Essays on Customer Engagement Strategies and Tactics in Business and Consumer Markets

In the last decade, customer engagement has become a key topic for both practitioners and researchers. Classically, customer engagement deals with customer behavior beyond purchase and thus non-monetary contributions by the customer, such as Word-of-Mouth (WOM), feedback and online reviews, or participation in the innovation process. While previous literature largely focused on the conceptualization of customer engagement itself, only a few studies have investigated how managers can actually stimulate and/or facilitate customer engagement. However, the latter is of high importance since only a few customers are truly engaged and it is often left to the firm to take the initiative to engage the customer. Thus, marketers need to understand how to design and successfully implement customer engagement initiatives. Accordingly, this dissertation investigates customer engagement strategies and tactics. While customer engagement strategy pertains to the overarching plan to leverage customer engagement to achieve the firm’s goals, customer engagement tactics deal with single actions taken by the firm to facilitate customer engagement across the various touchpoints in the customer journey. Specifically, this dissertation includes three essays, each addressing distinct questions with respect to customer engagement over the customer journey. Specifically, the first essay is conceptual in nature and provides an analysis of the strategic relevance of customer engagement in business-to-business (B2B) markets. The second essay explores how industrial firms can leverage service touchpoints as opportunities to engage their B2B customers in the post-purchase phase by employing the field service force for cross- and up-selling. Finally, the third essay investigates how marketers can use executional content cues in their TV advertisings (e.g., informativeness, creativity, or branding) to engage consumers and mitigate zapping behavior. Both empirical studies are based on unique datasets of real-world engagement tactics and related customer behavior obtained from co-operating companies

La codificazione del diritto compromette la sua flessibilità? Il diritto canonico comparato con altri diritti religiosi

SOMMARIO: 1. Cento anni di codificazione - 2. Il bisogno di flessibilità - 3. Varietà degli strumenti di flessibilizzazione - 4. I motivi della flessibilità - 5. Necessità - 6. Utilità - 7. Motivi teologici - 8. Flessibilità e codificazione - 9. La codificazione porta all’irrigidimento? - 10. La codificazione agevola i cambiamenti? - 11. Varie funzioni della flessibilizzazione - 12. Piano interpretativo, applicativo o legislativo?Does the Codification of Law affect its Flexibility? The Catholic Canon Law compared to other Religious LawsABSTRACT: Epieikeia in Greek philosophy and aequitas in Roman law are ethical principles, which are open to a religious as well as a secular justification. They are part of the instruments of flexibility that make any legal tradition smooth and adaptable. Jewish and Islamic law as well as Catholic and Orthodox Canon Law apply different kinds of such instruments. A comparison of these legal systems leads to multiple observations: Some scholars, such as Max Weber, considered religious laws to be immutable. In fact, however, they ascribe great significance to flexibility, since they give priority to the spiritual development of individuals. Since many religions are unfamiliar with changes of law by means of legislation, they depend on methods of flexibility to adapt to new social situations. Even those religions, which do have legislation and even codifications, put particular emphasis on instruments of flexibility in order to apply general and abstract norms to individual cases in an appropriate manner

Lo status dei cattolici orientali in Germania. Una sfida attuale per il coordinamento tra i due Codici

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Lo status dei cattolici orientali in Germania - 2.1. I fedeli della Chiesa ucraina - 2.2. Gli altri cattolici orientali - 3. Facoltà dei parroci latini di sposare coppie orientali? - 4. Chiesa di appartenenza dei figli di matrimoni misti - 4.1. Efficacia anche nella sfera giuridica latina? - 4.2. La situazione prima del motu proprio De concordia inter Codices - 4.3. La situazione dopo il motu proprio De concordia inter Codices - 5. Conclusioni. The Status of Oriental Catholics in Germany. A current challenge for the coordination of the two Codes ABSTRACT: According to an estimate by the Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference, about 200,000 members of fourteen different Eastern Catholic Churches currently live in Germany. A first large migratory wave with a lasting impact up to today emerged with members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the first decades of the 20th century. Lately, due to migration from Syria and Iraq starting in 2015, a larger number of Eastern Catholics - estimated by some in the five-digit range - have arrived in Germany. The change brought about by migration poses new challenges for pastoral care and canon law in Germany. The Ukrainians have their own jurisdiction in the form of an Apostolic Exarchy. All other Oriental Catholics have been entrusted to local Latin ordinaries by a decree of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches according to can. 916, § 5, CCEO. Therefore, the solution of many legal questions requires a synopsis of both codes. Do Latin parish priests have the authority to celebrate marriages for Oriental couples per se? To which church do children from a mixed marriage belong? The motu proprio De concordia inter Codices did not answer all questions and has also brought new ones

