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1 – 10 of over 1000Burhanudin Burhanudin and David Ferguson
This study aims to explore the factors that make Indonesian consumers differ in their intentions to switch to products that are more eco-friendly than their current products.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the factors that make Indonesian consumers differ in their intentions to switch to products that are more eco-friendly than their current products.
Design/methodology/approach
Consumers’ experiences with their current product and evaluation of its more eco-friendly alternative were simulated; the effects on intention to switch to the better product were then investigated.
Findings
This study found that the differences in intentions to switch are attributable to loss aversion and focusing illusion. When consumers follow the principle of loss aversion (exaggeration of greater loss than gain), they are more likely to switch to leave unattractive product (i.e. a product that they perceive as contributing to environmental degradation) than when they do not. Also, when consumers experience focusing illusion concerning the environment (determining happiness based on environmental conditions), they are more likely to switch to make their lives happier than when they do not.
Practical implications
In managing consumer intention to switch, companies should effectively communicate how their products save the environment. This communication could make their customers less likely to give up their current products to live happier lives. Similarly, companies could encourage target customers to switch to their products by arguing that giving up their current products would help them live happier lives.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence that perceived budget constraints may not inhibit consumers from switching to more eco-friendly products to live happier lives.
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As consumers’ needs and wants are often reflected in their thoughts and behaviors, the purpose of this paper is to seek to understand Thai consumers’ environmental value…
Abstract
Purpose
As consumers’ needs and wants are often reflected in their thoughts and behaviors, the purpose of this paper is to seek to understand Thai consumers’ environmental value orientations and green lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, this study explores whether a notable relationship was specifically formed between the devastating impacts of the 2011 floods on the consumers’ lives and their environmental value and green lifestyle behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
A consumer survey was conducted across Bangkok during the first two weeks of May 2012, following a seven-month nationwide flooding within Thailand, which lasted between July 2011 and January 2012.
Findings
Thai consumers demonstrate high environmental value, which is predominantly motivated by egoistic and biospheric-based values. Nevertheless, they exhibit low levels of green lifestyle behaviors. In addition, only a low positive relationship appears to exist between consumers’ environmental value and their green lifestyle behavior. Moreover, the Thai consumers’ green lifestyle behavior is mainly driven by their egoistic and social-altruistic values. Surprisingly, no distinctive positive relationship was detected between the effects of the 2011 Thailand floods on consumers’ lives and their environmental value or green lifestyle behavior.
Originality/value
Firms are encouraged to capitalize on Thai consumers’ egoistic and biospheric values when seeking to raise their environmental awareness. To encourage green lifestyle behavior responses, however, firms should emphasize egoistic and social-altruistic values. Furthermore, firms are encouraged to incorporate recycling aspects as notable features within their green offerings. Firms are to be discouraged, however, from specifically using natural disaster concern appeals when seeking to explicitly stimulate Thai consumers to think or act greener.
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Spirituality has started to attract increased interest in the mental health arena over recent years. Indeed, psychiatrists are becoming more interested in spirituality because of…
Abstract
Spirituality has started to attract increased interest in the mental health arena over recent years. Indeed, psychiatrists are becoming more interested in spirituality because of the benefits it can bring to the mental health of service users. However, the issue of spirituality and the mental health needs of people who have learning disabilities has not been extensively researched or reported. This article explores the spiritual dimension in mental health care and its relevance to people with learning disabilities. A discussion of the development of a working group to scope the issues in one learning disability service is explored, with practical commentary on the efforts made to gather more information from service providers. The findings from a brief survey are briefly discussed, as well as the developments which have ensued to date. The authors conclude that, although spirituality can mean different things to different people, responding to the diverse spiritual needs of service users must take a person‐centred and flexible approach.
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This paper aims to provide an insight around operationalising CSR and sustainability activities within an Asian‐Pacific subsidiary of a leading CSR global third‐party logistics…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an insight around operationalising CSR and sustainability activities within an Asian‐Pacific subsidiary of a leading CSR global third‐party logistics company; Deutsche Post DHL.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth single case‐study approach was adopted for this study. Using semi‐structured interviews with managers, the research maps various strategic CSR activities from the European corporate centre across to activities within this Asian subsidiary's different business units.
