The purpose of this paper is to assess the suitability of a single brand for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the hospitality sector to boost sustainable development…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the suitability of a single brand for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the hospitality sector to boost sustainable development in Mauritius.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design focuses on a literature review, face-to-face interviews and focus groups. The focus group method was used to consult 24 MSMEs and to gather their opinions on the value of a single brand for the hospitality sector. Other stakeholders were interviewed via face-to-face unstructured interviews, including at least one representative from the government, intergovernmental agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Findings
The findings demonstrated that MSMEs in the accommodation sector have yet to realize the importance of effective brand management. Currently, they are focusing on short-term business strategies that could jeopardize their survival. Meanwhile, some businesses have noted a change in the profile of tourists and that more of them are looking for an authentic tourism experience. Respondents feel that the process of becoming certified is tedious and for a family business, and time consuming but perhaps necessary in the medium term. The survey also revealed that MSMEs involved in the hospitality sector in Mauritius are turning toward the digitalization of their offering. Respondents felt that this will help them to deliver a better service to the customers and provide a worthy experience.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study is the modest sample size. Emphasis was placed on targeting key respondents to provide expert opinions on the topic.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first study of its kind in Mauritius to analyze the suitability of an existing ecosystem for a single branding approach that integrates with the sustainable development goals in a practical way.
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To propose a decision support model that can be used to design, implement and communicate effective and efficient service guarantees.
Abstract
Purpose
To propose a decision support model that can be used to design, implement and communicate effective and efficient service guarantees.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on in‐depth interviews by the author and on a recent literature review, the author has looked at different issues regarding service guarantees developed by services companies over the last five years.
Findings
The decision support model looks first at 12 key issues to examine before designing a service guarantee. If the preliminary analysis is conclusive, discussion about design and implementation is presented.
Originality/value
The main and original contribution of this model is to present to services marketing managers a step‐by‐step process, including preliminary analysis, marketing communication and performance analysis.
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Contends that service relationship marketing is all about promises: in order to keep a promise made to potential customers, service companies must ensure delivery of their…
Abstract
Contends that service relationship marketing is all about promises: in order to keep a promise made to potential customers, service companies must ensure delivery of their promises. Discusses the making of promises: what to promise the consumer; why every service firm should strive to fulfill its promises; and what to do if the promises cannot be kept. Presents recommendations pertaining to these three aspects of making promises.
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Didier Louis, Fabien Durif, Cindy Lombart, Olga Untilov and Florence Charton-Vachet
This study investigates consumer reactions to dispensers offering solid packaging-free products (e.g. pasta, lentils, cereals) integrated in a delimitated area in a grocery store…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates consumer reactions to dispensers offering solid packaging-free products (e.g. pasta, lentils, cereals) integrated in a delimitated area in a grocery store. More specifically, the research examines the impacts of the overall appeal of packaging-free solid food product dispensers and their perceived ease of use on consumers' intention to use these dispensers and purchase packaging-free products. Moreover, using a set of variables, different buyer profiles are highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach
The field study for this research was conducted in a delimitated area (i.e. a shop within a shop) dedicated to solid packaging-free products (e.g. pasta, lentils, cereals) in a university cooperative store in the province of Quebec, Canada. A total of 456 buyers and consumers of packaging-free products from this store took part in the field study and completed our survey.
Findings
This study shows packaging-free dispensers' overall appeal and perceived ease of use to be determinants of consumers' intention to use these dispensers and purchase packaging-free products. The Rebus (response-based procedure for detecting unit segments) method highlights the need to consider three buyer profiles (enthusiastic, pragmatic, and sceptical) with different reactions to the specific dispensers used by retailers for packaging-free products.
Originality/value
This study focuses on buyers' reactions to packaging-free dispensers in stores, during the purchase process, whereas previous ones highlighted the drivers of and barriers to consumer adoption of packaging-free products (before the purchasing process starts). It also points to the need to fine-tune the segmentation of consumers of packaging-free products, which must be based not only on consumers' previous experience or familiarity with these products but also on the integration of their drivers and barriers.
