North-east transport survey 2012.

The aim of this survey is to highlight the importance of transport and deliver a general overview of the services provided. Our conclusion is that transport providers in North-east Scotland are generally positive and satisfied with their current business performance. In the past 12 months, the sector has witnessed an increase in productivity and reported turnover, and this has led to net positive increase in profitability. However, the level of profit increase that may have been possible was negatively affected by costs. Not surprisingly, the main cost component affecting transport providers has been fuel. As a result, the pressure on profitability arising from costs appears to be the underlying theme of this report. There is a high level of satisfaction with the local business environment and its clear that providers find a highly conducive environment for doing business in the North-east and consider this the most satisfying factor. However this level of satisfaction is countered by the high dissatisfaction expressed in the local infrastructure. It would appear that while the North-east may provide an enabling environment in many forms, such as business opportunities, wealth and skills, the same cant be said about the level of infrastructural availability and quality but providers expect a significant improvement in infrastructure in the next three years. They also expect significant improvements in technology and further improvements in the local environment. We conclude that transport in North-east Scoland, in terms of providers, is stable and continues to show signs of growth in spite of tough times in the wider econom

Tourism network sector survey report 2011.

Members needs are at the heart of the work of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and, as a result, we have formed a range of sector-interest groups from within our membership of more than 1,200 organisations allowing us to target specific needs with increasingly tailored services and benefits. As part of these services, the Chamber are pleased to publish a series of surveys to provide sector specific research on businesses in North-east Scotland; the first being tourism. The aim of this survey is to assess the state of tourism within the North-east by comparing current performance against previous performance, identifying factors and issues affecting the industry, estimating the impact of policy and other public enablers on profitability and establishing the overall optimism of the industry on future growth and performance. Our conclusion is that overall, the prospects for the tourism sector in North-east Scotland appear to be bright. Businesses are optimistic about their future, opportunities exist for investment and new ventures, the local environment is regarded as very supportive and visitor numbers appear to be on the rise

Consumer behaviour in online shopping - understanding the role of regulatory focus.

The behaviour of consumers on the Internet is increasingly a focus of marketing research. In particular, consumers behaviour in online shopping, from adoption motivation to post-usage behaviour, has become a major focus of research in the field of marketing, especially within consumer behaviour. Yet it has been acknowledged that while aspects such as adoption and usage motivation are now better understood, there are many questions that remain unanswered, and this warrants continued research effort. In line with the above, this research addresses an issue in online consumer behaviour that is currently under researched and which relates to the role that the consumers regulatory focus trait plays in their manifested behaviour in online shopping. The research argues that it is important to understand the role of regulatory focus in online shopping because this psychological trait has been shown to affect other aspects of human behaviour such as in response to advertising, dieting and sports. Drawing upon research from consumer behaviour and the wider fields of marketing and psychology, this research proposes a number of hypotheses relating the consumers regulatory focus to her perception of online shopping, motivation for online shopping, and actual usage behaviour in a structural manner. The resulting structural equation model is then tested using empirical data obtained from 306 Internet shoppers in the United Kingdom. The results of the research confirm that regulatory focus has an influence on consumer behaviour in online shopping by affecting their perception, motivation and usage of online shopping. The research makes a unique contribution by demonstrating that regulatory focus is a valid and robust predictor of online shopping behaviour and behavioural outcomes, a conclusion which is relevant to both marketing research and marketing practice. Finally, the research identifies and recommends areas for future studies

North-east renewable energy sector survey 2011.

The aim of this survey is to discover how businesses view renewable energy in the region, as well as the potential role that this region can play in delivering the targets and objectives of both the UK and Scottish governments toward renewable energy. The report assesses current profitability and performance on key indicators, concerns about future growth factors such as funding, skills and policy, and an overall estimation of optimism for the industrys current and future growth. Our conclusion is that this region is well placed to drive growth of the renewable energy sector in the UK. The level of optimism and confidence within the sector can be described as better than good and certainly presents a strong case for the regions aspirations to play a significant role in growing renewable energy both within the UK and in the European Economic Area. However, to maintain current impetus and achieve the potential growth, the region must work collectively toward this goal. The message is clear. Renewable energy is an important business and developmental opportunity. Building upon its oil and gas heritage, Aberdeen City and Shire is well placed to deliver this opportunity in the form of jobs, sustainable growth, and business profitability. This will not only benefit the region, but will also impact on the prospects of renewable energy for Scotland, the UK and indeed the rest of Europe

The politics of destination marketing: assessing stakeholder interaction choice orientations toward a DMO formation, using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.

Purpose: Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are very much a part of the Scottish tourism landscape in 2011. Some regional tourism stakeholders have created DMOs to manage their respective regional attractions, but until now, this has not been the case with north-east Scotland. As a prelude to the potential creation of a regional DMO, the purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate tourism business leaders' attitudes and likely acceptance of the DMO's structure and functions. Design/methodology/approach: The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode (TKCM) was utilised to provide an evaluative framework, with discussion of the assertiveness versus cooperativeness needs of tourism business stakeholders in the region. The TKCM's measurement instrument was utilised along with a purpose-built questionnaire to gather information about tourism leaders' interaction orientations and their level of support for the formation of a DMO, its structure and functions. Findings: Tourism leaders in north-east Scotland are collaboration-oriented. Initial findings indicate that on balance, tourism businesses (as expressed by their managers/owners) are persuaded by the attractiveness of collaboration at an integrated regional level, but would nevertheless prefer a certain degree of competition. In addition, organisational size and membership of existing destination management networks appear to moderate the interaction choice preference. Research limitations/implications: First, the scale and questionnaire instrument developed to test attitudes toward a DMO formation have not been exhaustively evaluated, nor have the potential moderating factors been comprehensively assessed. A more robust and validated scale should be developed and moderators clearly modelled. Second, current sample size is limited and may not provide an adequate basis for generalisation. In future, a larger sample should be employed. Finally, this research is exploratory in scope, and future research, designed along an evaluative and analytical basis, is encouraged. Practical implications: Collaboration within a new DMO in marketing to new markets and the support for this is not challenged, but some competition among tourism providers will continue. It is likely that the disparity between tourism performance in the city and rural areas will continue in the near future. The role of the DMO will therefore involve enlarging the customer base and raising the tourism profiles of both city and rural locations, in order to create a level playing field. Originality/value: This research is the first to utilise the TKCM and Instrument to assess tourism business leaders' assertiveness versus cooperativeness orientations, prior to the initiation of an alliance in a region. The paper shows that this approach holds viability for future research in this direction, especially the potential of TKCM as a predictive framework for interorganisational interaction and collaboration

