Corporate negative publicity – the role of cause related marketing

This paper examines the effects of cause-related marketing (CrM) strategies on consumers' moral judgement and purchase behaviour in the context of experiencing substantial corporate negative publicity. Data for the study were collected from 343 respondents through mall intercept technique from two large shopping malls of Australia. Quasi-experimental design technique was adopted for the study, where the participants chose one particular cause out of two (ongoing conventional cause vs sudden disaster due to garment factory collapse in Bangladesh). The findings revealed that 56% of the respondents supported the sudden cause and are willing to pay (WTP) more for the betterment of the garment workers' living condition. The findings further indicated that CrM variables such as cause–brand fit, cause familiarity and cause importance influence consumers' moral judgement towards the CrM campaigns, which eventually influence them to pay additional money for the product. The multi-group moderation and mediation tests offer interesting theoretical and managerial insights

How applicants want and expect to be treated: Applicants` selection treatment beliefs and the development of the Social Process Questionnaire on Selection.

In psychology, general beliefs are considered to be the stepping-stones of future behavior and attitudes (Rokeach, 1973; Olson, Roese, & Zanna, 1996). The goal of this paper is to explore applicants' general beliefs about the selection treatment, namely the way they want and expect to be treated during selection. After the concept of selection treatment beliefs is introduced and both its theoretical and practical relevance is highlighted, the development of the Social Process Questionnaire on Selection (SPQS) is reported, which measures selection treatment beliefs. Factor analyses (660 students and 643 applicants) revealed six treatment factors. Applicants valued and expected transparency, objectivity, feedback, Job information, participation, and a humane treatment. Apparently, applicants valued the six factors more than they expected them to be realized. The scientific and practical relevance of the findings are discussed

Perceived environmental uncertainty; PEU; REF 2014

NoAn important contribution to the literature on perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) is Milliken’s distinction between state uncertainty, effect uncertainty, and response uncertainty. However, despite its appealing logic in capturing the types of uncertainty managers may experience as they seek to understand and respond to changes in an organization’s environment, there has been no full and rigorous psychometric development and testing of scales to measure the three constructs. Using a two-phase empirical study, this research seeks to develop and test such scales in terms of dimensionality, reliability, and validity (including nomological validity). The results suggest that managers do make a meaningful distinction between different types of uncertainty, that it is worthwhile measuring all three constructs (as they have differential impacts on outcome variables), and that there are linkages between them. Managerial contributions and implications for future research are also discussed