The determinants of hotels' marketing managers' green marketing behaviour

Little is known about the factors underlying the pro-environmental behaviour of marketing managers. This paper explores the determinants of green marketing practices in the Red Sea hotel sector in Egypt. The research model assesses green marketing practices against the personal and organisational values of the marketing managers, together with a range of organisational and demographic variables expected to influence hotels' environmental behaviour. From a valid sample of 89 marketing managers responsible for 194 hotels, it was found that organisational contextual variables, and in particular targeting Western tourists, being affiliated to an international hotel chain and the marketers' own demographics, including age, academic subject studied and gender, were the best predictors of more proactive green marketing. Personal environmental values did not explain the pro-environmental behaviour of marketers, and the organisational environmental values that had explained part of their ethical behaviour had resulted from voluntarism rather than utilitarian or conformance-based values. Government policies also appeared to be ineffective determinants. The implications for green marketing practices are also discussed. © 2010 Taylor & Francis

Tempo and mode of performance evolution across multiple independent origins of adhesive toe pads in lizards

Understanding macroevolutionary dynamics of trait evolution is an important endeavor in evolutionary biology. Ecological opportunity can liberate a trait as it diversifies through trait space, while genetic and selective constraints can limit diversification. While many studies have examined the dynamics of morphological traits, diverse morphological traits may yield the same or similar performance and as performance is often more proximately the target of selection, examining only morphology may give an incomplete understanding of evolutionary dynamics. Here, we ask whether convergent evolution of pad‐bearing lizards has followed similar evolutionary dynamics, or whether independent origins are accompanied by unique constraints and selective pressures over macroevolutionary time. We hypothesized that geckos and anoles each have unique evolutionary tempos and modes. Using performance data from 59 species, we modified Brownian motion (BM) and Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) models to account for repeated origins estimated using Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions. We discovered that adhesive performance in geckos evolved in a fashion consistent with Brownian motion with a trend, whereas anoles evolved in bounded performance space consistent with more constrained evolution (an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model). Our results suggest that convergent phenotypes can have quite distinctive evolutionary patterns, likely as a result of idiosyncratic constraints or ecological opportunities

Behaviour and Climate Change: Consumer Perceptions of Responsibility

This paper explores the under-researched notion of consumer responsibility, a potentially significant influence on consumer behaviour that marketers and policymakers may be able to harness as they attempt to respond to environmental challenges such as climate change. The paper uses data derived from a commercially motivated survey (n = 1513) to explore domestic consumption behaviours most closely associated with the issue of disruptive climate change. A measure of 'General Environmental Responsiveness' (GER) is used to test: (1) the effects of consumers both taking responsibility for their actions and placing responsibility on others for the consequences of their consumption behaviour; and (2) whether sociodemographic variables can aid the targeting of consumers by the level and type of responsibility and pro-environmental behavioural intentions expressed. The study's findings demonstrate clear, if not strong, relationships between consumer conceptions of responsibilities for causing and tackling climate change and environment-related consumer behaviour. The study's implications both challenge accepted wisdom about environment-related consumer behaviour and suggest avenues for future research

Green consumer segmentation: managerial and environmental implications from the perspective of business strategies and practices

With the new millennium, environmental concern entered a new phase, with stricter governmental regulations and incentives. Currently, within environmental issues, there is a broader challenge to commitment with economic and social goals. This is motivating companies and organizations to participate in transformation processes with the aim of minimizing the negative impacts of their activities. Within this context, new business philosophies, emerged empowering organizations to consider sustainability issues that have come to be viewed as an innovative and differentiating factor, providing competitive advantages (Fraj-Andres, MartinezSalinas, & Matute-Vallejo. Journal of Business Ethics, 88,263-286, 2009; Leipziger. The corporate responsibility code book. Greenleaf Publishing Limited, 2016; Leipziger. The corporate responsibility code book. Greenleaf Publishing Limited, 2016). Therefore, organizations have begun incorporating these concerns in their processes, adopting green management policies, and including green marketing strategies in order to remain competitive (Straughan & Roberts. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(6), 558-575, 1999; Rivera-Camino. European Journal of Marketing, 41, 1328-1358, 2007). From the marketing perspective, the importance of understanding green consumer behaviour in order to develop better segmentation and targeting strategies is highlighted. Green consumers are changing significantly. Consumers, although with some reluctance, are moving to greener products. The Mintel organization reported that the number of consumers buying green has tripled in recent years. Furthermore, it found that the number of consumers that never bought green products have decreased. These results show that widespread environmental awareness had an important role in purchasing behaviour, with more consumers considering the environmental impact of their buying decisions and looking for a greener alternative to their conventional purchasing options. The existing literature suggests that previous research regarding the green consumer profile has different perspectives. The first group of researchers attempted to characterize green consumer profile using sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, education, income and occupation. In tum, the second group of researchers used psychographic variables instead of sociodemographic ones (Mainieri, Barnett, Valdero, Unipan, & Oskamp. Journal of Social Psychology, 137(2), 189-204, 1997). This chapter aims to better explore the importance of green consumer segmentation and its implications from a management point of view. More specifically, the aim is to analyze which variables better characterize green consumers (sociodemographic and psychographic). At the end, a theoretical framework is proposed to enable and support organizations to better understand green consumer profile. It also enables managers and marketers to target and develop better marketing strategies for these segments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

