Sustainable Notebooks: Who Carries the Cost?

The portable computer or notebook has become an integral and even essential aspect of modern life. Year-in-year its price to the consumer falls while its performance grows, yet recent analysis suggest that pound-for-pound its environmental costs are amongst the highest of any product on the planet. In this paper we explore the market price of “sustainable” notebooks. Drawing on the framework of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ we postulate that as manufacturers shift costs away from the commons to comply with sustainability standards, the cost to the consumer will inevitably rise. We test our hypothesis by comparing the prices of EPEAT Gold certified notebooks with uncertified portable computers. The results are discussed, alternative hypotheses explored and further research outlined

The state of theory in three premier advertising journals : a research note

Despite its importance, little is known about the prevalence of theory in the literature on advertising research. Utilising a content analysis of the three premier advertising journals over an 11-year period, it is found that only 17% of articles have made explicit use of theory. Psychology is the discipline from which the greatest number of articles drew their theoretical frameworks, followed by sociology and economics – indeed, theories from marketing and advertising are in the minority. Limitations are noted and implications of the results are discussed.peer-reviewe

Service quality and satisfaction - the moderating role of value

The constructs of service quality, satisfaction and value are discussed. Instruments are identified and exploratory research is undertaken among customers of an audit firm to determine whether value plays a moderating role between service quality and satisfaction. Results from a moderated regression confirming such a role for value are reported. Implications are drawn and opportunities for further research are highlighted.peer-reviewe

Ethical Marketing AI?A Structured Literature Review of the Ethical Challenges Posed by Artificial Intelligence in the Domains of Marketing and Consumer Behavior

With the increasing use of AI in marketing, ethical repercussions are beginning to emerge. From privacy issues, through discrimination of marginalized groups, to emergent systemic social distortions, AI is changing the marketing ethical landscape. In this paper we conduct a structured literature review of the emerging ethical issues posed by AI in the domains of marketing and consumer behavior. We identify three clusters of ethical issues (algorithm, society and existential) and map these to the marketing domains of systems, brands, and consumers. We conclude that the field of ethical marketing AI is still very much in its infancy, but such is the rate of development ethical marketing AI is likely to become important field for academics and practitioners alike

Les formes de la pratique religieuse au Japon : persistance et changement

Japan has a number of religious tradition, popular and learned, which have enriched each other over centuries. This forms a religious syncretism with a double axis, buddhist and shintoist. The particularity of this syncretism is that it results more from an accumulation and addition of new elements in view of assimilation that from an attempt of synthesis leading to a new interpretation of the primary sources

Production et utilisation d’apocryphes à caractère religieux dans le Japon du xxe siècle

L’article présente, à travers l’exemple de plusieurs mouvements religieux qui sont apparus depuis l’époque Meiji (1868-1912), le rôle qu’ont joué les récits apocryphes dans les revendications identitaires et les visions du monde que ces nouvelles religions ont proposées à leurs disciples, à un moment où l’État japonais combattait les croyances et pratiques religieuses traditionnelles considérées comme autant de barrières à l’« ouverture à la civilisation » (bunmei kaika). Face à ces religions d’essence millénariste, l’État oppose une spiritualité nouvelle centrée autour de la figure de l’Empereur, représentant sur terre de la divinité ancestrale Amaterasu Ômikami. Les écrits apocryphes alimentent de fait une tension permanente entre la création de récits d’origine incompatibles avec les mythes nationaux, et un ultra nationalisme qui invente une histoire falsifiée et donne au Japon impérial un droit à gouverner le monde. Ils posent, plus largement, le problème d’un nationalisme culturel qui perdure parmi les nouvelles religions japonaises d’aujourd’hui, dont certaines jouent de ces « traditions inventées » pour revendiquer un universalisme conquérant.By exploring the case of several religious movements that appeared during the Meiji era (1868-1912), the article introduces the role played by apocryphal writings in shaping the claims about identity and world view that these new religions fostered among their disciples at a time when the Japanese state opposed traditional religious creeds and practices, considering them obstacles to “an opening to civilization” (bunmei kaika). Facing these intrinsically millenarian religions, the State propounded a new spirituality focused on the figure of the Emperor, who embodied the ancestral divinity Amaterasu Ômikami on earth. Apocryphal writings in fact generated a permanent tension between the creation of origin narratives incompatible with national myths and a radical nationalism which produced a distorted version of history that gave Imperial Japan the right to rule the world. More generally, this poses the problem of a cultural nationalism among today’s Japanese religions, some of which call on these “invented traditions” in order to promote universal conquest

Industrial marketing and the internet : framework for assessing communication strategies

This paper discusses the role of the Web as a strategic communication tool for industrial marketers and its position in the business-to-business communication mix. Using the concepts of purchasing decision processes and hierarchy of effects models, the paper adapts the framework for the measurement of consumer web site efficiency developed by Berthon et al. (1996) to the industrial marketing setting. Examples are given of both large and small industrial organisations that are currently using their Web sites to achieve these objectives. The strategic implications of the framework and model are discussed.peer-reviewe