Building on a Long Needed Seminal Contribution

Though flattered by the invitation to comment on Laczniak and Shultz's seminal piece, the author did not feel qualified to evaluate either the specifics of the arguments advanced or the conclusions reached. What they said was essentially accepted as a given though the case was made for an accompanying, more reader friendly version of their material. That being so, and after some minor editorial observations are made, much of the remainder of this Commentary focuses on two related issues that seemed especially relevant:(1) Socially Responsible Marketing's role, along with that of Socially Responsible Consumption and Socially Responsible Public policy, both in and of themselves and within a micromarketing Utopia and (2) the fact that after years of relative neglect the concept of macromarketing management seems finally on its way to being resurrected. Four examples of how the complexities of Socially Responsible Marketing could be highlighted using a controversies approach are then presented.

АНАЛІЗУВАННЯ ПЕРЕВАГ У ПРОЦЕСАХ РОЗВИТКУ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ ВІДПОВІДАЛЬНОСТІ ЗАКЛАДІВ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ НА РИНКУ ОСВІТНІХ ПОСЛУГ

The paper seeks to explore the current issues that deepen the understanding of the benefits of social responsibility in higher education institutions. In particular, it is observed that interpreting social responsibility as a philosophical category or an ideological concept is limited to identifying only the boundaries of the company's responsibility for its effects on society and the environment. However, an emphasis is put that to implement a socially responsible strategy, a company should build a model to manage social responsibility and its integration into the key business processes: production, sales management, logistics, and personnel management. The hypothesis of the study is that making use of the benefits in developing social responsibility in higher education institutions will contribute to boosting their competitiveness in the educational services market. The purpose of the study is to provide insights into the benefits of developing social responsibility in higher education institutions in the educational services market. The methodological basis of the study is the neo-institutional theory which assumes concluding contracts (transactions) between counterparties based on a cycle of "negotiations, accepting and fulfilling of obligations"; an institutional paradigm as a process of interaction between the government and the society which negotiates, accepts and fulfils obligations as to organizational and financial involvement in socially responsible activities. The findings have identified cause and effect relationships that determine the terms and the degree of shaping social responsibility in higher education institutions which are of a two-fold character. It is argued that the maturity of social responsibility of the government and higher education institutions significantly enhances their competitiveness. The results of research provide evidence on the existence of certain University social responsibility patterns. However, it is noted that at the early development phase, certain volatility is observed in cause and effect relationships between social responsibility factors, causes and drivers in society as a whole and in terms of differentiated business units including higher education institutions.

Factors affecting sustainable marketing on small business in the northern region of Iraq

Sustainable marketing is the promotion of environmental and socially responsible products, practices, and brand values. The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors affecting sustainable marketing on small business in the Northern-Iraq. The sample of the study includes all the workers in small businesses. The targeted sample size of the study is 400 workers who are selected randomly. A poll was planned and used to record data based on a Likert scale (five scores) incorporates the workers' characteristics regarding the sustainability factors. I evaluated the pre-prepared questions with the workers and managers of small business face-to-face. And also this questionnaire in the 2017 year collected. The data were analyzed with SPSS programs by utilizing methods containing descriptive statistics, Chi-square test. The outcomes demonstrated that the effective factors that sustainable marketing the workers in the small business are in accordance with the multidimensional structure of mental and sociological issues and perceiving every one of these undertakings and acing them and proposing and submitting arrangements make the errands and duties of the managers more difficult. Research included “Gender”, “Education”, “Extreme poverty “Attitudes and beliefs”, “Government intuition " and “Low”, a significant role insupportable promoting an independent company.

Preserving and Presenting Heritage through Sustainable Energy Tourism: The Case of Kobarid in Slovenia

Energy tourism, which is quite recent despite the fact that the practice of tourists visiting power plants, very often for educational purposes, has a long tradition in Slovenia due to power plants on the Drava River. Particularly, the oldest Fala power plant is an area where the technical field of electric power production and transmission overlaps with tourism. The article that employs the methods of participant observation, interviews with some stakeholders and content analysis focuses on some possibilities of including electric power production and transmission infrastructure into various tourist and educational programmes, including through storytelling, which is a useful tool also when it comes to presenting sustainable and socially responsible project design, considering the needs of all stakeholders involved in the process and, consequently, raising awareness and responsibility towards the environment. Based on a case study of the Kobarid substation, which is a modern sustainably designed power facility built in a Natura 2000 protected area, this article focuses on the possibilities of creating new energy tourism products by employing storytelling, new media and new technologies.