State pension funds and corporate social responsibility: do beneficiaries’ political values influence funds’ investment decisions?

This study explores the underlying drivers of US public pension funds’ tendency to tilt their portfolios towards companies with stronger corporate social responsibility (CSR). Studying the equity holdings of large, internally-managed US state pension funds, we find evidence that the political leaning of their beneficiaries and political pressures by state politicians affect funds’ investment decisions. State pension funds from states with Democratic-leaning beneficiaries tilt their portfolios more strongly towards companies that perform well on CSR issues, and this tendency is intensified when the state government is dominated by Democratic state politicians. Moreover, we find that funds which tilt their portfolios towards companies with superior CSR scores generate a slightly higher return compared with their counterparts. Overall, our findings indicate that funds align their investment choices with the financial and non-financial interests of their beneficiaries when deciding whether to incorporate CSR into their equity allocations

What does security culture look like for small organizations?

The human component is a significant factor in information security, with a large numbers of breaches occurring due to unintentional user error. Technical solutions can only protect information so far and thus the human aspect of security has become a major focus for discussion. Therefore, it is important for organisations to create a security conscious culture. However, currently there is no established representation of security culture from which to assess how it can be manoeuvred to improve the overall information security of an organization. This is of particular importance for small organizations who lack the resources in information security and for whom the culture of the organization exerts a strong influence. A review of multiple definitions and descriptions of security culture was made to assess and analyse the drivers and influences that exist for security culture in small organizations. An initial representation of the factors that should drive security culture, together with those that should only influence it, was constructed. At a fundamental level these drivers are related to a formulated response to security issues rather than a reaction to it, and should reflect the responsibility allocated in a secure environment. In contrast, the influences on security culture can be grouped by communities of practice, individual awareness and organizational management. The encapsulation of potential driving and influencing factors couched in information security terms rather than behavioural science terms, will allow security researchers to investigate how a security culture can be fostered to improve information security in small organizations

The human FK506-binding proteins: characterization of human FKBP19

Analysis of the human repertoire of the FK506-binding protein (FKBP) family of peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases has identified an expansion of genes that code for human FKBPs in the secretory pathway. There are distinct differences in tissue distribution and expression levels of each variant. In this article we describe the characterization of human FKBP19 (Entrez Gene ID: FKBP11), an FK506-binding protein predominantly expressed in vertebrate secretory tissues. The FKBP19 sequence comprises a cleavable N-terminal signal sequence followed by a putative peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase domain with homology to FKBP12. This domain binds FK506 weakly in vitro. FKBP19 mRNA is abundant in human pancreas and other secretory tissues and high levels of FKBP19 protein are detected in the acinar cells of mouse pancreas

Understanding How Social Entrepreneurs Fit into the Tourism Discourse

This chapter discusses how social entrepreneurs fit into the existing tourism discourse. It examines four areas of literature in particular, tourism entrepreneurs, sustainability, destination development and intrapreneurship, and analyzes how introducing the concept of social entrepreneurs into these discussions is useful, and contributes to our understanding. Furthermore the paper illustrates that as social entrepreneurs are relevant to a broad range of issues in the tourism literature this should prevent the development of research silos where social entrepreneurship scholars seek out their own vein of research. The nexus of common ground and interests, as displayed in this chapter, should enhance the development of research, thought and understanding of social entrepreneurs within the field as a whole The key argument is that research on social entrepreneurs is not just relevant for those interested in entrepreneurs it also effects our thinking on issues such as destination development, relationships between stakeholders, tourism policy and sustainability. The chapter concludes with a wide range of questions for further research