Roles of Capabilities and Leader Characteristics in SME Digital Innovation

Digital technology (viewed as the combination of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technology) is impacting on the marketplaces that SMEs operate in. Yet, little is understood about how these businesses are adapting to, and adopting, digital technologies and creating digital innovation. Technology can be viewed as an opportunity for SMEs through which to engage in competitive behaviour, cost reduction, audience extension and intelligence gathering. European Commission recognises the SMEs form the backbone of the European economy Qualitative data were gathered from 45 interviews with SME leaders across four European countries and 5 industry sectors. This paper reports on the findings from a research project investigating digital preparedness of European SMEs and specifically the characteristics and capabilities of SME leaders in adopting digital innovation. Insight is outlined through the scope of the research which integrates different countries, sizes of SMEs and industry sectors to provide an holistic view of European SME leader perceptions. General consensus was evident as to the characteristics and capabilities required to create digital innovation in a competitive environment and a tentative framework has been created. This paper contributes to scholarship by providing a more comprehensive view of current European perceptions by SME practitioners concerning the profile of an SME leader undertaking digital innovation. Management implications include that any evaluation of SME digital innovation preparedness should look beyond capabilities and skills sets and include intangible aspects of character such as leaders’ attitudes towards technologies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A critical review of private labels (PLs): implications for managing retail brands

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a review of the state of empirical and theoretical research about Private Labels (PL) and to develop a framework for future research. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a bibliometric study of recent advances in the research of PL, based on citation counts; it focuses on the period of greatest scientific output (2000-2012) and consults all the international publications on marketing ranked by the Academic Journal Quality Guide. Findings – The results reveal the influence of differing topics on PL (consumer perceptions and behavior, price, channel relationships and quality). Principal contributions have been identified and areas suggested for future research (e.g. countries with diverse environments, product category, commercial formats, segmentation, brand aspects). Research limitations/implications – Future researchers could broaden the bibliographic content analysis by means of activity and relational indicators.Practical implications - The findings and the proposals for future lines of research will help retail managers to identify relevant strategies. Originality/value - This work focuses on the period of greatest output of PL academic literature and consults the main bibliographical and editorial databases. This has yielded the largest selection of articles (205) ever to be reviewed on the subject of PL. The value of the paper can be found in achieving a more profound understanding of the nature of PL for, equally, academics and industryUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Análisis de la intención de realizar comercio social en webs con herramientas sociales

El comercio social, o comercio a través de los medios sociales (también conocido como social commerce) es una de las modalidades de comercio electrónico con mayor potencial de crecimiento. Sin embargo, su estudio aún es limitado, por lo que las dinámicas y elementos que afectan a la intención de realizar comercio social requieren de una mayor investigación. La bibliografía existente principalmente analiza la intención de los usuarios de practicar comercio social en una red social, pero no en una web de comercio electrónico que tenga sus propias herramientas sociales (p. ej. foros, valoraciones de productos, etc.). Por lo tanto, la presente investigación tiene como objetivo identificar los antecedentes de la intención de comercio social en webs de comercio electrónico en las que se emplean herramientas sociales. A partir de la revisión de la literatura, se desarrolla un modelo para analizar la influencia de cinco posibles antecedentes de la intención de comercio social: calidad de la web, apoyo social emocional, apoyo social informativo, presencia social e inmersión o flow. Para ello, se realizó un estudio empírico entre los usuarios de una web de comercio electrónico que cuenta con un sistema de valoración, comentarios de productos y foros. Los datos se obtuvieron a partir de una encuesta realizada a 200 compradores, y fueron analizados mediante la técnica PLS. Los resultados indican que los elementos más racionales y emocionales de la experiencia del usuario, como son la calidad del sitio web, flow y el apoyo social emocional, son los que motivan la compra; mientras que la presencia social y el apoyo social informativo, no son significativos. Este estudio contribuye a la teoría del comportamiento del consumidor al aplicar variables predictivas de la intención de comercio social a webs con herramientas sociales. Además, los resultados ayudan a los profesionales del comercio electrónico a mejorar el uso que hacen de las herramientas sociales.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Destination Image on the DMO's Platforms: Official Website and Social Media

Tourists usually configure and develop ideas about possible destinations based on information previously gathered from both social media and the official web of the destination management organization (DMO). In spite of the relevance of said information sources, there have not been many studies evaluating how these different sources influence the destination image. This research proposes a model intended to explain the image creation process of a destination taking into account both the DMO’s online platforms and the perceived psychological distance. The proposed model is tested with an empirical study including a questionnaire which collects data from 264 participants. The validity of the model is reviewed through PLS analysis. Results show that the psychological distance does not influence the overall destination image. In addition, the overall destination image can be estimated to a larger extent when tourists approach social media as their main source of information. Implications and conclusions are discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Tourists behavior during their trip: How they use and offer recommendations?

