Search

PurposeThe aim of the study is to examine the effects of opportunity creation and discovery on the performance of family firms. Specifically, from the tenets of dynamic capabilities and organizational contingency perspectives, this study proposes and tests a framework of how family firms' creation and discovery behavior impact venture growth and the conditions under which such impact can vary.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses moderated-hierarchical regression to analyze survey data from 156 family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within a sub-Saharan African economy.FindingsThe findings indicate that creation behavior has a curvilinear U-shaped relationship with venture growth, while discovery behavior has a direct positive relationship with venture growth. Further analysis reveals that the curvilinearity of the U-shaped relationship between creation and venture growth will be stronger for older family firms than for younger ones.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings may be limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data and the specific focus on family firms only.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the significance of pursuing both opportunities among family firms. In fact, both creation and discovery opportunities are significant drivers of family firm growth, albeit in different capacities. Relatedly, managers of older family firms (compared to younger firms) can invest more in exploiting creative opportunities.Social implicationsFrom these findings, governments and other stakeholders should create enabling environment and institutional frameworks conducive to exploiting opportunities by entrepreneurial firms.Originality/valueThe study is novel – as it provides unique findings on the performance implications of creation and discovery behavior of entrepreneurial family firms within developing economies.

This research examines the role that brand community plays in the relationship between brand identification and brand loyalty. A theoretical framework was developed and tested using an online survey in the brand community of a UK professional basketball team. Study results reveal that consumers’ brand community identification has a significant direct relationship on both public and private brand loyalty. It also shows that brand community identification fully mediates the relationship between brand identification and consumer behavior towards the brand, which is enacted both publicly and privately. The study adds to academic understanding of brand identification, brand community theory, and the importance of the differentiation of public and private brand loyalty, whilst providing guidance for branding practitioners.

Research shows that big data analytics capability (BDAC) is a major determinant of firm performance. However, scant research has theoretically articulated and empirically tested the mechanisms and conditions under which BDAC influences performance. This study advances existing knowledge on the BDAC–performance relationship by drawing on the knowledge-based view and contingency theory to argue that how and when BDAC influences market performance is dependent on the intervening role of disruptive business models and the contingency role of competitive intensity. We empirically test this argument on primary data from 360 firms in the United Kingdom. The results show that disruptive business models partially mediate the positive effect of BDAC on market performance, and this indirect positive effect is strengthened when competitive intensity increases. These findings provide new perspectives on the business model processes and competitive conditions under which firms maximize marketplace value from investments in BDACs.

This research investigates the effect of social media talking and listening tactics on customer performance through firms’ networking capabilities and promotion adaptation strategies among entrepreneurial, emerging market, small and medium-sized enterprises (ESMEs). From a survey of 169 ESME managers, the study tests whether firms should use social media to listen and adapt to the foreign market or disseminate and network in the foreign market. The study's ultimate aim is to guide managers on how best to leverage social media in their international export campaigns. The results were analyzed using a series of nested structural equation models. We found that using social media tactics combining both talking and listening leads to significantly higher levels of customer performance than using talking or listening strategies singly. Moreover, we found that each tactic's mechanisms operating these effects differed. By showing, first, the mechanisms through which social media tactics affect customer performance and, second, the superiority of an ambidextrous social media strategy, the study provides ESME entrepreneurs with an understanding of how best to leverage social media to facilitate international exporting.

The study investigates how customer perceptions of parent brands influence the perceived value of brand extensions in the hotel industry and how these relationships are moderated by the nature of the brand extension in question. Drawing on brand equity logic, the study proposes that perceived positive brand attributes, awareness, attitudes, and loyalty toward the parent brand positively relate to higher perceived value of the brand extension, and that these positive relationships grow stronger in cases of step-down extensions rather than step-up extensions. Survey results from UK hotel customers reveal that only perceived parent brand attributes and attitudes seem to have a positive impact on perceived value of the extension and subsequent (re)visit intentions. The moderation results further reveal that the positive relationships turn stronger in cases of step-down extensions and insignificant during step-up extensions. Managers are therefore cautioned to apply step-up extensions too frivolously, as such extensions seem largely ineffective in generating consumer value and subsequent behavioral intentions, whereas the effectiveness is heightened in cases of step-down extensions.