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Cindy G. Grappe, Cindy Lombart, Didier Louis and Fabien Durif
Animal welfare is increasingly favoured by consumers in their choice of food and cosmetic products, proposed by manufacturers and retailers. This study aims to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Animal welfare is increasingly favoured by consumers in their choice of food and cosmetic products, proposed by manufacturers and retailers. This study aims to investigate the impact of the “not tested on animals” claim on consumers' attitude and behavioural intention towards a cosmetic product through an enriched version of Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
A between-subjects design has been used. 450 participants were recruited through the social network of a cosmetics and personal hygiene brand in Quebec, Canada, and answered a questionnaire. They were randomly assigned to either a manipulation group (n = 226) or a control group (n = 224). Data were analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings
This study shows that external (credibility and attitude towards marketing claims) and internal psychological variables (subjective norms and altruistic concerns with animal welfare) influence attitude towards and purchase intention of “not tested on animals” personal care products. More egotistic concerns, such as personal appearance, also explain the formation of attitude towards cruelty-free cosmetics.
Research limitations/implications
This research supplements Ajzen's original model with internal psychological (individuals' concerns with animal welfare and personal appearance) and external (general credibility of cosmetic products claims, credibility of the “not tested on animals” claim and attitude towards this claim) variables. These variables, as suggested by previous research on cosmetics and their claims, improve the understanding of consumer attitude and purchase behaviour patterns.
Practical implications
The study's findings point out the role of companies to increase consumers' knowledge on the significance and transparency of their messages, notably the “not tested on animals” claim. They also stress that policymakers in regions where regulation is unclear should at least punish untruthful communication pertaining to animal testing in cosmetic and personal care products.
Originality/value
Prior studies on cosmetic products did not investigate the difference of consumer attitude formation towards cruelty-free products compared to conventional cosmetic products. Consequently, this research shows that the construction of attitude towards cruelty-free products highly differs from conventional personal care.
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Didier Louis, Cindy Lombart, Cindy G. Grappe, Fabien Durif, Charton-Vachet Florence and Olga Untilov
Consumers consider retailers' standard private labels (PLs) as relevant choices, compared to national brands (NBs), and their demand for private label products has increased…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumers consider retailers' standard private labels (PLs) as relevant choices, compared to national brands (NBs), and their demand for private label products has increased significantly over the past decade. At the same time, PLs have undergone a profound transformation as retailers have enhanced their quality. The goal of this research is to investigate the impact of claims used to highlight the enhanced quality of standard PL products on consumers' perceptions and behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
A between-subjects experiment, set in a store laboratory, was used to study consumers' perceptions and behaviours. The impact of six non-nutrition claims – linked, according to the self-other trade-off, either to concern for consumers' health (internal to the self) or for the environment (external to the self) – on consumers' reactions has been studied. Then, the data collected were analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
This research indicates that health claims retailers make to echo consumers' own concerns have positive impacts at three basic levels: the brand, the retail chain and the store. It also highlights the central role of trust in standard PLs, which, once activated by the non-nutrition claims made by retailers and the increase in the quality of standard PLs thus inferred by consumers, can improve consumers' attitude toward the food retailers' stores and reinforce their intentions to visit again and recommend them.
Research limitations/implications
From a theoretical perspective, this research supplements cue utilisation theory as it applies this framework to standard PLs and establishes that consumers use extrinsic cues (i.e. communications on non-nutrition claims) to infer the quality of standard PL brand products. It also complements scant studies on retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) with quality aspects of their own labels as it specifies the levers (i.e. the claims) to use to improve retailers' CSR image and consumers' behaviours.
Practical implications
From a managerial perspective, this research highlights the superiority of retailers' claims related to consumer health and, more specifically, of claims highlighting the natural origin of ingredients. For this specific assertion, trust in the standard PL and the CSR image of the brand have direct and indirect impacts, via attitude toward the stores, on consumers' intentions to return to and to recommend these stores.
Originality/value
Despite the increasing importance of products as effective tools for communicating companies' CSR policies, scant research has been conducted on consumers' reactions to non-nutrition claims, which are increasingly prominent in the marketplace.
