• Intersecting inequalities in higher education: reaching out to LGBT-identified students on universities marketing communications

      Mogaji, Emmanuel; Farinloye, Temitope; University of Bedfordshire; Questbury Research Services (2015-12-15)
      The marketisation of higher education has led to increasing emphasis on universities to market themselves to prospective students, competitions among all institutions – not just the very best to attract perspective students. Previous studies has suggested that educational qualifications, geographical mobility and financial considerations affects students choice of Universities and more likely universities will be presenting these information to attract prospective students. This research goes outside these conventional marketing appeal to consider if sexual orientation of students are considered as an advertising appeal and reaching out to prospective LGBT students, after all in the same vein as the Guardian and Times Higher Education Ranking of Universities, Stonewall, a UK charity that works for the equal rights of LGBT people, compiles the ‘Gay by Degree’ ranking of universities in UK, rating how gay-friendly these universities are. Results indicated that unlike disability or race, sexual orientation is seldom considered in University marketing communication, suggesting the need to intersect this inequalities in higher education recruitment.
    • Creative execution of United Kingdom banks’ print advertisement

      Mogaji, Emmanuel; University of Bedfordshire (University of Bedfordshire, 2015-05-14)
      The place of the financial services industry in an economy cannot be over-emphasised, its utilitarian nature has made previous researchers suggest that it demands a different advertising strategy; however, the need to create an effective advertisement in this highly saturated industry cannot be overemphasised. This research aims at developing an understanding of creative strategies adopted by UK Banks’ in their print advertisement. Analysis of 1274 print advertisements in UK newspapers over twelve month period was carried out. The advertisements were analysed on the basis of their size, images used, colour, orientation and number of words used. In terms of the advert size, to create an impression, Full Centre Spread was seldom used whereas small advertisements had the largest share. Images of cartoon characters, celebrities, children, colleagues, couples and customers were frequently used. Cartoons were predominately used by the old LloydsTSB Bank and TSB Bank while Santander used the presence of sport celebrities in their advertisements. HSBC Adverts were predominantly printed in black colour on while First Direct advertisements had white text printed on black background. Natwest adverts are more likely to be in Purple, Lloyds in Green and TSB in Blue, these are their brand colours and are frequently used to reinforce their brand. The creative design, which includes the use of images and colours, has been noted to enhance the attractiveness and memorability of these advertisements which also conveys credibility. The research contributes to the study of advertisement design, providing outcomes relevant to numerous types of stakeholders.
    • Rich descriptions: evoking informant self-reflexivity in marketing and consumer research

      Takhar, Amandeep; Chitakunye, Pepukayi (Taylor & Francis, 2012-07)
      This study seeks to extend knowledge of reflexivity theories by moving beyond a sole focus on researcher reflexivity (Bettany & Woodruffe-Burton, 2009) in considering the significance of informant self-reflexivity. It explores the promotion of informant self-reflexivity as a means to generating more in-depth interpretive data. Following the call for a ‘structured, disciplinary impetus to begin’ (Bettany & Woodruffe-Burton, 2009, p. 675) in relation to reflexivity, this paper draws on insights from two longitudinal studies, and develops some guidelines that could encourage informants to comprehend fully and realise their views and thoughts through the injection of reflexivity into the research design. Three key themes emerged as being significant within the research encounter: (1) stimulate discussion and promote co-research, (2) empower informants by building trust, and (3) ethical and moral dilemmas in reflexivity.
    • Dynamic pricing models for used products in remanufacturing with lost-sales and uncertain quality

      Xiong, Yu; Li, Gendao; Zhou, Yu; Fernandes, Kiran; Harrison, Richard; Xiong, Zhongkai; Chongqing Technology and Business University; Jilin University; University of East Anglia; Chongqing University; et al. (Elsevier, 2013-04-22)
      In this paper, we investigate the remanufacturing problem of pricing single-class used products (cores) in the face of random price-dependent returns and random demand. Specifically, we propose a dynamic pricing policy for the cores and then model the problem as a continuous-time Markov decision process. We first design a basic model that does not consider the quality uncertainty of cores, and then extend our model to incorporate this factor. Besides proving optimal policy uniqueness and establishing monotonicity results for the optimal policy, we also characterize the impact of system parameters on the optimal policies, which can provide simple managerial insights. Finally, we use computational experiments to assess the benefits of dynamic pricing compared to static pricing and identify the impacts of specific parameters on the relative merits of dynamic pricing policy.
    • Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture (AGCC): testing the validity of the AGCC scale and some preliminary results from the United Kingdom

