Business Commons^™

Micro & Small Enterprises In Ireland: A Brand Management Perspective, Bobby Kennedy, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

Branding aids companies in the acquisition of new customers, allows them to build a favourable reputation, leads to increased customer loyalty and, ultimately, is a driver of profitability. Although there is an impressive quantity of academic literature related to both large corporate and product line branding, there has been less focus regarding the research on branding of small businesses, despite their economic importance.

In the specific case of SMEs in Ireland, branding studies are scant. There is little understanding of the branding practices of SME founder-owners in Ireland, and, moreover, a lack of clarity as to their knowledge levels apropos …

Consumer Understanding Of Nutritional Supplements: An Irish Context, Julie Anne Walsh, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

Nutritional Supplements have been available in Ireland for over thirty years. Originally available in health food stores only, supplements now have several distribution channels including pharmacy, practitioner, and online. Recommendations for consumption can come from many sources including general physicians, alternative practitioners, dieticians and nutritionists. The demand for Nutritional Supplements has increased over the years, and the industry has expanded exponentially. Nutritional Supplements provide an important opportunity to optimize illness prevention. As scientists and health professionals start to understand the value of Nutritional Supplements in terms of the prevention and treatment of disease, consumers follow suit. Market growth of Nutritional …

Still Sparkling The Phenomenon Of Bottled Water—An Irish Context, Hayley Collins, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

Why choose to buy one brand of bottled water over another, when, as consumers, we are effectively just buying water — H2O — a colourless, odourless product? This study investigates the power of branding in the bottle water market—a billion euro industry that has been created to sell a product with little or no distinguishable features. Sales of bottled water continue to increase year on year globally, and in Ireland. Ballygowan and Volvic have the largest market share of the water market in Ireland, and, interestingly, they also invest the most in their marketing. One of the aims of this …

How Minority Sporting Organisations In Ireland Are Promoting And Growing Their Sports Using Social Media: A Public Relations Perspective., Peter Lucey

Theses

The aim of this research study was to explore how minority sports organisations in Ireland are using social media to effectively grow and promote their sport. The researcher has analysed how these organisations are currently making use of social media and how it has benefited them in their operations. Relevant secondary literature was studied in depth along with the primary research methods that were used for this study. The research methodology used by the researcher constituted elements of both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Interviews and questionnaires made up the main research tools in addition to an action research approach as …

The Use Of Fear Appeals To Communicate Public Health Messages, Katie Mcsweeney, Simon Stephens

Irish Business Journal

This paper provides an insight into the use of fear appeals to communicate a public health message. A fear appeal is a means of persuasion that threatens the audience with a negative, physical, psychological, and/or social consequence that is likely to occur if they engage in a particular behaviour. This paper explores: the effectiveness of fear appeals; the impact gender and age have on the effectiveness of a fear appeals; and ethical concerns relating to fear appeal advertising. This study comprises a two stage data collection process: focus groups and depth interviews. Firstly, two focus groups were conducted. The participants …

Diy Pr: How Independent Music Artists Use Online Social Networks For Public Relations Purposes, Martina Lawless

Theses

Significance of the study: Independent musicians are a huge part of the Irish music industry and yet they are the part that do not have the backing of a record label. This means independent musicians need to look at cheap or even free ways to promote themselves to existing fans and potential new fans. With the emergence of social networks musicians both signed and independent have the tools necessary to engage in a new form DIY PR. The purpose of this study is to look at the different ways that social networks have helped musicians in recent years, but also …

Does Marketing Have An Image Problem? An Empirical Study In To The Opinion Of Marketing From The Perspective Of Business And Consumers., Tony Ferguson

Theses

In the 50 year period since the marketing concept was first introduced to business strategy, we have witnessed a shift from the post-World War 2 austerity of supply shortages, to a modern day consumerist society, where maturing markets and an excess supply of goods and services pose serious challenges, in a highly competitive business environment. As competition has intensified, businesses have endeavoured to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Billions of dollars have been invested in research to gain an insight in to what motivates a highly sophisticated and increasingly cynical consumer. These challenges have been exacerbated since 2008, by the …