Influences of Islamic culture in marketing and the role of Halal certification

This study has the objective to investigate the role of Islamic culture in marketing because of the large presence of Muslims in the world and, consequently, of the potentialities of this market. This research, considering this introduction, aims to: 1- underline the role of Halal certification in marketing decisions’; 2- identify the most relevant features of Muslims as consumers

Assessing the Global Dimension of Sourcing: An Exploratory Study on Italian Companies

Companies are paying a growing attention to volatility in the supply chain and many manufacturers are reassessing their global sourcing strategies. Will multinationals retreat to a hemispheric, near-shoring model or opt for a hybrid that maintains an international component? This paper investigates the current challenges for Chief Procurement Officers facing risks and evaluating total costs along the global supply chain. The authors have reviewed both practitioners and academic literature, exploring the main trends in the global approach to supply markets and the trade-offs that could affect strategic sourcing decision in the near future

"You get what you measure”: Evaluation, Reporting and Measurement of Sustainability in Large Companies in Italy

Purpose of the paper: This research has the aim to explore which are the main sustainability quantitative tools, how some of the largest companies in Italy quantify their “degree” of responsibility and if there is a balance between the environmental and the social aspect. Methodology: This is an explorative study conducted through a content analysis. Three Sustainability Reports published by three large companies (Eni, Fiat and Barilla, selected considering data provided by Mediobanca) have been analyzed, examining in particular the sustainability indicators. Findings: The study reveals that large companies report their sustainability information following the GRI guidelines, through a series of indicators related both to the environmental and social dimension of sustainability. Research limits: There are two main limits: firstly the explorative nature of this study, secondly those findings reflect the approach of the largest companies only, which follow the GRI guidelines. Practical implications: The attention shown by the selected companies demonstrates that sustainability is becoming an increasingly relevant matter for companies, for their relationships with stakeholders and for their reputation as well. Originality of the paper: Research on sustainability quantification is internationally in a developing phase: its application to an Italian context represents the originality of this study

ATTITUDES TOWARDS FOOD PRODUCTS FOR CHILDREN: A PARENTAL VIEWPOINT

During the last decades sociological changes have modified the role of children within families: participatory models have become more widespread, to the detriment of more authoritative ones: this change has had consequences also in reference to families’purchases. In scientific literature some scholars show that this influence is real and marketers try to take advantage of this through a communication style which attempts to “teach” children how top ester their parents: this is so-called nag factor. This is a quantitative research. In order to understand which are the parental attitude towards kids food products, a questionnaire has been administered both in some schools (nursery and primary) to a random sample of parents, representative of a larger sample of kids (200 in all). Findings showed that pestering is a real attitude, in particular among the littlest children. Moreover these findings reflect in part the reality described by marketing literature: children influence the purchasing decisions of their parents, but this influence decreases when mothers and fathers are more aware of the importance of a quality based diet

THE EFFECTS OF FOOD AESTHETICS ON CONSUMERS. VISUAL STIMULI AND FOOD MARKETING

In this study we analyze how the visual impact influences consumers, in particular considering the way a food is presented, exploring in this way how food marketing is also a question of food appearance. Do we eat firstly with our eyes? And if yes, which are the consequences of this process on food marketing strategies? Literature highlights that the way food is presented produces effects from a celebral and a physiological point of view, but also how it affects taste. In the first part of this research literature has been explored, paying attention in particular on hunger as a process which begins from eyes and, secondly,on how neatness makes food more desiderable. The second part of the study shows our experiment on consumers. Specifically 71 subjects were involeved, divided into four groups, that had to observe and evaluate some plates of fruit and bresaola, once arranged neatly, once disorderly. Data have been gathered and analyzed, in particular highlighting consumers’ expectation about the tastiness of the food and how much they would have spent to eat that food. Finally we discuss about the findings, in particular underlining how neatness counts in the presentation. From the point of view of managerial implications, these findings may be useful to understand the role of appearance to implement a winning food marketing strategy