The role of emotional connections to places has largely been studied with a focus on place visitors. However, while residents are considered integral to the place brand, their perspectives generally have been overlooked. This study aims to increase the understanding of the relationships between place image, self-congruity, place attachment, and positive word-of-mouth among residents and visitors of a place. A conceptual model is advanced from identity and attachment theories. Responses from 654 residents and visitors in two Swedish cities were collected through an online survey, and the conceptual model was tested across the two city samples using structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that affective place image is positively related to positive word-of-mouth and that this relationship is mediated by place attachment for both residents and visitors. The results further show that self-congruity acts as a mediator between affective place image and place attachment for visitors but not for residents.

This research investigates the effect of knowledge on the perception of internationalization barriers and the intention to internationalize among emerging market small/medium enterprise (SME) managers. Drawing from social cognitive theories in entrepreneurship, the study tests a paradoxical effect of knowledge on a sample of 150 managers. The model predicts that the characteristics specific to emerging market SMEs will reverse the traditionally positive relationship of knowledge on internationalization intention commonly found in the literature. Consistent with the hypothesis, the results indicate that knowledge relates negatively to internationalization intention. Additionally, the effect of perceived barriers on intention to internationalize becomes positive when perceived international market knowledge is higher. By clarifying the role of knowledge in the emerging market SME context, the study adds novel understanding to the key concept of internationalization knowledge.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. This study examines quadratic effects of three export decision-making approaches (planning, creativity and spontaneity) on innovation orientation, and the direct effect of innovation orientation on export market performance. The model, anchored in decision theory and dynamic capabilities, is tested on a sample of Chinese exporting firms using structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that while a greater proclivity to innovate is beneficial for export market performance, a more complex web of relationship is revealed between the three export decision-making approaches and innovation orientation, providing insights on the operationalization of a dynamic decision-making capability. Specifically, while an increasing level of export planning reduces an exporter’s capacity to innovate, creativity has a positive direct effect on exporters’ innovation orientation, which also benefits from extreme spontaneity in export decision-making. We discuss theoretical contributions and export managerial implications of this dynamic decision-making capability for industrial marketing management.

The study examines the role of social media marketing (SMM) activities and the influence of perceived candidate image in building voter–candidate relationship equity within the context of United Kingdom (UK) politics. Drawing from branding literature and social identity theory the article further investigates the role of candidate image as a mediator between SMM and voter–candidate relationship equity, whilst also testing the moderating effect of political ideologies. Survey results from 235 young UK voters indicate that while all SMM activities appears to positively influence the perceived candidate image, not all SMM variables directly relate to relationship equity. The relationship rather appears to be an indirect one, mediated through the political candidate's image. Surprisingly, political ideology also does not appear to moderate the connection between candidate image and voter–candidate relationship equity. The study findings highlight the growing importance of SMM activities and candidate image in political contexts, providing insights for political campaigners.

Based on a sample of 148 Swedish firms, this study investigates the complementary relationships between internal and external coordination and external intelligence quality to explain product innovation performance. The results show that, with increasing manufacturing-marketing coordination, higher market intelligence quality or higher supply chain intelligence quality are positively associated with product innovation performance. The complementary roles of internal and external coordination and intelligence quality have theoretical and practical implications.

