Business Commons^™

Social Media Marketing Among Small Retail Clothing Businesses, Irene Michel Abrons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media marketing influences consumer trust in businesses, and trust accounts for about 37% of consumer purchasing decisions. The purpose of this multiple case study research was to identify the barriers to social media marketing that owners of small retail clothing businesses must overcome to be competitive. The conceptual framework was the technology acceptance model. Collected data consisted of company documents and semistructured interviews with 3 small retail clothing business owners in Chicago, Illinois, who had experience with social media marketing. Data analysis consisted of an open coding approach and member checking. The study revealed the small business owners who …

Strategies For Low Employee Turnover In The Hotel Industry, Odetha Antonnett Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover affects the profitability, performance, and customer service of an organization. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that leaders in the hotel industry used to maintain a low rate of employee turnover. Motivation-hygiene theory was the conceptual framework for the study. The study population included 9 hotel leaders from 2 international hotels operating in Jamaica. Methodological triangulation involved the comparison of data from observation of hotel facilities and leaders' interactions with employees, review of company documents, and semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed into emerging themes using a Gadamerian hermeneutics framework of interpretation. Four major …

Mentoring Strategies To Prevent Leadership Shortfalls Among C-Suite Executives, Vernon Walter Tynes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporate organizations are facing a shortage of future senior management leaders. The purpose of this single case study was to explore leadership mentoring strategies used to develop future C-suite executives in the waste industry. Companies may improve business practices by mentoring future generations to understand corporate responsibilities and expectations. The target population came from a regional waste company located in central Florida. The study participants consisted of 3 C-suite executives of the company responsible for the management and mentoring of future C-suite executive mentees. The conceptual framework for this study was rooted in transformational leadership theory. Data were collected using …

Exploring Satisfaction And Retention Strategies For Generation Y Customers, Edmund Ehichioya Otaigbe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Firms in the service industry have experienced a 15-30% drop in customer satisfaction ratings and an estimated $10 billion annually due to the unpredictable tendencies of one of the most significant and fastest growing consumer segments in the marketplace, Generation Y customers. The distinctive behavior of this sizeable generational cohort may be reshaping the business landscape of the 21st century regarding how consumers will relate to service providers in the future. Using the theory of customer satisfaction management system, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the customer satisfaction strategies that business leaders in southern Nigeria use …

Strategies To Cultivate Sustainable Open Innovation Culture In High-Tech Organizations, Eyal Banai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders must adopt new business practices to sustain their organizations and meet the paradigm of global competition. In the 21st century, innovation and market readiness have become the primary criteria for sustainability of an organization. Some organizational leaders should adopt open innovation strategy to stay competitive and foster a positive impact on their organizations' performance while practicing a systematic inclusion of knowledge from sources outside of the organization. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore effective strategies business leaders use to cultivate a sustainable open innovation culture. The population consisted of leaders from 200 high technology …

Strategies For Reducing Short-Tenured Employee Attrition In The Retail Grocery Industry, Ogechi Ngemegwai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that managers in the retail grocery industry use in reducing short-tenured employee attrition in the West Midland states in the United Kingdom. Participants were 4 store managers who had managerial experience in the retail grocery industry, worked as a retail store manager in the West Midlands, and had experience implementing effective strategies to reduce employee attrition. The Herzberg 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-step data analysis process. The major themes were: training and development, enriched job …

Retail Salesperson’S Influence On India’S Lonely Consumers, Cindy B. Rippé, Brent Smith, Alan J. Dubinsky

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Many consumers in India experience loneliness and social isolation. Some may resort to shopping for a social experience, attempting to mitigate or remedy their situation. Looking to this key emerging market, we investigate how emotional loneliness, social loneliness, and social isolation influence enjoyment of social interaction with an in-store salesperson (ESIS). We also consider whether adaptive selling and predisposition to comply with salesperson input (PCSI) influence consumers’ trust in salesperson, purchase intention, and retail patronage. We utilize partial least squares structural equation modeling with a sample of 303 Indian consumers. Additionally, we provide two importance-performance mapping analyses, which offer additional …

Why New Car Dealers Sell Used Cars: A Structural Analysis Of The Impact Of Used Car Markets On The Automobile Distribution Channel, Dinakar Jayarajan, S. Siddarth, Jorge Silva-Risso

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Most new car dealers also sell used cars from the same physical location. Used cars sold by these dealers are relatively good substitutes for new cars and thus, could compete with the new cars sold by the dealers. Previous empirical research on the automobile market has mostly ignored the presence of the used car market while the analytical literature provides ambivalent suggestions. In this paper, we study how the availability of used cars at new car dealers affects the substitution between new and used cars as well as how it affects the margins and profits obtained by the dealer and …

The Consequences Of Business Model Innovation On Market Orientation And Stakeholder Orientation In Disruptive Firms, Zach Moore

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Disruption is the new paradigm of business. Nearly a day goes by without the popular business press heralding a new “disruptor” that has come to lay waste to the existing industrial landscape and radically alter the way in which humanity will live. While this may seem like hyperbole, it is not entirely without merit. The past few decades have seen a tremendous growth of innovations that have caused widespread changes in the ways firms do business. As such, it is essential to understand the antecedents and consequences of innovation and disruption on firms.

