The purpose of this paper is threefold: to measure and compare the degree of social media use (SMU) by football clubs, to assess football fans’ engagement with content posted by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is threefold: to measure and compare the degree of social media use (SMU) by football clubs, to assess football fans’ engagement with content posted by football clubs (FCs) and to evaluate differences in user engagement with commercial social media advertisement targeting football fans, based on the advertisements’ appeal.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs three approaches. First, it uses the corporate social media use (CSMU) model to analyse 20,954 Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter postings from 78 European FCs. Second, it develops a categorisation for social media postings and uses ANOVA and Scheffè tests to conduct a pairwise comparison. Third, it uses a fictional hedonic low-involvement product (chocolate bar) to conduct an experiment by creating a Facebook advertising campaign with three advertisements that are manipulated regarding their general appeal.
Findings
Study 1 demonstrates that individual FCs show big differences between their degree of SMU. There are, however, no differences between European leagues, social media platforms, or more/less successful FCs. The results of Study 2 indicate that social media users like, comment and share postings by FCs independently of the content of the posting. Study 3 reveals that both user engagement and reach of advertisements can be substantially increased by employing football-related appeals.
Originality/value
This paper helps understanding consumer engagement in social media. The results presented are relevant and helpful for a multitude of actors, including FCs and other sports clubs, companies targeting football fans and researchers interested in social media and sports marketing.
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Alessio Trentin, Thomas Aichner, Enrico Sandrin and Cipriano Forza
The operational capability of mass customization (MC) allows consumers to obtain products tailored to their idiosyncratic needs. This study aims to provide insights into the…
Abstract
Purpose
The operational capability of mass customization (MC) allows consumers to obtain products tailored to their idiosyncratic needs. This study aims to provide insights into the potential of this capability for countering a product's liability of foreignness – the negative effect of the out-group status of a product's country of origin (COO) on consumers' evaluations of the product.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the social identity approach, it is hypothesized that this liability is reduced when a consumer product is mass-customized rather than standardized as per a mass-production strategy. This hypothesis is tested using a mixed between- and within-subject experiment.
Findings
When evaluating mass-produced sneakers, native German-speaking (Italian-speaking) South Tyrolean consumers rated the quality of Italian (German) sneakers significantly lower than that of German (Italian) sneakers. However, when the sneakers were mass-customized, this difference in perceived product quality was non-significant for both groups of consumers, supporting the research hypothesis.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could replicate this study in other samples, with other product types, COOs and countries of destination, as well as at different degrees of product customization.
Practical implications
Business-to-consumer firms contemplating the development of their MC capability are made aware that the benefits of this operational capability might go beyond the typical advantages highlighted by the existing literature.
Originality/value
This paper joins the discussion on MC value by offering a theoretical explanation and empirical support for another mechanism through which the operational capability of MC can create value, at least in business-to-consumer industries: by countering a product's possible liability of foreignness and thus increasing perceived product quality in export markets.
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Nicolas Papadopoulos, Mark Cleveland and Boris Bartikowski
Katherine A. Meese, Thomas L. Powers, Andrew N. Garman, Seongwon Choi and S. Robert Hernandez
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between country-of-origin (COO) and brand positioning in the context of the high-involvement service of health care. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between country-of-origin (COO) and brand positioning in the context of the high-involvement service of health care. This paper compares and analyzes different positioning strategies used in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses content analysis of promotional materials for a sample of 168 health-care organizations located in 14 countries to identify brand positioning strategies used, such as foreign, local and global consumer culture positioning. A chi-square analysis and post hoc testing is used to examine how positioning strategies differ among regions.
Findings
The findings indicate that European and Middle Eastern health-care organizations most frequently use foreign consumer culture positioning, while North American institutions tend to use global consumer culture positioning. The findings indicate that health-care organizations in countries with a better reputation for care use different positioning strategies than in countries with a lesser reputation for quality care.
Practical implications
The findings are of value to international advertising and marketing professionals and hospitals seeking to attract patients globally in a competitive marketplace. Hospitals must consider their positioning relative to both domestic and international competitors and the COO of their target audience.
Originality/value
COO is important in high-involvement service industries because consumers lack the information needed to evaluate service quality. Consumers may rely on COO and brand positioning signals more heavily relative to goods or low-involvement services. However, little prior research exists examining COO effects and brand positioning for high involvement services and for health care specifically. This paper makes a unique contribution by filling this gap.