Purpose Contemporary sales scholarship suggests that salespersons pursuing customer satisfaction should improvise (think and act on their feet) to find solutions to customers’ emergent problems. A missing link in this literature, however, is the relational context within which improvisation takes place and becomes effective. This study aims to examine how the tone of the salesperson–customer relationship (whether cordial or coercive) drives and conditions salesperson improvisation and its implications for customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The study tests the proposed model using dyadic salesperson–customer data from business-to-business (B2B) markets in Ghana. The relationships are tested using structural equation modeling technique. Findings The study finds that salesperson improvisation is associated with customer satisfaction. It also finds the extent of cordiality between salespersons and their customers predicts but does not enhance the value of improvisation for customer satisfaction. The reverse is true for customer exercised coercive power which is not a significant driver of improvisation but can substantially alter its benefits for the worse. Practical implications By implication, salespersons should improvise more to be able to satisfy customers. However, such improvisation must be tempered with a consciousness of the relationship shared with customers and the level of power they exercise in the relationship. Originality/value Because improvised behavior deviates from routines and may be unsettling for customers, improvising salespersons must first understand whether their customers would be willing to accommodate such deviations. Yet, the literature is silent on this relational context surrounding improvisation. This study, by exploring facilitating and inhibitory relational variables implicated in improvisation, addresses this gap.

Our understanding of experiential learning via export learning process, and its outcomes, is limited in the international marketing literature. Using multi-source, time-lagged data of exporting firms in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and China, this study finds that export learning process is positively associated with marketing strategy adaptation for both U.K. and Chinese exporters. Results suggest contrasting moderating effects of experiential knowledge resources (i.e., psychic dispersion, multinationality, and duration) and strategy adaptation on the relationship of export learning process and export sales growth in the two samples. In the U.K. sample, we observe a positive moderation effect of psychic dispersion, and negative moderation effects of multinationality and duration. For the China sample, we find the exact opposite pattern of moderation effects for the experiential knowledge resources. Marketing strategy adaptation plays a negative moderation role in the China sample, but has no such effect in the U.K. sample. The study has implications for theory development on, and the productive management of, processes of learning export management.

This article introduces the special issue on global marketing in business-to-business contexts. The aim is to advance knowledge on the subject that can stimulate further research in this important and emerging area of industrial marketing. The twelve contributions selected for this special issue bring together high quality contemporary research that address challenges and recent developments. The articles specifically offer unique insights that progress understanding in the area, provide interesting managerial implications, and present intriguing opportunities for future researchers. These contributions reflect the variety of current work in global marketing in the business-to-business context. While most of the contributions in this special issue focus on the development and deployment of unique resources and capabilities to enhance international competitiveness and performance success, insights are also offered on international relationships and/or relationship marketing within the business-to-business context, country of origin effects, and knowledge transfer between international partners in subsidiaries. The article concludes with a summary of important avenues for further research.

The current study examines the conditions under which a fixed and growth mindset affects managers’ decisions regarding the level of adaptation and involvement in cross-border strategies. Grounded in the implicit theory from psychology, we developed a model that includes psychic distance as the boundary condition of this effect. To test our hypotheses, a 2 (fixed vs. growth mindset) by 2 (low vs. high psychic distance) between-subjects experimental design was employed. Two hundred and fifty-two international marketing managers from firms based in Greece were recruited to take part in the study and were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. Results revealed that mindset had a significant effect on adaptation intentions. Furthermore, psychic distance moderated the above effect; more specifically, in the low psychic distance condition, growth mindset managers demonstrated higher adaptation intentions than fixed mindset managers, whereas, in the high psychic distance condition, both growth and fixed mindsets opted for similar levels of adaptation. In addition, the effect of mindset on entry mode was strengthened for low psychic distance as growth mindset managers tend to select higher involvement business arrangements than their fixed mindset counterparts. The current study offered insights into the international marketing and consumer psychology literatures by introducing mindset as a new antecedent of adaptation and entry mode decisions, and showed under which conditions managers take internationalization decisions. Moreover, the proven effect of mindset on international marketing decisions has equally important implications for organizations. We support the view that managers are boundedly rational, therefore neglecting their cognitive orientation and perception would generate flawed results. Therefore, chief stakeholders should not take for granted that their international marketing managers’ way of thinking will be aligned the firm’s idiosyncrasy and follow the intended cross-border strategies. In order to cultivate or acquire a desirable mindset, relevant and carefully designed internal and external training sessions are deemed necessary for senior and international marketing managers.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. While firms continue to commit slack financial resources to sustainability causes, knowledge is lacking on how financial resource slack drives sustainability expenditure under varying conditions of market pressure and political connectedness in a developing-economy market. Using primary data from exporting small and medium sized enterprises in Nigeria, this study shows that increases in financial resource slack are associated with decreases in sustainability expenditure. Additionally, results indicate that the negative effect of financial resource slack on sustainability expenditure becomes positive when levels of market pressure are higher. However, the negative effect relationship is strengthened (i.e. becomes more negative) when levels of political connectedness are greater. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.

