Caroline Boivin

Dominant organizational logic as an impediment to collaboration

Purpose – This paper aims to establish the role of dominant logics to assess the success potential of strategic alliances.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical validation of an approach based on the theory of conventions was carried out through an analysis of strategic alliances initiated by Apple involving the licensing of the Macintosh operating system.Findings – The analysis reveals the presence of modes of justification issuing from the world of inspiration, which seems to oppose the merchant and industrial worlds, which are most conducive to successful strategic alliances.Originality/value – The analysis of dominant logics within Apple Computer demonstrate that the inspirational logic is opposed to all forms of strategic alliances.

Does “sharing” mean “socially responsible consuming”? Exploration of the relationship between collaborative consumption and socially responsible consumption

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which collaborative consumption (CC) enthusiasts are significantly more likely to engage into specific forms of socially responsible consumption (SRC), in contrast to regular consumers.,The authors administered an online questionnaire survey to a panel of 1,006 consumers. A cluster analysis combined with analyses of variance then determined the extent to which CC enthusiasts were more likely to engage in the focal SRC behaviors as opposed to others.,CC enthusiasts differ positively from other consumers concerning sustainable transportation, citizen consumption and composting but negatively from other consumers concerning recycling; they do not differ significantly with regard to environmental, animal protection and local consumption.,Conflating CC and SRC remains debatable. This study provides some preliminary evidence about the complex associations that exists between the two constructs.

Understanding Green Consumption: Is Perceived Consumer Effectiveness a Predictor of Green Behaviour?

In recent years, increased consumer interest in the environment has led to a surge in the availability of green products and services. However, academic literature on green consumption finds that individual concerns about the environment do not necessarily translate into purchases of green products and services (Kim 2011). The gap between consumer attitudes to the environment and the adoption of green behaviour has been labelled the ‘green gap’ (Gupta and Ogden 2009).

Healthy Breakfast Cereals: What Do Consumers Want?

Results of a 284-respondent conjoint analysis show that the fiber and sugar contents are the most important attributes of healthy breakfast cereals. Examination of partial utilities reveals that the higher level of fiber (30%) and the no-sugar option are preferred. A segmentation analysis identifies a segment of consumers that attaches a higher importance to fiber while another segment puts more weight on sugar content. Market simulations show that increasing the sugar content from 6 g to 12 g decreases market share significantly while an increase from 5% to 15% in the fiber content has the greatest impact on market share.

Spillover Effects Between Categories of Responsible Food Products? An Extended Abstract

Many responsible food products are available in supermarkets and other venues. Through their purchasing behavior, consumers thus have opportunities to express their concerns toward the society and the environment. The consistency of purchasing behaviors in different categories may be questioned. The purpose of this research is to explore potential spillover effects between categories of responsible food products.

To Be or Not to Be… Does the Level of Empathy Contribute to Successful Personal Selling?

The field of sales represents an important aspect of business whether in monetary or in strategic terms (Darmon, 2008; Futrell, 2013). For that reason, researchers have examined a number of salesperson traits that affect sales performance (Churchill, Ford, Hartley, & Walker, 1985; Johnston & Marshall, 2013). While many researchers have postulated a positive relationship between empathy and sales performance, few have undertaken empirical testing of such a relationship. Those who have done such empirical investigations have come up with mixed results as some have found a positive relationship (Greenberg & Mayer, 1964; Tobolski & Kerr, 1952), others have found no relationship (Dawson, Soper, & Pettijohn, 1992; Lamont & Lundstrom, 1977), a negative relationship (McBane, 1995) or a partial relationship (Spiro & Weitz, 1990). This situation seems all the more surprising because the selling processes proposed in the literature integrate the determination of the purchasers’ needs and feelings a series of clearly structured stages (Zoltners, Sinha, & Zoltners, 2013).