Brand personality: Current insights and future research directions

The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of the scientific contributions made by brand personality (BP) research, to identify its predominant themes and to propose a relevant research agenda. An analysis was undertaken of the 1051 brand personality-related articles published over the period 1987–2022 that are indexed in the Scopus scientific database. A bibliometric approach was adopted to systematically analyse the publications, and a performance analysis and science mapping were undertaken. The results showed that the motor themes of BP research related to its conceptualisation, dimensions and measurement, its impact on consumer-brand relationships and application in tourism destination-focused studies. Emerging BP-focused themes are its applications in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, service robots, storytelling and tourism segments, such as luxury. This study contributes by providing a better understanding of the state-of-the-art research on BP, and by identifying future research directionsThis study was supported by the European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme of Andalusia 2014-2020, through the Andalusian Research, Development and Innovation Plan (Plan Andaluz de Investigaci´on, Desarrollo e Innovación) PAIDI 2020 (Grant: P20_00457), and by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte del Gobierno de España) (Grant: FPU20/00235). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Opinion mining and sentiment analysis in marketing communications: a science mapping analysis in Web of Science (1998–2018)

Opinion mining and sentiment analysis has become ubiquitous in our society, with applications in online searching, computer vision, image understanding, artificial intelligence and marketing communications (MarCom). Within this context, opinion mining and sentiment analysis in marketing communications (OMSAMC) has a strong role in the development of the field by allowing us to understand whether people are satisfied or dissatisfied with our service or product in order to subsequently analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those consumer experiences. To the best of our knowledge, there is no science mapping analysis covering the research about opinion mining and sentiment analysis in the MarCom ecosystem. In this study, we perform a science mapping analysis on the OMSAMC research, in order to provide an overview of the scientific work during the last two decades in this interdisciplinary area and to show trends that could be the basis for future developments in the field. This study was carried out using VOSviewer, CitNetExplorer and InCites based on results from Web of Science (WoS). The results of this analysis show the evolution of the field, by highlighting the most notable authors, institutions, keywords, publications, countries, categories and journals.The research was funded by Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014‐2020, grant number “La reputación de las organizaciones en una sociedad digital. Elaboración de una Plataforma Inteligente para la Localización, Identificación y Clasificación de Influenciadores en los Medios Sociales Digitales (UMA18‐ FEDERJA‐148)” and The APC was funded by the same research gran

Social and Cultural Contexts of Alcohol Use: Influences in a Social-Ecological Framework.

Alcohol use and misuse account for 3.3 million deaths every year, or 6 percent of all deaths worldwide. The harmful effects of alcohol misuse are far reaching and range from individual health risks, morbidity, and mortality to consequences for family, friends, and the larger society. This article reviews a few of the cultural and social influences on alcohol use and places individual alcohol use within the contexts and environments where people live and interact. It includes a discussion of macrolevel factors, such as advertising and marketing, immigration and discrimination factors, and how neighborhoods, families, and peers influence alcohol use. Specifically, the article describes how social and cultural contexts influence alcohol use/misuse and then explores future directions for alcohol research

Social media as a data gathering tool for international business qualitative research: opportunities and challenges