This study examines how behavioral elements of international entrepreneurial orientation (i.e. product innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy) increase variability in scope of regional market expansion, and the international marketing channel management conditions under which this occurs. Results from an empirical study in a developing market show that not all behavioral elements of international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) increase scope of regional expansion. The study specifically finds that scope of regional expansion is fostered when high levels of product innovation intensity, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomous behaviors are aligned with a stronger channel management capability. Conversely, the regional expansion values of product innovation novelty and proactiveness are cancelled out when channel management capability levels are high.

Social media Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram provide various means for users to interact with others, by creating, sharing, and commenting on content about anything, including br ...

This study draws on dual-processing theory and post-materialism assumptions to uncover the role of attitudinal and materialistic values in determining the degree to which consumers are willing to pay premium prices for sustainable tourism services. Findings from a large-scale survey of Swedish potential ecotourists reveal that, while attitude and environmental beliefs relate positively to willingness to pay premium (WTPP) for ecotourism, materialistic values exert a negative effect. In line with the theory of affect heuristics, study results further suggest that by giving rise to the intensity of feelings toward the offering, ecotourism interest alters the interplay of affective and evaluative antecedents, so that greater interest amplifies the influence of affective attitude and materialistic values on WTPP while simultaneously attenuating the effect of environmental beliefs.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Premised on the idea that not all salesperson behaviors can be pre-scripted and that, increasingly, salespersons must find ways to respond to unexpected but urgent market conditions, this study theorizes the drivers, outcomes and boundary conditions of salesperson improvisation. Using primary data from industrial salespersons, the study examines how perceptions of resource availability and customer demandingness drive salesperson improvisation and condition its sales performance effects. Findings show that higher levels of salesperson improvisation are associated with increased sales performance. Additionally, a heightened perception of resource availability and greater customer demandingness are associated with increases in salesperson improvisation. Furthermore, findings indicate that the salesperson improvisation–sales performance relationship is strengthened when resource availability is greater and when customer demandingness is lower.

City branding has become an invaluable source of differentiation for cities around the world as competition between places continues to grow. The current study addresses gaps in extant city branding literature by investigating the brand vision model on a second-tier UK city, Leeds, from the perspective of both brand steerers and brand consumers. The qualitative research approach and case study results from brand steerers and consumers reveal that a high degree of buy-in exists among leading brand steerers. Furthermore, findings indicate some significant differences between the steerers and citizens' vision for the city's brand that prevents the two sets of viewpoints from being strongly aligned; although communalities exist between stakeholder groups, the supply side is taking a more strategic direction whereas the demand side is more pragmatic. Managerial and theoretical implications provide practical recommendations for managers as well as broader suggestions for the research area in general.

The research examines to what extent emotional place attachment is impacted by people's feelings towards international companies associated with the place, and what mechanism and conditions drive such effects. The research draws on the feelings-as-information perspective and empirically tests the relationships in three international multi-method studies. The results demonstrate that brand loyalty plays a key role in place affective image and emotional place attachment. The study theorizes and empirically shows the importance of affect, authenticity, and cultural distance in such relationships. Critically, it enriches understanding of brand–place relationships and identify key boundary conditions. Tourism marketers need to appropriately manage perceptions of local brands' authenticity and consider cultural distance when designing destination campaigns in their efforts to strengthen place attachment.