Strategic corporate social responsibility with spillover effect in innovation

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the motivation for firms to innovate their products to be socially responsible in the presence of the spillover effect. The follower of the innovation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) can benefit from the leader’s innovation by technological spillover. For instance, evidence can be found in the cosmetics industry (e.g. Lush Retail Ltd. and The Body Shop) and the market of hybrid electric vehicles (e.g. Toyota and Honda). Moreover, consumers may have different perceptions on the sequence of CSR innovation by firms, they may prefer more on the CSR product launched by the leader because they usually relate the desired stage to their interests when making a purchase decision. Therefore, the firms’ decision to be a leader of the CSR innovation depends on the trade-off between the loss in the spillover effect and the benefit of the first-mover advantage, which has not been considered by the existing literature. This paper explains the firms’ motivation on CSR innovation in a realistic situation where competing firms’ CSR programs are launched sequentially and sheds light on the private sector’s decision on strategy from the perspective on the social contribution, and provides some managerial implications about the competing firms’ strategies of launching the CSR innovation. Design/methodology/approach The authors construct a two-period Hotelling model in which consumers are divided into two groups: the altruistic and normal consumers. The altruistic consumers have more willingness to pay for the CSR product while the normal consumers only care about the product performance improved by the firms’ CSR activities. Firms have the option to innovate their basic products to be socially responsible and make their decision on such CSR innovation sequentially. Moreover, the follower of the innovation can receive a spillover effect from the leader, meaning that there may exist a second-mover advantage in terms of innovation (the authors define this as a spillover effect), but in the meanwhile, the altruistic consumers value more on the CSR product sold by the leader than that by the follower (the authors define this as a preference-reduction effect). This implies that the firm can benefit in the production process from being a second-mover of the CSR innovation but may lose its first-mover advantage in terms of the preference-reduction effect. By finding and analyzing the sub-game perfect Nash equilibrium, the authors try to figure out the firms’ decisions on CSR innovation in various situations. Findings The authors find that the firms’ motivation of CSR innovation crucially depends on the fraction of the altruistic consumers, as well as the spillover effect and the preference-reduction effect. A large (small) fraction of the altruistic consumers attracts (restricts) both the leader and the follower to engage in CSR innovation. More importantly, when such fraction is not too large but stays at a relatively high level, a potential leader of the CSR innovation may not wish to innovate. Hence, the potential follower may be the monopolist in the market of the socially responsible product. In addition, the authors reexamine this result in a variation model where a leader can make its decision on the CSR innovation to be more flexible by allowing it can innovate in either periods 1 or 2. The authors demonstrate that when the fraction of the altruistic consumers falls in an intermediate range, the leader may wish to delay the CSR innovation to period 2. In such a case, the leader of the CSR innovation may tend to trade its first-mover advantage for head-to-head competition with the follower and prevents the follower from benefiting from the spillover effect. Moreover, a flexible choice on the CSR innovation brings greater initiative to a firm to be the leader of the innovation. Originality/value Nearly all the studies about firms’ decisions on CSR innovation are conducted in an environment of simultaneous move, which is not appropriate to describe the real business world; many pieces of evidence show that many CSR programs are launched sequentially rather than simultaneously. The theory identifies a couple of important factors of the CSR innovation in a more realistic situation, i.e. sequential more on CSR innovation. Both spillover effect and preference-reduction effect crucially affect the firms’ decision on innovating their products to be socially responsible, which contributes to the existing literature in CSR and strategic decision. This paper also sheds some light on managerial implications with CSR innovation under various situations of competition.

The Impact of Socially Responsible Marketing on TV Viewership and Household Conflicts: A Theoretical Descriptive Study

Marketing is used by business organizations to promote the beneficial attributes of their product and services. The increased focus on promoting ethical and socially responsible business practices has contributed to the emergence of socially responsible marketing. This study explores this concept and how it promotes good/positive social and cultural norms. The research demonstrates how businesses are forced to practice socially responsible marketing though its impact on TV viewership and household conflict remains unknown. A qualitative descriptive study is carried out to examine the effect of socially responsible marketing on TV viewership and household conflict. Data was collected from a sample of 15 marketing experts using a self-administered question and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study found no significant link between socially responsible marketing and TV viewership. Additionally, this research found that socially responsible marketing reduces household conflict. These findings are supported by the Uses and Gratification Theory, Functionalist Theory, and Conflict Theory.