Cara Peters, Jane Thomas and Holly Tolson
In recent years, cause‐related marketing (CRM) has made a significant impact on businesses and charitable organizations. However, the study of CRM as a unique retailing format has…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, cause‐related marketing (CRM) has made a significant impact on businesses and charitable organizations. However, the study of CRM as a unique retailing format has received limited academic exploration. Central to this study's investigation is not just shopping® (NJS), an organization that uses CRM as a basis for its retailing model. This study seeks to examine cause‐related retailing (CRR) and the perceptions of three vested parties: consumers who have purchased from NJS events; vendors who sell at NJS events; and the NJS business owner.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary factors that potentially impact CRR efforts were explored through an extensive literature search and qualitative data collection. Data were collected via in‐depth interviews with 13 shoppers, 15 vendors and the NJS business owner. The data were analyzed and interpreted according to the protocol for case study research as outlined by Yin.
Findings
This study of the three vested parties from NJS found that the CRR model differs slightly from that of CRM. Findings from this study suggest that consumers are motivated primarily by the location, vast array of unique products, and social benefits as opposed to the support of the charitable cause.
Research limitations/implications
This study makes an important contribution to the CRM and CRR literature. Results also provide support for trends in retailing that show how consumers are actively searching for unique, non‐commoditized items. The findings illustrate that a combination of diverse retailing and socialization benefits, not price, drives this particular retailing venue. Additional research is needed to investigate the issues surrounding why the charitable cause is not a significant motivating factor in retail purchase decisions.
Originality/value
This research is original to the retailing and CRM literatures. One of the benefits of this exploratory study is that it provided the authors with an opportunity to examine a unique retailing venue, NJS, and to explore the impact of CRR on purchases.
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Jane Boyd Thomas, Cara Okleshen Peters and Holly Tolson
Virtual communities are increasing in popularity and changing the way apparel fashion information is learned and shared by consumers. According to Agins, consumers, as opposed to…
Abstract
Purpose
Virtual communities are increasing in popularity and changing the way apparel fashion information is learned and shared by consumers. According to Agins, consumers, as opposed to élite designers, are now dictating fashion trends and pinpointing the ideal places of distribution. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the fashion‐related discussion which is taking place on perhaps the best known of these communities, MySpace.com. The three research questions driving this study include: “What are consumers saying about fashion within this particular virtual community?”; “What commonalities exist among the plethora of fashion‐related information available in this context?”; and “What kinds of insights can marketers draw from the categories of fashion‐related information being presented in MySpace.com?”
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis was selected as the method for investigation. Within the forum Fashion and Style, the subgroup FashionLOVERS was selected for investigation because it represented a general discussion of fashion. The first 200 forum topical areas with five or more posts were selected for analysis. A total of 6,623 individual posts were examined and each of the three authors independently reviewed the posts noting the general topical categories of content. Interrater reliability for the coders was computed.
Findings
Eight recurring categories of fashion related information were identified in the study. The four most popular discussion categories were personal style, brands and designers, tips and advice, and retailers. The prevalence of these four topics suggests that consumer driven marketing is a growing and influential component of fashion marketing.
Research limitations/implications
This study makes an important contribution to the study of virtual communities. Results provide insight into the complex, multi‐layered, interactive fashion‐related communication that occurs within virtual communities.
Practical implications
Fashion marketers and retailers are encountering an untapped resource with these virtual communities. Findings highlight the power of consumers in virtual communities and suggest a need for fashion marketers and retailers to closely monitor communication within virtual communities.
Originality/value
This research is particularly valuable because it provides insight into the popular virtual community, MySpace.com. Detailed investigation into types of fashion information that are shared with community members is presented and discussed.
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The transformation of France under De Gaulle from the “sick man of Europe” with governments changing every few months, to one of the world's strongest economies, holds lessons for…
Abstract
The transformation of France under De Gaulle from the “sick man of Europe” with governments changing every few months, to one of the world's strongest economies, holds lessons for us all. Of course France's virtual self‐sufficiency in food and fuel always ensured an eventual resurgence under a strong and stable government. We thought of this recently on a trip to Western Provence, the oldest part of France and one off the beaten tourist track. It was one of the earliest provinces of Imperial Rome and in each settlement the Romans tried to reproduce a petite Rome, with arena, theatre, baths and villas, so that many Provencal towns have as many Roman antiquities as Rome itself. In its beauty of line and colour, its architecture, clustered villages on hilltops and the tall Lombardy pines, the countryside looks Italian, but the people seem unlike the Italian, Spanish or French. We thought them descendants of the ancient Gaul, whose tribes settled all over Western Europe, from the shores of the Mediterranean to Galway Bay.
International New copyright provisions for digital transmission. Two new treaties relating to copyright in digital transmissions have been agreed by the World Intellectual…
Abstract
International New copyright provisions for digital transmission. Two new treaties relating to copyright in digital transmissions have been agreed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference. WIPO is a UN agency with a membership of 159 states.
Using the Internet as a means of registering discontent with politicians, policies and groups is a growing phenomenon. There are various ways of manifesting protest on the…
Abstract
Using the Internet as a means of registering discontent with politicians, policies and groups is a growing phenomenon. There are various ways of manifesting protest on the Internet, including building protest sites, cyber‐squatting, defacing Web sites and organising denial of service attacks. Some of these methods are extremely effective, being cheap to use and requiring limited technical ability. Others err on the wrong side of the law and involve full‐scale hacking. Overall, hacktivism can be a productive part of the political process.
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Rebecca McPherson and Jia Wang
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the embedded process that enables or constrains low-income low-qualified employees’ access to workplace learning in small…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the embedded process that enables or constrains low-income low-qualified employees’ access to workplace learning in small organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Informed by the sociomaterial approach and cultural historical activity theory, this study adopted a qualitative cross-case study method. Data were collected from three small business owners in Central Texas, USA. Data included interviews and organizational artifacts and were analyzed using a constant comparative and inductive thematic data analysis.
Findings
This study extends existing literature for low-income low-qualified employees by elucidating business owners’ motivations to develop supportive employment relationships. Despite incongruent value systems, subordinates were provided equal access to workplace learning based on organizations’ needs and business owners’ value systems.
Research limitations/implications
The organizations’ small size and business owners’ position as the sole decision maker potentially create a different embedded context from supervisors who are subordinates in larger organizations. Further, findings from this qualitative study cannot be generalized without caution.
Practical implications
The findings from this study suggest that workforce professionals should consider the advantages of small organizations for low-qualified clients seeking employment and adult education opportunities. More research is needed to generalize findings that delineate work situations where low-qualified employees can gain equal access to workplace learning and gain access to adult learning opportunities that lead to job mobility.
Originality/value
This study identified an organizational context where business owners support workplace learning for low-income low-qualified employees with incongruent value systems.