Lusophone African (LA) multinational enterprises (MNEs) are becoming a significant pan-African and global economic force regarding their international presence and influence. However, given the extreme poverty and lack of development in their home markets, many LA enterprises seeking to internationalize lack resources and legitimacy in international markets. Compared to higher income emerging markets, Lusophone enterprises in Africa face more significant challenges in their internationalization efforts. Concomitantly, conducting significant international business (IB) research in these markets to understand these MNEs internationalization strategies can be a very daunting task. The fast-growing rise of social media on the Internet, however, provides an opportunity for IB researchers to examine new phenomena in these markets in innovative ways. Unfortunately, for various reasons, qualitative researchers in IB have not fully embraced this opportunity. This article studies the use of social media in qualitative research in the field of IB. It offers an illustrative case based on qualitative research on internationalization modes of LAMNEs conducted by the authors in Angola and Mozambique using social media to identify and qualify the population sample, as well as interact with subjects and collect data. It discusses some of the challenges of using social media in those regions of Africa and suggests how scholars can design their studies to capitalize on social media and corresponding data as a tool for qualitative research. This article underscores the potential opportunities and challenges inherent in the use of social media in IB-oriented qualitative research, providing recommendations on how qualitative IB researchers can design their studies to capitalize on data generated by social media.https://doi.org/10.1080/15475778.2019.1634406https://doi.org/10.1080/15475778.2019.1634406https://doi.org/10.1080/15475778.2019.1634406https://doi.org/10.1080/15475778.2019.1634406Accepted manuscriptPublished versio

Investigating shopping experience and fulfilment in omnichannel retailing : a proposed comparative study in Romania and UK of Generation Y consumers

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: This paper presents a literature review and proposed research agenda to examine whether Romanian retailers are more inclined than UK retailers to reach out to young consumers, i.e. Generation Y through omnichannel retailing to improve their shopping experiences and also determine the impact of this strategy on logistical and fulfilment activities. Research approach: This paper is based on a literature review in three key areas: omnichannel retailing, young consumers’ attitudes and fulfilment and the propensity of online buying behaviour in an emerging market (Romania) versus a more developed economy (UK). As there are few studies related to these aspects, the paper attempts to highlight the best options retailers have for both marketing and online fulfilment when addressing/entering new markets that are very attractive but where cultural background are more different than their traditional markets. Findings and Originality: The literature review suggests there is an opportunity to explore two main relationships: i) marketing and fulfilment for online consumers and omnichannel retailing efforts, and ii) consumers’ propensity to purchase online in an emerging market versus a developed economy. Research impact: This paper suggests some research concepts and ideas to investigate the online fulfilment and buying behaviour of younger generations of consumers in both Romania and the UK. The scope of the proposed agenda will include young consumers’ purchase behaviours’ as regards omnichannel retailing, and logistical fulfilment in an emerging market versus a developed economy including different cultural backgrounds. Practical impact: The paper provides some direction for practitioners on assessing proper market development strategies on an emerging international context, taking into consideration different cultural implications and patterns, as well as focussing on buying propensity of different generations when active in omnichannel retailing. However, the suggested research concepts and ideas would provide a more holistic approach towards a better overall performance of retailers

Harnessing Technology: analysis of emerging trends affecting the use of technology in education (September 2008)

Research to support the delivery and development of Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning 2008–1

State of the art 2015: a literature review of social media intelligence capabilities for counter-terrorism

Overview This paper is a review of how information and insight can be drawn from open social media sources. It focuses on the specific research techniques that have emerged, the capabilities they provide, the possible insights they offer, and the ethical and legal questions they raise. These techniques are considered relevant and valuable in so far as they can help to maintain public safety by preventing terrorism, preparing for it, protecting the public from it and pursuing its perpetrators. The report also considers how far this can be achieved against the backdrop of radically changing technology and public attitudes towards surveillance. This is an updated version of a 2013 report paper on the same subject, State of the Art. Since 2013, there have been significant changes in social media, how it is used by terrorist groups, and the methods being developed to make sense of it.  The paper is structured as follows: Part 1 is an overview of social media use, focused on how it is used by groups of interest to those involved in counter-terrorism. This includes new sections on trends of social media platforms; and a new section on Islamic State (IS). Part 2 provides an introduction to the key approaches of social media intelligence (henceforth ‘SOCMINT’) for counter-terrorism. Part 3 sets out a series of SOCMINT techniques. For each technique a series of capabilities and insights are considered, the validity and reliability of the method is considered, and how they might be applied to counter-terrorism work explored. Part 4 outlines a number of important legal, ethical and practical considerations when undertaking SOCMINT work