Discovering the Changes in Gendering of Products: Case of Woman in ‘Bikerni Community’ in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-194
Author(s):  
Varsha Jain ◽  
Kriti Bharadwaj ◽  
Amrita Bansal ◽  
Vivek S Natarajan

In the Indian society, gender roles have played an important role in shaping the culture. However, due to technological advancements and change in societal needs, there is an evolution in the gender roles. This evolution has created a need to understand the gendered products from a new perspective. Therefore, this paper tries to discover the factors of consumption of gendered products and role of social media in shaping the consumption pattern and motivation of women in biking industry in India. Subsequently, to address the objectives, qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, netnography and projective techniques are applied and data is analyzed further. With the help of data analysis, it has been found that that Indian woman is motivated by a quest for freedom, independence and empowerment. The families and close-knit communities that they are part of, such as Bikerni Association of India, help them participate in a hyper-masculine product market.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehita Iqani

This article explores the role of social media promotions in the marketing of luxury, from the perspectives of both representatives of global brands and the local influencers contracted to promote them online. It provides insights into role of social media in marketing luxury in ‘new’ markets (African cities) and the complexities attendant to the relationship between brand representatives and influencers. It reports on in-depth interviews with brand representatives and social media influencers working in the luxury sector in large anglophone African cities. Empirical findings show the role of social media in how luxury is promoted by those working in the industry. Three key complexities to do with value, trust and authenticity were evident in how global brand representatives and local influencers discussed social media. In terms of value, influencers emphasize strategies for monetizing visibility, while brand managers emphasize the need to get their money’s worth. Regarding trust, influencers express caution about brands trying to exploit them, while brands express scepticism about the extent of influencer’s abilities. On the topic of authenticity, influencers emphasize how the integrity of their personal brands is paramount, while brand representatives are mostly concerned with how genuine the social media posts seem. The article provides original empirical details about the relationships between brand managers and social media influencers, as well as to the nuances of social media luxury marketing in African cities. It contributes to critical theories of branding practice in media economies of the global south.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 784-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest

The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also acknowledge limitations. Thus, the focus on the creation and maintenance of connections through digital media may obscure experiences and practices of disconnection. This is certainly the case for forced migrants with non-normative sexual orientations, for whom experiences of homophobia within the family and ethno-cultural community in the country of origin may extend to fraught situations in the country of residence. As with digital media in general, it is important to consider the ‘offline’ social and cultural conditions determining online media uses. This article focuses on the specific challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer refugees, both in general and in Belgium, drawing on desk research and expert interviews, as well as nine in-depth interviews with gay-identifying male refugees. While the refugees are relatively positive about the Belgian situation, they do identify a number of challenges. They use digital media to stay connected to family and other people in the country of origin, but often this connection has become difficult. Social media and dating sites also offer a way to connect to other gay men, but these connections can be equally fraught, particularly in the country of origin for danger of exposure but also in Belgium as social media transcend national boundaries. For this reason, some participants created new or parallel profiles, to keep their gay lives disconnected from their family lives. Overall, then, digital media are a tool not only of connection but also of strategic disconnection for gay refugees.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 646-657
Author(s):  
Martina Motta ◽  
Giovanni Maria Conti ◽  
Martina Micheli

When the COVID-19 emergency raised, the entire world -and small communities with it- had to stop, adapt, find ways to face the big ongoing challenge. The article reports the reaction and the changes undertaken with an ongoing project that was, in February 2020, experimenting, inside the hospital environment, the therapeutic effects of knitting on people with physical and psychological pathologies. The project, driven by scientific studies made in universities, hospitals and research centers worldwide, had the aim to bring the intervention of designers on the topic, to answer the emerged need to promote research in what is considered a low-investigated and high-promising field. Experimental pilot actions, designed and led by designers on-field, were going on when the emergency changed the scenario, limited the environment, shifted the eye on a new, wider target of healthy people, made knitting a tool to face new circumstances and improve everyday-life quality.Observing the newly emerged scenario and the spontaneous initiatives risen on the web (and on social media in particular) to help individuals in spending the forced time at home in meaningful ways, designers involved in the ongoing project identified in knitting an activity that could be beneficial on a psychological and physical level also for quarantined individuals. The project took a new perspective and evolved in the #IOLAVOROAMAGLIA (#IKNIT) social media campaign, linked to the globally spread #STAYHOME campaign, aimed at inviting people to remain home for preventing the diffusion of the infection, while proposing at the same time new solutions for positively living the emergency times. #IOLAVOROAMAGLIA was embraced by many users and it also became a weekly scheduled live virtual workshop, with a direct reference to the workshops in the hospital of XXXX, temporarily stopped during lockdown.The two projects, on-field and online, proved how knitting can be a meaningful solution not only for healthcare, but also for the daily life of people, both in normal times and in emergency situations.Moreover, the role of the designer and of a design driven approach proved to be fundamental, for the product and service creation, improvement and consolidation and for its communication for valorization and promotion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 625-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Tóth ◽  
Martin Liu ◽  
Jun Luo ◽  
Christos Braziotis