The rise of new technologies has changed the way tourists trust in eWOM to choose a restaurant. There is a growing use of opinion and price comparison websites, where opinions and ratings can be shared with other users. In addition, the spreading of false or paid comments has made this type of webs seek the generation and maintenance of trust. However, there are few studies that analyse how to generate trust in these webs and its effect in the intention of the consumer to participate in WOM behaviours, once the tourist is already in its tourist destination. Therefore, this research analyses the influence of recommendations on the generation of tourists’ trust in the review websites of restaurant industry while they are in the destination. A regression analysis of data from 439 tourists has revealed that the perceived credibility, the quality of the information and the quality of the web affect trust in review websites. This fact encourages the contracting of restaurant services and communication among consumers, both in a traditional way (WOM) and through the review websites (eWOM), while the tourist is in the tourism destination.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

El valor percibido en webs de social commerce: Efectos sobre la lealtad del consumidor.

El estudio del comportamiento del consumidor en webs de social commerce está en auge, debido al gran crecimiento del sector en los últimos años. A pesar de ello, su comprensión se encuentra en su infancia, debido a la multitud de factores influyentes. Esta investigación, a través de la metodología del estímulo-organismo-respuesta, estudia qué papel tiene el valor percibido (O) por el consumidor, mediante el análisis de dos de sus principales antecedentes (calidad del sistema y del servicio) (S), así como de sus efectos sobre la lealtad (R). Los resultados obtenidos a partir de la aplicación de la técnica PLS a una muestra de 272 consumidores habituales de estas webs ponen de manifiesto la gran importancia que la calidad de la web tiene en la generación de valor en el consumidor, así como el rol clave de éste sobre las intenciones del consumidor tanto para volver a comprar como para recomendar.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Efecto de la confianza en la lealtad y el eWOM en las comunidades virtuales de marca.

La confianza en la marca y en la Comunidad Virtual de Marca (CVM) pueden contribuir a la generación de lealtad a la marca y eWOM positivo. Sin embargo, no han sido muchos los estudios empíricos que han incluido ambos tipos de confianza en la evaluación de los resultados de las CVM. Por lo tanto, este trabajo tiene como objetivo explorar cómo la confianza en la marca y la confianza en la comunidad influyen en la lealtad y en el eWOM. Para ello se emplearon datos procedentes de una encuesta realizada a usuarios de CVM que fueron analizados mediante la técnica PLS. Los resultados confirman que la confianza en la marca influye en la lealtad y en el eWOM tanto directamente, como indirectamente a través de la confianza en la CVM. Además, la lealtad favorece la generación de eWOM. Las implicaciones para la práctica de marketing son comentadas.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The role of virtual reality in fostering brand experience on retail success

The aim of the current study is to increase our understanding of the role of VR in shaping brand experience within the retailing context. Data was collected from a lab experiment. Participants were asked to imagine that they were planning to visit a mall. In the experiment, participants had a pre-experience with a real mall by watching a 360-degree video with technologies with varying degrees of technological embodiment (i.e. destock PC, smartphone and VR HMD). The results contribute to the growing literature on retail brand management and this would be one of the first studies to enhance our understanding of how new technologies shape and develop brand experience within the retailing sector.Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación de la Junta de Andalucía, Grupo SEJ-567 (Spain)

Responsible and active brand personality: On the relationships with brand experience and key relationship constructs.

Brand personality is a key concept in marketing that can be used to create competitive differentiation. Two of the most relevant dimensions of brand personality for academics and practitioners are responsible and active. However, only few studies examine these two personalities, particularly their relationship with prominent marketing constructs. This paper attempts to identify which dimensions of brand experience (i.e., sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual) lead to higher consumers' perception of responsible and active brands and in predicting key relationship constructs (i.e., satisfaction, trust and brand loyalty). Based on a survey of 339 Spanish respondents, the results suggest that not all dimensions of brand experience predict brand personality. The findings also suggest that being responsible leads to higher satisfaction and trust compared to being active. On the other hand, being active leads to higher loyalty compared to being responsible