Dignitas connubii e i matrimoni di non cattolici. Una conquista da conservare, migliorare ed estendere

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Norme di conflitto del diritto canonico - 3. Visione d’insieme delle disposizioni - 3.1. Competenza dei tribunali ecclesiastici - 3.2. Il diritto processuale applicabile - 3.3. Il diritto sostanziale applicabile - 3.4. Il valore del diritto divino - 4. Dignitas connubii e Mitis iudex - 4.1. La Dignitas connubii è ancora in vigore? - 4.2. Processus brevior per matrimoni di non cattolici? - 5. L'art. 4 DC nella prassi giudiziale - 5.1. Una sentenza a Vancouver - 5.2. Aspetti processuali - 5.3. Il diritto sostanziale da applicare - 5.4. Terminologia - 6. Argomenti non presenti nella Dignitas connubii - 6.1. Riconoscimento di sentenze di nullità matrimoniale straniere - 6.2. Vizio di forma accertabile nell'esame degli sposi - 6.3. Quale tribunale cattolico è competente? - 7. Uno sguardo a possibili sviluppi futuri. Dignitas connubii and marriages of Non-Catholics. An achievement to be maintained, improved and complemented Abstract: The instruction Dignitas connubii of 2005, Art 2-4, deals with marriages, in which one or both parts are non-Catholic - whether baptized or not. This is a great progress initiated by the Second Vatican Council, even if there still are some omissions and ambiguities in the regulations. Since 2005, some jurisprudential experience could be gained and further official documents concerning non-Catholic marriages have been issued. They are mainly dealing with Orthodox Christians and are dedicated to the recognition of matrimonial sentences, the determination of formal defects and competence issues. Mitis iudex does not mention anything concerning this topic but in case a new instruction should be made now, the named Articles would have to be maintained, improved and complemented

Early pH Changes in Musculoskeletal Tissues upon Injury-Aerobic Catabolic Pathway Activity Linked to Inter-Individual Differences in Local pH

Local pH is stated to acidify after bone fracture. However, the time course and degree of acidification remain unknown. Whether the acidification pattern within a fracture hematoma is applicable to adjacent muscle hematoma or is exclusive to this regenerative tissue has not been studied to date. Thus, in this study, we aimed to unravel the extent and pattern of acidification in vivo during the early phase post musculoskeletal injury. Local pH changes after fracture and muscle trauma were measured simultaneously in two pre-clinical animal models (sheep/rats) immediately after and up to 48 h post injury. The rat fracture hematoma was further analyzed histologically and metabolomically. In vivo pH measurements in bone and muscle hematoma revealed a local acidification in both animal models, yielding mean pH values in rats of 6.69 and 6.89, with pronounced intra- and inter-individual differences. The metabolomic analysis of the hematomas indicated a link between reduction in tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and pH, thus, metabolic activity within the injured tissues could be causative for the different pH values. The significant acidification within the early musculoskeletal hematoma could enable the employment of the pH for novel, sought-after treatments that allow for spatially and temporally controlled drug release

Sevoflurane Anesthesia Improves Cognitive Performance in Mice, but Does Not Influence In Vitro Long-Term Potentation in Hippocampus CA1 Stratum Radiatum

BACKGROUND: Whether the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction is a result of the effects of surgery or anesthesia is under debate. In this study, we investigated the impact of sevoflurane anesthesia on cognitive performance and cellular mechanisms involved in learning and memory. METHODS: Male C57Bl6/J mice (4–5 months) were exposed to one minimum alveolar concentration sevoflurane for two hours. After 24 h, cognitive performance of mice was assessed using the modified hole board test. Additionally, we evaluated hippocampal long-term potentiation and expression levels of different receptor subunits by recording excitatory postsynaptic field potentials and using the western blot technique, respectively. Non-anesthetized mice served as controls. RESULTS: In anesthetized mice, neither cognitive performance nor long-term potentiation was impaired 24 h after anesthesia. Interestingly, sevoflurane anesthesia induced even an improvement of cognitive performance and an elevation of the expression levels of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor type 1 and 2B subunits in the hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS: Since NMDA receptor type 1 and 2B subunits play a crucial role in processes related to learning and memory, we hypothesize that sevoflurane-induced changes in NMDA receptor subunit composition might cause hippocampus-dependent cognitive improvement. The data of the present study are in favor of a minor role of anesthesia in mediating postoperative cognitive dysfunction