In the taxonomy of innovation, there are …

Timing Of Market Entry For New Products: An Exploratory Case Study Of The Success Factors For Pioneering And Following, Eunsang Yoon, Hyeonjin Rim

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Launching a new product at the optimal time is imperative for the successful entry and penetration in the competitive market. Expectations of customers, responses of competitors, challenges of emerging start-ups, shortening of product life cycles, and global alliance of corporations are some of the evolving factors that are relevant to the timing decisions for a new product. This paper re-examines the timing-related strategic issues, reports an exploratory case study of the ninety-two pioneering or following market entries, and discusses the managerial implications for a firm’s market-entry decisions for a new product or service.

An Exploratory Study On Ethical And Legal Issues Of Marketing Strategies In The Cigarette Industry: Perspectives On E-Cigarettes, Jason Bruce Kilby, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Cigarette and E-Cigarette companies use different marketing strategies to promote their product. Some of these marketing strategies could be considered by many to be both unethical as well as illegal. Many ethical and legal issues surround the cigarette industry and these same issues could be relevant in the emerging E-cigarette industry. This research organized cigarette industry behavior into a matrix where a behavior was classified on whether it was ethical, unethical, legal or illegal. In order for a behavior to be considered ethical it must meet the minimum standard of being legal except under moral exception. What is considered to …

Perceived Costs And Benefits Of Being A Resident In A Tourism Destination Location, Michael Musante

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Destination marketing is a form of tourism marketing that promotes a region or an event in order to increase the number of visitors. The underlying goal behind the efforts is the prospect of economic gains for the region. Destination marketing organizations such as tourism boards are taking on a more prominent role as they seek to promote a region as a vacation area, or more narrowly, promote a festival or special event.

While new guests to a region can result in increased employment opportunities and generate revenues for businesses, the influx of visitors can also lead to negative consequences. Within …

Tracing, Security, And Safety: The Problem With Wild-Caught Seafood Supply Chains, Stephen Lemay, Dave Mcmahon, Jeffrey Periatt

AMTP Proceedings 2018

This article explores the difficulties associated with long, complex, supply chains in seafood markets. It does a brief literature review, discusses some of the issues raised by the long supply chain, and then compares one long seafood supply chain to a short, problematic supply chain.

The Role Of Consumer Self-Concept, Gary R. Holmes, Clinton Amos, Lixuan Zhang

AMTP Proceedings 2018

The growing shift to niche strategies has created a need for context specific research to address issues faced by today’s marketing manager and to determine whether longstanding consumer self-concept issues are pertinent in niche markets. Regarding the context of retailing and the ability of retailers to serve the desires of individual self-identities, streams of research regarding consumer self-concept, store image, service quality, loyalty, and share of wallet have been prominent in research. However, to the best of our knowledge, these concepts have not been concurrently empirically examined in a niche market context. This study addresses this gap by examining the …

Predicting Turnover Of Direct Sellers, Robert A. Peterson, Gerald Albaum, Victoria L. Crittenden

AMTP Proceedings 2018

As an industry, direct selling is ubiquitous. An estimated 5.3 million people were direct sellers in the United States in 2016. Of those 5.3 million direct sellers, 4.5 million were part-time and 800,000 were full-time. Moreover, in 2016, direct selling generated an estimated US$35.54 billion in retail sales that, in turn, had a US$83.11 billion impact on the United States economy. In a broad sense, direct selling is simultaneously considered to be a distribution channel, an industry, and a business model. Traditional major modes of direct selling include person-to-person and party-plan selling at a home or in the workplace, with …

Exploring Online Sales Personas: Toward A Model Of Online Strategic Relationship Development, April Kemp

AMTP Proceedings 2018

This paper explores academic literature of online behaviors through typologies and social styles and the potential impact on relationship development in the B2B sales process. A conceptual model and online persona matrix are offered. The paper concludes with discussion and detailed propositions for future research.

