Using choice modelling to investigate equity preferences

Benefit cost analysis (BCA) is a widely used method of assessing environmental policies. One of the limitations of BCA is the incorporation of equity considerations into an analysis. While this is theoretically possible through the application of distributional weights, this practice has not been generally adopted due to difficulties in determining appropriate weights. This paper suggests that one way of addressing the equity issue is through the application of a staged preference technique to the estimation of equity preferences. It is demonstrated that using choice modelling enables respondents' equity preferences to be elicited and distributional weights suitable for application in BCA to be estimated.

Understanding issue complexity when building a socially responsible brand

Purpose of the Manuscript- To discusses the importance of understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by analysing the issues that comprise CSR. Without this understanding it will not be possible for organisations to develop responsible brands.

Approach – The paper draws on the existing business and marketing literature to define four aspects of issue complexity. It also draws on a range of real and hypothetical examples affecting local and global organisations to explain the four components.

Limitations – The work is conceptual in nature and additional research needs to be undertaken to better understand how organisations define the CSR issues that they will integrate into activities and how the management of these issues can be undertaken to ensure system wide implementation.

Practical Implications – The work suggests that by understanding the four components of issues complexity organisations will be in a better position to integrate CSR related branding. Without understanding these issues, organisations may potentially unintentionally exaggerate claims or set themselves up to be criticised that they are unfairly exploiting consumers’ interest in CSR issues.

Value- Previous research has documented the value of CSR, but to date there have been only limited attempts to systematically examine how managers could know whether they have considered the issue completely and realistically.

Building a corporate socially responsible brand : an investigation of organizational complexity

Past research has suggested that developing CSR linked brands is a complex activity that needs to consider the social issues being addressed as well as multiple facets of organisational activities. This paper proposes that organisational activities need to be considered at four different levels – corporate brand, product/line brands, location/functional activities and supply chain issues. The four activities are discussed and implications for developing CSR-leveraged brands are explored.

Building a corporate socially responsible brand : an investigation of issue complexity

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly being leveraged in branding activities. This paper suggests that there are four types of issue complexity associated with defining what issues should be considered for CSR branding activities to be effective. These include the number of social issues considered, diversity of sub-issues, measurement difficulties and
determination of appropriate performance levels. Some implications for developing CSR leveraged brands are discussed.

Costs of raising equity capital by renounceable rights issues in Australia

Rights issues remain a common method for raising equity capital in Australia for companies listed on me Australian Stock Exchange. This study investigates the capital raising costs of Anstralian renounceable equity rights issues from 2001 to 2006. Both direct and indirect costs are investigated and the explanatory power of potential influencing factors is analyzed. The total direct costs averaged nearly 4% of gross proceeds raised and the mean offer price was discounted around 17% from the current market price. Issue size, percentage underwritten, concentration of ownership and issuer risk significantly influence the percentage direct costs of the rights issue. The age of the issuer, the average historical volume of shares traded and the offer price appear to influence the percentage discount.

Structural equation modelling of complex sample survey : an application to brand signalling data

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical analysis of complex sample data with regard to the biasing effect of nonindependence of observations on standard error parameter estimates. In a two-factor confirmatory factor analysis model, using real data, we show how the bias in standard errors can be derived when the nonindependence is ignored. We demonstrate that the standard error bias produced by the nonindependence of observations can be considerable and we briefly discuss solutions to overcome the problem.

Brand salience and purchasing for consumer banking services : an empirically-based model

The research reported in this paper proposed and tested a model of brand salience for banking services, which incorporates knowledge and brand image as antecedents. A full model of brand salience has not been tested previously, nor has a model of brand salience for services been tested. A quasi-experimental method was utilised. Respondents undertook a free recall exercise using category cues, and then completed multi-item measures of brand knowledge, brand associations, and purchase likelihood. Past purchase was tested via a recall exercise. A usable sample of 270 respondents was gained, and the data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Analysis of the data found support for a model of brand salience for the banking services category, and found a relationship between brand salience and most recent brand purchased. This paper contributes to the field of branding by proposing and testing a model of brand salience. The research reported in this paper may suggest that advertisers need to design their communications to increase accessibility of brands in the memory of consumers, and that the last brand purchased by consumers will have an effect on their next purchase decision, especially in the consumer banking category.

