Engaging complexity through collaborative brand design

In this research we used inductive reasoning through design to understand how stakeholders in the Waterfall Way (New South Wales, Australia) perceive the relationships between themselves and the place they live in. This paper describes a collaborative design methodology used to release information about local identities, which guided the regional brand exercise. The methodology is explicit about the uncertainties and complexities of the design process and of its reception system. As such, it aims to engage with local stakeholders and experts in order to help elicit tacit knowledge and identify system patterns and trends that would possibly not be visible if a top-down expert-based process was used. Through collective design, local people were drawn together in search for a symbol to represent the meaning attached to their places/region in relation to sustainable tourism activity.

Exploring a functional approach to attitudinal brand loyalty

What psychological function does brand loyalty serve? Drawing on Katz’s (1960) Functional Theory of Attitudes, we propose that there are four functions (or motivational antecedents) of loyalty: utilitarian, knowledge, value-expressive and ego-defensive. We discuss how each function relates to the three dimensions of loyalty (i.e. emotional, cognitive, and behavioural loyalty). Then this conceptualisation of brand loyalty is explored using four consumer focus groups. These exploratory results demonstrate that the application of a functional approach to brand loyalty yields insights which have not been apparent in previous research. More specifically, this paper notes insights in relation to brand loyalty from a consumer’s perspective, including the notion that the ego-defensive function is an orientation around what others think and feel. This creates the possibilities for future research into brand loyalty via social network analysis, in order to better understand how the thoughts of others affect consumers’ loyalty attributes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Policy measures for creating an integrated and brand-focused innovation system for film industries in shadow nations : an application to Australia's national film industry

Shadow nations face particular problems in constructing competitive film industries. Shadow nations refer to nations whose relative competitiveness suffers from easy product substitutability by products initiated, produced and distributed by powerful actors, such as media conglomerates located in Hollywood. The dominant literature has so far neglected the developing policy recommendations for dealing explicitly with the challenges of shadow nations. This paper aims to develop and apply a normative model for the development of film industries in shadow nations. The model integrates insights from innovation system studies and place branding. The developed model is applied to the Australian film industry as Australia represents a typical shadow nation within the film industry.

The development of a model to measure destination brand performance across travel contexts

The field of destination image has been widely discussed in the destination literature since the early 1970s (see Mayo, 1973). However the extent to which travel context impacts on an individual’s destination image evaluation, and therefore destination choice, has received scant attention (Hu & Ritchie, 1993). This study, utilising expectancy-value theory, sought to elicit salient destination attributes from consumers across two travel contexts: short-break holidays and longer getaways. Using the Repertory Test technique, attributes elicited as being salient for short-break holidays were consistent with those elicited for longer getaways. While this study was limited to Brisbane’s near-home destinations, the results will be of interest to destination marketers and researchers interested in the challenge of positioning a destination in diverse markets.

Modeling destination brand equity in an emerging long haul market

The destination branding literature emerged as recently as 1998, and there remains a dearth of empirical data that tests the effectiveness of brand campaigns over time. This paper reports the results of an investigation into consumer-based brand equity for Australia as a long haul destination in an emerging South American market. In spite of the high level of academic interest in the measurement of perceptions of destinations since the 1970s, few previous studies have examined perceptions held by South American consumers. Findings suggest that destination brand awareness, brand image, and brand value are positively related to brand loyalty for a long-haul destination. The results also indicate that Australia is a more compelling destination brand for previous visitors compared to non-visitors.

In pursuit of tourism destination brand loyalty : visitor relationship management orientation of destination marketing organisations

The proposition underpinning this study is engaging in meaningful dialogue with previous visitors represents an efficient and effective use of resources for a destination marketing organization (DMO), compared to above the line advertising in broadcast media. However there has been a lack of attention in the tourism literature relating to destination switching, loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) to test such a proposition. This paper reports an investigation of visitor relationship marketing (VRM) orientation among DMOs. A model of CRM orientation, which was developed from the wider marketing literature and a prior qualitative study, was used to develop a scale to operationalise DMO visitor relationship orientation. Due to a small sample, the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method of structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Although the sample limits the ability to generalise, the results indicated the DMOs’ visitor orientation is generally responsive and reactive rather than proactive.

Measuring a destination’s brand equity between 2003 and 2012 using the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) hierarchy

Given the increasing investments being made in brand development by destination marketing organisations (DMO) since the 1990s, including rebranding and repositioning, more research is needed to enhance understanding of how to effectively monitor destination brand performance over time. This paper reports the results of a study of brand performance of a competitive set of destinations, in their most important market, between 2003 and 2012. Brand performance was measured from the perspective of consumer perceptions, based on the concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). A structured questionnaire was administered to different samples in 2003, 2007 and 2012. The results indicated minimal changes in perceptions of the five destinations over the 10 year period. Due to the commonality of challenges faced by DMOs worldwide, it is suggested the CBBE hierarchy provides destination marketers with a practical tool for evaluating brand performance over time; in terms of measures of effectiveness of past marketing communications, as well as indicators of future performance. In addition, and importantly, CBBE also provides transparent accountability measures for stakeholders. While the topic of destination image has been one of the most popular in the tourism literature, there has been a paucity of research published in relation to the temporal aspect of consumer perceptions. This is a rare investigation into the measurement of perceptions of destinations over a 10 year period.

