Doug Walker, E. Deanne Brocato, Les Carlson and Russell N. Laczniak
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of co-playing as a moderator of the relation between parents’ and children’s play of violent video games.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of co-playing as a moderator of the relation between parents’ and children’s play of violent video games.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses dyadic parent/child survey data to estimate the conditional effects in the model, both direct and indirect.
Findings
The positive effect of parents’ violent video game play of children’s playing behaviors is attenuated by parent/child co-playing. Parents’ knowledge of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings leads to higher levels of co-playing, thereby indirectly attenuating violent video game play in children as driven by parents’ play.
Research limitations/implications
The paper extends the literature on consumer socialization and the impact of co-playing and identifies an antecedent for co-playing in this context.
Practical implications
The paper reveals that knowledge of the self-regulatory ESRB rules plays a valuable (indirect) role in mitigating violent video game play by children through an increase in co-playing, which attenuates the positive effect of parents’ play on children’s play.
Originality/value
The study incorporates data from both parents and children to investigate the relationship between parents and children’s violent video game play while empirically investigating the uncertainty in the literature concerning the moderating impact of co-playing.
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Akshaya Vijayalakshmi, Russell Laczniak and Deanne Brocato
This study aims to uncover in-depth examples of how emergent media affects parents’ views and socialization efforts. The study examines these views and efforts in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to uncover in-depth examples of how emergent media affects parents’ views and socialization efforts. The study examines these views and efforts in the context of violent commercials.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data for this paper using two studies. In Study 1, they collected data from the internet. Comments related to “violent ads” or “violent commercials” were collated and analyzed. For Study 2, they conducted in-depth interviews with mothers on their views on parental mediation and impact of media on their children.
Findings
The internet data helped develop a parental definition of violent ads and identify that parents lie on a continuum regarding their concerns about violent commercials. Further in-depth questioning of parents on the above finding led to the identification of four clusters of parents. “Media managers” attempt to control and restrict their child’s media environment while educating their child about the effects of violent commercials. “Enablers” spend abundant time co-viewing primetime TV while engaging their child in conversations on violence, but not on violent ads. To maintain harmony in the household, “Harmonizers” merely restrict viewing of violent commercials without educating their child about its effects. Finally, “Agent evaluators” are likely to co-view violent commercials, without discussing them with their child.
Research limitations/implications
First, several of the parental segments (media managers, enablers and harmonizers) tend to note some concerns with violence in advertising. Importantly, this concern for violence appears to be limited to gore and use of physical weapon. Second, while parents do not have homogenous views on violent ads, those who are concerned also have differing roots of concern. This influences their mediation efforts. Third, socialization is bi-directional at times.
Practical implications
Many parents do not approve are the use of physical violence, use of weapons and depiction of blood/gore even in ads for movies or videogames. Advertisers might be wise to avoid such content in ads directed to children. Second, if media and marketing managers could plan to sponsor TV shows (vs placing violent ads) that offer ad-free program time, parents might respond positively. Third, as socialization is bi-directional, advertisers could consider using ad scenarios where parents and children engage with the pros and cons of a certain product or content, thus enabling parent-child conversations to make an informed decision.
Social implications
Many parents notice violence in ads; policymakers could consider developing ratings for ads that consider the amount and type of violence while rating an ad. Second, a focus on increasing parental awareness on the harms of constantly exposing children to violent commercials might change the views of some parents who currently believe that a few or no violent commercials are being aired during children’s programs. Finally, parents envisage a greater role for media in their lives, and policymakers will have to suggest ways to effectively integrate media content in one’s lives rather than just suggest bans or restrictions.
Originality/value
The contributions of this paper include viewers’ (vs researchers’) definition of violent commercials, showcasing that parents are likely to manage media using new media options such as Netflix, and some parents are likely to co-create rules with their children.
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Jack A. Lesser and Lakshmi K. Thumurluri
Much of human behaviour is viewed as a process, which begins with early childhood experience, and develops into later life emotions, values, beliefs, and behaviours. Described…
Abstract
Much of human behaviour is viewed as a process, which begins with early childhood experience, and develops into later life emotions, values, beliefs, and behaviours. Described below, considerable interdisciplinary attention has been given to the role of childhood, and more specifically, to the relevance of different types of parental influence on children as they later become adults. Within marketing, selected scholarly consideration has been devoted to the roles of parents on their children's existing consumer behaviour. The unique contribution of this article is to examine the role of different types of parental influence on later adulthood shopping behaviours.