Purpose Managing attractiveness is a constant challenge to mobilize relationship-specific investments, especially in a business environment increasingly enhanced by social media (SM) activities. There is limited knowledge on how SM activities contribute to supplier attractiveness, so decisions about strategizing with SM and consequent resource allocations become highly uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to examine how suppliers’ SM activities influence supplier attractiveness. Design/methodology/approach Altogether, 57 senior managers were interviewed: 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers in strategic decision-making roles regarding SM on the supplier side, along with 20 senior managers responsible for purchasing or looking after supplier development; one-to-one interviews were complemented by a focus group with 5 senior managers on the buyer side. Findings The study reveals an inverse U-shaped relationship between the intensity of the supplier’s SM activity and its attractiveness and offers a set of propositions about the influence of SM on supplier attractiveness, with special regard to the perceived risks of increased transparency and becoming “too social” on SM. Practical implications The study highlights SM management results for supplier attractiveness and their impact areas on business growth and supply chain development. Originality/value This paper provides in-depth insights into the role of SM in managing supplier attractiveness. Various effects of SM activities are identified that aim to contribute to the body of literature on supplier attractiveness as well as SM management in buyer–supplier relationships.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Awais Mehmood ◽  

Purpose: Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) are shaping their operational approach in a more business oriented manner due to intensification of competition to recruit quality students. This requires adaption of various marketing communication tools to develop, sustain and improve brand image. The invent of Web 2.0 technologies have offered many such options to organizations including social media (SM) that is being now used by many (HEIs) to connect with their stakeholders especially students. The specific objective and purpose of this study is to investigate the use of SM marketing in the higher education sector in Pakistan and its perceived impact on admission of students. Methodology: It is a qualitative study based on inductive approach where in-depth interviews were conducted with the university’s administrators responsible to manage the SM activities. The interviews were transcribed using NVivo to determine content type placed online by the HEIs in Pakistan, benefits accrued and their perceived impact on student admission. In addition ethnography technique was used to find the type of content on SM being placed by the Pakistani HEIs. Findings: The study illustrates that Facebook and Twitter are the most commonly used social media accounts by the Pakistani HEIs. The content placed on SM by the Pakistani HEIs include announcements, admissions, events, community messages, promotional messages, achievements, greetings, endorsements and job/internships opportunities. Through this content HEIs areable to better engage with their students, obtain necessary feedback, correct any misperceptions and help in career building. These benefits are consequently contributing directly and indirectly to the elements considered important by students for selection of HEIs as highlighted in students’ preference theories(Soutar & Turner, 2000; Maringe, 2006; Mangan, Hughes, Davies, & Slack, 2010). Implications: This study will help the HEIs to understand common benefits they can accrue through their SM use and its potential in facilitating their admissions process. The study will also let the managers of SM in HEIs know of ways to optimize their usage of SM that will consequently help them better gauge the identified benefits and ultimately help in achieving desired objectives pertaining to students’ recruitment.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147059312110046
Author(s):  
Teresa Heath ◽  
Elizabeth Nixon

