The aim of this paper is to consider the question of the suitability of the conspicuous communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices that is gaining popularity in the business ...world. Though it seems a plausible activity, the communication of CSR, in many cultures, might be misunderstood by various stakeholder groups as unnecessary bragging. This conceptual paper is based on the comparison between various traditions of conspicuous communication and non-communication about CSR. A critical point of view is used when discussing mainstream corporate practices in CSR marketing communication. A case study is also used to illustrate the specifics of a self-evident approach to CSR, The distaste for unnecessary bragging has its background in culture, religion, legislation and/or, as our case shows, also in ideology. Adapted from the source document.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of an individual's identification with an organisation ("organisational identification") and propose a scale for its measurement, by ...means of a study drawing on the literature of corporate marketing, and group and corporate identification.Design methodology approach - Factor analysis was applied to data collected by questionnaire from two independent samples of 200 and 525 respondents, in Slovenia, to test the causal-path relationship of group and corporate identification to "organisational identification".Findings - Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, "organisational identification" is not a unidimensional construct, but comprises identification with the organisation both as a collective of individuals, and as a social entity. Results confirm the proposed structure of organisational identification, and the sound quality of the scale for its measurement.Practical implications - The findings suggest a means for marketing strategists and managers to predict the forms of organisational identification in their organisations, undertake appropriate initiatives for its general enhancement, and thereby strengthen corporate performance.Originality value - This study offers two statistically verified scales for measuring group and corporate identification, and thus has important implications for the existing literature of corporate marketing and organisational identification.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a matrix of socially responsible behaviour and communication types (corporate social responsibility (CSR)-BC matrix) to explain different practices ...companies use when dealing with stakeholder issues, such as transparent changeover pricing.Design methodology approach - The analysis takes theories and research on CSR, transparent pricing and consumer expectations, and a case study approach as its starting point. It explores a case study of adoption of the euro in Slovenia, the 13th member state that joined the European Monetary Union. It deals with the importance of expectations about the changeover process and the responsible behaviour and communications of companies.Findings - According to the data, the cases of changeover can be explained with the CSR-BC matrix. According to the results, it seems that the majority of companies did not abuse the changeover process. This indicates that consumer expectations and actions can be a meaningful sign for companies to adopt appropriate CSR behaviours and communication regarding the euro changeover.Research limitations implications - The case study has some limitations regarding the data. For a more thorough exploratory research stronger data such as interviews within the companies would be beneficial.Originality value - The paper contributes to the CSR literature by explicitly linking pricing behaviour and CSR and by developing a CSR-BC matrix that can be used in exploring corporate pricing behaviours or other behaviours and communication practices as well. With the case study illustration it also allows for a theoretical understanding that such behaviours are not made in a vacuum.
Understanding responsible tourist behaviour is critical for tourism operators if they expect both economic and environmental benefits. Despite decades of academic and practical study of ...responsibility for the natural and social environment, it is still unclear who is responsible for improving the situation in terms of sustainable development. This requires a deeper understanding of the concept of individual responsibility, which has a behavioural, ethical, and response basis, that will be addressed in this paper. In a hotel context, we explore the concept of individual responsibility in the role of tourists’ ability to improve the state of the environment through changes in awareness and behaviour. Based on the relevant theories presented, we defined individual responsibility as a construct divided into four dimensions: personal responsibility or norms (ethics and morals), awareness and knowledge, preference, and action-based responsible behaviour. Significant results on tourist responsibility were obtained by factor analysis and a hierarchical clustering method to identify three different types of responsible tourists. We labelled them as actively responsible, pragmatically responsible, and irresponsible tourists. The identified differences among the three types of (ir)responsible tourists allow for a better understanding of their motives and expectations, as well as better design of sustainable practices by tourism providers.
This paper explores how personal and situational factors impact consumer expectations of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Consumer expectations are known to motivate marketers to incorporate ...social considerations into their marketing practices and to communicate about those actions. A study was conducted in order to examine the effect of values and issue involvement on consumer CSR expectations, categorised as economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. The study's findings demonstrated that consumers generally have high expectations of CSR, especially in the legal and ethical-philanthropic domains. Expectations for the ethical-philanthropic dimension of CSR are higher amongst consumers holding high self-transcendent values and practicing high involvement. The main implications of the study are the potential for positioning companies as socially responsible and incorporating CSR in strategic marketing and communications decisions.