The study investigates how international pricing decisions are made. Specifically, how and under what conditions psychic distance affects managers’ export pricing adaptation/standardization decisions. Based on construal-level theory, we develop a model that suggests managerial promotion orientation and firm culture as the boundary conditions and construal-level mindset as the underlying mechanism of the psychic distance–price adaptation decision. Using a scenario-based experiment, with export managers in Greece and Taiwan, we find that psychic distance has a significant positive effect on price adaptation, but this effect is becoming nonsignificant for firms located in Asia. Moreover, for firms located in Europe, the positive effect of psychic distance becomes weaker when managers are characterized by higher promotion orientation. Results also confirm that construal-level mindset mediates the perceived psychic distance effect on price adaptation decisions. The article contributes in the export marketing literature by uncovering boundary conditions and an underlying mechanism for the effects of psychic distance and provides value-adding managerial implications.

The general marketing literature suggests that brand personality, satisfaction, and customer identification with the brand are important drivers of consumer behavior in several contexts. Yet, the literature lacks studies on these constructs' role in tourist behavior. In an endeavor to overcome this research deficit, this study explores the interrelationships among destination personality, tourist satisfaction, and tourist–destination identification, and the extent to which they are important in influencing positive word-of-mouth and revisit intentions. The study employs structural equation modeling to analyze data from 490 Taiwanese consumers reporting on their most recently visited tourism destinations. Findings indicate that (1) destination personality promotes tourist satisfaction, tourist–destination identification, positive word-of-mouth, and revisit intentions; (2) satisfaction encourages identification and word-of-mouth; and (3) identification enhances word-of-mouth and revisit intentions. The paper provides theoretical and managerial implications.

Drawing from the theory of planned behavior and post-materialism assumptions, this study investigates and uncovers key antecedents of the intention to engage in ecotourism and to pay premium prices for the experience. A conceptual model incorporates environmental beliefs, attitudes toward ecotourism, behavioral indications, and willingness to pay premium (WTPP), in combination with materialism and general tourism motivation. Samples of Swedish and Taiwanese tourists empirically test the assumptions. Findings reveal attitudes and environmental beliefs connect positively with intention and WTPP; however, materialistic values exert a negative effect. The results also disclose diverging moderating effects on the environmental beliefs — attitude linkage, depending on the type of tourism motivation guiding the tourist. The research findings offer key insights on what drives consumer behavior in the context of ecotourism.

As competition in the service sector is continuously intensifying, managers are increasingly realizing how effective use of enterprise systems (ESs) might improve competition capabilities. Building ...

Purpose – This article aims to explore the impact of supply chain integration on the financial performance of Swedish manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review provided the foundation for the development of the survey instrument and hypotheses for the study. In addition, the survey instrument was tested by the experts in the field and modified before it was sent to the managers in the survey group. Findings – The findings show that supply chain integration at any level is beneficial to the financial well being of the firm. Companies with total supply chain integration reported the highest level of financial performance. Research limitations/implications – Data were collected from Swedish manufacturing firms without regard to the size of the firm. The results show that supply chain integration is beneficial at any level. Practical implications – The findings will assist managers with decisions regarding supply chain integration and its role as a critical factor in improving the financial performance of manufacturing companies. Originality/value – Limited empirical studies have been conducted in this area, especially in Sweden. This study provides insight for manufacturing managers with regard to the importance of supply chain management and the competitive nature of business in the global market.