Imaginative pleasure through daydreaming has been theorized to be important in understanding the experience of desire and as a factor in escalating consumption. However, there is a risk this underplays the range of potentially immersive and intense experiences of daydreaming, prior to and independent of the purchase or use of marketplace commodities. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant diaries and projective techniques, this study brings empirical data to extant conceptual work on the consumer imagination to examine the variety of consequences of elaborate daydreaming for commodity acquisition. We suggest that it need not necessarily perpetuate or expand ‘actual’ consumption but may instead engender a longer, more reflective, pleasurable and meaningful experience from which purchase or acquisition may never materialize. Our study challenges accepted theories that associate daydreaming with consumerism or see it as an inevitable precursor to consumer disappointment, while shining a more positive light on the role of fantasizing in shaping consumers’ decisions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-61
Author(s):  
Milena Le Viet-Błaszczyk ◽  
Juliusz Lerman

Background. The dynamically developing technology and changing system of interpersonal communication has modified the customers’ approach to the process of making purchasing decisions. The literature has even developed the concept of a new customer – a digital one. The market situation forced companies to look for effective modern tools for their marketing communication. One of such tools to reach digital customers is social media. Research aims. The aim of the article is to indicate the role of social media in the purchasing process of Polish digital customers aged 18–26. Methodology. The conclusions presented in the article are the result of an analysis of quantitative and qualitative research, which consisted of a survey with 140 respondents and of 6 individual in-depth interviews. Findings. The conducted research has shown that social media have a significant role in customers’ purchasing decisions. They influence the perception of the brand by customers but also the purchase of specific products. Based on the research results, it can be assumed that SM functionalities that shorten the purchasing process will be developed in the future, and the role of social media in the purchasing process will grow. JEL Codes: M3, M30, M31, M37.


In the era of globalisation, migration has become a common phenomenon in India. The interplay between push and pull factors play an important role in both internal and external migration. However, it is pertinent to mention that when individuals migrate it is not only the migration of a physical being but the migration of cultures as well. These migrating cultures undergo various changes in their forms as the result of culture contact. This may be in form of assimilation or acculturation. But at the same time one of the major impacts on the migrating individual can be seen in form of culture shock which is generally a feeling of disorientation experienced by the migrating individual who is subjected to unfamiliar culture. Here comes the role of various institutions and mediums that facilitate the process of cultural adaptation. The growth of social media has helped in bridging the gap between distinct societies by connecting like-minded individuals. It helps to gain a prior knowledge regarding the customs, traditions, beliefs of host cultures along with maintaining strong ties with the families and friends which reduces the threshold of migration. This paper attempts to analyse the role of social media in reducing culture shock while studying interstate migrants in Jammu, J&K by opting in-depth interviews using qualitative method. Depending upon the analysis, discussions are stated that social media plays an important role in facilitating intercultural adjustments.


2021 ◽  
pp. 193124312110500
Author(s):  
Stefanie Davis Kempton ◽  
Colleen Connolly Ahern

Social media use is essential for success in today's television news industry. Broadcast journalists use social media platforms to gather and disseminate news in more efficient ways. Broadcasters are also using social media to engage with news consumers in innovative ways. This study employs a mixed-method approach to better understand how social media impacts broadcast journalists’ routines and values and explores the role of gender in broadcasters’ social media strategies. Qualitative in-depth interviews with top broadcast journalists and a social media discourse analysis of their Twitter pages produces this study's findings. Findings suggest that in many television newsrooms social media have become more important than traditional platforms like evening newscasts, and social media metrics are being used to gauge journalists’ success. Additionally, women broadcasters are disadvantaged by the current social media practices in many newsrooms. Implications are discussed.


Author(s):  
Yen-Yao Wang ◽  
Mohana Shanmugam ◽  
Nick Hajli ◽  
Hatem Bugshan

Internet banking, a cost saving and productive service delivery channel, has become a new focus of banks along with developments in information and communication technology (ICT). The advancements of ICT may help improve customer satisfaction and influence customer attitudes towards Internet banking, especially on the issue of security. This chapter investigates the attitudes of customers in the UK towards Internet banking by conducting 25 in-depth interviews with various documents to supplement our analysis. Results indicate that security is the most important factor affecting Internet banking adoption in the UK. Furthermore, motivated by the growing importance of social media, this chapter also discusses the role of social media on Internet banking and provides some suggestions on how banks can leverage social media to enhance the adoption rate of Internet banking. The detailed results along with discussions, implications, and limitation are discussed at the end of this chapter.


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