Robert Crawford and Matthew Bailey
The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of oral history for marketing historians and provide case studies from projects in the Australian context to demonstrate its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of oral history for marketing historians and provide case studies from projects in the Australian context to demonstrate its utility. These case studies are framed within a theme of market research and its historical development in two industries: advertising and retail property.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines oral histories from two marketing history projects. The first, a study of the advertising industry, examines the globalisation of the advertising agency in Australia over the period spanning the 1950s to the 1980s, through 120 interviews. The second, a history of the retail property industry in Australia, included 25 interviews with executives from Australia’s largest retail property firms whose careers spanned from the mid-1960s through to the present day.
Findings
The research demonstrates that oral histories provide a valuable entry port through which histories of marketing, shifts in approaches to market research and changing attitudes within industries can be examined. Interviews provided insights into firm culture and practices; demonstrated the variability of individual approaches within firms and across industries; created a record of the ways that market research has been conducted over time; and revealed the ways that some experienced operators continued to rely on traditional practices despite technological advances in research methods.
Originality/value
Despite their ubiquity, both the advertising and retail property industries in Australia have received limited scholarly attention. Recent scholarship is redressing this gap, but more needs to be understood about the inner workings of firms in an historical context. Oral histories provide an avenue for developing such understandings. The paper also contributes to broader debates about the role of oral history in business and marketing history.
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Frances Myfanwy Miley and Andrew F. Read
The purpose of this paper is to make visible the relationship between accounting and stigma in the absence of accounting. This research examines how failure to implement mandatory…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to make visible the relationship between accounting and stigma in the absence of accounting. This research examines how failure to implement mandatory accounting and auditing requirements in the management of indigenous wages contributed to stigmatisation of indigenous Australians and led to maladministration and unchecked financial fraud that continued for over 75 years. The accounting failures are by those charged with protecting the financial interests of the indigenous population.
Design/methodology/approach
An historical and qualitative approach has been used that draws upon archival and contemporary sources.
Findings
Prior research has examined the nexus between accounting mechanisms and stigma. This research suggests that the absence of accounting mechanisms can also contribute to stigma.
Research limitations/implications
This research highlights the complex relationship between accounting and stigma, suggesting that it is simplistic to examine the nexus between accounting and stigma without considering the social forces in which stigmatisation occurs.
Social implications
This research demonstrates decades of failed accounting have contributed to the ongoing social disadvantage of indigenous Australians. The presence of accounting mechanisms cannot eradicate the past, or fix the present, but can create an environment where financial abuse does not occur.
Originality/value
This research demonstrates that stigma can be exacerbated in the negative space created by failures or absence of accounting.
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AT Oxford, on October 8th and 9th, was celebrated the tercentenary of the founding of the Bodleian Library by Sir Thomas Bodley, an Exeter man, who early realised the value of…
Abstract
AT Oxford, on October 8th and 9th, was celebrated the tercentenary of the founding of the Bodleian Library by Sir Thomas Bodley, an Exeter man, who early realised the value of books in the work of education. The occasion was made one of great importance, and there were gathered together distinguished representatives of literature and librarianship from all parts of the world. The list of delegates given below will show how extensive this representation was, although it will occur to some, as a somewhat remarkable circumstance, that not a single municipal library in London was represented, while many of the more important English towns were also ignored. Considering that such libraries are doing so much in the cause of popular education, compared to which the work of many of the colleges and institutions represented is microscopical, it does strike the outsider that the gathering would have been much more impressive and representative had there been more “Town” and less “Gown” in the celebration. The following is a full list of all but the Oxford representatives, who included practically every head of a college, professor, or college librarian, together with various local celebrities:—
This study focuses on the marketing strategies of the two most successful discount department store chains in Australia between 1969 and the late 1980s when consumer acceptance of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study focuses on the marketing strategies of the two most successful discount department store chains in Australia between 1969 and the late 1980s when consumer acceptance of both brand and format were being determined. It examines how they approached marketing a new-format national retail chain to the Big Middle of the market and the ways in which brands were differentiated.
Design/methodology/approach
Archival sources and oral histories provide evidence about the marketing strategies of each firm. These are integrated with press coverage, advertising and promotional activity to analyze marketing programs. Consumer research from the time offers insights into the effectiveness of campaigns.
Findings
The Coles and Myer retailing firms pursued similar marketing strategies to encourage adoption of their Kmart and Target discount department store chains, educating consumers about the links between their operational efficiencies and lower prices. Both firms not only formulated national standardized marketing strategies but also differentiated their positioning to maximize their appeal to consumers.
Originality/value
This article expands understandings of the ways in which new national retail chains are developed and marketed. It explores the intersection between public relations material and media coverage and the ways in which existing brands can be leveraged to legitimize new formats and encourage adoption. More broadly, it contributes to a literature on the “Big Middle”, a space occupied by dominant, volume-oriented retailers. In doing so, it demonstrates that foreign adopters can draw on Big Middle retail formats to quickly gain access to large population segments in their home markets.
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Denis Dyvee Errabo, Alicia Dela Rosa and Luis Jose Mari Gonzales
Our study focuses on providing empirical evidence regarding the optimization of podcasting in asynchronous learning. This action research aimed to innovate the delivery of…
Abstract
Purpose
Our study focuses on providing empirical evidence regarding the optimization of podcasting in asynchronous learning. This action research aimed to innovate the delivery of asynchronous classes using differentiated podcasts.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilized action research as the research design for the study. Participating in action research entails developing practical knowledge to improve educational practices through specific methods and critical perspectives (Sáez Bondía and Cortés Gracia, 2022). According to Burns (2007), action research involves deliberate interventions usually prompted by identified issues, mysteries or inquiries that individuals in the social setting seek to improve or change. Implementing changes to enhance individuals' actions and understanding within their context is the focus of action research (Kemmis, 2010). The study’s approach is ideal for examining new practices and gaining enhanced theoretical insights (Altrichter et al., 2002). Engaging in action research helps enhance understanding and empowers us to impact and enhance practices through continuous reflection, exploration and action. Through this iterative process, we can continuously enhance our comprehension and make substantial strides toward fostering positive transformation.
