Market Context Research Articles

DOES LOCAL ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY MATTER FOR RISK OF PROPERTY COMPANIES? EVIDENCE FROM US REITS

With the growing number of publicly listed property companies worldwide, investors are increasingly interested in assessing the risks of such real estate companies in the stock market. This study aims to investigate the risk of US equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the local market context. Using US equity REITs data from 1997 to 2020, this study examines the impact of local economic uncertainty (LEU) on risk of REITs. To measure LEU, we first exploit textual analysis to extract geographical information from REITs’ annual financial reports (10-K filings) and construct state-level regional exposure for each firm. We then obtain LEU by incorporating the regional exposure with local market uncertainty based on locally headquartered firms. In the empirical results, we find that REITs with higher LEU are strongly and positively associated with higher future risks. This positive relationship is robust to a variety of alternative risk and LEU measures. Moreover, the effects of LEU are stronger for geographically concentrated REITs and LEU is positively priced by investors.

BRAND ENGAGEMENT IN SELF-CONCEPT FOR INFLUENCER MARKETING: THE ROLE OF PRODUCT INVOLVEMENT AS A MODERATOR

Despite the rise of influencer marketing in creating brand engagement with customers on social media platforms, there exists limited understanding about the factors that contribute to brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) among social media followers. BESC is instrumental in increasing a brand’s perceived value and word of mouth. This study aims to investigate the influencer-based factor (perceived influence, alongside consumer centric factors (value co-creation and social media marketing [SMM] activities) as antecedents for BESC in the influencer marketing context. Furthermore, the study tests the moderating role of product involvement on these relationships. Responses were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire which yielded a sample of 202 social media users in Malaysia. Analysis through IBM SPSS demonstrated that value co-creation and SMM activities of influencer-endorsed brands are significant predictors of BESC, while perceived influence does not contribute to BESC. Furthermore, product involvement exerted a moderating effect on all three direct relationships of perceived influence, value co-creation, and SMM activities on BESC. The research framework contributes to a greater understanding of BESC antecedents and the role of product involvement in influencer marketing context. The higher the level of product involvement, the larger the propensity for followers to form BESC through recommendations of influencers. This study can be beneficial to marketing managers that are building their own influencer marketing campaigns through incorporating value co-creation and SMM activities in their brand engagement strategy.

Contextual Market Basket Analysis during Covid-19


 
 
 
 One form of Data Mining application to analyze Market Basket Analysis. Market Basket Analysis helps identify buying patterns formed from concurrent transactions. One of the problems with Market Basket Analysis is that customer needs vary according to season and time of day, especially during this covid-19 season. For this purpose, by using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Approach that is connected to Market Basket Analysis, it can analyze and compare purchasing patterns and can identify rules that were formed before and after covid-19; several rule changes were found due to changes in people's behavior patterns.
 
 
 

Sustainable and Governance Investment Funds in Brazil: A Performance Evaluation

This study analyzes the financial performance of sustainable investments against conventional investment products in an emerging market context using a sample of sustainable and governance equity investment funds that focus solely on the Brazilian stock market. A quantitative analysis is used to compare monthly returns, volatility, and Jensen’s alpha for the period of January 2017 to December 2019 (bull market) and January 2020 and December 2021 (bear market). The study finds that sustainable investments do not diverge from conventional stock funds during a bear market period in terms of financial performance and present similar volatility. The main findings of this study corroborate the latest research from the ANBIMA reports related to sustainability practices in the Brazilian capital markets. The study also contributes to the academic literature by providing empirical evidence from an emerging economy such as Brazil of reasonable performance from sustainable investments in different periods of an economic cycle. The study has a few limitations such as the lack of a taxonomy and an ESG regulatory framework for the sustainable and governance equity investment funds and the small number of sustainable and governance equity investment funds in Brazil.

