Ioannis Theodorakis

This study focuses on the role that personnel attributes play during the implementation of a market-driving strategy, a topic that has heretofore received limited academic attention. Contrary to the traditional reactive market-driven approach, the proactive market-driving approach pertains to influencing the market structure and/or the market players' behavior in a direction that enhances the firm's competitive posture. Using a qualitative research design, it is empirically demonstrated for the first time that specific characteristics of the top management (i.e., open-minded policy, strong vision, strategic human resource management, transformational leadership, prediction skills and insightfulness, fostering creativity), as well as certain traits of middle-level employees (i.e., open-minded policy, transformational leadership, creativity, expertise, intrapreneurship, commitment, flexibility) are of central importance to the market-driving concept. Relevant research propositions are formulated and their respective implications are discussed.

To date, the use of taboos in advertising has produced mixed results. Such discrepancies require explanation. Relying on construal-level theory and the concept of psychological distance, this research focuses on taboo ads’ effects on consumers’ responses. The findings from three studies show that for different product categories (Study 1: perfume; Studies 2 and 3: alcohol) and across different taboo types (sex, violence, and a mixture of sex and violence), different distance dimensions (Study 1: spatial; Study 2: social), and different construal-level manipulations (low, high), an increase in the psychological distance (or construal) level attenuates consumers’ unfavorable attitudinal and behavioral reactions while a decrease in the psychological distance (or construal) level intensifies consumers’ responses. Furthermore, response intensity varies depending on the taboo type used, such that both violent and mixed taboo types produce more negative responses. Finally, gender has an impact, such that women react more negatively than men to different taboos, both across distance dimensions and across distance (construal) levels. A discussion of these findings and their implications, as well as suggestions for future research, concludes the article.

Abstract

This study examines how companies can better manage consumer attributions (ie, perceived company underlying motives) to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through CSR-related communications. Specifically, the article focuses on cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives and investigates how different types of CRM donation frames influence consumers’ perceptions of a company’s motivation to support a social cause. Drawing from the psychology of money and CSR literature, the article finds that the in-kind CRM donation frameworks best at reducing consumers’ causal attributions of companies’ self-centered motives.

Abstract

Despite strong evidence on the effectiveness of advertising rhetoric, the extant literature has not theorized or empirically assessed conditions under which this effectiveness may be nullified. The present research argues that the application of rhetoric in advertisements grounded in controversial topics such as violence and eroticism may be ineffective. Results from two studies suggest that the application of a widespread rhetorical figure such as resonance within controversial ad settings cannot attenuate consumers’ negative responses and under certain conditions may even worsen them. Implications for advertising theory and practice, along with study limitations and future research avenues, are presented.

Abstract

There has been a growing stream of research focusing on the application of rhetorical figures in advertising. Resonance, a rhetorical figure based on a visual–verbal interaction, is the issue of interest in the present paper. Specifically, we conducted two experiments in order to explore consumers’ responses towards resonance as well as test its limits in terms of visual–verbal incongruity. According to our results, resonance influences consumers in a positive manner. However, care should be taken with regard to the extent of applied incongruity between the visual and verbal elements on which resonance is grounded. A higher degree of incongruity is most likely to generate negative results.