Beyond Endorsements: How Celebrity Creative Directors Influence Consumers’ Attitudes Toward The Advertisement, Kendra Fowler, Veronica L. Thomas

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Many marketers are beginning to expand the roles that celebrities play in support of brands. Connections now go beyond the typical endorsement relationship to include employing celebrities as Creative Directors. It is imperative to understand the implications of these new relationships, as they may have different outcomes for the brand. Relying on research from the brand alliance literature, theories on the associative network model of memory, and cultural transfer of meaning, we suggest that hiring celebrities to act in the capacity of Creative Directors may have additional positive ramifications for the brand that go beyond simply utilizing celebrities as brand …

Toward A Better Understanding Of Organic Products Consumption: The Key Role Of Consumers’ Involvement, Nataly Levesque, Frank Pons, Mahshid Omid

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Food consumption is at the base of human needs and represents an important part of our everyday life (Gottschalk & Leistner, 2013). Furthermore, the organic food market is probably the most promising sector of the global food industry (Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2009). However, the gap, often mentioned in the literature, between positive attitude towards organic products and actual behavior regarding these products still represents a major issue. Thus, in this paper, we propose to address this issue using an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior to explain parts of this gap and to highlight the crucial role played …

A New In-Store Digital Landscape: Effect On Engagement, Innovativeness, And Unplanned Grocery Shopping Outcomes, Dale Cake, Vikas Agrawal, Douglas Johansen

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Digital technologies are having a profound effect on the path to purchase in a grocery retail environment. Secondary research data on shopping habits is used to analyze the relationship of consumer digital technology use, a consumer’s innovativeness, and consumer engagement with unplanned grocery shopping behavior within a grocery store environment. Findings indicate that all of three variables have a direct, significant effect on unplanned grocery shopping outcomes and that innovativeness has a direct effect on engagement. Future study will consider the impact of key market segments, shopping situations and digital technology types.

Understanding Differences In The Dimensions Of Brand Loyalty Among Generational Cohorts In The Carbonated Beverage Category, Neleen Leslie, Petula Senior

AMTP Proceedings 2018

This study explores generational differences in the antecedents of brand loyalty in the carbonated beverage category. Eight loyalty dimensions were examined across three generational cohorts: Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers. Results indicate partial support for the study hypothesis. Significant generational differences were only observed for some loyalty dimensions and in most of those cases, Baby Boomers recorded significantly higher scores than Millennials but were not significantly different than other groups. There were also very few differences between Millennials and Generation X.

Growing Apart: Collectivism And Acculturation, Sean Sawicki, Sindy Chapa

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Geert Hofstede’s cultural research serves as a guide to understanding how the different dimensions (collectivism/individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, indulgence, and short-/long-term orientation) vary between cultures and ethnicities. However, little research exists to show the relationship that exists between acculturation and these dimensions—specifically, with collectivism. Because Hispanics rank exceptionally high with collectivism, this research aims to explore the relationship between acculturation of Hispanics and collectivism. Suggestions as it pertains to findings as well as future research are included.

A Framework For Using Customer Journey Mapping Alongside Digital Content Marketing To Build The College Brand, Julie M. Pharr

AMTP Proceedings 2018

This paper illustrates how customer journey mapping can be applied in colleges and universities to facilitate content-rich branding. A customer journey map for higher education is created and illustrates how a student’s journey may be broken into phases of prepurchase, purchase, and postpurchase. Each stage is subdivided to show important touchpoints that occur in that stage. Touchpoints may be firm-initiated or customer-initiated, but research shows that customerinitiated touchpoints are becoming increasingly more numerous. The paper demonstrates how content-rich branding, through reliance on the use of relevant content, can be used to stimulate frequent positive customer-firm interactions. Customer journey analysis is …

Sports Logistics Outsourcing: A Conceptual And Qualitative Study In The Equine Industry, Stephen E. Genchev, Gordon Gray, Stacia Wert-Gray

AMTP Proceedings 2018

The equine industry, despite its considerable impact on the economy, remains overlooked in contemporary supply chain research. The current paper aims at narrowing the gap along two directions: First, the equine industry supply chain is conceptualized, and its main participants and relationships involved are identified. Second, the complex nature of these relationships is illustrated within the context of a specific strategic decision, outsourcing. For years, outsourcing was considered a formal transaction-cost economics decision with little or no consideration for additional factors. This limiting perspective provides the stimulus for the current study’s use of a qualitative approach to get a better …

Enhancing The Fan Experience In The Sport Industry, Christ Croft, Dennis Phillips, Brian Crow

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Much attention has been given lately to the term “fan experience”, often in the context of improved Wi-Fi connectivity, larger video boards, game-day smartphone apps, and entertainment during every stoppage of play (Muret, 2014; Kaplan, 2014). What is often overlooked in this focus on technology is the human element; namely, how game-day staff and team personnel interact with guests. These interactions can include security checkpoints, providing accurate information, crowd management, parking control, access control, and all other guest touchpoints. When staff members work in a culture of service, these guest interactions will reflect positively on your venue.

