Sustainable brand positioning by container shipping firms: Evidence from social media communications

This study contributes to shipping research by profiling container shipping lines with respect to their sustainability related brand positioning strategies through their social media communications. Longitudinal content analysis is combined with multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to map branding strategies of selected lines in relation to the triple bottom line (TBL) dimensions and functional versus emotional sustainability benefits. Results indicate that shipping lines position their brands closer to either economic or environmental sustainability where a win-win focus in the messages is highly prevalent. Social sustainability constitutes a market gap and an opportunity for the sustainability positioning of these brands. Furthermore, despite a few that recognize the potential in emotional benefits, majority of the lines use functional sustainability benefits in brand positioning. Emotional sustainability benefits provide wider opportunities with respect to brand differentiation and effective customer engagement in shipping lines’ sustainability initiatives

Konteyner Taşımacılığı Pazarında Sürdürülebilir Liman Rekabetinin Belirleyicileri: Sistematik Literatür Araştırması

Türkiye’nin Stratejik Planları kapsamında, denizcilik alanında strateji belgeleri ve ana planlar oluşturularak ülkemizin konteyner liman kapasitesi ve rekabetçiliğinin arttırılması ve liman işletmeciliği meslek standartlarının geliştirilmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Tüm bu stratejilerin başarılı olması için, doğası gereği uluslararası bir alanda hizmet veren Türkiye limanlarının, bölgesindeki diğer ülke limanlarıyla rekabet edebilecek seviyeye ulaşması gerekmektedir. Bu yüzden, çalışma konteyner limanlarımızın sürdürülebilir rekabetçi üstünlüğü açısından literatürde yer alan güncel liman seçim kriterlerini araştırmayı hedeflemektedir. Araştırma yöntemi olarak sistematik literatür taraması tercih edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda maliyet faktörlerinin hiyerarşide en yüksek değere sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir.</p

Port competitiveness: Do container terminal operators and liner shipping companies see eye to eye?

International audienceMost of the literature on port choice has focused mostly on the views of carriers (and indirectly of cargo owners). We venture here to discover whether the choice criteria used by carriers are in line with what the ports themselves consider as important for their competitiveness. We undertake a 20-year-long literature search in peer-reviewed journals to identify the competitiveness criteria of both carriers and terminal operators. To that end, survey methods and (Fuzzy) Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) are employed. Our findings establish that the factors port operators consider important for the competitiveness of their port are not necessarily of equal importance for shipping companies when selecting a port. This is our main contribution to the academic literature. For port operators, the most important criterion for competitiveness is port location, followed by service level, port tariffs, and port facilities. In contrast, the most important criterion for carriers is (port) operational efficiency. The least important criteria for both groups of actors are the institutional framework of the port and its ownership status, respectively. Opposite to earlier research, our innovation here is in confronting ports and carriers with each other’s priorities. In competitive markets, such knowledge ought to influence decisions and the added value of this research is in the benefits of a ‘better mutual understanding’: when demand (carriers) and supply (ports) understand each other better, the result is a more pareto-efficient economic system, not only for the two players but for the greater society by and large