This study aims to illustrate how firms engage in rhetorical history, i.e. “the process by which managers skillfully impose meaning on a firm’s past as a persuasive and agentic…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to illustrate how firms engage in rhetorical history, i.e. “the process by which managers skillfully impose meaning on a firm’s past as a persuasive and agentic process” (Suddaby et al., 2010). The case study shows that the connection of past events to specific and schematic narratives allows external events to be appropriated and used by Starbucks as assets to achieve its organizational goals (e.g. legitimacy).
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a close reading and coding of 1,852 “stories” (2,470 pages) published by Starbucks between 2003 and 2020.
Findings
The authors first show that Starbucks’ language relies heavily on terms referring to temporality. The authors then highlight the organization’s efforts to assert its history, to emphasize its heritage and to inscribe itself in local and national histories. With this case study, the authors contribute to the ongoing debate on history as an organizational resource. The study shows how brands that are not necessarily “historical” can mobilize rhetorical history in their strategic marketing.
Research limitations/implications
This case study illustrates four heritage implementation strategies: narrating, visualizing, performing and embodying. Further research could contribute to the discussion of rhetorical history production practices, in particular how heritage elements are validated, articulated, related and adopted by organizations (Burghausen and Balmer, 2014).
Originality/value
The research shows that the main mechanism for constituting social memory assets does not lie in the accumulation of narratives, but in the coupling of narratives at different levels, and in the inclusion of several stakeholders within the narratives. The research also highlights that the affirmation of the historicity of the firm is a prerequisite for the constitution of social memory assets. The research shows that there are a wide variety of ways to convey historical narratives, in particular the essential role leadership plays in the rhetorical process of historicization. The research also shows that the issues of identity and legitimacy are more closely linked than previous research has suggested. In a way, rhetorical history serves strategic management as much as marketing. The porosity between the different audiences allows for a strong alignment between stakeholders, thus consolidating a competitive advantage that lies at the heart of Starbucks’ success, and which notably contributes to reinforcing its core value proposition (i.e. access to a “welcoming, safe and inclusive” third place) and its relational business model. Finally, the case shows that the mobilization of social memory assets does not necessarily lead to the use of nostalgic associations. In this case, for Starbucks, it is not a matter of cultivating memories of the “good old days” but of drawing inspiration from the past, of maintaining traditions to remain culturally relevant and of relying on these assets to project itself into the future.
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Pierre-Jean Benghozi and Hugues Chevalier
The HAL syndrome is a sign of the pathology of analysts and commenters when they are dealing with the stakes and risks of AI, then stressing the omnipotence of technologies and…
Abstract
Purpose
The HAL syndrome is a sign of the pathology of analysts and commenters when they are dealing with the stakes and risks of AI, then stressing the omnipotence of technologies and expected performances, the autonomy of machine, the problems of human control, the anthropomorphism in handling usages. The perception of new uses, the capacity to appropriate the digital dimension, the very conception of applications, terminals and infrastructures are highly structured by shared vision of technologies that spread within society.
Design/methodology/approach
Analyzing fictional content such as “2001, a Space Odyssey” and the forward-thinking vision of AI it offers contribute to characterize the deep ambiguity of AI. HAL, the computer of 2001, helps us to understand that AI is just an umbrella term that covers very different configurations and systems. The power to inspire coming from HAL holds to its being part of an identifiable genre, fiction, a privileged container for projecting phantasms about future unknown domains.
Findings
The HAL syndrome leads us to relativize the omnipotence granted to technology and willingly circulated by both digital companies and transhumanist thinkers that advocate the use of science and technology – including IT – to enhance the human condition.
Originality/value
The HAL syndrome, as it continues to influence our minds, becomes the basis of the questioning, concerns and enthusiasms triggered by AI. Therefore, it calls for original reflection over the need and modalities of the regulation of the current technological dynamics.
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Clarinda Mathews-Lefebvre and Pierre-Louis Dubois
The first purpose of this communication is to highlight retailers' current challenges related to branding as a value creation process. The second purpose is to identify existing…
Abstract
Purpose
The first purpose of this communication is to highlight retailers' current challenges related to branding as a value creation process. The second purpose is to identify existing organizational brakes that may slow down retailer brand building. The final aim is to indicate managerial and research priorities in retail branding.
Design/methodology/approach
The article confronts the conclusions of previous research and the findings of a longitudinal case study conducted with a major French retailer and brand experts between 2004 and 2011.
Findings
The authors identify managerial implications and four research priorities: cultural and organizational change, development and sharing of new capacities, customer behavior knowledge, and development of a strategic retailer brand building model.
Originality/value
The question of creating and sustaining retailer brands in the long term is addressed both from a managerial and academic perspective. The longitudinal case study illustrates how a major European retailer copes with branding issues and creates customer value thanks to its brands.