THE ADVENT OF INDUSTRY 4.0 IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: LITERATURE REVIEW AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Nowadays, the value creation process is based on management of a large amount of data, the Big Data, which are able to connect businesses and customers from all over the world (Xie et al., 2016). Considering the managerial and industrial points of view, Industry 4.0 is a new economic model for the industrial world (Peressotti, 2016), based on the evolution of production paradigm, technological change and process logic adoption: companies should change their business models, invest in staff training, adopting new managerial tools. As a result, the change of the market (from standardized to diversified) with the production of customized products. Machines and robots are able to communicate each other, to take decisions and to self-update. The production lines are automated: control and maintenance tasks can be performed remotely. As a consequence, the creation of the agile value chain: it allows you to monitor large amounts of data in real time, to track status and location of goods, to control the production process distantly. To study the level of adoption of 4.0 industrialization plans, two global indicators have been analyzed: they identify the placement of the largest industrial powers as a result of their industrialization policies adoption. Since the literature review shows few academic contributions and the subject is studied from engineering, computer and industrial design points of view, the objective of the work is to provide a theoretical contribution to managerial and industrial studies: the adoption of innovation in economic policy represents an opportunity to improve the country identity and the competitiveness level. So it is essential to encourage companies to adopt innovative tools, making the production automated. The methodology used is the content analysis technique: literature analysis, reports, conference proceedings, publications and websites are consulted. The originality of the work is to investigate a topic developed recently in Italy

THE EFFECTS OF FOOD AESTHETICS ON CONSUMERS. VISUAL STIMULI AND FOOD MARKETING

In this study we analyze how the visual impact influences consumers, in particular considering the way a food is presented, exploring in this way how food marketing is also a question of food appearance. Do we eat firstly with our eyes? And if yes, which are the consequences of this process on food marketing strategies? Literature highlights that the way food is presented produces effects from a celebral and a physiological point of view, but also how it affects taste. In the first part of this research literature has been explored, paying attention in particular on hunger as a process which begins from eyes and, secondly,on how neatness makes food more desiderable. The second part of the study shows our experiment on consumers. Specifically 71 subjects were involeved, divided into four groups, that had to observe and evaluate some plates of fruit and bresaola, once arranged neatly, once disorderly. Data have been gathered and analyzed, in particular highlighting consumers’ expectation about the tastiness of the food and how much they would have spent to eat that food. Finally we discuss about the findings, in particular underlining how neatness counts in the presentation. From the point of view of managerial implications, these findings may be useful to understand the role of appearance to implement a winning food marketing strategy

Wine Experiences: A Review from a Multisensory Perspective

The existing multisensory literature suggests that the combination of the different human senses in a controlled fashion during food/drink experiences can provide more enjoyment to consumers. The present research reviews recent literature relating multisensory perception with wine experiences, focusing on the interaction of the five basic senses (taste, smell, vision, touch, and sound). This is mostly being assessed from a perceptual and behavioral consumer perspective. Here, the authors report different ways in which such interactions across these senses can affect the way a wine is experienced, prior to, during, and even after tasting. The authors finish this literature review by providing some insights in the context of wine and food pairing, while also generally reflecting on potential future work. These insights may be inspirational for a diverse group of organizations working with wine. Based on such multisensory approaches, it may be possible to bring unforeseen sensations to the different wine experiences, while at the same time stressing particular sensory and/or emotional attributes

Cultura islamica e marketing: il ruolo della certificazione halal nelle scelte del consumatore musulmano

Il presente paper ha l’obiettivo di investigare il ruolo della cultura islamica nel marketing considerata l’ampia presenza di musulmani in Italia e nel mondo e, di conseguenza, per approcciare correttamente le potenzialità di questo mercato rispettandone le specificità. Il paper affronta, quindi, le peculiarità del marketing nel mondo islamico, con un focus sullo stile di vita e i prodotti alimentari halal. Il lavoro di ricerca, pertanto, ha l’obiettivo di identificare in primo luogo le caratteristiche più rilevanti dei musulmani come consumatori e, inoltre, di sottolineare il ruolo della certificazione halal nelle decisioni di marketing, in particolare per le imprese del settore food

