IT usage for enhancing trade show performance: evidence from the aviation services

Purpose While trade shows remain an important customer relationship management (CRM) tool, recent advancements in information technology (IT) have raised concerns about the future of trade shows. This study aims to examine the antecedents and consequences of IT integration into trade shows. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a questionnaire-based survey with senior and middle managers in the aviation services, resulting in 135 valid responses from industry professionals. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The findings demonstrate differential but significant impact of perceptions toward website design and firm motivations toward the integration IT in the three stages of trade shows marketing. The results also show significant impact of IT usage on the perceptions toward the accomplishment of trade show objectives. Further, the results vary according to the levels of experience of the professionals. Research limitations/implications This study did not account for the differences in perceptions toward IT implementation across personnel from different departments, such as IT, finance and operations management. In addition, it did not examine situational factors and individual characteristics as additional antecedents of IT usage in trade shows, including pricing, return on investment, convenience and the social media. Practical implications Exhibitors are advised to integrate IT in supporting pre-trade show activities to approach potential customers. Exhibitors should integrate electronic interactions and personal communications during the show to reduce the amount of unanswered customer queries, focusing on timeliness and accuracy of information content, ease of navigation and graphic attractiveness of corporate websites, as effective CRM tools. Originality/value This paper offers novel insights into hitherto unknown aspects of trade show performance. The results have managerial implications for adopting IT as a CRM tool for effective trade show management

Consumer perceptions of co-branding alliances: Organizational dissimilarity signals and brand fit

This study explores how consumers evaluate co-branding alliances between dissimilar partner firms. Customers are well aware that different firms are behind a co-branded product and observe the partner firms’ characteristics. Drawing on signaling theory, we assert that consumers use organizational characteristics as signals in their assessment of brand fit and for their purchasing decisions. Some organizational signals are beyond the control of the co-branding partners or at least they cannot alter them on short notice. We use a quasi-experimental design and test how co-branding partner dissimilarity affects brand fit perception. The results show that co-branding partner dissimilarity in terms of firm size, industry scope, and country-of-origin image negatively affects brand fit perception. Firm age dissimilarity does not exert significant influence. Because brand fit generally fosters a benevolent consumer attitude towards a co-branding alliance, the findings suggest that high partner dissimilarity may reduce overall co-branding alliance performance

Socio-cognitive determinants of consumers’ support for the fair trade movement

Despite the reasonable explanatory power of existing models of consumers’ ethical decision making, a large part of the process remains unexplained. This article draws on previous research and proposes an integrated model that includes measures of the theory of planned behavior, personal norms, self-identity, neutralization, past experience, and attitudinal ambivalence. We postulate and test a variety of direct and moderating effects in the context of a large survey with a representative sample of the U.K. population. Overall, the resulting model represents an empirically robust and holistic attempt to identify the most important determinants of consumers’ support for the fair-trade movement. Implications and avenues for further research are discussed

Sustainable Purchasing in the Retail Industry: A Model of Environmentally Responsible Purchasing

The business community has played an important role in achieving sustainable development over the last few decades (Kalafatis et al., 1999; Laroche et al., 2001; Han et al., 2009). As corporations are under growing pressure from internal and external stakeholders to consider the environmental and social implications of their activities, many have made a commitment to apply the principles of sustainable development to their operations (Searcy, 2009). To meet these commitments, a multitude of policies, plans, and programs has been developed and many corporations have created sustainable purchasing policies

Exploring rebound effects from a psychological perspective

The analysis of energy efficiency rebound effects from a psychological perspective has just begun, and empirical studies analysing psychological factors in relation to the rebound effect are still scarce. In this chapter, we first identify possible psychological drivers to explain rebound effects based on psychological action theories. The outlined psychological framework suggests that energy efficiency improvements have different effects on behaviour depending on the interaction of psychological factors such as attitudes, personal and social norms and response efficacy. In a second step,we present results from an empirical study using focus group discussions to explore rebound effects and psychological drivers in the transport and residential sectors. The results are in line with the outlined psychological framework and indicate that need satiation, habits and mistaken beliefs about the optimal usage of a technology also seem to play a role. Finally, research questions are outlined to help further develop and test hypotheses on the psychological factors influencing rebound effects