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Die Frage «Wie weit kann die öffentliche Hand den Fremdenverkehr fördern?» unterstellt bereits die vollzogene Tatsache der staatlichen Förderung des Fremdenverkehrs. Sie scheint…
Abstract
Die Frage «Wie weit kann die öffentliche Hand den Fremdenverkehr fördern?» unterstellt bereits die vollzogene Tatsache der staatlichen Förderung des Fremdenverkehrs. Sie scheint diese hinzunehmen, ja sogar davon auszugehen, dass der Staat den Fremdenverkehr fördern soll, vielleicht sogar muss, wobei es dann, nur noch einen Schritt bis zur Untersuchung und zum Entscheid darüber bedeuten würde, wie weit er iiberhaupt zu gehen imstande ist, um das apodiktisch feststehende Gebot der staatlichen Unterstüzung maximal zu erfüllen.
Marie Carpenter and Patrick Luciano
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level and forms of advertising in the French telecommunications sector between 1952 and 2002 in order to understand the transformation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level and forms of advertising in the French telecommunications sector between 1952 and 2002 in order to understand the transformation of the leading organization in the sector and its succesful adoption of increasingly sophisticated practices. The context of increased market orientation is examined to investigate how such practices emerge.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive historical study of primary source material and secondary sources was conducted to develop acomparison of three eras. For each era, major changes in relation to advertising and promotional practices are identified along with key contextual elements to understand the relative importance of internal or external influences on the adoption of market-oriented practices.
Findings
Initially, advertising and promotional practices studied were introduced gradually within the state-run organization (1952–1973). They subsequently became increasingly important and systematic (1974–1985) before finally becoming those of a modern organization (1986–2002) in the competitive sphere. In addition to single institutional messages aimed at either consumer or business markets, more abstract forms of communication were used over time and publicity was increasingly targeted at different segments.The French telecommunications sector was aware of the necessity to engage in advertising and promotional activities prior to the existence of competition in its main consumer market. Adoption of such customer-oriented practices was more pronounced initially in the business segment. Advertising and promotional activities to consumers became increasingly significant as the administration modernized and developed innovative services. This growth in promotion and in its sophistication accelerated within the new competitive environment following deregulation and, in particular, with the growth of the mobile sector. Both the external environment and internal organizational transformations thus need to be taken into account when analyzing growing adoption of advertising and promotion.
Originality/value
This systematic study of the introduction of advertising and promotional practices in the French telecommunications sector highlights how public organizations can introduce practices linked to market orientation. In the organization studied, the fact that increased advertising and promotional activity was driven by organizational transformation in the second of the three eras studied indicates the importance of investigating internal influences and external factors such as competition.
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Describes how the work of Eugen Dühring was regarded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It is underlined that the preoccupation of Marx and Engels with Dühring was accorded…
Abstract
Describes how the work of Eugen Dühring was regarded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It is underlined that the preoccupation of Marx and Engels with Dühring was accorded central importance in the history of Marxism. Shows the two phases of serious mutual attention between the protagonists of this relationship. The first phase dated from the year 1867/1868 when Dühring reviewed the first volume of Marx’s Capital. It is outlined that this phase has been comparatively little examined in dogma‐historical research up to now. Focuses on the second and most intensive phase of the engagement of Marx and Engels with Dühring covering the period from the middle of the 1870s to the start of the 1880s. Examines the climax represented by the Engels’ polemic Herrn Eugen Dühring‘s Revolution in Science and standing in the history of Marxism as the programmatic characteristic of the relationship of Marx and Engels to Dühring. Highlights the political‐ideological premises determining the Dühring debate.
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Didier Louis and Cindy Lombart
The purpose of this research is to offer a model that incorporates both direct and indirect effects of brand's perceived personality on three major relational consequences of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to offer a model that incorporates both direct and indirect effects of brand's perceived personality on three major relational consequences of this construct: trust, attachment, and commitment to the brand. In addition to the links between brand personality and its relational consequences, the interdependence links amongst these consequences are also considered.
Design/methodology/approach
The model proposed in this research was tested by means of structural equations modelling. The data were collected from a convenience sample of 348 young French consumers (aged from 19‐23) questioned about the brand Coca‐Cola, which enjoys strong awareness with that target.
Findings
All the nine personality traits of the Coca‐Cola brand studied in this research impact directly on at least one of the three relational consequences under study: trust, attachment, and commitment to the brand. In addition they have an indirect influence (except for the Charming and Ascendant personality traits) on commitment via trust and attachment to the brand.
Research limitations/implications
The model proposed in the research shows the impact of brand personality on three major relational consequences of this construct: trust, attachment, and commitment to the brand. Future research should study the influence of brand personality on other consequences such as satisfaction, loyalty and preference.
Practical implications
The research demonstrates that brand personality affects the type and strength of the relationship that consumers maintain with brands. It is a useful tool for managers to direct or reinforce the lasting relationship they want to develop or maintain between their brands and the consumers they target. Relational paths from brand personality to the variables trust, attachment, and commitment are suggested in this research.
Originality/value
The model proposed in this research refines the overall understanding that researchers and managers have of the direct or indirect impact of each brand personality trait on consumers' relationship with a brand, measured by trust, attachment, and commitment.