Marketing performance assessment systems and the business context

Purpose ‐ This study provides empirical evidence for the contextuality of marketing performance assessment (MPA) systems. It aims to introduce a taxonomical classification of MPA profiles based on the relative emphasis placed on different dimensions of marketing performance in different companies and business contexts. Design/methodology/approach ‐ The data used in this study (n=1,157) were collected using a web-based questionnaire, targeted to top managers in Finnish companies. Two multivariate data analysis techniques were used to address the research questions. First, dimensions of marketing performance underlying the current MPA systems were identified through factor analysis. Second, a taxonomy of different profiles of marketing performance measurement was created by clustering respondents based on the relative emphasis placed on the dimensions and characterizing them vis-á-vis contextual factors. Findings ‐ The study identifies nine broad dimensions of marketing performance that underlie the MPA systems in use and five MPA profiles typical of companies of varying sizes in varying industries, market life cycle stages, and competitive positions associated with varying levels of market orientation and business performance. The findings support the previously conceptual notion of contextuality in MPA and provide empirical evidence for the factors that affect MPA systems in practice. Originality/value ‐ The paper presents the first field study of current MPA systems focusing on combinations of metrics in use. The findings of the study provide empirical support for the contextuality of MPA and form a classification of existing contextual systems suitable for benchmarking purposes. Limited evidence for performance differences between MPA profiles is also provided

Paradox and market renewal Knockoffs and counterfeits as doppelganger brand images of luxury

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to continue the emerging stream of literature that has found knockoffs and counterfeits to be unobtrusive or even beneficial to luxury companies by analyzing how they produce paradoxes of meaning and contribute to the renewal of luxury markets. This is done by exploring them as doppelganger brand images that reappropriate brand imagery for their own purposes. Design/methodology/approach - This is a conceptual paper that focuses on the role of knockoffs and counterfeits in the renewal of luxury markets. Findings - The findings highlight how knockoffs and counterfeits can contribute to the emergence and cyclical diffusion of luxury. As luxury offerings are introduced to the market, knockoffs and counterfeits accelerate the snob effect, aid in anchoring trends and contribute to induced obsolescence. During diffusion, knockoffs and counterfeits can strengthen aspiration, bandwagon and herding effects. In doing so, knockoffs and counterfeits create a paradox as they simultaneously legitimize the idea of the authenticity of genuine offerings through their presence in the market and create cyclical demand for novel offerings by undermining the authenticity claims of existing luxury offerings. Thus, knockoffs and counterfeits can be understood as a paradox of luxury markets that contributes to the market cyclicality not despite but because of this paradoxical interplay. Originality/value - While research on knockoffs and counterfeiting is plentiful in the field of marketing, this is among the few studies that analyze how these offerings contribute to luxury markets and their renewal.Peer reviewe

Seduced by "fakes" : Producing the excessive interplay of authentic/counterfeit from a Baudrillardian perspective

Authenticity has often been considered to be a key theme in contemporary consumer culture. One of its manifestations is how branded market offerings can maintain authentic meanings, especially in a market increasingly saturated with counterfeit substitutes. By following a Baudrillardian perspective, we focus on fashion objects in the "branded luxury" category to problematize the sanctity of the authentic/counterfeit distinction. We argue that marketing literature generally attempts to normatively maintain and impose the distinction in ways that obscure the complexities of this conceptual interplay. We posit that instead of normative accounts that attempt to sanctify the extant orders of global capitalist markets, literature on luxury consumption should instead recognize the excess of meaning in the semiotic interplay of commodified authentic/counterfeit meanings. Any view of morality in luxury consumption should thus recognize "ambivalence" and "seduction" as its intensive qualities.Peer reviewe

Keuhkosiirteen kehonulkoinen perfuusio

Teema : elinsiirrot. English summar

One-year unsupervised individualized exercise training intervention enhances cardiorespiratory fitness but not muscle deoxygenation or glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes

Adaptations to long-term exercise training in type 1 diabetes are sparsely studied. We examined the effects of a 1-year individualized training intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise-induced active muscle deoxygenation, and glycemic control in adults with and without type 1 diabetes. Eight men with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 8 healthy men (CON) matched for age, anthropometry, and peak pulmonary O-2 uptake, completed a 1-year individualized training intervention in an unsupervised real-world setting. Before and after the intervention, the subjects performed a maximal incremental cycling test, during which alveolar gas exchange (volume turbine and mass spectrometry) and relative concentration changes in active leg muscle deoxygenated (Delta[HHb]) and total (Delta[tHb]) hemoglobin (near-infrared spectroscopy) were monitored. Peak O-2 pulse, reflecting peak stroke volume, was calculated (peak pulmonary O-2 uptake/peak heart rate). Glycemic control (glycosylated hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c))) was evaluated. Both T1D and CON averagely performed 1 resistance-training and 3-4 endurance-training sessions per week (similar to 1 h/session at similar to moderate intensity). Training increased peak pulmonary O-2 uptake in T1D (p = 0.004) and CON (p = 0.045) (group x time p = 0.677). Peak O-2 pulse also rose in T1D (p = 0.032) and CON (p = 0.018) (group x time p = 0.880). Training increased leg Delta[HHb] at peak exercise in CON (p = 0.039) but not in T1D (group x time p = 0.052), while no changes in leg Delta[tHb] at any work rate were observed in either group (p > 0.05). HbA(1c) retained unchanged in T1D (from 58 +/- 10 to 59 +/- 11 mmol/mol, p = 0.609). In conclusion, 1-year adherence to exercise training enhanced cardiorespiratory fitness similarly in T1D and CON but had no effect on active muscle deoxygenation or glycemic control in T1D.Peer reviewe

Is a sustainability transition possible within the decision-support services provided to Finnish forest owners?

Peer reviewe

Altered expiratory flow dynamics at peak exercise in adult men with well-controlled type 1 diabetes.

Peer reviewe

Genetic support for the causal role of insulin in coronary heart disease

Epidemiological studies have identified several traits associated with CHD, but few of these have been shown to be causal risk factors and thus suitable targets for treatment. Our aim was to evaluate the causal role of a large set of known CHD risk factors using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables.Peer reviewe

Immune cell profiles of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer patients according to the sites of metastasis

Purpose Recent works have characterized that metastatic site can affect the tumour immune profiles and efficiency of cancer immunotherapies. The prognosis of HER2-positive breast cancer is associated with the characteristics of the tumour immune microenvironment, with immunological cells playing a central role in efficiency of HER2-targeted antibodies. Here we investigated the prognostic significance of different metastatic sites and their correlation to tumour immune profiles in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab. Methods We collected all (n = 54) HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab containing regimens at Oulu University Hospital 2009-2014. Pathological and clinical data were collected from electronic patient records. The tumour immune profiles were analysed from pre-treatment primary tumours using well-characterized immunological markers with computer-assisted immune cell counting. Results Of the metastatic sites, only liver metastases were associated with poor prognosis (hazard ratio 1.809, 95% confidence interval 1.004-3.262), especially when presented as the primary site of metastases. Of the other sites, pulmonary metastases characterized a patient profile with trend to improved survival. Of the studied tumour immunological markers, patients with liver metastases had low densities of CD3(+) T cells (p = 0.030) and M1-like macrophages in their primary tumours (p = 0.025). Of the other studied markers and sites, patients with pulmonary metastases had low STAB1(+)-immunosuppressive macrophage density in their primary tumours. Conclusion Our results suggest that the site of metastasis is associated with prognosis in HER2-positive breast cancer, highlighted by the poor prognosis of liver metastases. Furthermore, liver metastases were associated with adverse tumour immune cell profiles.Peer reviewe