reporting sustainability in the oil sector transparency or greenwashing

Introduction Communication is fundamental in marketing. Pinske and Dommisse (2009) have highlighted that it is essential for consumers because they need to be informed about the benefits sprung by their responsible choices in terms of purchases; moreover it is important to improve a company's reputation (Bronn and Vrioni, 2011; Mark-Herbert and Von Schantz, 2007). For this reason sustainability report, considering its communicational function, can be deemed also a tool for marketers. According to Lozano and Huisingh (2001) sustainability report "is a voluntary activity with two general purposes: (1) to assess the current state of an organisation's economic, environmental and social dimensions, and (2) to communicate a company's efforts and Sustainability progress to their stakeholders. However, these purposes do not consider the time dimension, nor the interactions among the different sustainability dimensions". Obviously companies can choose between two ways: transparency, showing real data, or greenwashing, masking their real attitude and relying on appearance, with risks for reputation and boycott actions (Glazer, Kanniainen and Poutvaara, 2010). This research is focused on the oil sector, characterized by different sustainability problems, both in an environmental and a social perspective. Methods In order to highlight this issue in the oil sector, a multiple case study approach (Yin, 2009) has been applied. Two of the largest oil company have been chosen, BP and Eni. These companies draft a sustainability report, providing a lot of data and information about their attention to safeguard the environment and to have also a positive impact on society. In this study researchers have compared these two cases, spotlighting the controversies which sometimes are stressed in the public opinion. Researchers have analyzed these two companies reports and then they have compared the information gathered from this document to their image. Results and Discussion The analysis of these companies' sustainability report has pointed out a deep commitment to protect environment and also to be responsible from a social point of view. In the following table, for example, there is the list of some of the indicators used in Eni's report. Table 1. Some of the sustainability indicators used by Eni. Area // Main indicators People // Training hours on safety, Safety expenditures, OHSAS 18001 certifications, Health and Hygiene expenditures, Employees (total), Employees (women), Women senior managers, Satisfaction of participants.Environment // ISO 14001 certifications, ISO 50001 certifications, EMAS registrations, Total systems audit, External certifications bodies, Environmental expenditures, CO2 emissions, Indirect CO2 emissions from sales of products, Net consumption of primary resources, Nitrogen Oxide emissions, Sulphur Oxide emissions, Total water used, Total recycled or reused water, Waste from reclamation activities, Waste management expenditures.Local development // Total spending for the territory, Interventions on the territories from agreements, conventions and PSA by category.Stakeholders // Eni customer satisfaction score, Suppliers used, Overall distributed net added value.Ethics // Presence of women on the Board of Directors of Eni Group companies, Hours of training on human rights, Suppliers subjected to qualification procedures including screening on human rights, SA8000 audits carried out.Innovation // R & D expenditures net of general and administrative costs, Personnel employed in R & D activities. In spite of this, this company has been accused to produce pollution in Nigeria, causing health problems for the local communities, but also to be irresponsible with workers. Also BP presents a report full of information about its sustainable initiatives but, at the same time, it has been found guilty because the damages created near the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Conclusions The analyzed cases have shown that sustainability report can be important in a marketing communication strategy but, at the same time, it is not a guarantee of truth. This shows that it is not a perfect tool for communication: it is necessary to research the possible ways to integrate information about environment and society in the balance sheet. Another reflection is relative to the importance of communicating with transparency: greenwashing could represent a problem also from a marketing point of view because it implies the worsening of the company's reputation. References Bronn, P.S.; Vrioni, A.B. Corporate social responsibility and cause-related marketing: an overview. International Journal of Advertising 2011, 20, 207-222. Glazer, A., Kanniainen, V., Poutvaara, P. Firms' ethics, consumer boycotts, and signalling. European Journal of Political Economy 2010, 26, 340-350. Lozano, R., Huisingh, D. Inter-linking issues and dimensions in sustainability reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production 2011, 19, 99-107. Mark-Herbert, C.; Von Schantz, C. Comunicating corporate social responsibility- Brand management. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 2007, 12, 4-11. Pinske, J.; Dommisse, M. Overcoming barriers to sustainability: an explanation of residential builder's reluctance to adopt clean technologies. Business Strategy and the Environment 2009, 18, 515-527. Yin, R.K. Case study research: design and methods. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, USA, 2009