      Czarnecka, Barbara; Keles, Serap; University of Bedfordshire; University of Oslo (16th Cross-cultural Research Conference, 2015-12-13)
      This paper presents preliminary results from a study focused on acculturation to Global Consumer Culture (GCC) conducted in the UK. In particular, this paper’s aims are to test the validity of the original ‘Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture’ (AGCC) scale in a new cultural context, and to present preliminary results about the relation between acculturation to GCC and demographic factors, technological anxiety, and compulsive buying. This paper is based on online questionnaire completed by 340 respondents in the UK. The psychometric properties of this scale were verified via confirmatory factor analysis, and a new, shorter scale was proposed. Some results about the links between acculturation to GCC and demographics, technological anxiety, and compulsive buying were presented and discussed within the context of extant GCC research. Limitations and further research were discussed. Key words: consumer culture, global consumer culture, acculturation to global consumer culture
    • Putting it right: service failure and customer loyalty in UK banks

      Jones, Henry; Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; TARP Limited, London; Oxford Brookes University (Emerald, 2007)
      Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine minor service failures in UK banking and consider the impact that satisfaction with service recovery has on customer intentions to continue their custom and make recommendations, used as measures of loyalty behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered on customer satisfaction with service recovery attempts, intended loyalty behaviours and the sources of service failures were gathered by means of an on-line survey from approximately 2,000 respondents. Findings – Few customers who complained about minor service failures report that they were very satisfied with the service recovery. Weak service recovery influenced customer intentions about continued custom and recommendation. Minor failures in account management and bank charges are shown to have a marked effect on intended loyalty behaviours. Research limitations/implications – This paper reports the work of a short, e-mail survey, gathering frequency data from customers of UK banks and reports the impact of service recovery on customer intentions rather than their actions. Further investigation is needed using more a more sophisticated instrument. Practical implications – In this paper low levels of satisfaction with managing service recoveries are reported, no matter which channel the customer used, no matter how the service failure is managed. Originality/value – The preliminary work in this paper demonstrates the impact that weak service recovery of minor complaints has on customers' intended loyalty behaviours in UK banking.
    • Exploring the role of acculturation in brand choice: a new perspective for targeting Indians living in the United Kingdom

      Vijaygopal, Rohini; Dibb, Sally (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012)
      Indians are the largest UK ethnic minority, contributing significantly to the UK economy. Although this group's considerable spending power makes them of interest to marketing practitioners, greater insight into their consumer behaviour is required. An understanding of the influence of cultural factors on preferences and behaviour is a priority. This qualitative article considers how consumer acculturation affects the brand preferences of British Indian consumers. Berry's acculturation taxonomy and Mendoza's Cultural Life Style Inventory underpin the organisation of the data collection. The findings reveal distinctive brand choice patterns for individuals from different acculturation categories. Separated individuals use more of the ethnic brands than host brands; most integrated individuals are familiar with both ethnic and host brands; whereas assimilated individuals have a much narrower brand understanding, being familiar mainly with the host brands. The implications for researchers and practitioners are explored.
    • Acquiring and retaining customers in UK banks: an exploratory study

      Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; Panther, Tracy (Elsevier, 2008)
      This paper explores how traditional banks1 in the UK are managing customer acquisition (CA) at the same time as the retention of profitable customers. In spite of the interest of UK banks in retention, new customers often receive more favourable prices and conditions than existing customers, suggesting that acquisition may dominate. To explore the balance between acquisition and retention and to discover marketing activities that might support both, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a small sample of senior bank staff in the UK. Analysis of the interviews, using computer-aided software indicated that banks are indeed trying to manage acquisition with retention but encountering a range of difficulties as they revisit long-held strategies. The study also suggests seven activities that might contribute to a better balancing of CA with retention. By seeking expert management opinion through a qualitatively based study, this research proposes a preliminary framework of marketing activities that support both acquisition and retention.
    • To have and to hold: managing channels in UK high street financial services

      Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; Panther, Tracy; Wright, Len Tiu (Emerald, 2008)
      The purpose of this paper is to examine multiple channels in retail banking and demonstrate how qualitative market research investigations can inform strategic decision making. Research into customer acquisition and retention has only recently begun to consider them as part of a single marketing process inviting exploratory qualitative expert investigation. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature suggested an outline guide for interviewing a selection of expert informants, from a variety of high-street banks and building societies. The interview data were analysed using both computer-aided and manual techniques in parallel as part of strengthening the findings. Findings – The analysis of the interview data suggest five themes of that make up the management of channels in UK high-street banks that have an impact on customer acquisition and retention and which are as follows: customer groups, interaction style, relationship and loyalty, networks and service and satisfaction. Originality/value – The themes identified in this preliminary investigation provide a model that maps five aspects that underpin customer acquisition and retention in traditional high-street banks including for the purposes of this research, building societies in the UK.
    • The influence of customer perceptions on financial performance in financial services

      Liang, Chiung-Ju; Wang, Wen-Hung; Farquhar, Jillian Dawes (Emerald, 2009)
      The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model examining the relationship between customer perceptions (product attributes, benefits, customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and customer behavioral loyalty) and financial performance of a merchant bank. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the SEM tool of Linear Structure Relation (LISREL), this study develops and empirically tests a model examining the relationships between customer perspectives (product attributes, benefits, customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and customer behavioral loyalty) and the financial perspective (financial performance). A cross-department study in the financial services industry was conducted based on three consumer samples (department of Loans, Deposits, and Credit Cards) drawn from XYZ bank, one of the most famous banks providing merchant banking services in Taiwan. Findings – SEM results indicate that: customer perceptions positively affect financial performance; and customers purchase financial services with dissimilar benefits, all of which come with corresponding attributes, and hence result in different levels of customer satisfaction and behavioral sequence, which is important in reinforcing customers' trust, commitment, repurchase intentions and corporate financial performance. In practical terms the findings suggest that financial service managers could consider treating consumers as partners in their provision of existing services or their quest to develop successful new services. Reciprocal behaviour will foster a positive atmosphere, remove barriers arising from risk, and enable relationships to progress, ultimately improving financial performance. The research proposes an empirical model of the customer perceptions in the consumption of financial services that has a positive impact on the financial performance of the company. The findings are based on data from one company across three product departments.
    • Case study research methods for business

      Farquhar, Jillian Dawes (Sage Publications, 2012)
    • Marketing of financial services

      Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; Meidan, Arthur (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010)
    • The multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management

      Asmussen, Bjoern; Harridge-March, Sally; Occhiocupo, Nicoletta; Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; University of Bedfordshire; Oxford Brookes University (Elsevier, 2012-12)
      The evolution of the internet, including developments such as Web 2.0, has led to new relationship realities between organizations and their stakeholders. One manifestation of these complex new realities has been the emergence of an internet-based democratization of brand management. Research about this phenomenon has so far mainly focused on investigating just one or more individual themes and thereby disregarded the inherent multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management as a holistic, socio-technological phenomenon. The aim of this paper is to address this limitation through an investigation of the various socio-technological democratization developments of the phenomenon. To achieve this aim, a balanced and stakeholder-oriented perspective on brand management has been adopted to conduct an integrative literature review. The review reveals three key developments, which together form the essential parts of the phenomenon: (I) the democratization of internet technology, (II) the democratization of information, and (III) the democratization of social capital. The insights gained help to clarify the basic structures of the multi-layered phenomenon. The findings contribute also to the substantiation of a call for a new brand management paradigm: one that takes not only company-initiated but also stakeholder-initiated brand management activities into account
    • The role of involvement in information processing