Findings
The research provides evidence of activities and issues around this subsidiary's internalisation of CSR by selectively highlighting local initiatives and solutions that help address and contribute towards the global CSR strategic objectives. It describes some issues and opportunities around global policies and local activities that affect the subsidiary's present scope for decision making and management accountability. Along with the issues and challenges from this loose fit tactic of bottom‐up with top‐down engagement, it highlights influential aspects of social, cultural and business management models and the interpretations, context and limitations of the subsidiary's CSR contributions to date.
Originality/value
Little has been written around the empirical operationalisation of CSR and sustainability from third‐party logistic companies; even less so from the Asia Pacific region. The activities, themes and challenges serve as useful references for practitioners. With new, original data sets, for academic scholars, the findings also serve to provide deeper and more explanatory contributions as complementary theory development resources.
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Lance Moir, Mike Kennerley and David Ferguson
The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed review of how to design and test a framework for assessing the impact of corporate responsibility on firm value.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed review of how to design and test a framework for assessing the impact of corporate responsibility on firm value.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on an earlier conceptual framework, this paper describes the testing of the framework on three cases within EDF over a period of some six months. The results of the workshops on the cases are then taken to show how to build on the earlier conceptual framework.
Findings
Much of the difficulty of trading off corporate responsibility with financial performance is due to a lack of detailed understanding of how corporate responsibility issues can affect drivers of value. The framework was validated but to be effective it requires detailed understanding of both corporate responsibility and financial management.
Research limitations/implications
The cases were undertaken within one company and so the results need to be tested in other contexts. Equally the model is too complex at this stage to be rolled out across the group.
Practical implications
Nevertheless the framework is designed to be used in business and indeed EDF have taken the results into their processes.
Originality/value
The paper sets out a detailed approach to linking corporate responsibility and business value in a practical way. The issue now is for businesses to find ways to apply the framework.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify approaches that have worked well into gaining faculty support and administration support for institutional attention to assessment and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify approaches that have worked well into gaining faculty support and administration support for institutional attention to assessment and learning outcomes
Design/methodology/approach
Reflection on ten years of sustained attention to assessment and outcomes at Buena Vista University provides insight into what has made a positive difference.
Findings
The paper finds that for incrementally bringing faculty on board, five strategies have been useful: capitalizing on the familiar, using embedded assessment, initiating substantive discussions, avoiding the “accrediting agency” argument, and identifying early adopters. Administrative leadership and administrative structures were both required to move this forward. Given this attention, there are benefits for faculty, for administration and for students.
Originality/value
Ten years of sustained endeavor at a liberal arts college provide numerous insights, especially on faculty acceptance, that are likely to be applicable in other academic institutions.
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Alisa Sony, David Ferguson and Rian Beise-Zee
Although a company can manifest its corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort through various strategies, the challenge this presents is that not all CSR activities have…
Abstract
Purpose
Although a company can manifest its corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort through various strategies, the challenge this presents is that not all CSR activities have identical attributes with respect to the consumers’ perception. The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of four CSR initiatives – regulatory compliance, green cause-related marketing (CRM), green product, and a combination of green CRM and green product – on consumer attitude and purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment is conducted to investigate how consumers in an emerging Asian market like Thailand respond to different environmental CSR tactics.
Findings
The results of this study demonstrate that a specific environmental CSR strategy elicits more favorable response than a general approach of complying with regulations. In addition, engaging in green CRM and offering a green product concurrently is perceived as more appealing than employing only either of the two strategies. The key finding is that in the eyes of Thai consumers, green CRM and green product CSR initiatives are substitutable.
