944 research outputs found

    How social media brand community development impacts consumer engagement and value formation; perspectives from the cosmetics industry

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    Social media and social media brand communities (SMBCs) are powerful tools for long-term consumer-brand relationship building. As a result, SMBCs are becoming significant marketing channels. Despite the wide use and adoption of SMBCs, further research is called for, as both practitioners and academics lack an understanding of the processes taking place within SMBCs. This study aims to contribute to knowledge of: (1) consumer engagement, (2) value formation in SMBCs, and (3) establishing the relationship between consumer engagement and value formation within the SMBC environment. This thesis adopts netnography, a method commonly employed to explore online communities in the social media environment. Three cosmetics brands were selected for this study. The selection was driven by geographical location, posting frequency and user activity. Data were retrospectively collected from Facebook SMBCs between 1st December 2019 and 31st January 2020. The data analysis employed thematic analysis techniques and was further guided by netnographic procedural steps, encompassing 25 distinct data operations. In total, 87 conversation threads were examined, which included 6,401 consumer comments. The findings present a typology of brand posts consisting of five overarching themes: presentation of offerings, belongingness building, engagement building, value-led, and educational. The research also identified a consumer comment typology consisting of four overarching themes brand-centred communication, cognitive-centred communication, conversation-centred communication, and personal experience-centred communication. Additionally, the thesis explores value formation processes within SMBCs, and the value types formed through consumer-to-consumer value formation interaction, brand-to-consumer value formation interaction, consumer-to-brand value formation interaction, as well as individual value formation processes, i.e., customer independent value formation and brand independent value facilitation. Through the findings, thesis broadens knowledge of the implication of SMBC development on consumer engagement. Additionally, this study extends the scope of value formation beyond service marketing, providing valuable insights into how value is created and perceived in the context of SMBCs. This research is also of significance for practice as it offers guidance and insight into how different brand posts can facilitate SMBC development, and, in turn, consumer engagement and value formation. The research provides a link between SMBC development and consumer engagement, highlighting the importance of SMBCs in the successful facilitation of consumer engagement. In particular, it provides evidence that the development of an SMBC has a significant impact on consumer engagement. The typology of brand posts that this study generates highlights the link between the types of posts published by the brand and SMBC development. In addition, the typology of consumer posts also suggests that there is a link between the types of comments published by consumers and the degree of SMBC development. As a result, the findings indicate significant growth in the variety of topics discussed within more developed SMBCs alongside a shift within the topics discussed. The study also investigates value formation within SMBCs, thereby enhancing the understanding of how SMBCs can facilitate value formation. By doing so, this research successfully extends the value formation lens predominantly applied in service marketing. In particular, the findings highlight the role of different actors in enabling the formation of different value types. Furthermore, the research emphasises the value of SMBCs as knowledge repositories as important virtual spaces for both brands and consumers. The findings facilitate understanding of the importance of SMBCs in value formation processes, contributing to advancing knowledge of the role of SMBCs in the development of consumer engagement and value formation. The thesis presents a contextualised conceptual framework of value formation within SMBCs, that captures different interactions taking place in the SMBC environment but also draws attention to the different value types generated through interaction between different actors. Finally, the thesis offers a conceptual framework of SMBCs, consumer engagement and value formation, which captures the correlation between the three researched concepts

    Harmonious Living: Sustainability, Ecology, and Eco-Islam in Wales

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    This thesis is an in-depth examination of Eco-Islam in Wales. Eco-Islam refers to the conceptual intersection of Islamic principles with environmental and ecological concerns. It is not necessarily a formalised movement with a centralised structure but rather a broader concept that explores the compatibility between Islamic teachings and environmental stewardship. It emphasises the idea that Islamic values and ethics can be applied to address contemporary environmental challenges. This dissertation addresses the question of the normative influence of Islamic environmental principles and their implementation within Welsh Muslim communities and Welsh society. More generally, this thesis is embedded in the academic discourse on the normative role and agency of religions in motivating their members to engage in proenvironmental behaviour. Given the urgency of the environmental crisis facing humanity, which requires a concerted effort from all sectors of society, the research question of this thesis is particularly relevant. Furthermore, despite the growing body of literature on ecology and Islam, there has been little research on the practical implementation of Islamic teachings on nature. Therefore, whilst giving a comprehensive overview of Islamic environmental ethics based on a literature review, the thesis also provides research data on the Eco-Islam movement based on fieldwork conducted in Wales. Particular attention is paid to the social and power structures that contribute to or hinder the development of a Muslim environmental movement. The study provides practical recommendations for better cooperation between faith communities and the (still) predominantly secular environmental movement, with particular attention to the challenges faced by minority communities such as the Muslim communities in Wales

