The Challenges of the World Economy Cohesion Factor – the Internet: World Reorganization, Vulnerabilities, Discrepancies and Power Discernment

Times are changing continuously. The changes are in continues acceleration, and the way in which we are able to greet them and to adapt will become an important issue for any organizational structure. No organizations, economical or not, can afford not to be interested for the challenges of new economy. Internet has achieved a big advance and that, for this reason, there are implications in any country and any (regional or global) economic activity. The Internet is the binder of the actual economy, it is the only process able to transform, invent or reinvent communications of all entities. The Internet and E-commerce are fundamentally changing all aspects of the global economy.world economy, internet, vulnerabilities, discrepancies

THE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY IN THE TOURISTIC SECTOR

The promotion as one of the components of the marketing mix, laying stress, în this regard,on its role în the deployment of the tourism companies’ activity, the structure of the promotional activity în thetouristic sector as well as the use of the promotional strategies în the attainment of the development targets ofthe tourism companies.So, în the paper there have been mentioned the three levels at which it is made the touristic promotionîn Romania, respectively nationally, by the Ministry of the Tourism, under whose subordination it is theTourism National Authority, the second level is the regional/local one, concerning the activity carried out bythe Centers/Offices of Touristic Information from a series of localities, and the last level refers to the microone, respectively at the level of the tourism companies, which promote their offer individually (the most often).The important role of the promotion în the deployment of the activity of the tourism companies isbeing highlighted by the fact that this makes the connection between the activity of an organization and itscustomers (effective or potential), and, în the touristic field, the content of the promotional activity is stronglystressed by the features of this type of services and of the system of creation and delivery, as well as of thepurchasing behaviour

Uncovering Market Positioning Coordinates Using In-Depth Interviews. Evidence from the Romanian Modern Retail

Market positioning is not anymore just an outcome of the marketing endeavour but actually the essence of it. Organisations must develop and implement proper market positioning plans if they want to pursue an enduring existence. In this direction, an organisation must perform a brand situation analysis, its results being the starting point of a successful market positioning. This analysis entails collecting data about the brand and its competitors being performed through various qualitative and quantitative research methods. The current study focuses on the use of in-depth interviews, a very important qualitative research instrument, in collecting data necessary to build a market position in the form of inconspicuous consumer behaviour factors, such as perceptions, attitudes and motivations. The peculiarities and advantages of this tool are detailed in an analysis of the Romanian modern retail. The findings through their richness made possible configuring market positions for several companies under study. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of this tool in collecting essential data for an effective market positioning. However, in some instances an organisation might need data of quantitative nature in making market positioning decisions, situations in which the use of the indepth interview should be complemented with a survey

Explaining satisfaction at a foreign tourism destination – an intra-generational approach evidence within generation y from South Africa and Romania

Generation Y poses interesting consumption behaviour peculiarities comparing to the other generational groups. This paper focuses on two age layers of Generation Y, 20-24 years old and 25-29 years old, with the purpose of modelling satisfaction at a foreign tourism destination based on destination attributes and demographic variables. A mixed qualitativequantitative research design was employed using equal samples of 30 and, subsequently, of 800 individuals from Romania and South Africa. Based on a comprehensive literature review on satisfaction and its constructs and on Generation Y, a model for explaining satisfaction was built and tested in Romania and South Africa on the two designated age layers using logistic regression. The findings show similarities and differences between the two countries enriching the literature on generational constituents and offering practical insights to tourism businesses. Finally, the model proposed and tested in this paper can be easily replicated in other parts of the world

Effect of YouTube Marketing Communication on Converting Brand Liking into Preference among Millennials Regarding Brands in General and Sustainable Offers in Particular. Evidence from South Africa and Romania

The omnipresent role of online information and communication technology (ICT) channels in the lives of Millennial consumers is universally recognised in industry and academia. The persistent usage of ICT platforms such as social media, especially digital video sharing conduits (e.g., YouTube), among the Millennial cohort has become an important marketing communication platform for organisations to reach this evasive target market. The extensive use of YouTube has generated billions of dollars in marketing communication income, but there is limited academic inquiry in terms of in developing economies, particularly regarding the effect of online usage and demographic factors among Millennials. This paper examines the effect of YouTube marketing communication on affective (attitudinal) responses, meaning brand liking and the impact on brand preference, among Millennials in two developing economies, Romania and South Africa, as well as the influence of usage and demographic factors on the affective (attitudinal) association. A survey was conducted among 400 Romanian and 400 South African respondents, and the hypothesised associations were evaluated via structural equation modelling (SEM) and multigroup SEM. The results of this paper reveal a favourable connection between brand liking and brand preference as a result of YouTube marketing communication, making a notable contribution to the limited YouTube inquiry on attitude-to-advertising theory in developing economies regarding brands in general and sustainable offers in particular. A number of the online usage and demographic factors were also found to have an effect on the brand liking and preference association, supporting in the reduction of the academic⁻practitioner gap, and assisting organisations in better understanding Millennials in the development of effective marketing communication campaigns on video sharing platforms

A Multi-Dimensional Approach of Green Marketing Competitive Advantage: A Perspective of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises from Western Cape, South Africa

The study focuses on green competitive advantage from a multi-dimensional perspective, investigating the impact of green marketing tools and company descriptive variables on these dimensions. The data were collected from small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) from Western Cape/South Africa, an area marked by long-term water consumption restrictions. A qualitative approach was considered for variable tailoring to the SMMEs’ peculiarities, followed by a quantitative study, employing a sample of 237 companies, for testing each competitive advantage dimension against the established green marketing tools and company descriptive variables using logistic regressions. Each competitiveness variable was explained by at least one green marketing tool. Donating money and/or allocating time for environmental purposes explained three dependent variables, while selling biodegradable/recycled/refurbished products had an inverse relationship with two of them. Business type and number of operational years had a significant impact on three dimensions. This study enriches the literature by using green competitive advantage dimensions and not a latent factor, analyzing the impact of company descriptive variables as explanatory variables and prompting green strategies for small and medium businesses. The model could be improved by tests in other geographic areas, including green distribution and price variables and other descriptive factors (turnover, responsible investment and internationalization)