Search results

This research aims to examine whether shopping orientation (experiential vs task-focused) influences how consumers react toward nonmonetary and monetary promotions. It was predicted that promotions are more effective if the promotional benefits are congruent with consumers’ shopping orientation. Moreover, consumers’ financial budget was assumed to moderate the influence of shopping orientation on promotion effectiveness.

The hypotheses were tested in three experiments. Study 1 used a measure of shopping orientation as a consumer disposition and examined its influence on promotion attractiveness. Two further studies used an experimental manipulation of shopping orientation and examined its influence on promotions attractiveness and retailer choice.

The results supported the hypotheses. Task-focused shoppers evaluated monetary promotions as more attractive than nonmonetary promotions. Experiential shoppers evaluated both types of promotions as comparably attractive. Furthermore, experiential shoppers were more likely than task-focused shoppers to choose a retailer offering a nonmonetary promotion over a retailer offering a monetary promotion. Low financial budget, however, reduced the influence of shopping orientation on retailer choice.

To effectively use promotions as a tool, marketers and retailers need to know when and how to use them, as well as understand which type of promotion is the most effective. This research implies that retailers will benefit from customizing promotions to fit consumers’ shopping orientations. Furthermore, the findings show that the advantage of such a tailored approach is reduced if consumers’ financial budget is limited.

The present aims to examine whether interindividual differences in consumers’ shopping orientations reflect a stable consumer disposition (i.e. chronic shopping orientation; CSO). Furthermore, it examines whether this disposition influences consumers’ evaluations of retailer communication. Consumers may shop under an experiential or a task-focused shopping orientation.

This research builds on four studies; three were conducted online and one was conducted in the laboratory. Study 1 applied a longitudinal design, Studies 2 and 3 applied a cross-sectional design and Study 4 applied an experimental design.

Study 1 shows that CSO is stable over time. Study 2 finds that interindividual differences in CSO are stable across different retail domains. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate that experiential shoppers prefer stimulation-oriented claims, whereas task-focused shoppers prefer efficiency-oriented claims.

The value of shopping orientation for customer segmentation and tailored marketing largely depends on whether interindividual differences in CSO are stable. The present research is the first to demonstrate that CSO, indeed, exists as a stable consumer disposition. In addition, the research demonstrates that shopping orientation moderates the evaluation of retailer communication. Overall, the results demonstrate that CSO is a valuable construct for customer segmentation and tailored communication in retailing.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced organisations to change the way they work to maintain viability, even though change is not always successfully implemented. Multiple scholars have identified employees' readiness for change as an important factor of successful organisational change, but research focussed on psychological factors that facilitate change readiness is scarce. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether employee dispositional mindfulness contributes to readiness for change.

Employees (n = 301) from various industries in New Zealand participated in an online survey shortly after the local COVID-19 lockdown ended. The employees' levels of mindfulness, readiness for change, well-being and distress were assessed using well-validated psychometric scales. Multiple regression analyses tested the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change, with well-being and distress as moderating variables.

The results show that the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change is moderated by both well-being and distress. Mindfulness has a positive, significant effect on readiness for change when levels of well-being are high and levels of distress are low.

These findings have important implications for organisations who aim to promote readiness for change in their employees. Even though mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial, organisations also have to consider the mental states of their employees when managing change.

This study provides empirical evidence that dispositional mindfulness may facilitate the employees' readiness for change, but only when levels of well-being are high and distress are low.

The purpose of this paper is to review previous research on the effects of continuing public sector management education to systematize existing knowledge, identify gaps in the literature and to point out a need for future research.

The purpose is realized as a systematic literature review using the Scopus and JSTOR databases as well as Google Scholar. A combination of the search words identified in previous research about the topic were used: Effect, outcome, impact and result in a combination with three different types of further adult education within leadership, management and/or administration: Master of Public Administration (MPA), Master of Public Management (MPM) and Master of Public Governance (MPG). The initial search resulted in millions of files. To continue in a manageable way, the first 10 results pages of each search were analyzed according to three categories: Individual level, organizational level and professional level.

Results show a limited number of papers documenting the effects of the education programs. Most papers regard the individual level effects, very few the organizational level and a few more the professional level. Given the low number of studies on the last two levels, these are suggested for future research.

This is the first study to summarize knowledge on the effects of the professional masters' programs MPA, MPM and MPG.