Findings
The study findings showed an apparent rise in student regulation and engagement and remarkable enhancements in learning outcomes, as demonstrated by differences in pre-test and final exam scores. These results highlight the actual effect of specialized podcasts on self-paced inducing students' self-efficacy in learning. Our research provides valuable insights on effectively incorporating podcasts into education, offering innovations and improvement of practice among educators and institutions adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the educational environment while catering to the diverse needs of the learners. This research is pioneering research catering to the various learning styles of asynchronous learning environments.
Research limitations/implications
Although our current sample offered valuable insights, upcoming studies could gain from more extensive and more diverse participant groups to strengthen the reliability of our results and guarantee broader applicability across various demographics and contexts. Moreover, the length of our intervention may have been relatively brief, which could have limited our ability to evaluate the long-term impact of customized podcasts on learning results. Continued investigation into the long-term effects of these interventions could provide valuable insights into their effectiveness over time and help shape the creation of more lasting educational approaches.
Practical implications
Innovation in asynchronous learning differentiated teaching attuned to the diverse learning styles of the students.
Social implications
The study promotes equitable education, which eventually promotes learning outcomes of the students.
Originality/value
We created differentiated podcasts tailored to the learning styles of the students. This research is pioneering research catering to the various learning styles of asynchronous learning environments.
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The scale of the preservation problem makes the preservation of alloriginal documents impossible. To preserve the information they contain,they can be copied into other formats…
Abstract
The scale of the preservation problem makes the preservation of all original documents impossible. To preserve the information they contain, they can be copied into other formats, including both photographic and digitised media. The professional and technical issues which arise from the practice of format conversion are considered, and the available technologies surveyed. Some current and ongoing projects are discussed and assessed. It is concluded that format conversion is a vital tool for the preservation manager and that it can help librarians to provide better services to users of older materials.
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IN order to be able to discriminate with certainty between butter and such margarine as is sold in England, it is necessary to carry out two or three elaborate and delicate…
Abstract
IN order to be able to discriminate with certainty between butter and such margarine as is sold in England, it is necessary to carry out two or three elaborate and delicate chemical processes. But there has always been a craving by the public for some simple method of determining the genuineness of butter by means of which the necessary trouble could be dispensed with. It has been suggested that such easy detection would be possible if all margarine bought and sold in England were to be manufactured with some distinctive colouring added—light‐blue, for instance—or were to contain a small amount of phenolphthalein, so that the addition of a drop of a solution of caustic potash to a suspected sample would cause it to become pink if it were margarine, while nothing would occur if it were genuine butter. These methods, which have been put forward seriously, will be found on consideration to be unnecessary, and, indeed, absurd.
WHILE SO MUCH remains to be done on the lives of librarians who were truly eminent, it may seem perverse to explore the career of a librarian who was in no way outstanding. But…
Abstract
WHILE SO MUCH remains to be done on the lives of librarians who were truly eminent, it may seem perverse to explore the career of a librarian who was in no way outstanding. But the character of an age may sometimes be revealed as well by the lives of the obscure as by those of the great, and that is my main reason for returning to the life of Henry Bond.
Clive Long, Arleen Rowell, Anita Gayton, Elizabeth Hodgson and Olga Dolley
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the incidence of obesity and its complications in secure psychiatric settings; and to assess changes in body mass index (BMI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the incidence of obesity and its complications in secure psychiatric settings; and to assess changes in body mass index (BMI).
Design/methodology/approach
Electronic patient records were used to determine levels of obesity and weight change over a three-year period. BMI levels were related to status, medication and patient characteristics.
Findings
The incidence of obesity (34 per cent) in the sample (n=351) was higher than in the general population. One-third of patients were on medication for hyperlipidaemia and 10 per cent were diagnosed with type II diabetes. Patients on regular antipsychotic drugs and sodium valproate and who were less active had higher BMIs. Gender differences over a three-year period showed a tendency for women's weight to continue to increase which may be linked to lower levels of engagement in activities of moderate or vigorous intensity.
Originality/value
Previous surveys using secure psychiatric populations have been point in time reviews. The current study tracks changes over a three-year time period and related this to a range of interventions.
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This paper aims to join a growing movement in marketing history to include the voices of consumers in historical research on retail environments. It aims to show that consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to join a growing movement in marketing history to include the voices of consumers in historical research on retail environments. It aims to show that consumer perspectives offer new insights to the emergence and reception of large-scale, pre-planned shopping centers in Australia during the 1960s, and allow one to write a history of this retail form from below, in contrast to the top-down approach that is characteristic of the broader literature on shopping mall development.
Design/methodology/approach
Written testimonies by consumers were gathered using a qualitative online questionnaire. The methodology is related to oral history, in that it seeks to capture the subjective experiences of participants, has the capacity to create new archives, to fill or explain gaps in existing repositories and provide a voice to those frequently lost to the historical record.
Findings
The written testimonies gathered for this project provide an important contribution to the understanding of shopping centers in Australia and, particularly Sydney, during the 1960s, the ways that they were envisaged and used and insights into their reception and success.
Research limitations/implications
As with oral history, written testimony has limitations as a methodology due to its reliance on memory, requiring both sophisticated and cautious readings of the data.
Originality/value
The methodology used in this paper is unique in this context and provides new understandings of Australian retail property development. For current marketers, the historically constituted relationship between people and place offers potential for community targeted promotional campaigns.