Guest Editorial. Service-mix: new channels and consumption patterns in services

The world’s economies are dominated by services. The average value added in the services sector as percentage of GDP was 55.43% in 2021 (TheGlobalEconomy.com, 2022). In the most advanced economies, services account for an even larger share of their GDP - 75% on average (Nayyar et al., 2021). In addition to its economic relevance, a vital services sector is also increasingly important for the competitiveness of agriculture and manufacturing, as the intertwin of the product-service bundle highly enhances value for customers. Actually, manufacturers have transformed themselves in service or solution providers (Gebauer et al., 2011). The acknowledgement that services are transversal to all business sectors (Gustafsson et al., 2016) has been furthered by the recognition that today all businesses in any sector compete on service, therefore, “it makes little sense to treat service as a special case; all businesses are essentially service businesses” (Gustafsson and Kristensson, 2020, p. 609), regardless of country and context (Gustafsson and Bowen, 2017)

Online vs. Offline Channels? Testing the Effect of Promotional Communication on Shopper Behaviour

In a context where consumers and retailers are becoming increasingly multichannel, this work aims to make the following contributions: - to be the first academic study of the shortterm effect of digital flyer compared to print flyer in the FMCG industry; - to develop a field experiment based on customer level data, not aggregate, and multiple sources, i.e. CATI questionnaire and loyalty program databases; - to provide relevant managerial implications for communication mix and budget allocation decisions across different channels

Retail Promotional Communication: The Comparative Effectiveness of Print Versus Online.

New promotional tools such as digital reward platforms, virtual loyalty currencies, and digital wallets are being introduced and some are being adopted quickly by consumers. These tools are increasingly accessed via mobile devices: for example, digital wallets developed in the form of apps. Despite the market increase in the popularity of new digital channels for purchasing and for information and promotion search, there is a scarcity of studies on the comparison between customer response to traditional (i.e. offline) channels versus new digital channels in the context of retail promotional communication. This chapter compares print versus online retail promotional communication; provides an overview of flyer evolution from print to digital thanks to customer insight and \u201cflyer aggregators\u201d; and discusses a field experiment implemented with the cooperation of an Italian retail chain aiming to measure the effectiveness of print versus online store flyers. Findings indicate that 80% of customers respond equally to print versus online, while 20% of the customers display a higher response to print

Review of Decision Analytic Tools for Sustainable Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology innovation is hampered by data gaps and knowledge limitations in evaluating the risks and impacts of nano-enabled products. “Sustainable nanotechnology” is a growing concept in the literature, which calls for a comprehensive evaluation of the risks and impacts of nanotechnology at an early stage of nano-enabled product life cycle. ‘One such method to frame sustainable nanotechnology is the triple bottom line (TBL) approach, which comprises the environmental, economic, and societal “pillars” that contribute to the overall sustainability of a nano-enabled product. For the context of nanotechnology, risk analysis (RA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are frequently called upon to support sustainable nanotechnology governance. This paper provides a systematic review of these tools in the context of sustainable nanotechnology. The results indicate a growing number of applications for these tools with LCA contributing to the environmental and economic pillars, and RA contributing to the environmental pillar. MCDA provides the structural scaffold and mathematical techniques necessary to integrate RA and LCA within the TBL, and also provides the means to address uncertainty of early-stage nanotechnology assessment. Using these tools, integrated sustainability assessment could provide a viable means for industry and regulators to make near-term decisions about complex nanotechnology problems.Nanotechnology innovation is hampered by data gaps and knowledge limitations in evaluating the risks and impacts of nano-enabled products. “Sustainable nanotechnology” is a growing concept in the literature, which calls for a comprehensive evaluation of the risks and impacts of nanotechnology at an early stage of nano-enabled product life cycle. ‘One such method to frame sustainable nanotechnology is the triple bottom line (TBL) approach, which comprises the environmental, economic, and societal “pillars” that contribute to the overall sustainability of a nano-enabled product. For the context of nanotechnology, risk analysis (RA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are frequently called upon to support sustainable nanotechnology governance. This paper provides a systematic review of these tools in the context of sustainable nanotechnology. The results indicate a growing number of applications for these tools with LCA contributing to the environmental and economic pillars, and RA contributing to the environmental pillar. MCDA provides the structural scaffold and mathematical techniques necessary to integrate RA and LCA within the TBL, and also provides the means to address uncertainty of early-stage nanotechnology assessment. Using these tools, integrated sustainability assessment could provide a viable means for industry and regulators to make near-term decisions about complex nanotechnology problems