North-east food & drink sector survey 2011.

The aim of this survey is to highlight the importance of the food and drink industry as a commercial contributor to the overall Scottish economy. In 2009, the national partnership, Scotland Food and Drink, set renewed targets as part of a refreshed strategy to attain and maintain growth for the food and drink sector. This report aims to provide a general overview of the Food & Drink Network in the region. Our conclusion is that overall, the sector appears to be performing well in the current economic climate, although this may be attributable to caution and increased efficiency. While the overall economic environment appears to have had a harsh effect on the sector, factors that are within reasonable control of businesses appear to be better managed. Businesses have reported an increase in the level of overall investment, especially in research, product range expansion, marketing and training, however, it appears that the lack of finance and suitable government policy is affecting the ability of businesses to prosper. In spite of relative success, the North-easts Food & Drink Network appears to be operating below capacity overall. There is an implication that the sector has the potential to increase its activities which could increase jobs, profitability and overall prosperity for the sector and for the region. However, the industry can only utilise full capacity where the resources required are available to them

North-east finance survey 2012.

Customer trust and confidence in the North-easts finance sector appears to be recovering, but overall public perception of the sector is still negative according to this survey. Finance businesses continue to struggle to increase their market share as competition has increased and consumers have shown less brand loyalty. The sector is focused on rebuilding confidence, improving lending to SMEs, containing costs through tight controls on staff numbers, and growing market share.The UK finance sector has had a difficult run in recent times and just as it appeared to have emerged from the global financial crisis, revelations surfaced about some sector players which created a new source of concern for stakeholders and the wider business community. In summary, the finance sector in the North-east has performed very well during the period reviewed, but has witnessed stiff intra-sector competition, a persistently negative perception from the public, reductions in staff numbers, and an inability to improve lending activity to small businesses, especially micro businesses. However, the sectors businesses appear to be aware of the challenges identified and are focused on improving in these areas, with the primary wish in the next 12 months being to improve lending to SMEs

The relationship between regulatory focus and online shopping: perceived risk, affect, and consumers' response to online marketing.

Regulatory focus theory (RTF) has demonstrated that individuals can be distinguished on the basis of two independent structures of strategic inclination and orientation in the pursuit of goals: promotion focus - which emphasises the presence of positive outcomes while minimising errors of omission, versus prevention focus - which favours the absence of negative outcomes and minimising errors of commission. Yet no research, thus far, has explicitly considered the potential link between consumers' regulatory focus (RF), perceived risk, affect, and their response to online marketing (ROM) in the various dimensions of online shopping (OS). This paper fills this gap. By linking regulatory focus with online consumer shopping behaviour we empirically test a number of hypotheses to predict how consumers with different foci perceive risk on the internet, the consequence of this perception on their affect, and their overall response behaviour to online marketing. Our findings provide confirmatory evidence that RF is a powerful predictor of behaviour in OS

Can regulatory focus help explain why we shop differently online?

As an important behavioral trait in consumer psychology, regulatory focus (RF) has been proven to describe and predict human behavior in numerous situations as it demonstrates that individuals can be distinguished according to two independent structures of strategic inclination and orientation in the pursuit of goals: promotion focus and prevention focus. However, to date no research has explicitly considered the potential link between RF and perceived risk in the various dimensions of online shopping (OS). This paper aims to fill this gap. By developing an RF model of online consumer shopping behavior (REFCOS) covering motives, behaviors, and continuance-evaluation and empirically testing a number of hypotheses, we find how consumers with different foci use the Internet. Our findings provide confirmatory evidence for emerging literature that RF is a powerful predictor of behavior in OS

North-east third sector survey 2012.

The aim of this survey is to highlight the importance of the Third Sector and deliver a general overview of the services provided including social and health care, social enterprise and trading. Our conclusion is that Third Sector organisations in Aberdeen City and Shire depend on a variety of sources of revenue and income. While a significant number mainly provide a public-sourced service, this is increasingly under threat. There is little capacity to take on more work from the public sector. Organisations and social enterprises depend primarily on trading, membership and corporate fundraising which spread risk more effectively. Volunteering is also important to the Third Sector with as many as 40% of the workforce being volunteers. This helps to reduce costs and provide much needed help in a time of fewer resources and it also has the advantage of providing training and work experience for the volunteers. Interestingly, 80% of respondents had recruited in the past 12 months, with 31% doing so because they required more staff. Third Sector organisations typically spend between 5% and 10% on training but less than 1% on marketing/advertising. The satisfaction with the level of public awareness and value of the sectors activities appears to be low and much more use should be made of social media as a low cost option. Participant organisations want to collaborate more and this should be encouraged. Overall it appears that the sector appears optimistic for the future