Informal employment on domestic care platforms: a study on the individualisation of risk and unpaid labour in mature market contexts

This article explains how digitally mediated provision of domestic care services perpetuates the invisibility and informality of such work through individualising risk, which we operationalise by one of its dimensions, that of unpaid labour. We understand unpaid labour as the cost of the risk borne individually by workers at the intersection of the social (inter-personal) and economic (monetary) spheres. Drawing on the experiences of domestic care workers providing their services through platforms, the study shows how platforms have made their way into the labour markets and welfare structures of two mature economies, Belgium and France. Via their (digital) rules, they pursue ‘regulatory compliance’ and ‘disruption’ as distinct strategies for establishing platform dominance, albeit with country-based differences. Platform-mediated employment outcomes remain generally unrecognised, undocumented and informal, with unpaid labour characterising the cost of the individualisation of risk.

Access-based customer journeys.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00942-6.

Impact of Competition and Market Access Factors on the Performance of Secondary Livestock Markets in Turkana, Kenya

Globally, livestock farming is vital to the growth of economies. In the drylands of Africa, the scarcity of water and pasture significantly impacts livestock productivity and marketing, making local markets dominated by foreign stocks, products, and entrepreneurs. This study seeks to examine the effects of competition and market access factors on the performance of Turkana's secondary livestock markets. The strategic questions formulated to investigate the research problem were: what are the characteristics of livestock production and marketing in Turkana? what competition and market access challenges are outstanding in Turkana’s livestock production and marketing context? and how does competitive rivalry affect the performance of livestock enterprises and market performance in Turkana? From a sampling frame of 180, 168 livestock traders (primary participants) were statistically sampled from Kakuma, Lokichar, and Kalemngo'rok markets. In addition, 24 government and civil society livestock development experts were purposefully selected as secondary study participants. Study results show that competitive rivalry significantly affects livestock production and marketing in Turkana, making them unprogressive. Competition and market access are crucial aspects of livestock development, and identifying and managing their constituent features can aid in structuring, organizing, and commercializing livestock production. The influence of competition and market access factors on livestock development in Turkana is exacerbated by limited legislation and regulatory frameworks, limited research, the use of informal livestock marketing systems, inequalities in livestock production, insecurity, limited capital, rivalry in markets, the exploitation of low-capital traders, and climate change effects. Recommendations for application and future research emphasize the need for holistic programming of livestock developments in Turkana, with a focus on stakeholder capacity development, the use of systems-based approaches in programming, knowledge and technology transfer, legislation, and increasing competition and market access capabilities of local traders in the local and external markets.

Who gains and who loses from more information in technology markets? Evidence from the Sunshine Act

AbstractResearch SummaryWe consider the context of a technology market where participants (in particular, sellers) differ in reputation, and sellers observed participating in the transactions might suffer a reputation loss. Our theoretical model predicts that low‐reputation idea sellers, thanks to the improvement in information disclosure, are more likely to be involved in technology transactions; at the same time, high‐reputation idea sellers, to protect their reputations, might prefer avoiding any transactions. This shift in seller composition might affect the quantity and quality of collaborations. To test our theory, we assess the effect of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act on physician‐firm collaborations. Overall, our findings indicate that while information disclosure might benefit some market participants, it can have unintended negative consequences for others.Managerial SummaryIn technology markets, more information about market participants generally leads to better outcomes. However, in contexts where sellers suffer a reputation loss if their transactions become known, higher‐reputation sellers may leave the market, affecting the quality of ideas being traded and impacting buyers. On the other hand, lower‐reputation sellers may benefit from increased visibility and share their ideas more frequently. Our research examined these effects in the context of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which made physician collaborations with medical device companies visible. The results suggest that the effects of information disclosure are not uniform and that some market participants may benefit while others may suffer losses.

The application of neuromarketing tools in communication research: A comprehensive review of trends

AbstractThis study provides an overview of the evolution of the body of knowledge, current research streams, potential new domains, and theoretical models of interest for neuromarketing research developed in the field of communication. Neuromarketing is defined here as research applying psychophysiological or neuroscience methods in communication. We particularly implemented a comprehensive analysis of 861 publications using keyword cooccurrence analysis and science mapping tools. The performance analysis shows a strong growth in the number of publications over the last decade, with a slight declining impact in terms of citations after reaching a peak around the turn of the century. Contributions published in journals in business and communication fields (and not psychology or neuroimaging) are those with the largest average citations per year. The evolution diagrams highlight that the use of brain imaging tools to study ad persuasion in virtual environments and social marketing contexts (e.g., health or sustainable communication), as well as the employment of novel metrics (neural synchronization) and deep learning methods to analyze data, constitute fruitful research streams in the application of neuromarketing tools in communication research. These results offer communication scholars an accurate insight on recent scientific research applying neuromarketing that can shape further studies.

