Claire Lambert

Grey Nomads’ caravanning use of social networking sites

The caravanning industry in Australia continues to grow, largely due to increasing participation amongst older adults (‘Grey Nomads’). Concurrently, communication technology is increasingly more mobile and the use of social networking sites (SNS) amongst older adults is at an unprecedented level. Through in-depth interviews with 29 Grey Nomads caravanning through Mid-West Western Australia, this study explores the use(s) of SNS amongst Grey Nomads. Respondents were classified as active, passive or non-users of SNS. Emergent themes effecting the use of SNS include its ‘perceived usefulness’ and the level of Grey Nomad ‘self-efficacy’. Grey Nomads have a pragmatic approach to SNS, acknowledging SNS allows them to ‘stay connected’ and is a useful ‘source of information’. This study contributes to initiating an understanding of how Grey Nomads use SNS within their caravanning environment. Stakeholders in the caravanning industry should ensure the incorporation and strategic use of SNS in their marketing and business operations.

Corporate social responsibility in McDonald’s Australia

This case focuses on marketing public policy and legislation issues in the business environment. The Commonwealth Government of Australia wants to impose mandatory warning labels for fast-food served by quick-service chainrestaurants like McDonald’s. These warnings are to appear on fast-food packaging to warn diners of the possible harms arising from consuming fast-food. This is similar to the warnings that are used in Australia on tobacco product packages.This highlights a turning point where legislators appear to be heeding calls of vocal pressure groups to curb and legislate the industry’s activities. The loudest calls have appeared in well-publicized legal cases and film documentaries like Super-Size Me.McDonald’s has been well-aware of these challenges. The company continues to respond and fight legal challenges on these points. As a result, the company has improved its supply chain, employees’ work-conditions, their treatment of animals, their stores, food and customer service to offer leaner, healthier and more upmarket products.The few vocal critics who have secured media coverage seem to rely on sensationalizing the issue — e.g., eating McDonald’s for 30 days makes you fat. They seem to ignore the results from other experiments where people who ate suitable portions of McDonald’s food for the same 30 day period actually lost weight.Other challenges that have been found to be lies in courts of law include allegations of animal cruelty, unsafe food and food that makes people obese. Yet the public continue to believe these allegations. Can the industry do more, or do something different, to change people’s minds?

Special sauce in sesame seed buns: legal strategy and public policy in the fast-food industry

Lewis Bertly, a top lawyer with leading London law firm LL&B, is retained to defend a case with the potential to change the laws that affect fast-food marketing. Through its Department of Health, the Government of Australia seeks legislation for warning labels on fast-food packaging. To prepare a potential defense against this legal action for McDonalds Bertly is reviewing the history of legal action against the industry in fast-food labeling, nutrition and health. This history is important because the industrys actions through the decades in food nutrition and marketing are likely to be raised as evidence. He also hopes this will help him find a framework to map the way social expectations, a companys innovation, the legal system, and legislation combine to shape an industry. What he learns from this history and especially about the market leader, McDonalds, will inform how the defense approaches this case.

The strategy of global branding and brand equity

This book offers a way to predict which brand a buyer will purchase. It looks at brandperformance within a product category and tests it in different countries with verydifferent cultures. Following the Predictive Brand Choice (PBC) model, this book seeks to predict a consumer’s loyalty and choice. Results have shown that PBC can achieve a high level of predictive accuracy, in excess of 70% in mature markets. This accuracy holds even in the face of price competition from a less preferred brand.PBC uses a prospective predicting method which does not have to rely on a brand’spast performance or a customer’s purchase history for prediction. Choice data isgathered in the retail setting – at the point of sale. The Strategy of Global Brandingand Brand Equity presents survey data and quantitative analyses that prove themethod described to be practical, useful and implementable for both researchers and practitioners of commercial brand strategies.