Originality/value
The paper conceptualizes the difference between four environmental CSR strategies from dimensions of the firm’s discretion and commitment level and highlights the importance of using specific voluntary environmental CSR strategies over involuntary regulatory compliance. Firms are recommended to engage in either green CRM or green product initiatives. The choice depends on a firm’s resources and opportunities. The addition of green CSR initiatives increases the positive impact on consumer attitude and purchase intention.
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Zia Khan, David Ferguson and Andrea Pérez
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to empirically analyse how customer corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions impact on the perceived service quality (PSQ)-loyalty…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to empirically analyse how customer corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions impact on the perceived service quality (PSQ)-loyalty relationship in the banking industry of Pakistan; and to evaluate the mediating role of customer trust in that model.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a field survey of 408 customers of five different banks of Pakistan, the hypothesized model is tested through partial least squares based structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that banking customers in Pakistan recognise CSR as a multidimensional construct that serves as a direct determinant of PSQ, trust, repurchase and word of mouth (WOM) intentions. PSQ also influences customer trust directly and positively and trust has a direct and positive impact on repurchase and WOM intentions. On the contrary, PSQ does not influence repurchase and WOM intentions directly. Its effect is mediated by customer trust.
Practical implications
Contrary to the previous mixed findings reported in the literature, this research confirms the explicit contribution of CSR towards customer perceptions and intentions in the context of the banking industry. The findings suggest that banking companies should take great care over preparing their CSR initiatives and include them in their marketing plans in order to improve customer loyalty intentions. In this way, CSR can enhance PSQ and customer trust, which are two key constructs in the loyalty model proposed in this paper.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper lies in the context in which the research was developed. The banking industry of Pakistan had not previously been extensively researched. The proposal for a comprehensive model that evaluates the role of customer trust is another key contribution of the paper. Previous research has not extensively studied the role of trust in loyalty models that evaluate CSR perceptions along with PSQ.
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In 1767, did Sir James Steuart predict the political and financial crises that started the French Revolution? Étienne de Sénovert, the editor and translator of Steuart’s work…
Abstract
In 1767, did Sir James Steuart predict the political and financial crises that started the French Revolution? Étienne de Sénovert, the editor and translator of Steuart’s work, seems to argue to this effect in the introduction to the first French edition of An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy in 1789. The visionary “prediction” set forth by Steuart was the following: if the king of France had introduced public credit, this would have changed the political balance in French political society, making it very unstable. The English and the French governments used different ways of borrowing money in 1760: the French king contracted debts with a network of financiers close to the government, while the English government borrowed on the credit markets through the intermediary of the Bank of England. The second of these methods constitutes public credit and has proved its efficiency. According to Steuart, implementing the English public credit system in France could have dangerous consequences. Landed interests and moneyed interests would compete for the control of the State. The author realized that the French nobility, the landowners, as a social and economic group would have no chance in facing such a powerful rival (the public creditors). In this chapter, the author analyzes Steuart’s “prediction” as a coherent part of his systematic and original approach to political economy. Steuart’s theories about the role of political economy and the role of “interest” are connected to his understanding of institutions. Introducing such a complex support for the value as public credit might have different consequences in France and England. Steuart thinks each country’s economy should be analyzed according to its own institutional and social context.
Steuart’s work was still relevant in 1789 for two reasons. Firstly, the author’s prediction of political antagonism between capitalists and nobility anticipated the political conflict about debt expressed by pamphleteers such as Sieyès, Mirabeau, and Clavière between 1787 and 1789. This is the context of Étienne de Sénovert’s claim: the political narrative built by the revolutionaries of 1789 (rescuing the “sacred” public debt from royal despotism) fitted Steuart’s prediction. This may have been the incentive for the translation and publication of his work in 1789 and 1790. Secondly, Steuart’s financial and monetary theory was at the heart of the project of financial reform that would lead to the assignats. Steuart’s (1767) theory of public finance and state power in 1789 provides a key to the understanding the events of the time, and to how actors tried to make sense of them. Steuart made another crucial observation about the deep effect of what he called “the modern economy” upon the power of the governments of Europe: even an absolute monarch could not damage public credit without destroying his own sovereignty.
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