A relational insight of brand personification in business-to-business markets

Customers find it difficult to differentiate between competing products based on their functional aspects. The shortening life cycle of products due to quick adoption of technological innovations by competitors makes it difficult for them to identify products based on specifications. The contemporary academic literature related to relationship marketing and brand management is passionate about customer and consumer psychology but little attention has been given to the brand selection criteria of resellers as business customers of the brand. This paper combines branding and relationship marketing as two broad functions of marketing. The paper argues upon the role of human representatives of the brand as brand personified in managing these two functions of marketing in business-to-business markets. The proposal of the paper is to use human representatives as a tool for the execution of relationship marketing and branding strategies. The objective behind using human representatives is to maximize the mindshare of resellers towards the brand and create value for them beyond products and service

Standardization versus customisation. The role of culture

Fast food restaurants have expanded globally in recent years. As companies become global marketers to acquire new knowledge and a greater understanding of the fast food business and the environment, in which they operate in order to determine and adopt an appropriate marketing mix. Managers can use knowledge of a market's national culture to develop successful image strategies. This paper aims to explore the role of culture in the formation of consumer perceptions. To measure cultural influences a store image scale was constructed for fast food restaurants. An eight - step process based on Churchill's (1979), model, guided the development, validation and refinement of the scale. The final structure of the scale included six factors consisting of 14 items. The six factors are a) Adaptation to Locality b) Service c) Facilities d) Food quality e) Place to be and g) Sales incentive program. Then the relative weights of the six factor dimensions in influencing customers' overall image, as well as satisfaction and loyalty ratings were explored. Adaptation to locality has been found as the most important factor in the formation of store image as well as in predicting satisfaction and loyalty. The results of structural equation analysis have shown that the local culture factor is strongly associated with 'food quality' and especially with the "Place to be factor". The results can be very useful to marketers who want to invest in the local or other foreign markets.Store image, internationalisation, Adaptation to locality, Consumer/Household Economics,

Transfer of brand knowledge in business-to-business markets: A qualitative study

This is the author's accepted manuscript (under the provisional title "Transfer of brand knowlede in business-to-business markets by brand when personified as a human: A qualitative study"). The final published article is available from the link below. This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8377). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Purpose – This paper presents the approach of a one-to-one relationship for branding in business-to-business markets. With qualitative evidence, the paper seeks to clarify the links between branding, relationship marketing and purchase intention of resellers and to discuss the contribution of brand personified as brand representatives to the brand knowledge of resellers. The aim of this paper is to understand how this transfer of knowledge by brand personified as representatives of the brand is reflected in the selection process of brand for resale by resellers. Design/methodology/approach – The theory is used to develop a testable model. Information from the field was gathered through 12 in-depth interviews of brand managers of international IT brands. These interviews helped to give a deeper insight into the topic and contributed to the categorization of different themes to be developed into constructs. Components that emerged from the interviews were from different disciplines and were useful in making linkages between these disciplines. Findings – Interviewees associated the role of brand personified (as brand representative) as a conduit between brand and resellers. Given the findings, brand when personified as a human can be used to manage reseller relationships in a business-to-business network. The brand personified with its metaphorical properties enables the resellers not only to clearly understand brand-related information but also to make positive evaluations about the brand. Empirical research would be helpful to establish the indicators of brand personification and to enhance the understanding of the concept. Practical implications – The study will be useful for senior managers of brands operating in competitive and complex business-to-business networks. It will enable them to use the categories and components to ensure that their brand is the preferred brand for resellers operating in the network. Originality/value – The approach will be helpful in linking different functions of the organization to measure the contribution made by employees representing the brand to resellers in competitive markets by imparting knowledge about the brand to resellers

Integrated Network Responsibility in the Gambling Industry:Camelot and the UK National Lottery

This paper introduces the concept of Integrated Network Responsibility which extends existing theory (stakeholder theory, supply chain responsibility and network theory) in order better to understand the context of a highly regulated controversial industry. Using the empirical example of the UK National Lottery and the lottery provider, Camelot, Integrated Network Responsibility explains the dynamics of social responsibility in this context. Because – among other things - of the ethical issues relating to gambling, the vulnerability of consumers and the addictive nature of the product, the legislation and regulation prescribes social responsibility requirements in the sector, giving the lottery provider agency if awarded the ten-year contract. While suppliers and retailers are important partners in this process, it is the wider network which has responsibility for upholding the high standards set. Key issues identified in this context relate to the management of relative power in the network, extended responsibility and the nature of network relationships. It is proposed that Integrated Network Responsibility may have wider applicability to controversial and other sectors, and further research on the concept is recommended

Unilateral Standards for Social Responsibility: Corporations as Social Watchdogs?

