Gift Cards and Gift Giving

Gift cards are frequently located at premium points inside the retail space where stores sell not only their own cards but also other retailers’ cards for almost every occasion. Media encouraged practitioners to promote these cards. However, this emerging phenomenon of consumers’ preference of gift cards has not been explored thoroughly yet. The objective of the current study is to understand consumer reactions to gift cards in terms of their impact in gift giving and gift receiving relationships. Specifically, this qualitative research seeks to investigate the following research objectives: (1) How gift givers and receivers perceive gift cards; (2) What values gift cards communicate for receivers and givers, and (3) What roles of gift cards play in relationships between givers and receivers. A framework of relationship duration and level of intimacy were used to cross-tabulate all gift giving situations mentioned by respondents. Evidences about five types of values mentioned in the literature were found. Also three new types of values, value of convenience, time and experience were identified. Implications for managers were discussed

Trends in Global Bridal Industry: Emergence of Online Bridal Stores and Survival of Brick-And-Mortar Stores

The growing global bridal industry and the different trends, traditions, and aspects of specific countries’ bridal industries are explored in this paper. It outlines western and eastern practices and how globalization contributes to their spread. A deeper focus is dedicated to the United States’ bridal industry and the issues brick-and-mortar bridal boutiques face as more brides have started shopping at online bridal stores. The relationship between brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores is explored based on various propositions about the bridal industry’s emerging challenges. Each proposition is evaluated according to each retail format’s reaction. Trust issues in the retail environment, convenience, selection of bridal gowns in different retail formats, incorporating a social experience into both brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores, and the spread of cultural traditions were some of the critical concepts for both brick and mortar and online stores. The pandemic impacted the bridal choice of retail format, among other changes it caused in consumer behavior. Online shopping spread fast for bridal gowns, influencing the globalization of western bridal trends in developing countries (Wei, 2021). Even though traditional stores are still prevalent in countries such as China, Brazil, or Mexico due to the trust in brick-and-mortar establishments, the spread of information and designs made online bridal shops popular (Fonseca and Mezabarba, 2019). The day a bride shops for her dress is very emotional for her and her entourage. It is usually a right-of-the passage providing a unique social experience (Roozen and Ktidis, 2019). Brick-and-mortar and online stores have different roles in this complex social and traditional interaction. There are multiple ways to purchase a dress that will serve the brides’ increasing desires for variety in expressing themselves. Online stores may have the advantage of helping brides incorporate new trends and other cultures’ traditions. Brick-and-mortar stores may design the shopping day to enhance the social experience. Furthermore, as women in the US choose to marry later in life or have multiple marriages, the type of retail experience they desire has been changing and favoring online shopping for convenience (Fry 2012). This trend also has an impact on simpler bridal gown designs, indicating that the bridal market is very fragmented and open to changes. This conceptual paper addresses the gaps in bridal research, provides managerial implications, and addresses the challenges faced by brick-and-mortar and online retailers specific to the bridal context

An Exploratory Study on Ethical and Legal Issues of Marketing Strategies in the Cigarette Industry: Perspectives on E-Cigarettes

Cigarette and E-Cigarette companies use different marketing strategies to promote their product. Some of these marketing strategies could be considered by many to be both unethical as well as illegal. Many ethical and legal issues surround the cigarette industry and these same issues could be relevant in the emerging E-cigarette industry. This research organized cigarette industry behavior into a matrix where a behavior was classified on whether it was ethical, unethical, legal or illegal. In order for a behavior to be considered ethical it must meet the minimum standard of being legal except under moral exception. What is considered to be ethical or legal marketing strategies is dependent on the time frame in which the marketing strategy occurred. E-Cigarettes are a new industry, therefore laws regarding their usage are just now being enacted. This leaves us with the unique situation where the minimum standard for ethical behavior, which is usually legal behavior, has yet to be fully established. The purpose of this conceptual research is to organize E-cigarette marketing strategies into ethical and legal strategies in the matrix similar to the way tobacco company behavior could be organized. Discussion and future research avenues will be provided

The Fall of Sears from within: How Customer Sentiments Refuted Retail Capital and Authority

This research aims to understand the relationship between Sears Holdings Corporation and its customers, while exploiting feedback from customers to identify reasons for Sears’ decline. The problem statement is dependent on identifying aspects that affect consumer behavior most and linking a connection to the increased number of dissatisfied Sears’ customers. In order to analyze this phenomenon, customer attitudes were compiled over the key four years of Sears history using a customer sentiment analysis. This empirical method of research was chosen because of the large impact that consumer sentiments have on spending, allowing the development of both internal and external views of Sears to fully access the company’s well-being. Store image, store layout, customer disloyalty, and employee mindset were all examined in the production of this study. The research concludes that many of Sears’ customer issues arose from failure to act internally, resulting in further decline of the company, along with miscommunication and the inability to be competitive. Primary issues found in each of the four years studied were identified, with problems in the service and delivery department seen most frequently. Issues involving employee attitudes towards customers were also noted, along with Sears’ failure to work with customers through issues involving products purchased at Sears. This study reiterates the prominence of a robust relationship between a company and its customers. The plunge in Sears’ profits over the past decade have been driven in part by customer disloyalty, exposing the power that a customer holds to Sears Holdings Corporation. Many of the emerging problems from a consumer standpoint arose from the difference between the service expected by the customer and the service that was provided, often with gaps and shortcomings. The analysis of sentiments also reveal issues about reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles that were the five dimensions of SERVQUAL measurement. Further research on sentiment contents was suggested