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Didier Louis, Cindy Lombart and Fabien Durif
The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the main dimensions of a retailer’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities (philanthropic activities, respect for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the main dimensions of a retailer’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities (philanthropic activities, respect for the environment, respect for the consumers and respect for the workers) (e.g. Maignan, 2001; Brunk, 2010a; Öberseder et al., 2014) on consumers’ loyalty towards this retailer. Mediation (through consumers’ trust in this retailer and/or retailer’s perceived brand equity) and moderation effects (depending on the groups of consumers considered) are also studied.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was conducted on 547 consumers, representative of the Quebec population. These consumers were asked to select a retailer of their choice that they were familiar with (notably with its CSR activities) and to complete a questionnaire with regard to that retailer.
Findings
This research highlights that: the impact of a retailer’s CSR activities on consumers’ loyalty differs according to the dimensions considered (philanthropic activities, respect for the environment, the consumers and the workers), is fully or partially mediates by consumers’ trust in this retailer and/or retailer’s perceived brand equity and depends on the groups of consumers considered (the very responsible consumers, the local sceptical recyclers and the least responsible consumers).
Research limitations/implications
This research indicates that when CSR is considered not as an aggregate construct, but in terms of its dimensions, their impacts on consumers’ loyalty towards the retailer may differ or appear under certain conditions. Moreover, this research points out that consumers’ trust in the retailer is a partial mediator (for the philanthropic activities dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities for the very responsible consumers and the local sceptical recyclers) of the relationship between the dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities considered and consumers’ loyalty towards this retailer. Consumers’ trust in the retailer is also a full mediator (for the respect for environment dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities for the very responsible consumers) of the relationship between the dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities considered and consumers’ loyalty towards this retailer. Lastly, retailer’s perceived brand equity is a full mediator (for the respect for environment dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities for the three groups of consumers considered) of the relationship between the dimension of a retailer’s CSR activities considered and consumers’ loyalty towards this retailer.
Practical implications
This paper indicates to retailers that the dimensions respect for the consumers and the workers of their CSR activities do not have an impact on consumers’ loyalty. By contrast, for a retailer to be perceived by consumers as engaged in philanthropic activities or being environmentally friendly has a positive impact on consumers’ loyalty.
Originality/value
In this research, CSR is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct and the impacts of its main dimensions (philanthropic activities, respect for the environment, respect for consumers and respect for workers) on an important and strategic variables for retailers, loyalty, are highlighted. Moreover, this research also indicates that the impacts of a retailer’s CRS dimensions on consumers’ loyalty depend on individuals and may follow different paths (through consumers’ trust in the retailer and/or retailer’s perceived brand equity).
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Joshua Butcher and Fabien Pecot
This paper aims to investigate how the abstract marketing concept of brand heritage is operationalized through visual elements on social media.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how the abstract marketing concept of brand heritage is operationalized through visual elements on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach combines interviews with marketing experts, a focus group with specialized academics, an open coding of Instagram images and the systematic coding of 800 images of eight champagne brands (company-generated content).
Findings
The study identifies 20 brand heritage codes (e.g. groupings of brand heritage visual cues with homogenous meanings). These codes are combined in three different factors (brand symbols, product legacy and consumption rituals) that discriminate between brands.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers a description of what brand heritage looks like in practice. This visual operationalization of brand heritage is based on a single category, a limitation that further research can address. The results also contribute to research on visual brand identity and provide practical insights for the management of brand heritage at the product brand level.
Originality/value
This paper bridges the gap between the strategic management of brand heritage as a resource and the way it is concretely made available to the consumers.
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Since the 1990s, the German current of Value Criticism has been proposing to rework a critique of capitalism based on the mature works of Marx. Starting from the primary…
Abstract
Since the 1990s, the German current of Value Criticism has been proposing to rework a critique of capitalism based on the mature works of Marx. Starting from the primary categories of capital – value, abstract labor, commodity fetishism – they intend to overcome the traditional contradictions of Marxism, capital/labor, proletariat/bourgeoisie, etc. The Canadian thinker Moishe Postone has, independently of value criticism, developed a thought that is close to the German current while distinguishing itself on certain important points. However, it is appropriate to question these new readings of Marx which, if they can be fruitful, pose many problems, both philosophical and political.