The Importance of Reliable Information Sources for Prospective Medical Travellers

Expectations of completing PhDs for job readiness, are increasing. Information Systems (IS) PhDs face the challenge of appreciating the multidisciplinary and multi-paradigmatic diversity of the discipline, demanding a breadth of knowledge beyond that expected in many other disciplines. In addition, PhD students in Australian universities are constrained to a 3+ year enrolment, as compared for example, to the more common 4 and 5 year enrolments in North American universities. These demands require that IS PhD students in Australia be synergistic in their choice of activities during enrolment. With the aim of maximizing the value of the PhD experience, the study reported herein explores synergy between research and teaching. More specifically, this research-in-progress (RIP) paper reports a programme design for training PhD students, from involvement as supervisors of coursework Masters students’ research projects

Digital Marketing Mix Strategies in the Tourism Industry in Zimbabwe: A Masvingo Tourism Destination Perspective

Digitalization is considered as the veritable vehicle of transformation for the tourism industry marketing in this age of the internet economy. It influences all business marketing processes before, during and after a tourism trip in a profoundly revolutionary way. Information distribution is quicker, better, and cheaper regardless of geographical and time limitation due to digitalization. The digital marketing mix, which consists of eproduct, eprice, eplace, epromotion, eprocess, epeople, and ephysical evidence, is a powerful tool in revolutionizing tourism marketing management globally including in Zimbabwe. The aim of the study was to examine the level of use and adoption of digital marketing mix strategies in the tourism industry’s accommodation sector in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. This study adopted a qualitative research design approach with twenty purposively selected key informants from the tourism industry in and around Masvingo Urban. The sample had managers and marketing managers of hotels and lodges who were respondents in the study. Interviews and analysis of digital platforms were the data collection methods. Data was thematically analyzed. The major finding is that the level of adoption and use of digital marketing mix strategies is varied and generally low. Most players still rely more on the traditional analogue marketing mix strategies. The paper recommends the tourism industry in Masvingo to fully adopt and utilize digital marketing mix strategies for them to achieve customer satisfaction and profitability

Using eCommerce to Improve Product Marketing and Profitability in Nigeria

Small and medium enterprises in Nigeria rarely use eCommerce, which has led to lagging market shares and profitability compared to firms in other countries that use eCommerce. Approximately 90% of boutique fashion businesses shut down their businesses due to the inability to operate outside their business location. The social exchange theory was used in this multiple case study to explore how some small business owners in the boutique fashion industry use eCommerce to improve product marketing and profitability in Nigeria. The target population for this study was 5 fashion boutique owners based in Lagos State, Nigeria with a significant record of profitability by using eCommerce in product marketing. The data collection was through semistructured face-to-face interviews with 5 business leaders; each from different fashion boutiques in Lagos. Data collected was first coded to maintain confidentiality of participants, the digital recordings was transcribed into a Microsoft word document, and Nvivo 10 software was used to analyze and generate emerging themes. The data analysis was supported by methodological triangulation and member checking to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of the interpretations. Two of the themes that emerged from the study were generating sales to improve profitability and strategic store locations. Use of eCommerce may contribute to social change through an increase in successful startups, increased employment, and the positive impact such companies have in the societies and communities they operate. Leveraging eCommerce may enable small- and medium-sized enterprise leaders to operate sustainable businesses

Creation of value with open source software in the telecommunications field

Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Walking on the light side: Investigating the world of ghost tour operators and entrepreneurial marketing

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Ghost tours are an important part of tourism in many towns and cities around the world. Described as light dark tourism, they are a mix of the macabre and entertainment. Ghost tours are usually small business enterprises. In order for their venture to be sustainable, ghost tour operators must engage in effective entrepreneurial marketing (EM) practices. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which ghost tour operators use EM within their business. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative bricolage approach is used as a way to explore the use of EM practices within ghost tourism; that is, a niche tourism product. Data were collected using 21 in-depth interviews, participant observation and analysis of venture websites. This study used a two-stage data analysis procedure. Findings: Findings reveal that ghost tour operators practice several dimensions of EM that are often simultaneously present and interwoven through the practices ghost tour operators use, as identified by thematic analysis. Originality/value: This study adds an EM lens to the light dark tourism literature

Harnessing Hollywood Hype: Film Marketing Meets the Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century

Marketing is a vital commercial activity and source of competitive advantage within the Hollywood film industry, serving to create, circulate and translate symbolic meaning around a film and its ancillary products, construct and target key audience segments, guide audience expectations and viewing choices, and mitigate financial risk. Marketers thus play an increasingly central role in all stages of the filmmaking process. To examine the often overlooked structures and practices of Hollywood’s marketing arm, this study adopts a media industry studies approach, employing interviews, fieldwork, and textual analysis to explore the social, technological, organizational, economic, and spatial forces that shape the contemporary context of Hollywood marketing materials’ creation. In the early 21st century, Hollywood studios face profound challenges and opportunities wrought by the dual forces of globalization and digitization. In response, marketers have developed a novel view of their audience: as increasingly global and empowered. Globalization and digitization are thus treated as centrifugal forces, diffusing production and meaning-making capabilities across geographic space and media platforms, and threatening the centralized control traditionally held by Hollywood studios. Marketers are incentivized to embrace these decentralizing forces and the cultural labor now provided by third party marketing agencies, international distributors, and audiences. However, Hollywood studios’ institutional inertia, risk aversion, and inclination to maintain firm control of their marketing messages and intellectual property preclude a whole-hearted embrace of these changes. Studio marketers thus act with deep ambivalence toward these outside players, attempting to capitalize on their cultural labor while simultaneously acting to circumscribe their power