by actual programme development and performance monitoring. Despite the complexity of global corporate/non‐profit alliances, this strategic approach can minimize ethical and financial risks and give both entities a powerful competitive edge.

The purpose of this study is to explore the virtual space of the library and how it is part of the library building and many spaces offered. It inspects as well the work of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ section related to library buildings and equipment libraries can play if they are able to provide remote users education, which can help in fighting illiteracy and promote digital literacy.

The study adopted a structuralist approach from linguistics, sociology and anthropology to decorticate the concept of space. It favoured the literature review method, which was the most adequate approach for multidisciplinary results.

The study results indicate that the library virtual space became equally important as its physical spaces for our modern world and development. The significance of the virtual spaces is similar nowadays to the physical spaces of libraries as they allow for social integration and self-recognition.

The value of this study is uniquely exhaustive, as it highlights the value and significance of the library virtual space in the contemporary world, in comparison with the library physical spaces.

Single-family houses are a common form of housing in Europe. Most were built in the context of the suburbanization after World War II and are now facing challenges arising from generational changes as well as increasing living and energy standards. According to the hypothesis of this paper, in several EU regions, single-family houses may face future challenges arising from oversupply and lack of adaptation to current demand. To examine this, the paper analyses the present situation and discusses the prognosis for the challenges described above regarding the three neighbouring north-western European countries Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, based on available data and a review of country-specific characteristics of housing markets as well as national policies. Despite an impending mismatch between demand and supply, planning policies still support the emergence of new single-family houses. The comparison of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands shows the growing polarization between shrinking and growing regions and central and peripheral sites apparent at different stages in the three countries. While a high rate of vacancies is already registered for some regions in Germany, in the Netherlands this phenomenon can only be seen near the borders and in villages within the Randstad conurbation. In Belgium also, this phenomenon is not yet widespread, but in some suburban neighbourhoods dating from the 1950's and 1960's more and more single-family houses are becoming more difficult to sell, indicating an emerging mismatch between supply and demand. This article proposes some instruments which enable municipalities to intervene in single family housing neighbourhoods which are largely dominated by private ownership. These instruments are not yet widely established in single-family housing neighbourhoods but that may become important in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to identify which loyalty programme (LP) benefits are most likely to create consumer gratitude and increase loyalty towards the brand for consumer goods and services loyalty schemes.

French-speaking Quebecer (Canada) members of retail LPs answered an online survey. The S-O-R framework was used to investigate the effects of LP benefits on customer loyalty to the brand through the mediating mechanism of gratitude. Data analysis was performed by means of partial least square structural equation modelling.

Three benefits (entertainment, recognition and social) out of five were identified to significantly enhance customer gratitude towards the brand. Neither monetary nor exploration benefits had a direct effect on gratitude or loyalty. In addition, gratitude was positively and strongly related to loyalty and fully mediated the effects of entertainment and recognition benefits on loyalty. As for social benefits, gratitude complementarily mediated their relationship to loyalty.

The findings are of utmost interest to LP managers. They offer valuable insights to maintain or modify LPs to enhance customer true loyalty. First, they highlight the strategic role of gratitude, which strongly determines customer loyalty. Second, this study's findings indicate which LP benefits should be prioritised to enhance customer gratitude and loyalty.

This research is the first empirical attempt to study the effects of LP perceived benefits on customer gratitude. It addresses the paucity of research on customer gratitude and enhances its importance in retail and relationship literature.

The purpose of this paper is to show how analysing sales flyers with a combination of eye tracking, measurement of emotions, interview and content analysis can give an in-depth understanding on how different design aspects influence sales flyers’ effectiveness as a communication tool. The paper shows the relationship between different sales flyer design principles and a person’s preference towards it, as well as the intent to read it.

The paper chose for pilot study using eye tracking and emotions measurement to analyse retail sales flyers. In addition, interviews and content analysis were conducted to fully understand which aspects of sales flyer design influenced consumers.

The paper’s main findings are that sales flyers that evoke more positive emotions are prone to be chosen, and the attention and the view time of content pages is related to the number of elements on the page, page coherence and the location of the offers.

This research uses eye tracking were sales flyers are shown on screen, which is not a natural way to read sales flyers. Future research should aim to test this methodology and prepositions in the natural environment.

The paper includes implications for designing better sales flyers.

To the authors’ knowledge, sales flyers have never been studied with a research design combining eye tracking, measurement of emotions, interview, content analysis and preferences.

The relationship between research and teaching – sometimes referred to as the research–teaching nexus – is an important issue in education literature. However, although it is acknowledged that this question is specific to each discipline, it is rarely addressed in the management accounting (MA) literature. Outside MA, the literature focuses on the influence of research on teaching but rarely touches on the influence of teaching on research. This paper has two aims: to enhance the understanding of the research–teaching link in MA and to analyse the link from teaching into research.

The paper is based on a reflexive analysis of a case in which the content of a management control course progressively changed over a period of 15 years. The authors structure their description of the case using Dewey’s concept of inquiry.

This paper first shows that designing the content of this course was a form of research and it produced knowledge. This analysis also suggests that the influence of research on teaching can take other forms than introducing research results or methods into teaching; designing teaching content is nurtured by not only scientific considerations but also pedagogical considerations and lecturers’ values; and linking research and teaching raises different issues dependent on the stance adopted by MA scholars in their research.

The academic community should seriously consider that knowledge can be produced in a teaching context, through the design of a teaching content.

This paper contributes to an inquiry process by documenting how course content is actually designed, which has not yet been done in the MA literature.

This study aims to shed light on the phenomenon of food waste generation by the food and beverage sector of hotels of Mauritius as well as examine the current status of food waste management.