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This chapter provides a study of how gambling companies use the cultural and social capital of Newcastle United Football Club, in the English Premier League, to establish a…
Abstract
This chapter provides a study of how gambling companies use the cultural and social capital of Newcastle United Football Club, in the English Premier League, to establish a connection with the club's fans to promote gambling. Newcastle United had two gambling sponsors during the period of this study, from 2017 to 2020, including a front of shirt sponsor, FUN88, an online gambling brand with a large following in Asia. Data were gathered from a range of sources, including from the social media platform, Twitter, to identify the methods the company used to engage fans and to encourage betting on the outcome of matches. The data from the study were explored thematically to describe the relationship developed between the football club and its principal gambling sponsor in order to drive business for the latter with the club's followers. The findings showed how FUN88 evoked Newcastle United's cultural tradition to promote gambling and generate business globally whilst the club actively promoted their ‘primary partner’ through its media channels. The lure of free match tickets was used to encourage fan engagement. Corporate practices promote the consumption of unhealthy commodities through their marketing whilst consumers (fans) are responsibilised for any harms engendered by their gambling practices. The ubiquity of gambling brands has enabled gambling to become a normalised part of football culture. The findings from this study show how FUN88 has used all elements of the sponsorship assemblage to create an emotional connection whilst engaging with Newcastle United's fans to increase consumption of its products.
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This paper investigates consumer engagement, evaluation and beliefs of domestic products and the influence of such associated attributes communicated via domestic COO labelling…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates consumer engagement, evaluation and beliefs of domestic products and the influence of such associated attributes communicated via domestic COO labelling within the United Kingdom.
Design/methodology/approach
A visual ethnographic approach utilising the methods of autophotography and photo elicitation interviews was conducted to explore consumers' interaction with the domestic COO label and provenance advertising.
Findings
The results of photo elicitation interviews revealed both positive and negative cognitive, affective and normative implications of domestic provenance labelling of influence emerging within consumers.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are applied to the context of the United Kingdom, with contextual limitations acknowledged of doing so. Convenience sampling limitations are also acknowledged.
Practical implications
The findings provide UK-based FMCG manufacturers and retailers insight into the associated attributes of domestic brand and products interpreted by consumers, communicated via a COO label, to assist in their purchasing strategies.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to contribute towards the understanding of provenance labelling influence on consumers for products within the FMCGs sector, whilst specifically commenting upon attributes of reliance and influence that may assist navigation of changing priorities and national sentiments.
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Órla Hayes and Felicity Kelliher
This paper aims to provide a systematic review of omni-channel marketing (OCM) literature and explore how it relates to business-to-business (B2B) marketing campaign development…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a systematic review of omni-channel marketing (OCM) literature and explore how it relates to business-to-business (B2B) marketing campaign development in the digital era. OCM’s evolution is tracked, exposing the areas in which research is most prevalent while also recognising knowledge gaps. Informed by these literature insights, the changing B2B channel dynamics that present within a digital era customer journey are appraised. An OCM model for B2B marketing campaign development is produced and avenues to further research are presented.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a systematic approach to explore OCM literature. This review informs an OCM model for B2B marketing campaign development to help advance conceptualisation of OCM B2B customer engagement as an emerging phenomena in the digital era.
Findings
With just 21 papers identified, OCM is assumed to fit the criteria of an emerging concept as proposed in previous research studies. The proposed model presents the changing B2B omni-channel dynamics that can be used to create B2B OCM strategies, incorporating the myriad of B2B customer channels and touchpoints currently fabricating the modern B2B marketing terrain.
Research limitations/implications
Conceptual in nature, there is a need for more empirical research to fully comprehend the emerging OCM landscape and how it relates to B2B customer dynamics.
Originality/value
This research provides much-needed conceptualisation of data capture and management strategies for B2B marketing campaign development across the omni-channel in the digital era. While systematic literature reviews exist within the OCM realm, none have charted the current OCM literature.
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Nina Michaelidou, Milena Micevski and Georgios Halkias
The present paper explores how advertisers use consumer culture positioning (CCP) strategies in advertising across countries and product categories.
Abstract
Purpose
The present paper explores how advertisers use consumer culture positioning (CCP) strategies in advertising across countries and product categories.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a content analysis approach to investigate usage of CCP strategies and symbols across different CCP strategies, countries and product categories. The authors focussed on country of origin (COO) cues as symbols of CCP. The authors collected printed advertisements from countries at different levels of economic development and communication orientation for the content analysis, namely, Austria (n = 182), Hungary (n = 199) and Turkey (n = 120) and products with high- vs low-involvement levels.
Findings
Findings of this study indicated that global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) and local consumer culture positioning (LCCP) advertisements relied more on implicit symbols, while foreign consumer culture positioning (FCCP) advertisements predominantly employed explicit ones. Types of symbols and their utilisation varied across countries and product categories, with language, tag lines/logos and brand names being key components across different advertisements.
Practical implications
The results document the practices of CCP-based advertising, offering important insights on whether and how symbolism can be effectively used for communicating different CCPs across markets.
Originality/value
Little is known in terms of how specific symbols are used to communicate consumers’ culture. In this study, the authors analysed the content of 501 real-print advertisements across multiple countries and product categories. This study contributes to the theory and practice by revealing how consumers’ culture manifests through diverse COO symbols in advertising imagery and by facilitating the application of such manifestations across market contexts.