BRIDES AND BRIDAL STORES: ONLINE OR BRICK-AND-MORTAR

This paper explores the growing global bridal industry and the different trends, traditions, and aspects of specific countries\u27 bridal industries. It outlines western and eastern traditions and how globalization contributes to their spread. A deeper focus is dedicated to the United States\u27 bridal industry and the issues brick-and-mortar bridal boutiques face as more brides have started shopping at online bridal stores. The relationship between brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores is explored based on various propositions about the bridal industry\u27s emerging challenges. These propositions include trust issues in the retail environment, convenience, selection of bridal gowns in different retail formats, incorporating a social experience into both brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores, and the spread of cultural traditions. Each proposition is evaluated according to each retail format\u27s reaction. This conceptual paper addresses the gaps in bridal research, provides managerial implications and addresses the challenges faced by brick-and-mortar and online retailers specific to the bridal context

Consumer Decision-Making on Golf Equipment: Impact of Emerging Strategic Organizational Goals and Supply Chain Intricacies

The game of golf is incredibly historic and enjoyed by many people from numerous different age groups across many parts of the world. The research involving the game of golf is often limited to the topics of golf club engineering and injury prevention within the game. The consumer decision-making process for golf equipment has been primarily under-researched. This study explores the consumer decision-making process involving golf equipment and provides propositions to achieve strategic organizational goals. Propositions are made concerning supply chain intricacies containing the inclusion of personalization and customization and including women\u27s equipment displayed in marketing activities. There is room for further research regarding the consumer decision-making process for golf equipment, such as golf clubs and clothing, and encouraged empirical studies comparing multiple consumer demographics such as age, gender, and location. The marketing aspect of the game of golf is a promising endeavor for the growth and advancement of golf equipment manufacturers, specifically as the consumer decision-making process for this industry is further discovered

How Generational Preferences, Cultural Trends, Workplace Expectations, and Other Factors Have Changed the Definition of Professionalism in Terms of Attire and How Employers and Managers Can Respond

Business attire is an essential part of personal branding as well as corporate branding activities. Fashion, cultural trends, workplace expectations play a role, among others form and change what an acceptable work attire is. Corporations even use their definitions of work attire in their advertising activities as a part of identity development. Such recent examples are State Farm Insurance, Progressive, and Enterprise Rent a Car. Observations during career development activities at multiple universities also revealed that Millennials might have different professional attire interpretations. The literature review indicated a gap regarding how perceptions change from generation to generation in this topic. In the paper, factors that may influence the definition of professional attire have been investigated for three groups of respondents, including early career, mid-career, and retired professionals. Grounded Theory methodology has been used. Multiple themes have been identified for the three generational groups. Further research implications have been discussed

Gift Cards and Gift Giving: Research Notes from the Field

Gift cards are rapidly emerging as a trend in the retail marketplace. However, this emerging phenomenon of consumers’ preference of gift cards has not been explored thoroughly yet. The objective of the current study is to understand consumer reactions to gift cards in terms of their impact in gift giving and gift receiving relationships. Specifically, this research seeks to answer the following research objectives: (1) How gift givers and receivers perceive gift cards; (2) What roles of gift cards play in gift giving rituals; and (3) What meanings gift cards communicate for receivers and givers

PANEL: Changing Expectations from Department Chairs in the Dynamic Environment of Higher Education

The dynamic environment of higher education defines and redefines roles of faculty and administrators. Department chairs have a unique position in colleges as they are part of the faculty as well as administrators. Expectations from department chairs include a long list of activities. They have to deal with a variety of tenured and tenure track faculty at different levels, such as instructors, senior instructors, assistant, associate, full professors, and per-course faculty (adjuncts). Students are another group for them to manage, including undergraduate, graduate students with different concentrations, majors and minors as well as transfer, study-away, study abroad students besides graduate assistants, work-study, and regular student workers. They also must interact with the staff in their department along with other departments or units in their college and other units of their universities. Most importantly, they have to get along and work with other administrators. What’s counted so far involve direct and indirect internal stakeholders. There are also external stakeholders that consist of corporate executives, small business owners and advisory boards that have numerous roles from internships, student placement opportunities, fundraising engagements, guest speaking, client projects, etc. While department chairs need to take all internal and external stakeholders into consideration, they have to perform many departmental activities from curriculum and program development and review, class scheduling, faculty, staff, student evaluations, to recruitment, enrollment and retention management, budgeting and control. Furthermore, they are expected to stay transparent, diverse, collegial, and productive while managing these complex relationships for hitting multiple moving targets in a very dynamic environment. To further complicate the situation faced by chairs, many are finding that their paperwork and administrative responsibilities have proliferated. Indeed, while attempting to navigate the increasingly complex and multi-faceted environment discussed above, many chairs are faced with increasing paperwork and administrative responsibilities that can easily consume 20-30+ hours a week. In conclusion, this panel will discuss best practices of becoming a department chair and sustaining that role over number of years successfully. Specifically, it will help benchmark best practices for department chairs in implementing their visionary leadership for data driven decision making without losing sight of human touch