Vietnamese Students’ Perceptions of Ladies’ Roles in Public Relations

PR plays a more important role than advertising in building and promoting brands (Marketing report in 1999). In the current market context, where goods and services are diverse and abundant, consumers have difficulties in distinguishing and evaluating products. Each business tries to create a style, an image, an impression, a separate reputation for its products in order to give the product its own image, easy to enter into the perception of customers. In other words, they want to put their brand into the mind of the customer. Businesses advertise their brands by many methods: through advertising, PR, pricing or by the product itself, with the common goal of how to bring the brand into the minds of customers. In particular, it can be said that PR activities have a positive impact on brand promotion with action programs that are meticulously and carefully designed and planned to gain public recognition. The paper makes a survey on Vietnamese students’ perceptions of ladies roles in public relations. The findings show that although the students know the importance of public relations in any businesses, they don’t think they can work in public relations because of challenges and risks in Vietnamese contexts.

Female Consumers’ Involvement in Intentional Non-Sustainable and Unintentional Sustainable Apparel Decisions: An Emerging Market Perspective

This study is aimed at determining consumers’ sustainable apparel involvement in the purchasing or disposing of apparel in an emerging market context (EMC). Consumers in developed countries show increased interest in sustainable apparel behaviour, contrary to emerging markets such as South Africa, which is indicative of the lowest level of sustainable apparel consumption. An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was used to determine consumers’ involvement and was facilitated through eleven digitally recorded small focus groups with female apparel shoppers who make use of a custom-made apparel designers. The findings reveal intentional non-sustainable apparel decisions manifest through eco-uninvolved in- store purchases and once-off commissioned designer apparel orders. Unintentional sustainable apparel behaviour is characterised by (1) in-store apparel purchases: signifying quality clothing, observed in the material and stitching, resulting in clothing items worn for longer and handed down from generation to generation, sensitivity to the origin of the garment and (2) apparel disposal behaviour such as (a) keeping apparel as cleaning material and repurposing into wearable apparel; (b) permanent disposal through handing down items and (c) temporary disposal through exchanged items. Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model, it was possible to explain the lack of elaborated involvement in sustainable apparel practices resembling the peripheral route of the model. Unintentional sustainable practices have not been identified in the South African context, indicating the valuable contribution consumers in an emerging market context (EMC) can make if better awareness is created by the government and the retail sector specifically to address intentional non-sustainable purchasing behaviours in future.

Multifaceted Barriers to Rapid Roll-out of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in China: A Qualitative Study Among Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a safe and effective antiretroviral medicine-based prevention against HIV has not been widely adopted by gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. A deeper understanding of barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake is needed to inform the development of effective interventions. During July-August 2020, we conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 31 Chinese MSM with varied PrEP use experiences (PrEP-naïve, former, and current PrEP users). Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed in Chinese. Informed by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model (IMB), we analyzed the data using a thematic analysis approach to identify the barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake among Chinese MSM. Major barriers to PrEP uptake among MSM in the sample included uncertainty about PrEP efficacy and lack of PrEP education (information), concerns over potential side effects and cost (motivation), and difficulties in identifying authentic PrEP medications and managing PrEP care (behavioral skills). Facilitators include the perceived benefit of PrEP in improving the quality of sex life and control over health. At the contextual level, we also identified barriers to PrEP access from a thriving informal PrEP market and stressors related to being MSM. Our findings identified a need to invest in non-discriminatory public health messaging of PrEP, explore options for MSM-friendly provision of PrEP outside of traditional HIV care settings, and be attentive to the unique context of an established informal PrEP market in future PrEP initiatives.

