Search results

The purpose of this paper is to use cognitive age to segment college‐educated Japanese seniors, a grouping of interest to many marketers both within and external to Japan. The intent is to demonstrate the nomological validity of the cognitive age concept by relating it to key externalities and to further assess the viability of cognitive age over chronological age in non‐Western segmentation research.

Both hierarchical and non‐hierarchical clustering are employed to form segments of Japanese seniors based on their average cognitive age, as revealed by both Likert and semantic‐differential scaling. Differences are sought between the two clusters on key segmentation variables.

The results reveal that Japanese seniors who are younger, psychologically speaking, have more positive attitudes toward life satisfaction and aging than those respondents who are cognitively older. The psychologically younger respondents also tend to be more involved in activities and have better health along with economic comfort. The study further demonstrates, in a non‐Western setting, the predictive power of cognitive age over chronological age since the revealed cognitive age segments have the same chronological age.

The fact that average cognitive age relates to one's health makes it a powerful segmentation variable in international segmentation research on the mature market. Basically, cognitive age reveals an aptitude and, when coupled with purchasing power, the viability of senior segments may be assessed more clearly and strategically.

The study validates the usefulness of cognitive age in global segmentation research and illustrates its potential as a better predictor of behavior than chronological age.

It seems intuitive that as firms continue to try and keep in touch with the customers they serve, research should play an increasingly important role in determining the needs and wants of the consumer. Accordingly, as goods and services are tailored to meet these needs, so too does the accompanying advertising. Additionally, there is constant pressure on advertising agencies to produce advertising that consistently meets the objectives of their clients. Marketing departments, in turn, have to justify and be accountable to top management for advertising budgets. Consequently, agencies increasingly have to provide measures of effectiveness (Flandin et al 1992). In order to optimize the process(es) that will meet client objectives, agencies have to ensure that they understand how the consumer thinks and feels. One such approach to understanding the consumer's view is account planning. The main objective of this paper will be to provide a thorough review of the account planning phenomenon in advertising and in so doing, highlight the use of advertising research from a developmental perspective. This paper will describe the account planning process and how it differs from traditional agency practices. The justification for such a paper is the fact that billions of dollars are spent annually on advertising, in the hopes that the advertiser's objectives will consistently be met. If it could be demonstrated that increased attention to the consumer, in the development stages of advertising leads to more effective advertising than when consumer input is limited to the evaluation of advertising, after the fact, this would be of significant interest to advertisers as well as advertising agencies.

Seeks to highlight the potential role of consumer values as a guiding force to technology. Posits, in order to assess these values, that considering the field of futures research in consumer behaviour is warranted. Discusses several models of futures research advancing the Delphi technique as a most appropriate methodology for predicting the future behaviour and preferences of consumers. Focuses on the notion that consumers' values can play a more prominent role in guiding the use of technology insofar as it relates to the production of consumable goods and services. Contends that the information revealed and examined here is vital for anyone concerned with an integrated approach to futures research, in particular for those organisations concerned in this market.

States that the level of consumer involvement in a product category is a major variable relevant to advertising strategy. Suggests product category is often segmented by the level of consumer involvement; however, consumers are rarely segmented. Points out that different involvement clusters have different responses to advertising effectiveness for the same product. Presents a case study segmenting a market using the consumer involvement degree, exploring the characteristics in order to determine the relationship between advertising effectiveness and the level of consumer involvement. Shows results suggesting that a high degree of consumer involvement directed a high advertising effect and is therefore an important indication for advertising strategy.

Providing the services which customers need and want is vital for assuring necessary product and distribution support in a marketing channel. This paper illustrates a method of identifying those customer service needs and aligning suppliers' customer service activities to meet those needs.

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

Prior to the passage of the 20th amendment to the US Constitution in 1920, several states had extended the suffrage to women. Helen Laura Sumner (later Woodbury), a student of John R. Commons at Wisconsin, undertook a statistical study of the political, economic, and social impacts of the granting of voting rights to women in the state of Colorado, and subsequently defended the results against numerous attacks. In this paper, we present a brief account of the struggle for women’s equality in the extension of the suffrage and examine Sumner’s critical analysis of the evidence as to its effects, as well as the counterarguments to which she responded.