This study focuses on a categorization of different stakeholder groups, specifically on their power in relation to a company. Stakeholder theory argues that the company must be seen throughout ...numerous interactions with its stakeholders. Within the marketing communications field, the theory draws attention to communication (dialogue) with different stakeholders, not only consumers. An empirical verification of a three-level stakeholder model is presented in the study. The results, based on a sample of employees in marketing communications and public relations agencies, show that three different levels of exchange and communication - inevitable, necessary and desirous levels - can be expected. Authors argue that such a result has important implications for marketing communications. A company can achieve optimal effects with a rational management of communication resources, according to different stakeholders' importance to the company and their power.
The criticism of the underperforming nature of Slovenian marketing rests mostly on internal reasons. Researchers emphasize that certain historical, cultural and financial factors prevent our ...companies from being more marketing oriented, even though they have thrived in the market economy for almost two decades. Less is said, however, about the global environment and the similarity of problems in other developed economies, where marketing is losing its "seat at the table," being evicted from the company boards. This phenomenon is therefore a central theme of our research. We believe that our conclusions bear relevance and give food for thought for a majority of companies in developing countries. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The aim of the article is to analyse some fundamentals of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement in the midst of growing criticism towards the abuse of excessive corporate power in ...contemporary society. Through the knowledge of stakeholder theory the voluntary CSR actions & some legal initiatives mainly in the European context are discussed. Next, the author describes the relations between CSR & marketing. Although some critics argue that marketing represents a part of the problem rather than its solution, the author claims just the opposite. In his view; the marketing concept can be, when understood through social exchange theory, an important starting point in the search for the general stakeholder theory & the whole movement of CSR. 42 References. Adapted from the source document.
Povzetek: Konvencionalni, izdelcni marketing ni dozivljal stevilnih kritik in poskusov rekonceptualizacij ze od svojega nastanka, temvec ze od nastanka menjalnega pojava. Alternativni pogledi, ...pogosto ovrzeni in spregledani, vecinoma postavljajo v osrednji polozaj storitev, za razliko od uveljavljenega koncepta izdelcne naravnanosti. Robert F. Lusch in Stephen L. Vargo ob poskusih rekonceptualizacije storitvenega marketinga ugotavljata, da ima taksna zasnova veliko mocnejsi potencial ter teoretske in prakticne implikacije za marketing in celo druge, z njim povezane discipline, kot je sprva ocitno. Na podlagi ze obstojecega in delno spregledanega teoretskega ozadja oblikujeta novo logiko, imenovano prevladujoca logika storitve. V tem prispevku jo predstavljemo s sistematicnim pregledom znanstvenih clankov in obravnavamo skozi kljucne napredke v prvih desetih letih, po objavi izhodiscne oblike nove logike leta 2004 v clanku »Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing«. Glavni namen tega prispevka je osvezitev slovenskega marketinskega razmisljanja, saj predlagana logika izziva obstojece teoretske in prakticne okvirje izdelcnega marketinga ter poudarja, da je ustrezni odgovor na obstojece razmere bolj dinamicno in napredno, potrosnisko in vrednostno usmerjeno razmisljanje in vedenje organizacij s sirsimi druzbenimi implikacijami.
Considerations about the future of marketing discipline bring to the surface an important question of marketing relationships management. The aim of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of ...marketing relationships as a paradigmatic shift in the marketing discipline. Through the critique of marketing management approach we are searching for the theory that will help to transcend the action oriented marketing philosophy. Our discussion is rooted in the social exchange theory and the two fundamental processes of human exchange interactions - the process of friendship building and the process of power relations. Through the application of the analysis of the processes of interpersonal relations we discuss marketing relationships and extreme types of marketing perspectives: power relations, intrusive selling, conventional marketing exchange and marketing relationships. Conventional (transactional) marketing management and marketing relationships fundamentally at odds with one another, resembling the old Chinese concepts of yin and yang. We conclude that managers are facing the problem of "schizomarketing disorientation", when entering into different marketing processes with different segments of customers.
