Luke Greenacre, Lynne Freeman, Jared Filby and Taryn Ostrovsky
– The purpose of this article is to use an extended model of self to understand the consumption of music and similar entertainment products.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to use an extended model of self to understand the consumption of music and similar entertainment products.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews using experts within the music field were used to penetrate the private worlds of musical theatre enthusiasts. Multiple qualitative analytic techniques were used to explore the different aspects of the self underlying music consumption.
Findings
Repeated exposure to musical theatre allowed subjects to refine their consumption of specific performances that reflect the preferred aspect of their extended self. It is found higher order consumption needs are an integral part of the extended self, and form an important basis for consumption decisions. Of particular importance is the reflection of the self that assists others in their consumption choices.
Originality/value
Present research widely recognises consumers are seeking more than just “entertainment” when they consume an entertainment product, but struggle to characterise what it is consumers are actually seeking. This research provides this insight through an elaboration of the extended self-model.
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Daniela Spanjaard, Louise Young and Lynne Freeman
The purpose of this article is to show how the application of multiple qualitative methods reveals insights into grocery shopping that cannot be captured via traditional survey…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to show how the application of multiple qualitative methods reveals insights into grocery shopping that cannot be captured via traditional survey methods.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach was applied where the results of one technique provided the guidelines for the next as a way to understand how decisions are made within a grocery store. A mail survey started the process which subsequently presented input for the focus group, leading to videographic observations, depth interviews and consumer diaries.
Findings
The results show that many decisions in the grocery store are not driven by the store environment but rather by emotional connections to the brand. This suggests that using behavioral and attitudinal surveys to understand this perspective may not adequately capture important aspects of grocery buying. Instead, consideration must be given to alternative methods which offer the shopper freedom to discuss what is important to them in terms of product selection.
Research limitations/implications
This study is unique in applying multiple qualitative methods to an environment that is often overlooked as a source for meaningful insights into consumer decisions. The ability to use methods such as videography and self-assessment provides consequential reasons behind consumer behaviour rather than just statistical measurements of this.
Practical implications
The results make a note of caution for retailers. Radical changes to brand offerings (e.g. deleting lines) and accessibility to preferred products (e.g. out of stocks, store layouts) runs the risk of potentially isolating regular customers. Our research shows that when a favorite product is not available, a substitute is not likely. Instead respondents tend to go to another store that does stock their brand, or they buy a smaller, cheaper product to “make do” until the next shop. Neither option is a good outcome for the consumer, the manufacturer or the store.
Originality/value
This study will show that for grocery buying, not all decisions are rational where the use of available information is what drives the final brand choice. Instead, consumers display evidence of emotion that one research method in isolation is unlikely to adequately capture.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the editorial content of monthly women's magazines and consider their role in facilitating the Christmas food rituals. Of particular…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the editorial content of monthly women's magazines and consider their role in facilitating the Christmas food rituals. Of particular interest is the extent to which the special food features have adapted to support the changes in women's lifestyles over the last 20 years.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a longitudinal social semiotic analysis of Christmas food features in women's magazines in Australia and the UK over the period 1991‐2011.
Findings
The analysis reveals a recurring conflict between the magazine content and the lifestyles of their readers. For families to participate in and maintain the Christmas ritual still means devotion, typically by a woman. The message has not changed, even though the work/home balance for many women has. The responsibility for putting the “magic” in Christmas lies firmly at the woman's feet. The magazines' text convey a contradictory message by offering readers budget and timesaving tips, while their visuals imply that such “shortcuts” stand in the way of the sought‐after magical Christmas, the rituals must be followed in full.
Research limitations/implications
Adopting a longitudinal social semiotic analysis enabled the authors to conduct a detailed comparison of both text and imagery across the magazines and across the years. The authors were also able to report on how the sign complexes such as colour and text worked in combination to create a social message.
Originality/value
Whilst women's magazines remain an important vehicle for the transmission of social values, the paper's findings demonstrate that they are not necessarily adapting to social change.
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Benita Steyn and Lynne Niemann
This paper seeks to explicate the strategic contribution of the corporate communication/ public relations function (PR) to enterprise strategy development at macro‐organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explicate the strategic contribution of the corporate communication/ public relations function (PR) to enterprise strategy development at macro‐organisational level with the aim of contributing towards its institutionalisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach takes the form of a literature review and conceptual analysis, reflective PR paradigm and corporate social performance approach.