Corporate commitment to sustainability : is it all hot air? An Australian review of the linkage between executive pay and sustainable performance

Across time, companies have increasingly made public commitments to sustainable development and to reducing their impacts on climate change. Management remuneration plans (MRPs) are a key mechanism to motivate managers to achieve corporate goals. We review the MRPs negotiated with key management personnel in a sample of large Australian carbon-intensive companies. Our results show that, as in past decades, the companies in our sample have MRPs in place that continue to fixate on financial performance. We argue that this provides evidence of a disconnection, or ‘decoupling’, between the sustainability-related rhetoric of the sample companies, and their ‘real’ organisational practices and priorities.

Destination brand equity for Australia : testing a model of CBBE in short haul and long haul markets

The study of destination brand performance measurement has only emerged in earnest as a field in the tourism literature since 2007. The concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) is gaining favour from services marketing researchers as an alternative to the traditional ‘net-present-value of future earnings’ method of measuring brand equity. The perceptions-based CBBE model also appears suitable for examining destination brand performance, where a financial brand equity valuation on a destination marketing organisation’s (DMO) balance sheet is largely irrelevant. This is the first study to test and compare the model in both short and long haul markets. The paper reports the results of tests of a CBBE model for Australia in a traditional short haul market (New Zealand) and an emerging long haul market (Chile). The data from both samples indicated destination brand salience, brand image, and brand value are positively related to purchase intent for Australia in these two disparate markets.

Antecedents of consumer brand loyalty in the Chilean wine industry

The wine industry has become fiercely competitive worldwide, and consumers are increasingly exposed to a wider range of wines in retail outlets. Therefore, wineries need to develop and build consumer loyalty toward their brands. The authors empirically test a model of wine brand loyalty in a Latin American context which considers wine brand trust, brand satisfaction, wine knowledge and wine experience as antecedents. Hypotheses are tested with structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings show that wine experience is positively related to brand trust and brand satisfaction. In addition, results show that consumer satisfaction with a wine brand is the strongest driver of brand loyalty.

Mothers vs fathers as learner driver supervisors : time commitment, driving activities and perceptions of risk

The learner licence, within a graduated driver licensing system, provides new drivers with the opportunity to learn to drive under the supervision of a more experienced driver. The Queensland graduated driver licensing system requires learner drivers to record a minimum of 100 logbook hours of supervised practice with the support of parents appearing critical to ensure that this is achieved. This paper examines differences between mothers and fathers who supervise learner drivers. Mothers and fathers from Queensland who had recently supervised their child while they learnt to drive completed an internet survey about their experiences. It appears that one strategy that parents use to provide practice hours is for the child to drive themselves or their parents to or from activities that they would have attended anyway in addition to undertaking special trips in the car for the purposes of practising. The results suggest that mothers, when compared with fathers, consider driving at all stages of licensure riskier and that mothers provided more hours of supervision than fathers. However, despite this, there are limited differences between how frequently mothers and fathers provide different driving experiences such as deliberately practising in suburban areas or with passengers in the car. This research fills a gap in the literature by providing important information about the way in which parents supervise their children while they are driving on a learner licence as well as identifying some of the differences and similarities between mothers and fathers.

Projecting the trend in the Canadian gender wage gap 2001-2031: Will an increase in female education acquisition and commitment be enough?

The paper projects the gender wage gap for 25-64 year-olds in Canada over the period 2001-2031. The empirical analysis uses the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics together with Statistics Canada demographic projections. The methodology combines the population projections with assumptions relating to the evolution of educational attainment in order to first project the future distribution of human capital skills and, based on these projections, the future size of the gender wage gap. The projections suggest continued gender wage convergence produced by changing skills characteristics. However, a substantial pay gap will remain in 2031.

I’m friends with Louie the Fly, not Mortein : Conceptualising the new brand relationships on social media

Spokes-characters are ‘...animated beings or objects, created to promote a product, service or idea’ (Phillips 1996, p.155). They were first used in the late 1800s when they emerged as registered trademarks, but the use of spokes-characters for marketing communications has since grown, owing to their ability to remind consumers about a product, transfer positive associations to a brand, and give a corporate company a more ‘personal’ face (Callcott and Lee 1995). One example is the Michelin Man, who has served as spokes-character for Michelin tyres since 1898, after starting out in print advertising. Spokes-characters have become important brand representatives, no longer seen as simply entertaining cartoons featured in television and magazine advertisements. Corporations have now extended their use to interactive, social media platforms, where a consumer can be ‘friends’ with a spokes-character via Facebook, read their comments on the latest iPhone release through Twitter, and watch their family histories being documented on YouTube (see Figure 1). The interactions that consumers once had with two-dimensional spokes-characters have undergone significant transformation in the digital space. With spokes-character Facebook pages achieving significant numbers of ‘likes’ and interactions with consumers, one question concerns whether this strategy is creating characters that are more engaging than the brands they represent, and what impact this has on brand outcomes.