Enhancing Retailer-Consumers Relationship through Everyday Sustainability

The chapter aims at investigating the effects that the Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability exerts on consumers' perception considering the fast food industry in Italy. the McDonald's case study has been developed through managerial interviews and formal documents analysis in order to report on its strategies for CSR activities implementation and their communication in Italy. Moreover, through surveys conducted in Italy, the case study has been tested on a particular group of young consumers - Generation Z - less influenced by the past McDonald's activity in order to demonstrate how communications of sustainability are better believed and perceived, when a brand has a long tradition of misperceptions.

Consumer Information Systems Research Agenda

We suggest that a new type of information system appears to be increasing in importance, that of consumer information systems. Compared with traditional information systems development approaches, where the focus is on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes, design for consumer information systems focuses more on the enjoyment, pleasure and purchases of the consumer. We argue that the shift in focus from users to consumers in consumer information systems calls for a significant re-appraisal of our current information systems development methods. Hence, this chapter proposes a new research agenda for IS researchers focusing on the development of consumer information systems. The expected contributions include new insights into effective management processes for service design, a better understanding of issues of integration of information systems development practices used to develop consumer information systems, and the development of methods for requirements discovery for service innovation.

Effective Surveillance Management during Service Encounters

This chapter aims to theoretically examine effective surveillance management (ESM) during service encounters within the servicescape and provide a conceptual framework for the study of this topic in a service management perspective. It analyses antecedents, dimensions and effects of ESM. This study especially proposes as antecedents both improving customer service experience along with meeting customers' need for security and implementing a surveillance service-oriented strategy that includes secure and safe servicescape design, deterrent communication, and trained and motivated security staff. This chapter suggests also that the dimensions of ESM (customer-physical service environment encounters, customer-technological surveillance systems encounters, and customer-security staff encounters) contribute to enhancing service quality, experience quality, and staff productivity. The integration of these dimensions, antecedents, and effects create a theoretically grounded framework that can serve as a starting point for future studies about this topic in the field of service management.

Fuel Efficient Vehicles

Consumers have been slow to switch to more fuel efficient vehicles, in spite of the threat of a future global shortage of fossil fuels. To understand consumer reluctance to adopt hybrid automotive technology, this chapter begins by reviewing consumer decision-making with regard to consumer automotive purchases. We examine the market for fuel efficient vehicles (FEVs) and alternate fuel vehicles (AFVs), including a discussion of consumer willingness to trade personal comfort in order to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, and consumer price sensitivity with regard to purchasing higher-priced alternative fuel vehicles including hybrid-electric vehicles. We discuss the tenuous link between environmental attitudes and behavior, and outline the role of social marketing in creating behavior change relating to automotive purchase decisions.

Conquering the Digital Customer

This case study illustrates the effectiveness of pursuing a customer centric marketing approach in order to achieve long term strategic success and global market leadership in the fashion industry. The case study provides the most significant elements of Zara's history. Then it describes the competitive environment. Next it reveals how Zara has set up a unique, lean, and agile supply chain strategy in order to deliver new products on a very frequent basis and faster than any of its competitors, as fashion customers expect constant changes. Then the case study details the customer centric marketing strategy, with the use of customers as the source of the inspiration for fashion design, the central role of the stores to build a very high level of trust with its customers, which is used by Zara to make a distinctive brand strategy. Finally, the case study discusses the new challenges of Zara to adapt its customer centric marketing strategy to the digital market.

Nowcasting Capacity Utilization in Turkey

Capacity utilization in macroeconomics is always related to inflation rate and unemployment level. However, the Great Recession has taught us that there might have been other factors considered in determining and/or be determined by capacity utilization. In order to further enhance Phillips Curve relationship unconventional variables such as financial and survey variables are considered. The relationship between capacity utilization rates and several real variables such as industrial production, gross domestic product growth rate, unemployment rate, consumer expenditures, financial variables such as return on BIST 100 index, exchange rate of currency basket, interest rates, survey variables such as consumer consumption index, business tendency survey and survey of expectations is investigated using data between 2006 and 2015 for Turkey. All of the above-mentioned variables indicate the production capacity and their repercussions on other macro variables except the level of standard of living. We also highlight the repercussions of production capacity concerning welfare state.

Consumer Information Systems as Services

Consumer Information Systems (CIS) are a type of information systems that provides services to consumers instead of addressing users in traditional organizational settings, such as Internet based television. Services typically involve a trade-off between achieving high service productivity and quality. The use of service mass customization to successfully address these issues of both productivity and quality in a service context is proposed. We suggest that the development of Consumer Information Systems as Services (CISaS) may achieve such service mass customization. This paper presents a conceptual framework and investigates how it applies to a set of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) offerings as an emerging market in New Zealand.

Social Impact in Consumer Behaviour-Consumer Boycotts as a Consumerism Activity

Consumerism is not a new concept for marketing, but its importance is growing in the recent years. Researchers have studied the phenomenon of consumerism from within different dimensions. However, its relationship with social impact theory and consumer boycotts has not been dealt with accurately. Social impact can be defined as the effect of people on other people. A consumer boycott is a type of consumer behaviour in which consumers collectively prefer not to use their purchasing power towards a product, brand or all products of a country and boycott them. Motivations for participating in boycotts differ in accordance with various factors such as consumers' beliefs, needs or attitudes. Organizing a boycott and calling for people's participation is much easier today than it used to be in the past. Since consumer boycotts is a type of consumer behaviour and consumers are affected various factors including people in their family or friends or members in their reference groups, they can be thought a derivation of social impact.

The Concept of “Consumerism” from a Consumer Activist Perspective

The chapter defines the concept of ‘consumerism' and discusses its different perspectives which emerged during its historical development. The author adopts the second perspective of consumerism which posits that consumerism is a movement aimed at safeguarding the interests and rights of consumers. This view is closely related to the concept of social responsibility (CSR) and subsequently societal marketing. There is evidence in the literature to suggest that in an era of increasing social problems and environmental challenges, there is a need for CSR and sustainable marketing. In fact, the second definition of consumerism is inextricably linked with CSR and societal marketing. The chapter is conceptual in nature and provides a review of some of the latest trends in the field such as boycotting, sustainable consumption, internet activism, anti-branding, Fair trade, green consumerism, and sustainable marketing. The discussion is concluded by providing some suggestions to practitioners and directions for future research.

About the E-commerce Activities in Finnish Lapland - Perspectives of Consumers and Entrepreneurs

This chapter introduces E-commerce activities of consumers and entrepreneurs in Finnish Lapland. This chapter introduces in addition to the challenges, which SMEs face while starting E-commerce activity in the Northern Finland context, also the state of the E-commerce among consumers. Basing on the results, six interviews and the outcomes of two questionnaires, both entrepreneurs and consumers meet the first steps of E-commerce challenging. The most important question is what is the attainable incremental value for the firms and consumers via E-commerce activities? Entrepreneurs meet both pushing and pulling reasons for the first steps of E-commerce. Consumers have also noticed the incremental value of E-commerce. Mostly the experiences of consumers are encouraging. E-commerce enlarges the available services of sparsely populated areas of Lapland.