This paper focuses on the social dynamics of unilaterally determined social responsibility standards. These are put in the context of large customers in a supply chain determining company-specific standards, compliance with which is then a requirement for suppliers. We draw a brief comparison between multilaterally derived standards (such as those determined by the International Standards Organization) and unilaterally derived standards. Notably, there is an important difference stemming from the level of involvement and degree of control which the unilateral standard-setter has throughout the standard creation and implementation process. Indeed, we claim that the unilateral standard-setter which requires supplier compliance acts as regulator, monitor, and applier of sanctions to those supplier organizations. Ultimately, this puts the large corporation in the role of a Corporate Social Watchdog. In closing the paper we consider a future research agenda for this new concept

Identifying innovation strategies: insights from the Greek food manufacturing sector

This paper examines the concept of innovation that is widely recognised as very important for all companies across different business sectors. The paper initially provides a review of the innovation literature in terms of types, classifications and sources of innovation that have been proposed over time. Then, the paper examines innovation in the context of the food industry, and in particular, it attempts to identify innovation strategies followed by Greek food manufacturing companies based on a specific model. Evidence from the Greek food manufacturing sector indicates that companies tend to innovate along the dimension of offerings that is more related to the traditional view of innovation (product and process innovation)

Sustainability practices and indicators in food retail logistics:findings from an exploratory study

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview and an analysis of recent developments and changes in the implementation of sustainability practices by food retailers. It also aims to explore whether the sustainability measurement criteria and indicators identified in the literature can be applied in practice. A literature review identified the current trends, developments and the proposed sustainability objectives, criteria and indicators. Via case study research, we collected empirical data from four retailers. This involved both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from questionnaires and in-depth interviews with logistics directors from four retailers' distribution centres. The empirical data collected from the interviews indicate similarities in some of the characteristics of distribution centres, as well as differences. However, it was difficult to make cross-company comparisons due to the absence of benchmarks or assessments of the relative importance of each sustainability criterion and indicator. This research focused only on two sustainability objectives. Further research on other sustainability objectives is therefore required. Lessons learnt from the four case studies can be taken into consideration when developing future sustainability performance rating scales. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of sustainability in the food chain, with emphasis on food retailing. Its value lies in presenting an attempt to test in practice how a number of sustainability objectives, criteria and indicators are applied in logistics-related processes, identifying the gaps and reporting the potential difficulties

Collaboration in urban distribution of online grocery orders

Purpose: Population growth, urbanisation and the increased use of online shopping are some of the key challenges affecting the traditional logistics model. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the distribution of grocery products ordered online and the subsequent home delivery and click and collect services offered by online retailers to fulfil these orders. These services are unsustainable due to increased operational costs, carbon emissions, traffic and noise. The main objective of the research is to propose sustainable logistics models to reduce economic, environmental and social costs whilst maintaining service levels. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have a mixed methodology based on simulation and mathematical modelling to evaluate the proposed shared logistics model using: primary data from a major UK retailer, secondary data from online retailers and primary data from a consumer survey on preferences for receiving groceries purchased online. Integration of these three data sets serves as input to vehicle routing models that reveal the benefits from collaboration by solving individual distribution problems of two retailers first, followed by the joint distribution problem under single decision maker assumption. Findings: The benefits from collaboration could be more than 10 per cent in the distance travelled and 16 per cent in the time required to deliver the orders when two online grocery retailers collaborate in distribution activities. Originality/value: The collaborative model developed for the online grocery market incentivises retailers to switch from current unsustainable logistics models to the proposed collaborative models