This paper proposes a framework for connecting the involvement construct’s antecedents of Internet marketing, measured involvement degree, related constructs and consequences of…
Abstract
This paper proposes a framework for connecting the involvement construct’s antecedents of Internet marketing, measured involvement degree, related constructs and consequences of consumer behavior. The research first determined the factors that influence the degree of Internet marketing involvement then established the different involvement degree clusters by measured involvement. Finally, the relationship among influence factors, Internet marketing involvement degree, and consequences of consumer behavior was analyzed. Based on the research findings, this paper discusses the possible Internet marketing strategies for a variety involvement degree clusters.
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Ann-Marie Kennedy and Nicholas Santos
Social marketers set out to undertake interventions that benefit society. However, at times, there can be inadvertent, unintended consequences of these interventions that can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Social marketers set out to undertake interventions that benefit society. However, at times, there can be inadvertent, unintended consequences of these interventions that can be seen as unethical. Such ethical issues can arise from the context, process, method and outcomes of interventions and often bring to the fore the “social fairness” of social marketing. Given that social marketing is aimed at societal benefit, the authors believe that the issue of social fairness is an important one in the context of ethical social marketing. With that in mind, the purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion of the application of a normative ethical framework, labelled the integrative justice model (IJM) (Santos and Laczniak, 2009), to social marketing. This amounts to a macro-social marketing ethical framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual broadening of a normative ethical framework.
Findings
The authors hold that the IJM provides several helpful normative guidelines for improving the “social fairness” of social marketing. As such, the presented normative framework of macro-social marketing ethics provides useful guidelines for future development of social marketing codes of ethics.
Practical implications
The macro-social marketing ethics framework provides practical guidelines for social marketers to assess ethical issues in social marketing.
Originality/value
The macro-social marketing ethics framework answers the call of Carter, Mayes, Eagle and Dahl (2017) for development of ethical frameworks for social marketers. It provides a reconciliation of multiple normative frameworks to give a set of guidelines for social marketers that are clear and non-contradictory.
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Linda Alkire, Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Josephine Previte and Raymond P. Fisk
Profound economic, social, political and environmental problems are cascading across modern civilization in the 21st century. Many of these problems resulted from the prevailing…
Abstract
Purpose
Profound economic, social, political and environmental problems are cascading across modern civilization in the 21st century. Many of these problems resulted from the prevailing effects of rational economics focused on profit maximization. The purpose of this paper is to reframe the mindsets of scholars, firms and public policy decision-makers through enabling Service Thinking practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Marketing, service and allied discipline literature are synthesized, and Raworth's (2018) Doughnut Economics model is adapted to conceptualize and construct the Service Thinking framework.
Findings
Service Thinking is defined as a just, mutualistic and human-centered mindset for creating and regenerating service systems that meet the needs of people and the living planet. Service Thinking is enabled by five practices (service empathy, service inclusion, service respect, service integrity and service courage).
Practical implications
Actionable implications are presented for service ecosystem entities to uplift well-being, enhance sustainability and increase prosperity.
Originality/value
Service Thinking practices are shaped by influencing forces (marketing, education and law/policy) and operant service ecosystem resources (motivation–opportunity–ability or MOA), which makes Service Thinking applicable to four economic entities in the service ecosystem: the household, the market, the state and the commons.
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Ethical issues surround and permanently reside in the discipline of marketing and have been examined within multiple schools of thought. However, despite the prevalence of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Ethical issues surround and permanently reside in the discipline of marketing and have been examined within multiple schools of thought. However, despite the prevalence of the topic and significant scholarly attention and theoretical development since the 1980s, the Hunt–Vitell general model has not been subject to a substantial revision in decades. This paper aims to undertake the significant task of augmenting and advancing the general theoretical framework of marketing ethics through a number of revisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper synthesizes the conceptual and empirical work on marketing ethics to date to extend the seminal Hunt and Vitell (1986, 2006) model of marketing ethics.
Findings
The revised model expands upon the Hunt–Vitell model by incorporating additional factors that influence ethical decision-making in marketing. Key additions include cultural orientation, socialization, individual characteristics (relativism, demographics, goals, position), means, contracts, consumer sovereignty, self-respect, respect from others and context. These additions create a more comprehensive framework for understanding ethical behavior in marketing, enhancing the model’s validity and applicability.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers numerous research avenues, including: 1. Examining how marketers and entrepreneurs make decisions, focusing on the alignment of their processes with ethical principles. 2. Revisiting research on gender and ethics, exploring the interplay of various social identities in ethical decision-making. 3. Developing new measures for personality traits like idealism and relativism within marketing and entrepreneurship contexts. 4. Investigating the impact of information availability and different types of information on consumer perceptions and ethical behavior. 5. Exploring the disconnect between ethical orientations of marketing managers and consumers. 6. Examining the influence of socialization processes on ethical orientations. 7. Incorporating psychological constructs like self-respect and desire for respect into models of ethical decision-making. 8. Conducting context-specific research to understand the relationship between ethical judgment and action. 9. Empirical testing using both vignettes and structural equation modeling to validate the model and explore its implications for both marketers and consumers, especially in the context of brand activism and public relations crises.