The growing pace of market globalization has enabled firms to find it increasingly attractive to exploit growth opportunities abroad. To this end, predicting firms’ success and growth in foreign markets has become an important issue to international business researchers and managers. The international business literature suggests that different internal firm and foreign market specific environment factors drive internationalization of firms including firms’ structure, strategy, orientations, capabilities and nature of foreign market competition. Researchers interested in the field of international entrepreneurship have also given attention to firms’ international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) as a potential driver of firms’ internationalization behavior, with few recent studies reporting investigations into the relationship between IEO and internationalization scope. The entrepreneurship literature suggests that variations in entrepreneurial behaviors may lead to exploitation of “new entry” (Oviatt & McDougall, 2005; Cavusgil & Knight, 2015). Within the international entrepreneurship discipline, international new entry is construed to entail identification and exploitation of new product-market opportunities abroad, or a pursuit of internationalization scope (Dai et al., 2014). Internationalization scope is defined as the process of seeking new market opportunities across multiple foreign markets, and is operationalized variously with indicators that tap the percentage of overseas revenue to total revenue, and the number of foreign countries and geographic regions from which a firm receives its sales. Thus, internationalization scope is viewed to be inherent and essential to the exhibition of an IEO, and may be driven by firms’ entrepreneurial proclivity. While a few studies have looked at how IEO impacts percentage of revenue firms obtain from foreign markets (Dai et al., 2014), little studies have studied how and when IEO drives regional expansion. This is notwithstanding the fact that traditional internationalization theory points to regional expansion as an antecedent to global expansion. Indeed, international business scholars have argued that a combination of increasing informal exporting activities, rising liberalization of regional economies, colonial bias, regional economic blocs and the emergence of middle class in many regional markets has created opportunities for firms to internationalize within neighboring geographical regions. Additionally, it has been argued that the benefits and costs of regional protection can motivate firms to pursue regionalization strategy as an antecedent or an alternative to globalization strategy. In drawing insights from earlier works, therefore, the present study focuses on the regional expansion of exporting firms in a Sub-Sahara African economy – Ghana, and examines how international entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors drive the firms’ intra-Africa expansion. African markets are noted for their diversity in national laws, cultures, geography, and infrastructural development. Particularly relevant to internationalizing African firms is the diversity and imperfection of marketing channels across African markets. An important implication for African firms, therefore, is how they can leverage their comparative advantage of handling diversity and imperfection of marketing channels in their home African market to successfully compete in overseas host markets with similar conditions. Accordingly, we further empirically examine how a firm’s ability to manage heterogeneous and imperfect marketing channels moderates the effect of IEO behaviors on regional expansion. We posit that the extent to which firms develop managerial and organizational capabilities to successfully compete in conditions of high market channel diversity and imperfection is a major contingency factor that can help explain when entrepreneurial behaviors influence regional expansion. By empirically examining these questions, this study brings new insights to IEO research by showing that IEO behaviors are differentially related to regionalization strategy depending on firms’ capability to manage heterogeneous and imperfect regional marketing channels. Specifically, findings from our study of small and medium sized firms in Ghana doing business in regional African markets show that regional expansion increases when levels of product innovation intensity, competitive aggressiveness and autonomous behavior are high and when regional channel management capability increases in magnitude. Additionally, the study provides evidence to show that increases in risking-taking behavior decrease regional expansion when regional channel management capability is high. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that although product innovation novelty and proactiveness are directly related to regional expansion their effects are cancelled out when levels of regional channel management capability are high.

Pricing is the element of the marketing mix that is often overlooked in export marketing (Sousa and Bradley, 2009). However, the ability of an exporting firm to understand the value of its offering as perceived by foreign customers and set prices accordingly, is critical to its survival and success, given that the additional ramifications of the export setting (as compared to the domestic one) may challenge its ability to identify, address, and anticipate customers’ requirements and preferences (Morgan et al., 2004). This study draws on the resource-based, dynamic capabilities, and organisation learning literatures to develop and test a model that investigates how export customer orientation (the core component of market orientation) influences marketing exploitation and exploration, which in turn, give rise to superior pricing capabilities in export markets. Pricing capabilities are posited as a key determinant of export performance. The contribution of this study is threefold: (1) the examination of the drivers and outcomes of marketing exploration and exploitation; (2) the investigation of the antecedents and performance implications of pricings capabilities; and (3) the study of the role of customer orientation, marketing exploration and exploitation, pricing capabilities, and performance within the particularly relevant, but understudied, context of exporting. The findings suggest that customer orientation promotes both marketing exploration and exploitation. Marketing exploration and exploitation result in superior pricing capabilities, which in turn enhance export performance. In terms of theory development, this study adds to the resource-based view (Barney, 1991) and its dynamic capabilities extension (Vorhies and Morgan, 2005) by suggesting that resources (i.e., customer orientation) lay the foundation for higher-order capabilities (i.e., marketing exploitation and exploration), which give rise to specialized capabilities (i.e., pricing), resulting in superior performance outcomes. The key managerial implication of this study is that exporting firms need to routinely perform marketing exploitation and exploration activities in order to set prices that fit with their positioning, customers, and with evolving export market conditions.