Market exit and re-entry in a volatile emerging economy: a case study of Yamaha motorcycles in Pakistan

PurposeThis study aims to understand the dynamics underpinning the exit and re-entry strategies adopted by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in an emerging market, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThis study undertook an in-depth historical case study of Yamaha Motorcycles, which had initially entered Pakistan as a joint venture but had then exited and re-entered as a wholly owned subsidiary.FindingsThis study found that, despite its status as a market leader and one of the older players in the Pakistani market, changing market dynamics in the 2000s – especially the increased competition brought by more affordable (inexpensive) Chinese motorcycles and the weak enforcement of industrial policies – had pushed Yamaha Motorcycles to exit. Another factor that had contributed to its exit were differences in risk perception and strategies with its local joint venture partner (a Pakistani business group). Hence, both firm-level and institutional factors had played significant roles in Yamaha’s market exit. This study further found that re-entering in a wholly owned subsidiary operation mode had been beneficial for the firm, as it gained a significant market share due to its focus on innovation and on capturing a market niche, which had earlier not been its main focus. The findings also suggest that opportunity logics and multiple forms of learning can be important for a firm’s re-entry into a host market – such as experiential (i.e. learning from experience) and vicarious learning (i.e. learning from other organizations, including suppliers and competitors) in an emerging market context, in which institutions evolve amid political and policy uncertainty. Finally, this study found that exit and re-entry timing is an important factor for the development of competitive advantage in a host market.Originality/valueThis study is among the few to have investigated the exit and re-entry strategies of MNEs in emerging markets. The relatively short time during which Yamaha Motorcycles had been out of the market had benefited it on its re-entry, as the firm had been able to capitalize on its prior learning and ties to suppliers’ networks.

Supply chain resource orchestration in emerging markets: an empirical examination of product launch performance

PurposeEndeavoring to expand their global market presence, firms often launch products into emerging markets where managers face the daunting task of deploying products by managing available, and often limited, supply chain resources. Yet, literature has not empirically examined managerial resource orchestration in this context. Accordingly, by embedding resource orchestration theory (ROT) into the emerging market context, the authors offer middle-range theorizing on supply chain resource orchestration (SCRO) and empirically test how acquiring, bundling and leveraging activities impact new product launch performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors test the model by analyzing empirical data from 175 individual product launches into emerging markets using a survey methodology.FindingsThe authors’ results suggest that SCRO holds the promise of being a viable middle-range theory in the supply chain field, especially where managers face limited resources and must “work with what they have to do what they can.”Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ study also has some limitations. First, because a panel data service company was used to collect the data, the authors were not provided with any information regarding the respondents' company names or other identifying data. Second, because the authors did not directly interact with the respondents nor were the authors able to contact multiple individuals from their respective organizations, the study was limited to a single-respondent design. However, to counter issues associated with single-response bias, the central constructs in the study referenced phenomena related to a specific product launch project as opposed to constructs at the firm or inter-firm relational level.Practical implicationsThe authors’ results reveal that SCRO activities can enhance the performance of new product launches, even in resource-starved emerging market contexts.Originality/valueThe results validate measures for several of the SCRO processes (i.e. supply chain resource acquisition, supply chain resource bundling and supply chain leveraging) and provide evidence that supply chain resource bundling and supply chain leveraging mediate the relationship between supply chain resource acquisition and product launch performance. Further, soft logistics infrastructure is found to be an important boundary condition for these relationships.

The moderating effect of context of reception, labour market and education system on the migrant-native gap in university expectations

ABSTRACT This paper explores the cross-national variation in the gap in university expectations between native and second-generation immigrant students and whether it is moderated by characteristics of the country of residence of children of immigrants. Three domains have been considered at the national level: the context of reception of immigration (legal status of non-national immigrants and views about immigration of the local population); labour market segmentation and education systems (external differentiation). The study tests the general hypothesis that settings that enhance individual autonomy and widen room for choice by removing formal and informal barriers that migrants and their descendants face in everyday life and in specific domains (education and labour market) are associated with a larger gap in university expectations that is favourable to children of immigrants (a larger ‘immigrant advantage’). Applying a two-stage analysis to PISA 2015 data, results provide overall support for this hypothesis. More welcoming contexts of reception are associated with a larger immigrant advantage. External differentiation is negatively associated with it, both for students attending general and vocational tracks, especially the latter, as compared to non-tracked students attending common tracks. There is not a robust association between labour market segmentation and the university expectations’ gap.

