Business Commons^™

An Exploration Of Experiential Marketing In The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry: Development Of The Experiential Marketing Implementation Model And The Return On Integrated Experience Formula, Holly Anne Barry

Theses

The nature of brand-customer relationships has long been the focus of marketers’ attentions, however, the competitive environment of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry in the modern era, has significantly elevated the importance of that relationship in the literature. This is primarily due to the evolution of consumers’ needs and wants and their growing expectation of brands playing a key role in their daily lives. As a result, brands face the challenge of trying to communicate with their target audience through a multitude of marketing communications tools that both engages and excites them, while at the same time building effective memory …

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 …

Relationship Marketing In Fast Moving Consumer Goods Markets: The Consumers' Perspective, Rose Leahy

Theses

Relationship marketing has been dominant in marketing literature since the 1990s. Despite this, however, the relationship marketing concept has not yet acquired uncontested meaning and application, and consequently its core philosophy remains ambiguous. In particular, there is a lack of relationship theory building and testing in mass consumer markets. It is within this context that this thesis is positioned. Adopting the relationship marketing and social psychology literatures as a framework, this study explores relationship marketing in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) markets from the consumers' perspective. Taking an interpretivist inductive approach, the study focuses on the applicability of relationship marketing …

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 …

The Significance Of Social Media And Website Use In The Promotion Of Regional Festivals, Áine B. Organ

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the significance of social media and the use of website in the planning of an event. In any industry, communication is vital to the development process. This communication is especially important in the event planning industry. Communication with suppliers, civil servants, clients and general publics is an element of every event. Promotion falls under the communication process. This promotion can be done via: press releases; fliers; posters; word of mouth; traditional media and social media. Social media is a growing importance in relation to the promoting of events.

Those who have worked …

The Proliferation Of Augmented Reality Applications: Exploring Consumer Adoption And Marketing Applications, Stephen O'Mahony

Theses

In the contemporary landscape, human behaviour is characterised by digitally mediated interactions. Computing power has simultaneously enhanced and miniaturised to the extent that contemporary consumer devices demonstrate power equivalent to or greater than that of personal computers of recent memory. At the same time, network connectivity has proliferated to ubiquitous levels. In this landscape, the concept of augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a way to visualise the pervasive virtual information woven into the physical environment as a result of ubiquitous connectivity, facilitated by ever-increasing device sophistication. However, research on the phenomenon has remained predominantly technical in nature; outside of …

Amateurism In An Age Of Professionalism: An Empirical Examination Of An Irish Sporting Culture: The Gaa, Ian Keller, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has been synonymous with the sporting tradition of Ireland since 1884, and the links it has developed with the parishes and communities of Ireland have been based on the organization’s ethos of volunteerism and amateurism in Gaelic games. Modern Ireland has brought with it many challenges for the GAA, especially in relation to internal and external issues. The dynamic of sport in Ireland has changed with the introduction of professionalism in soccer and rugby, and this has caused the validity of the amateur status of the Gaelic Athletic Association to be questioned. The development of …

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 …

Fair Trade, Marketing And Consumer Behaviour, Brigit Derler, Vicky O'Rourke, Simon Stephens

Irish Business Journal

This paper examines different aspects of fair trade marketing. Firstly, secondary research examines the development, advantages and challenges of fair trade. Secondly, primary research explores consumer buying behaviour in Ireland and Austria in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) market. Thirdly, the attitudes of consumers towards mainstreaming and clean-washing are explored. Phase one of the data collection involved one hundred and twenty consumer surveys. In phase two exploratory research using mixed modes collected data from nine suppliers of fair trade FMCGs. The findings suggest that the effects of mainstreaming are perceived to be predominantly positive. The research findings also suggest …

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 …

Is There A Mass Market For Ethical Fashion In Ireland?, Shirley Quinn

Theses

The following research dissertation was carried out with the intention of solving the question of whether there is a mass market for ethical fashion in Ireland. To answer this question, awareness of ethics in fashion among Irish consumers was investigated, along with general attitudes to ethical fashion, and whether ethics affects fashion purchase behaviour. The research was carried out over the space of six months and comprised a triangulated multi-method approach, consisting of primary and secondary research. Quantitative descriptive research was conducted through a questionnaire and the primary qualitative method used was a focus group. Secondary research took the form …