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Nba Marketing Techniques: A Comparison Between Small And Large Market Teams, Kyle Ronkartz, Ronald Dick, Christopher Atwater, Robert Baker, Craig Esherick

AMTP Proceedings 2018

“NBA teams use a variety of marketing techniques to try to increase game attendance.” (Dick and Turner 2007) Past studies have been done on comparisons of marketing techniques in different seasons (Dick and Sack, 2003), and the comparison of value between fans and marketing directors (Dick and Turner, 2007). Thus, this study is focused on comparing the difference in the value of marketing strategies between “small” market and “large” market teams in the NBA. This study will give us a better understanding on the difference in marketing techniques for “small” market teams compared to the “large” market teams.

A Preliminary Model Reflecting The Potential Contributions Shared By The Four Parties Within The Realm Of Sports Sponsorship, Carol L. Bruneau, Sam Fullerton

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Sports sponsorships have become an increasingly large investment for many organizations. IEG (citation) has forecast that in 2017, total global sponsorship spending will be approximately $62.8 billion, up 4.2% from 2016 expenditures. Close to 70%, or almost $44 billion, of total sponsorship spending will be directed towards the sponsoring of sports events, leagues, teams and individual sports personalities. And the bulk of these investments will be implemented by marketers such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola in efforts to create a sports overlay so as to increase demand for nonsports products. Who benefits from this outpouring of money by companies? Of course, …

Gap Analysis For Student Attendance At Collegiate Athletic Events: A Demonstration Project Update, Michael Latta, Mark Mitchell

AMTP Proceedings 2018

The day after winning the 2016 NCAA College World Series, Coastal Carolina moved from the Big South Conference to the Sun Belt Conference. This move required a ‘step-up transition’ in Football from Football Championship Series (FCS) to Football Bowl Series (FBS) competition. This transition will require increased investment in student scholarships, facilities, and travel. And, the University must increase its average paid attendance for home football games by 50% more than its former stadium capacity. Researchers in the business school updated an earlier study of student attendance at collegiate athletic events in order to provide value-added and impactful information to …

Understanding How Immigrant Entrepreneurs View Business Opportunity Formation Through Ethnicity, Kingsley C. Njoku, Thomas M. Cooney

Books/Book Chapters

Given that international research is now consistently showing higher rates of entrepreneurial activity from immigrants above native people, research regarding our understanding of how immigrant entrepreneurs view business opportunity formation remains underdeveloped. Based upon a review of the literature, this chapter examines how ethnicity relates to business opportunity formation through constant interactions. It also introduces the Visual Mixed Embeddedness Framework as an empirical lens for understanding the differences in the business opportunity formation process models between immigrant and native entrepreneurs. By explaining how factors and traits from both home and host countries impact upon the immigrant entrepreneurial business activity process, …

University-Based Technology Start-Up Incubators – Evaluating Their Contribution To The Co-Production Of Knowledge, Innovation And Growth. Experience From The Edge, Anthony Paul Buckley, Stephen Davis

Articles

Policy makers in developed economies see merit in supporting the innovative abilities of technology entrepreneurs. It is hoped that from these highly–educated entrepreneur(s), new technology and service–based firms (NTBFs) can emerge. Indeed empirical evidence suggests that it is fast-growing young innovative firms which provide the bulk of new employment growth (Henrekson & Johansson, 2010; Storey & Greene, 2010). Start-up incubators are one of a number of micro-policy interventions with which states attempt – primarily through publically funded higher education Institutions - to support technology entrepreneurs to develop and commercialise their innovations. Incubator numbers have grown globally from their first appearance …

Beauty Bloggers And Youtubers As A Community Of Practice, Valerie Gannon, Andrea Prothero

Articles

Much consumption-related activity online is outside of what is understood traditionally as community and is via user-generated content (UGC), of which blogs and YouTube channels in particular dominate in the beauty sphere. Community of practice (CoP) theory from social learning and organisation studies offers an alternative way to understand these consumption-based UGC practices. This study combines data from 25 interviews with bloggers and YouTubers and their blog posts and videos. Among these UGC creators we find mutual engagement, shared repertoires and joint enterprise. This paper theorises consumption-based UGC creators as a CoP and contributes insights for mangers as to how …