Strategy integration, sustainable drivers of firm internationalization performance—Moderated by environmental uncertainty and firm capabilities

The global environmental uncertainty and the need for an organization to maximize profit and satisfy the interest of wider nonmarket groups/stakeholders in the host market propel and reinforce the need for strategic integration to achieve sustainable internationalization performance. The interest of this article is to examine the relative impact of market, nonmarket strategy, and strategy integration on the performance of medium and large organizations in Portugal. Furthermore, environmental uncertainty and firm capabilities were used as moderation to evaluate the performance implication of these strategy configurations on firm market advantage in the host country. Given the need to examine the relationship between the latent and measured variables in this study, structural equation models were used to test the stated hypotheses, while confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the fitness of our model. Our findings revealed that strategy integration provides a more sustainable competitive performance than either market or nonmarket strategy when used separately, especially in highly regulated and standardized business contexts such as Portugal. Furthermore, our findings show that organization needs to design market-oriented strategies and select the types of nonmarket practices (lobbying, campaign contributions, etc.) that best fit and align with their overall corporate objectives without neglecting the host market environmental culture. Research on market and nonmarket integrations have long been overdue given its extensive proposition to firm sustainable performance in a foreign country. Our research shed light on the importance of strategy integration to combat the ever-changing dynamism of the business environment and the negative sentiment surrounding globalization and how a firm can successfully compete in an uncertain, highly regulated, and standardized market context.

The Stories You Tell: Crafting Managerially Relevant Articles Based on Qualitative Research

Advertisers and marketers leverage big data to track and influence consumer behaviors, (re)evaluate messages, and enhance customer engagement through digital platforms. But these data do not capture the complexity of market contexts or address questions about how or why specific behaviors occur. The authors provide a pathway for unearthing insights from deep data to inform marketing strategy. They call for the use of qualitative research to organize chaos, capture lived experiences, and investigate diffusion of social practices. This paper offers a primer for crafting managerially relevant articles. The authors demonstrate how to use qualitative methods through a practitioner-oriented, systematic sensemaking process.

Too Simple Rules for a Complex World? Prior Appropriation Water Rights as Natural Rights

This Article assesses the fit of Professor Claeys’s theory of Natural Property Rights to traditional prior appropriation, the regime that allocates water in the West, and its capacity to fit the future of the regime. Natural Property Rights does not offer clear answers to the conflicts under the prior appropriation doctrine of water when there is scarcity. This Article explores the lack of determinacy of Claeys’s theory and the maladjustment between the theory and some of the foundational prior appropriation principles, which cannot be ignored even in the most stylized form of the regime. In particular, the Article analyzes the interaction between the definition of the right and the type of use, the necessity proviso in a market context, the role of greed in prior appropriation trades, and the public trust doctrine.

Signs of Stress: Identifying Indicators of Financial Distress in the Chinese Securities Market

This conceptual paper aims to explore the signs of stress and identify key indicators of financial distress within the Chinese securities market. With China's rapidly growing economy and evolving financial landscape, understanding the signals of potential market downturns and identifying early warning signs of financial distress is crucial for investors, policymakers, and market regulators. By analyzing a comprehensive range of financial and macroeconomic variables, this study aims to uncover robust indicators of financial distress specific to the Chinese securities market context. The findings of this research can inform the development of proactive risk management strategies and contribute to the overall stability and resilience of the Chinese securities market.

Determinants of electronic invoicing technology adoption: Toward managing business information system transformation

This paper aims to examine the adoption of electronic-invoicing (e-invoicing) technology using a Technological-Organisational-Environmental (TOE) framework, especially toward managing business information system transformation in emerging economies. A Partial Least Square (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used for construct measurement, and logistic regression was used for model testing. We found compatibility, complexity, relative advantage, trialability, firm size, and competitive and regulatory pressure to act as determinants of e-invoicing technology adoption. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing theoretical underpinning to e-invoicing technology penetration literature and toward adopting this innovation in the business-to-business market context. It also offers insights into the implementation of e-invoicing from the perspective of emerging economies.