Findings
Enterprise strategy is the suggested mechanism and a relevant strategy process for incorporating societal and stakeholder expectations, values, norms and standards into the organisation's strategy development processes. Enterprise strategy explicates corporate communication/PR's strategic contribution at the macro‐organisational level. Societal expectations, values, standards and norms are expressed through concepts such as CSR, corporate governance, good corporate citizenship, sustainability, and the Triple Bottom Line; manifest through non‐legislative measures such as the Global Sullivan Principles of CSR, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Social Responsibility Investment Index of the JSE, as well as voluntary codes such as the Cadbury Report (UK) and the King Reports I, II and III in South Africa (SA); and are addressed through legislative measures such as the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (USA) and the Employment Equity/Broad‐based Black Economic Empowerment/Financial Intelligence Centre Acts (SA).
Originality/value
This article addresses the dearth of literature on enterprise strategy and corporate communication/PR's strategic role at top management level by conceptualising enterprise strategy and explicating corporate communication's strategic contribution within its framework – indicating corporate communication's focus to be on the social (People) and environmental (Planet) pillars of the Triple Bottom Line approach, rather than its financial aspects (Profit).
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Lynne Leveson and Therese A. Joiner
The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) work values of millennial undergraduates and their priorities among key CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) work values of millennial undergraduates and their priorities among key CSR dimensions as a basis for the design of CSR curricula that will enhance students’ social responsibility values and their job choice decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Respondents were 238 senior undergraduates studying in three discipline areas at an Australian metropolitan university. Their CSR values were explored in the context of a hypothetical job choice scenario.
Findings
While the majority of students rated CSR values highly in the job choice scenario, a larger majority were willing to trade this off for greater extrinsic benefits. Among millennial job-seeking students, workplace practices were rated the most important CSR dimension with environmental issues ranking last. Significant differences were found between gender and discipline.
Research limitations/implications
Quantitative analysis only; use of cross-sectional, single-source data.
Practical implications
In the context of greater extrinsic rewards, CSR values (particularly environmental concerns) are not front-of-mind in millennial students’ job choice decisions. This, coupled with high levels of indecision among business students may provide an important theoretical and practical basis for the development of CSR curricula in business courses in Australia.
Originality/value
The study offers a unique insight into the CSR values of millennial business students vis-à-vis humanities and science students in a job choice context. These findings are important for designing effective business programs to shape the social responsibility behaviours of the next generation of managers and leaders.
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Frank Dobbin and Claudia Bird Schoonhoven
In 1981, W. Richard (Dick) Scott of Stanford's sociology department described a paradigmatic revolution in organizational sociology that had occurred in the preceding decade. In…
Abstract
In 1981, W. Richard (Dick) Scott of Stanford's sociology department described a paradigmatic revolution in organizational sociology that had occurred in the preceding decade. In Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (Scott, 1981), he depicted the first wave of organizational theory as based in rational models of human action that focused on the internal dynamics of the organization. He described the second wave, found in human relations theory and early institutional theory, as based in natural social system models of human action but still focused on the internal “closed system.” A sea change occurred in organizational theory in the 1970s as several camps began to explore environmental causes of organizational behavior. The open-systems approaches that Scott sketched in 1981 were still seedlings, but all would mature. What they shared was an emphasis on relations between the organization and the world outside of it. The roots of these new paradigms can be traced to innovations of the 1960s. Contingency theorists Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch (1967) had argued that firms add new practices and programs largely in response to external social demands and not simply to internal functional needs. James Thompson (1967) argued that organizations come to reflect the wider environment and particularly the regulatory environment.
Jenny Lynne Semenza, Regina Koury and Sandra Shropshire
This paper aims to provide an annotated bibliography of literature on diversity initiatives for 2010-2015 in academic libraries, both in USA and internationally. It aims to help…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an annotated bibliography of literature on diversity initiatives for 2010-2015 in academic libraries, both in USA and internationally. It aims to help librarians interested in fostering a welcoming and supporting environment for all individuals and engaging library community in discussions about diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted literature review using EBSCOhost multidisciplinary databases and Google Scholar, using the terms “divers*” and “academic librar*” and limiting search results to 2010-2015 dates.
Findings
The literature reviewed in this annotated bibliography is a solid start to assist librarians with diversity initiatives from planning collections to wider organization planning purposes.
Originality/value
No other annotated bibliography currently exists for those interested in conducting vital work of ensuring a respectful and inclusive library environment.