The Configurational Impact of Top Management Team Characteristics on Marketing Analytics Use in SME: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Top management team might make primary usage decisions related to marketing analytics. To date, extant research has mostly focused on investigating the impact of marketing analytics on firm performance; limited research exists to examine the conditions of utilizing marketing analytics. Furthermore, little is known about how the combinations of conditions affect marketing analytics use. Drawing on upper echelons and configuration theories, this study proposes that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have alternative pathways to utilizing marketing analytics. Based on a sample of 187 managers from UK SMEs and employing fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study confirms that (1) configurations of antecedents exist to provide alternative pathways to utilizing marketing analytics, and (2) configurations for small firms are distinctively different from those for medium-sized firms. This study contributes to upper echelon theory and configuration theory by highlighting different pathways to marketing analytics use. This study also helps a firm to improve its analytics practice by choosing the configuration that fits best with its organizational context

A dynamic capability view of marketing analytics use: evidence from UK firms

While marketing analytics plays an important role in generating insights from big data to improve marketing decision-making and firm competitiveness, few academic studies have investigated the mechanisms through which it can be used to achieve sustained competitive advantage. To close this gap, this study draws on the dynamic capability view to posit that a firm can attain sustained competitive advantage from its sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities, which are manifested by the use of marketing analytics, marketing decision-making, and product development management. This study also examines the impact of the antecedents of marketing analytics use on marketing related processes. The analysis of a survey of 221 UK firm managers demonstrates: (a) the positive impact of marketing analytics use on both marketing decision-making and product development management; (b) the effect of the latter two on sustained competitive advantage; (c) the indirect effect of data availability on both marketing decision-making and production development management; and (d) the indirect effect of managerial support on marketing decision-making. The research model proposed in this study provides insights into how marketing analytics can be used to achieve sustained competitive advantage

Antecedents and Outcomes of Marketing Analytics: Evidence from UK Firms

Marketing analytics plays a major role in discovering insights from big data to improve marketing decision-making and competitive advantage. However, while few studies have examined the chain of effects from the antecedents, the use, and the outcomes of marketing analytics, the use of marketing analytics is limited and only a fraction of its potential value is captured by firms. This study takes a contingency perspective and uses resource-based theory to develop a process-oriented perspective on marketing analytics to examine its antecedents, applications, and outcomes. A research model is developed and will be tested using SmartPLS based on survey data to be collected from UK firms. The findings will contribute to the literature by developing a theory-based understanding of the mechanism through which the use of marketing analytics affects marketing decision-making, marketing-related business process capabilities, and competitive advantage. This understanding may help firms’ to use marketing analytics more effectively

A comparative cross-national examination of online investment promotion

The internationalization of operations has led to more countries trying to attract foreign direct investment by promoting themselves through nation branding and other activities including online promotion by national or regional Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). This paper utilizes a nation branding framework to identify and analyze online IPA promotion cross-nationally. Results show that IPA websites have certain common elements but also vary greatly in their use of promotional approaches that contribute to branding the places they represent. This implies a need for a better practice of nation branding oriented strategies to influence investors’ perceptions and decisions

Old country passions: an international examination of country image, animosity, and affinity among ethnic consumers

Ethnic consumers are an important market segment in both traditionally multicultural countries as well as newer recipients of growing immigration movements. Such consumers may carry with them views toward "old friends and foes" which may influence their attitudes toward the products of countries perceived as friendly or hostile in relation to their original home countries. This study examines together for the first time four place-related constructs, namely, country and people images, product images, affinity, and animosity, and their potential effects on purchase intentions, juxtaposing these measures against views toward countries that may be perceived as friendly or hostile from the perspective of the ethnic consumers' homeland, alongside a neutral "benchmark" country for comparison. The results show that country/people and product images, affinity, and animosity work differently depending on the target country, product and people evaluations are influenced by both affective and cognitive factors, and attitudes vary in their predictive ability on purchase intentions, sometimes in line with earlier findings and sometimes not. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Does audit quality moderate the impact of environmental, social and governance disclosure on firm value? Further evidence from Egypt

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and firm value (FV), as well as, pinpoints the role of the audit quality (AQ) as a moderating variable on such impact; where the authors hypothesize that AQ modulates the relationship between ESG disclosure and the FV. Design/methodology/approach – Data of a sample of firms listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange Market (EGX) were collected over the period of 2017–2021 and analyzed using the regression and 2SLS models. Findings – The results suggested that: (1) the ESG has a significant positive impact on the FV in the EGX, and (2) AQ has a significant impact, as a moderating variable, on the relationship between ESG disclosure and FV. Research limitations/implications – The findings would help the Egyptian market authorities in realizing the importance of integrating ESG information within the financial reports of the listed firms. The findings could also help in developing effective disclosure procedures to provide shareholders with useful information. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature regarding the ESG disclosure components and the FV value by considering AQ in testing such relationship

Ethnic identity, consumer ethnocentrism, and purchase intentions among bi-cultural ethnic consumers: "divided loyalties" or “dual allegiance”?

Consumer ethnocentrism has been studied extensively in international marketing in the context of one's country of residence. This paper investigates for the first time the notion of "dual ethnocentrism", which may be encountered among ethnic consumers who have an allegiance toward, or divided loyalties between, two countries: One with which they are ethnically linked, or "home", and one where they presently live and work, or "host". The study examines the relationship between ethnic identity, dual ethnocentrism, and purchase intentions among ethnic consumers, a market segment of growing importance in research and practice. The analysis focuses on differences in the respondents' home- and host-related ethnocentrism and finds that indeed ethnocentric feelings and their effects differ depending on the country of reference. In this light, the study suggests that ethnocentrism is a considerably more complex construct than previously thought, advances our understanding of ethnicity and ethnocentrism, and discusses the theoretical and managerial implications arising from dual ethnocentrism

Nation branding for foreign direct investment: a review and directions for research and strategy

Purpose This study aims to address a heretofore neglected area in research, nation branding, for the purpose of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). It compares and contrasts the well-established literature on decision-making and location choice in FDI with studies in the nascent field of nation branding, with a view to developing directions for future research that result from the identification of research gaps at the intersection point between the two areas. - Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a systematic and integrative review of several streams within the relevant literatures, from the theory of decision-making in FDI to the similarities and differences between advertising, promotion, branding and marketing for investment on the part of nations and sub- or supra-national places. - Findings Each of the two areas is characterized by lack of consensus as to the principal factors that affect investor and nation decisions and actions, resulting in several knowledge gaps that need to be addressed by new research along the lines suggested in the study. - Research limitations/implications A large number of avenues for potential future research are identified, from assessing the importance of target country image in location choice to the adverse effects arising from the emphasis on “promotion” rather than “marketing” on the part of places engaged in nation branding efforts. - Practical implications The study examines several problems that affect the practice of nation branding for FDI and points to alternative approaches that may enhance place marketers’ effectiveness in their efforts to attract foreign capital. - Originality/value Notwithstanding the global growth of FDI in volume and importance, and the omnipresence of nation branding campaigns to promote exports or attract tourism and investment, there has been virtually no research to date on the core issue, nation branding for FDI. The study uses a strategic perspective that highlights key nation branding issues related to FDI, and FDI issues related to nation branding, and suggests a comprehensive agenda for research in the future