      Danbury, Annie Hagen; University of Bedfordshire (University of Bedfordshire, 2008-07-06)
      The advertising literature endorses the view that involvement moderates the link between advertising exposure, information processing, and the attitude formation process. Essentially, involvement affects the attention and processing efforts of consumers differently depending on their level of involvement. The aim was to examine the role and nature of involvement and its risk and pleasure antecedents in information processing of print advertisements. Recent developments within neuroscience suggest that consumer decision-making is foremost driven by affect (feelings) with little rational involvement except for post-rationalisation. The research has used popular involvement scales and advertising models that are based on, or include, both affective and cognitive dimensions to examine their relative impact on the decoding process. Information processing of advertising messages was examined by: • Selecting three product categories that were of medium to high involvement: chocolate bar, credit card, mobile telephone. • Developing advertisements with a risk and pleasure appeal for each category. • Conducting 2x3 factorial experiments with control using advertising portfolios and questionnaires. • Analysing the data within SPSS and creating AMOS path diagrams for each product category and advertising treatment to determine underlying decoding processes. Whilst the involvement construct was found to be relatively stable, the pleasure antecedents had greater influence on the decoding process and its outcomes. It was also revealed that advertising situations are specific and predominantly determined by affective processing. These findings highlight the need to re-examine popular involvement scales and advertising models that are based on, or include, cognitive dimensions of involvement. There are also implications for advertising strategies and executions as the results confirm a strong association between affective advertising stimuli and the decoding process, recall, and attitude to the advertisement.
    • Affective involvement in advertising effectiveness: implications for interpretation of print advertisements

      Danbury, Annie Hagen; Mortimer, Kathleen; University of Bedfordshire (European Advertising Academy, 2011-06-28)
      The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that affective dimensions of involvement have on the decoding process of print advertisements. The results from a factorial experiment using advertisements for two types of product, credit cards and chocolate bars, indicate that outcomes of the decoding process are predominantly influenced by affective dimensions of involvement, such as interest and pleasure, in a low involvement situation. This affective involvement has a strong relationship with likeability of the advertisement. However the relationship between comprehension and likeability is less straightforward and seems to be linked to beliefs about the advertisement.
    • Online behaviour of luxury brand advocates: differences between active advocates and passive loyalists

      Kanthavanich, Poramate; Danbury, Annie Hagen; Parrott, Guy; University of Bedfordshire (European Advertising Academy, 2012-06-30)
      The study aims to identify online behaviours of luxury brand advocates referring to differentiation between active and passive loyalists. A netnographic approach was used to observe groups of luxury handbag advocates. Key findings include an identification of engagement manifested in positive word of mouth and enthusiastic brand recommendation. Advocates routinely share their love of particular brands, openly expressing joy and sharing heightened levels of self-esteem. Engaged passive loyalists tend to share less with peers, but instead celebrate their purchases more personally.
    • The veneration of relics at Glastonbury Abbey in the middle ages

      Croft, Robin; Durbin, Deanna (Routledge, 2012)
    • And did those feet? Getting medieval England “on-message”

      Croft, Robin; Hartland, Trevor; Skinner, Heather (Emerald, 2008)
      This paper aims to gain an understanding of the nature and extent of the practice of “public relations” in history. The paper uses an analysis of popular narratives (in particular rumour, legend and myth) to inform a detailed case study of Glastonbury abbey in the medieval period.
    • Reason and choice: a conceptual study of consumer decision making and electoral behavior

      Dean, Dianne; Croft, Robin (Taylor and Francis, 2009-04)
      Rational choice supposes that individuals make their electoral decision in keeping with their own self-interest, undertaking a cost-benefit analysis, no different to choosing a product or service. Rather than reject the concept of rational choice, this paper will review the notions of rationality and reasoning, which, as Aristotle argues, are inseparable. We will support Marcus' (2002) grievance that emotional decision making is irrational and thus perceived negatively, rather than being seen to play an important motivational role in decision making. A framework is proposed that focuses upon the interplay among rationality, irrationality, reasoning, and emotion, and we argue that this is far more fluid than has been previously discussed.
    • Markets, music and all that jazz

      Kubacki, Krzysztof; Croft, Robin (Emerald, 2011)
      In recent years there has been a welcome growth of interest in learning how artists understand, engage with and respond to aspects of business practice such as marketing. In the case of music it has been suggested that artists are by no means universally motivated by commercial success, and in many cases find the practices of mass marketing repellent. However, there is general agreement that the study of attitudes of artists is still in its infancy, not just in terms of identifying the research agenda, but just as pressingly in identifying a range of appropriate methodological tools for understanding the phenomenon. This paper aims to address these issues.