Practical implications
Practitioners should be mindful of how their actions and intentions influence ethical judgments. They should integrate ethical considerations into all aspects of business, including CSR initiatives and training. Promoting diversity and transparency fosters ethical decision-making and builds trust with consumers. Entrepreneurs should model ethical behavior, create an ethical culture and provide clear information about their practices.
Social implications
The revised model highlights the significant social implications of ethical decision-making in marketing and entrepreneurship. By considering not only the outcomes but also the means used to achieve them, businesses can avoid negative impacts on society. This includes prioritizing transparency, fairness and responsible practices. Understanding the influence of cultural, individual and contextual factors on ethical behavior can lead to more ethical business practices, ultimately contributing to a more just and sustainable society.
Originality/value
The revised model constitutes a meaningful improvement to the seminal Hunt–Vitell general model of marketing ethics. Seven new research propositions, a simplified measurement model, research and practitioner implications and an Appendix that offers an overview of four decades of marketing ethics research are also provided.
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Russell Abratt, Michael Bendixen and Karen Drop
Reports on the ethical beliefs of retail salespeople, managers and executives in South Africa. Little is known about the ethical perceptions of retailers despite the fact that…
Abstract
Reports on the ethical beliefs of retail salespeople, managers and executives in South Africa. Little is known about the ethical perceptions of retailers despite the fact that retailing plays a vital role in the economy. A review of the ethics literature regarding retailing and sales is presented. A survey of 579 retailing employees was undertaken. Findings indicate differences in the ethical beliefs of salespeople when compared to managers. The specific differences are discussed, as well as implications and recommendations for retailers.
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Giulia Nevi, Gianpaolo Basile, Hans Rüdiger Kaufmann and Mohammad Fotouhi Ardakani
In the context of triple-bottom-line dynamics, societal components grapple with multifaceted challenges, necessitating changing behaviours within business-to-business (B2B…
Abstract
Purpose
In the context of triple-bottom-line dynamics, societal components grapple with multifaceted challenges, necessitating changing behaviours within business-to-business (B2B) processes. This study investigates how collaborative relations in B2B ecosystems can influence social, environmental and economic sustainability dynamics, exploring whether the former two positively impact economic results.
Design/methodology/approach
Validating a conceptual framework via partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling, a quantitative study on 262 Iranian SME stakeholders was conducted.
Findings
The research underscores the paramount role of B2B relations, emphasizing the shift towards interconnected relations between society, institutions, end-users and businesses. The findings suggest that B2B collaborative efforts within a broader ecosystem address social and environmental needs, thereby contributing to transforming the ecosystem’s business models. Innovatively, the research elicited that environmental and social effects have a positive mediating effect on economic results.
Originality/value
By proposing a business-social-institutional model (B2SI) grounded in relational and dynamic capabilities, this study contributes to advancing both scientific understanding and business practices, pointing to the important role of social responsibility within B2B ecosystems.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological empowerment affects individuals’ likelihood of publicly punishing a company with whom they had unsatisfactory experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological empowerment affects individuals’ likelihood of publicly punishing a company with whom they had unsatisfactory experiences through online complaining behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
A 3 (intrapersonal empowerment: high/low/control) by 3 (interactional empowerment: high/low/control) online experiment was designed using the priming technique. Following the priming tasks, participants were given a scenario in which a restaurant failed their expectations followed by dependent and control measures.
Findings
Results revealed a significant main effect of interactional empowerment: participants in the low interactional empowerment condition reported being less likely to engage in the revenge-motivated online public complaining behaviors than participants in the control condition. The study also found a significant interaction effect between interactional and intrapersonal empowerment.
Practical implications
The study findings yield practical application for crisis management and relationship management. Understanding the linkage between power and online complaining behaviors should help corporate communication professionals to better perform risk assessment, environmental scanning and crisis communication and management.
Originality/value
Limited empirical studies have investigated the linkage between empowerment and online complaining behaviors in the consumer context. The present study fills this gap by conceptualizing online public complaining as a revenge-motivated behavior. The study yields both theoretical and practical implications.