    A Non-Profit as a Branded House: Douglas-Hart Nature Center and Foundation Branding Alignment

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    Branding plays a significant role in representing an organization and can help further its mission (Kylander & Stone, 2012). The purpose of this creative thesis is to help the Douglas-Hart Foundation and its three nature locations: the Douglas-Hart Nature Center, Friendship Garden, and the Whiteside Garden assess its branding and establish fitting strategies for the branding of the organization moving forwards. The method used to accomplish this was a brand audit of several key communication channels and documents of the organization and a SWOT analysis of these aspects along with suggested strategies and examples showing how the organization might integrate some of these strategies moving forwards. The results of this project indicate the best strategy for the organization is the “branded house” strategy with the Douglas-Hart Foundation and Douglas-Hart Nature Center as co-drivers and Friendship Garden and the Whiteside Garden as “sub brands” of the foundation and Nature Center. Other general conclusions suggest branding with more consistency, highlighting education, and using elements strategically to help the organization reach its goals. Three documents have been created to show examples of how the organization may implement selected tactics from the suggestions made

    A Study on the Role of Tim Cook’s in the Apple Inc. with High Creativity and Market Adaptability:Focus on Tim Cook While Comparing Tim Cook with Steve Jobs

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    Apple, the world's leading high-tech company, was leading the smartphone revolution in artificial intelligence and Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, had been recognised as the soul of the company, but in fact, Jobs' personal characteristics and approach had shown that this success was not very sustainable as his strengths and weaknesses could easily cancel each other out in his first stint at Apple. When Jobs began his second stint at Apple, with the addition of Tim Cook, who mitigated the impact of Jobs' flaws[1]and continued to integrate the leadership, human resource management and business operations that Jobs was not so good at, Apple ushered in an era of industry dominance. However, the general public perception of the IT industry and many commentators were unclear on this matter, giving a great deal of credit to Steve Jobs, the symbol of Apple, and ignoring Tim Cook's job of ensuring that Apple's good operations and the ability of its product designers were not adversely affected by Jobs' death. Keywords: Leadership, Corporate Mission, CSR , Value Chain, Organisational Culture, Sense of Meaning, Incentives, Brand Culture, Psychological Capital, Management DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-17-05 Publication date:October 31st 2023 [1] Leander Kahney  2018 year  Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level ( 2019  year  Chinese Translation byÂ æŽäž–ć‡Ą'shi fan li'Â Â æąćŸ·éŠš'de xin liang '  CITIC Press Corporatio

    Bad Blood: A Critical Inquiry into UK Blood Donor Activism

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    Since 1983, men who have sex with men have been prohibited from donating blood in the UK on the basis of purportedly elevated rates of HIV and other transfusion transmissible infections. This policy of deferral, known to many as the ‘gay blood ban’, has persisted in some form ever since and has been the subject of protest by individuals or groups termed blood donor activists. Utilising an array of theory from across science and technology studies (STS) and queer studies – situated at the nexus of a burgeoning queer STS – this thesis is a critical inquiry into UK blood donor activism. Drawing on archival research and 31 semi-structured interviews with blood donor activists in the UK as well as representatives of patient groups and the UK blood services, this research seeks to understand and critically interrogate the aims, motivations, and implications of the work of blood donor activists. This thesis argues, first, that blood donor activism in the UK is motivated both by an opposition to blood donor deferral criteria as a technology of homophobia and a contingent framing of blood donation as an altruistic act, which marks out blood donors as good and happy citizens (an affective economy into which queer men seek inclusion). This thesis goes on to argue, however, that blood donor activism is a deeply homonormative political form with a politics that tends to centre ‘respectable’ (e.g. monogamous) gay men at the expense of other figures of risk, like sex workers or promiscuous queers. These politics, this thesis contends, are a product not merely of activist agencies but the epistemic (hetero)norms of the biomedical context within which lay activists seek to raise their credibility. This thesis suggests, therefore, that blood donor activism operates in pursuit of Pyrrhic victories governed by chilling structures that demand we seek alternative routes of political investment