The measurement of the number, uniqueness, and valence of brand associations across three product categories

The research reported in this paper investigated the measurement of brand associations across three product categories. Brand associations had not been tested previously across all three categories of fast-moving consumer good, service, and durable in the one study. A free association method was used to generate brand associations for a fast-moving consumer good (shampoo), a service (banks) and a durable good (cars). The findings indicate that the first brand a respondent recalled has the greatest number of positive, unique and total brand associations. In addition, the findings indicated that durable goods have the highest number of associations, and the greatest number of unique and favourable brand associations. Further, banks and financial services had the fewest positive associations, which may have reflected attitudes to banks at the time of the research. These findings have implications for the manner in which respondents use information to recall brands, and how they process brand information when faced with a cue. Respondents use a depth and breadth of brand associations to generate brand information.

What can Hannah Arendt's theorising add to equity policy activism in higher education institutions?

Human rights theory is based on universalistic moral perspectives that regard each individual as a bearer of rights. These rights are often legislated nationally and implementation mandated for institutions including higher education institutions. Arendt contests this kind of governance and ruling. Arendt argues for an agonal politics. Arendt theorises politics and power as something that cannot occur in isolation; it is through ‘acting in concert’ with others that a political community is constituted. Arendt advocates for a public space where people can take care of the ‘public things’ between them to work out how to live together. In this paper I reflect on my role promoting equity within Australian higher education institutions and explore what Arendt’s theorising can add to rethinking this kind of human rights work. Arendt argued that re-valuing politics would pave the way to a ‘new appreciation of human plurality’ (Villa 1996: 17). I will argue that the ‘Fair Chance for All’ (1990) equity policy promoted a form of identity politics within higher education institutions. I argue that Arendt’s theorising can effectively disrupt identity politics and offers a corrective to the way human rights legislation and related institutional policies tend to focus on specific target populations.

Building brand identity : Does it pay? An investigation into cultural and recreational services

This conceptual paper aims to contribute to current services branding literature by conceptualising the relationship between brand identity and critical antecedents and empirically verifying whether the creation of a strong brand identity results in the ultimate pay off in terms of improved organisational performance. A conceptual model is developed in the context of the cultural and recreational services sector and central constructs and subsequent propositions are discussed.

Re-imagining the cultural brand : postmodernism and next wave

The traditional interpretation of a brand, and the means by which an organisation communicates its brand, might be considered a product of a modernist managerial paradigm, with its focus on consistency, control, and coherence (Brown 1995, 1999; Firat and Shultz 1997). With the emergence of postmodernism, this logic has been challenged by one of flexibility and openness, since consumers are no longer willing to commit or conform to any unified and consistent idea, system, or narrative. In order to explain this change in the management of brands, this paper will examine the Australian cultural brand, Next Wave, as a paradigmatic example. Next Wave offers an innovative brand management model founded on the interaction between the organisation and the content provider, i.e., the artist. Based on both aesthetic and conceptual experimentations, Next Wave is a dynamic brand in which shape and content are continually redefined in an interactive and mutual relationship between the artist and the organisation. Therefore, it can be argued that paradoxically, the organisation does not own its own brand. In fact, the ownership exists only from a legal point of view (as a trademark); the real artificer of the brand is the artist. Since it is not possessed nor controlled at all by the organisation, but is always subject to continuous evolutions and redefinitions, the Next Wave brand can be considered as a postmodern brand that is not strictly tied to marketing rules, but involves the target as an active participant in the brand creation process.