As new tourism destinations continuously appear and established ones develop or decline, destination marketers face the daunting task of reaching out to consumers in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. To market destinations and attract first-time and repeat visitors, tourism managers need to apply modern branding techniques and effective positioning strategies. Findings in the marketing literature suggest brand personality, satisfaction, and customer identification with the brand are important drivers of consumer behavior in several contexts. Yet, there is a paucity of studies on their role in tourist behavior. In an attempt to address this shortcoming in the extant literature, the present study develops and tests a model linking destination personality and tourist–destination identification with the tourism mantras of tourist satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth, and revisit intentions. Data from consumers reporting on their most recently visit to a tourism destination are analyzed via structural equation modeling. The study results indicate that (1) destination personality can be portrayed in terms of the established characteristics excitement, sophistication, and ruggedness and the novel ones activeness, dependability, and philoxenia; (2) destination personality promotes tourist satisfaction, tourist–destination identification, positive word-of-mouth, and revisit intentions; (3) satisfaction encourages identification and word-of-mouth; and (4) identification enhances word-of-mouth and revisit intentions. Overall, the findings attest to the importance of tourist satisfaction given its role as chief predictor of tourist–destination identification and promoting and its indirect effects on revisit intentions via identification. Also, our results suggest destination personality constitutes a viable metaphor for understanding tourists’ perceptions of destinations, building destination brands, and crafting a unique tourism destination identity. Finally, tourist-destination identification seems to fulfil a self-definitional need and provide tourists with emotional returns; it can thus enhance understanding of tourist behavior.

A promising technology for optimizing supply-chain processes is radio frequency identification (RFID). By adding functionality to previous enterprise systems, the aim is to increase transparency of ...

Technology-based self-service (TBSS) facilities have been widely implemented in the service industry, and it is therefore vital to understand how customers arrive at decisions to adopt them. This article presents and tests a model assessing the antecedents of customers' acceptance of TBSS facilities by merging the technology acceptance model (TAM) with self-service attributes. The findings show that intention to use TBSS facilities is an ultimate function of customers' perceived usefulness of the self-service technology, their attitude towards using it, and their perceived enjoyment of using it. Managers who wish to employ TBSS should therefore first obtain a good understanding of the factors that drive their customers' attitude towards the self-service. They should investigate how to make the self-service more enjoyable in addition to focusing on the traditional usability and usefulness-enhancing features. Recommendations for future research are also provided.

This study examines how international experience shapes managerial judgment in the formation of effective export promotion strategies. Drawing from contingency theory and the organizational learning perspective, the authors develop and test a model of the effects of different forms of international experience—duration, scope, and intensity—on the performance outcomes of promotion adaptation. Using data from 336 export ventures, the authors find that promotion adaptation relates positively to performance when duration is short and intensity is low, but there is a nonsignificant moderating effect for scope. However, the subsequent analysis suggests that scope, together with sociocultural distance and promotion adaptation, exerts a complex three-way effect on export performance, highlighting the need for more research attention in this area.

This study investigates the issue of balancing the benefits gained through standardized strategies with those achievable when adapting to local conditions. Building on previous work that has explored the role of contingency theory and the concept of strategic fit in international marketing strategy, the authors posit that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the export product strategy adaptation decision. Using a sample of Swedish exporters, they find support for the hypothesis that an array of forces from the macro-, micro-, and internal environments drives product adaptation, which affects the nature of product strategy fit and its performance outcomes. In terms of the performance relevance of product strategy fit, sociocultural environment, technological environment, marketing infrastructure, stage of product life cycle, scope of exporting experience, and duration of exporting experience all matter. However, the pattern of significant and nonsignificant findings cautions against excessive aggregation of environmental variables in conceptualizing environment–product strategy fit to performance linkages. The authors conclude with a discussion of implications of the findings for theory building and management practice.