    Nonprofit Leader Strategies for Revenue Growth and Financial Sustainability

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    Nonprofit leaders must ceaselessly endeavor to become more entrepreneurial by accumulating strategies for growing organizational revenue and promoting financial sustainability when charitable contributions cannot fund their business operations. The failure to obtain charitable contributions can lead to nonprofit closure. Grounded in behavioral portfolio theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies a leader of a small Wisconsin nonprofit used to increase revenue and financial sustainability when charitable contributions were insufficient to finance business operations. Data collection included semistructured interviews; organizational documents and reports; financial records and reports; social media; and internet reports. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and two themes emerged (a) funding diversification and (b) converting income into cross-selling opportunities. A key recommendation is for nonprofit leaders to regularly analyze the income sources within their revenue mixes to identify cross-selling opportunities. The implications for positive social change include the potential to deliver more goods, services, and employment opportunities to individuals, families, communities, and society

    Le goût d'Orval: constructing the taste of Orval beer through narratives

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    This study explores the construction of taste through narratives, using Orval beer as a case study. Often found on lists of the best or most unique beers in the world, Orval is a bottle conditioned, dry-hopped strong Belgian ale with Brettanomyces yeast, creating an orange-hue beer topped with a large volume of white foam. It is both easy to drink and complex in flavour. Made in southeastern Belgium within the walls of a Trappist Abbey, Orval is closely associated with the country of Belgium, a pilgrimage site for beer lovers because of its unique and diverse beer culture. In 2016 “Beer Culture in Belgium” was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Orval beer also carries the Authentic Trappist Product label, ensuring that this product is brewed under the supervision of Trappist monks or nuns, within the Abbey walls, and is non-profit. Additionally, the beer has a unique, distinctive taste. This dissertation explores narratives that tell of all these aspects. The first section, Narrating Belgium, examines how social and economic histories build Belgium as a beer nation, and how conversion narratives of Belgian beer enthusiasts support this theory. The Narrating Trappist section examines how the Legend of Orval and the history of Orval Abbey create a sense of place for Orval beer and how the Authentic Trappist Product label helps construct its terroir. The last section, Narrating Taste, focuses on narratives of taste as shared in online reviews of Orval beer. I first conduct lexical and network analysis of reviews on Untappd, RateBeer, and BeerAdvocate before focusing specifically on themes found in BeerAdvocate reviews. Through ethnographic and textual research, this dissertation introduces a folkloristic approach to taste and argues that both contextual and sensory elements are essential in building taste through narratives

    Postcolonial Publics: Art and Citizen Media in Europe

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    Postcolonial Publics: Art and Citizen Media in Europe presents a collection of sixteen chapters that explore the themes of how migrants, refugees and citizens express and share their political and social causes and experiences through art and media. These expressions, which we term ‘citizen media’, arguably become a platform for postcolonial intellectuals as the studies pursued in this volume investigate the different ways in which previously excluded social groups regain public voice. The volume strives to understand the different articulations of migrants’, refugees’, and citizens’ struggle against increasingly harsh European politics that allow them to achieve and empower political subjectivity in a mediated and creative space. In this way, the contributions in this volume present case studies of citizen media in the form of ‘activistic art’ or ‘artivism’ (Trandafoiu, Ruffini, Cazzato & Taronna, Koobak & Tali, Negrón-Muntaner), activism through different kinds of technological media (Chouliaraki and Al-Ghazzi, Jedlowski), such as documentaries and film (Denić), podcasts, music and soundscapes (Romeo and Fabbri, Western, Lazzari, Huggan), and activisms through writings from journalism to fiction (Longhi, Concilio, Festa, De Capitani). The volume argues that citizen media go hand in hand with postcolonial critique because of their shared focus on the deconstruction and decolonisation of Western logics and narratives. Moreover, both question the concept of citizen and of citizenship as they relate to the nation-state and explores the power of media as a tool for participation as well as an instrument of political strength. The book forwards postcolonial artivism and citizen media as a critical framework to understand the refugee and migrant situations in contemporary Europe

    2023-2024 Lindenwood University Undergraduate Course Catalog

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    Lindenwood University Undergraduate Course Catalog.https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/catalogs/1209/thumbnail.jp
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