This study analyses website brand communication by African nations using Aaker's brand personality dimensions. A multistage methodology focused on 10 African countries, using a combination of content analysis and correspondence analysis. We found that some countries have specific brand personalities while others are failing to communicate their brand personalities distinctly. This article illustrates a powerful, but simple and relatively inexpensive way for international marketers to study communicated brand personality. Although there are 53 countries on the African continent, only 10 countries were covered by this research. The intent was, however, to demonstrate a research method, rather than have comprehensive coverage of the African continent. The major contribution of this study is the use of a new research approach and set of tools that both tourism researchers and managers can use. The technique is easy to use, and the results are easy to interpret.

The Internet has become an integral part of business activities of most corporations today. Electronic supply chain management (SCM) can improve the operational efficiency of the firm by streamlining processes between the company and its suppliers, business partners, and customers. This research explores the extent and the degree of Internet application in Swedish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The analyses of the data show that the Swedish SMEs use the Internet in their supply chain activities to a large degree. The study establishes some differences between smaller and larger organizations as well as between manufacturing and service companies. This is an electronic version of an article published in Enterprise Information Systems,Vol. 1, No. 2, May 2007, 255–268. Enterprise Information Systems is available online at: www.tandfonline.com QC 20120117

This paper investigates whether the use of the Internet by Swedish SMEs in their supply chain operations and management has an impact on overall efficiency. The empirical findings from a survey on Swedish SMEs indicate that the level of efficiency is not statistically related to the level of Internet usage.

In line with the growing consciousness among tourists about their impact on the environment, there is an increasing interest for more sustainable holiday alternatives. Therefore, ecotourism, that is: the travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestations (both past and present) found in these areas, is currently growing at a rate much higher than the general tourism industry. Although the marketing community have responded to the general call for more research on sustainability in tourism, the extant literature appear to lack an integrative framework that incorporates antecedents of ecotourism intention and paying premium for ecotourism offerings. The present study drew from TPB and Inglehart’s materialist-postmaterialist assumptions in explaining the antecedents of intention to visit ecotourism destinations and willingness to pay a premium price.

The paper extends Aaker's previous empirical work on brand personality by exploring whether Swedish Universities communicate distinctive brand personalities in cyberspace. Employing a multistage methodology, data are drawn from the English Web sites of 17 Swedish universities and analyzed by using a combination of computerized content and correspondence analyses. Results indicate that some universities appear to have clear brand personalities, others take on a new face with regard to the obvious personality one would have initially associated them with, while others fail to communicate their brand personalities in any distinct manner. While illustrating a powerful but simple and relatively inexpensive way for institutions for higher education and brand researchers to study communicated brand personalities, this study also highlights the growing importance of brand positioning issues in internationalization and globalization of higher educational institutions.

PurposeThis paper aims to gain a better understanding of how Swedish branded goods manufacturers (BGMs) deal with the increased usage of private labels.Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of answering the three research questions of this study: how private labels are viewed by BGMs on the Swedish market; how Swedish BGMs strategically respond to the increases in private labels; and how the benefits and drawbacks of these strategic responses are perceived by Swedish BGMs. A contrasting multiple case study of four Swedish companies in the fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry was used.FindingsThe perceived advantages of private labels are connected to their overall control of the market in which they operate, whereas the advantages of BGMs are seen to be linked to product development and superior brand reputation. BGMs respond to private labels by taking them seriously and striving to increase the perceived distance of their brands from private labels in the eyes of the consumers. The overall benefit of these strategies is perceived to be preparedness for increased private label competition, while the drawbacks vary between companies.Research limitations/implicationsIn addition to empirical testing based on previous research on private label competition in a new setting, the study also presents suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings for managers.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that BGMs should take the emergence of private labels seriously, while at the same time striving to maintain good business relationships with the retailers.Originality/valueThe study provides insights into the competitive situation between private labels and the manufacturer brands in the Swedish FMCG market.