Dj Hanson

The mix of qualitative and quantitative research in major marketing journals, 1993‐2002

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to determine the mix of qualitative and quantitative research published in major marketing journals.Design/methodology/approach – This study involved a content analysis of 1,195 articles published between 1993 and 2002 in three prominent marketing journals.Findings – It was found that 24.80 per cent of articles employed qualitative methods in some form, and 46.28 per cent quantitative research. The main justification provided for use of qualitative methods was the ability to provide more insight or a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. No increase was seen, however, in the amount (year by year) of qualitative research published over this period. This paper accounts for the continued dominance of quantitative research using linked historical, social and practical arguments.Practical implications – The issue of method is central to marketing research. Understanding of the actual (as distinct from espoused) orientation of marketing researchers ...

A case for more integrative multi‐disciplinary marketing education

Marketing education that develops in students an understanding of core theory and practical principles, but does not encourage students to see connections between the courses that they study, may not sufficiently meet current organisational needs. The present organisational trend in Australia and New Zealand towards agility and flexibility, demands not only that employees be equipped with necessary technical knowledge, but that they must be able to integrate and use that knowledge in a creative and synergistic manner. A possible solution put forward in this paper lies in a more integrated course curriculum and means of assessment, with an emphasis on attitude change and integrative ability rather than a revolutionary alteration of the knowledge base.

Green Marketing and Green Places: A Taxonomy for the Destination Marketer

This paper highlights and discusses green/environmental implications and imperatives associated with destination marketing as distinct from those related to product and services marketing. A comparative taxonomy has been developed to illustrate these, and to provide a framework for discussing their relevance, with reference to the particular case of Tasmania as a tourism destination.

Divergent stakeholder views of corporate social responsibility in the Australian forest plantation sector.

Although the Australian forest plantation industry acknowledges that there is a role for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in forest management, there is confusion as to what this constitutes in practice. This paper describes the conflicts between internal and external stakeholder views on CSR in plantation forestry. We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants across three plantation management regions in Australia: Tasmania, the Green Triangle and south-west Western Australia. We interviewed a range of stakeholders including forest company employees, local councils, Indigenous representatives, and environmental non-government organisations. CSR-related initiatives that stakeholders believed were important for plantation management included the need for community engagement, accountability towards stakeholders, and contribution to community development and well-being. Although there was wide support for these initiatives, some stakeholders were not satisfied that forest companies were actively implementing them. Due to the perception that forest companies are not committed to CSR initiatives such as community engagement, some stakeholder expectations are not being satisfied.

Travelling neo-tribes: Conceptualising recreational vehicle users

Neo-tribes have been defined as including people from different walks of life who come together in fluid groupings, bound by common interests, similar lifestyles, rituals and language. This concept is popular in sociological literature, but has rarely been applied to travellers or tourism literature. This study sought to understand whether neo-tribalism could add insights into our existing knowledge of recreational vehicle (RV) users in Canada. Using a grounded theory approach including focus groups and in-depth interviews, the research found RV users exhibit neo-tribal characteristics which can be characterised as symbolic and behavioural. The behavioural aspects of this neo-tribe are evident in campsites, where rituals such as happy hours exist. Symbolic aspects included fluidity of membership and commitment to the RVing lifestyle. The findings suggest that the neo-tribal concept is a highly useful tool for understanding the motivations, behaviour and needs of travellers and adds new insights into our understanding of the RVing experience.

Economic man and disciplinary boundaries: A case‐study in corporate annual reports

This paper is an empirical response to two of Quattrone’s claims: first, that research in accounting is fragmented; and then that this follows from the blocking of communication by intra‐ and inter‐disciplinary boundaries. Although we agree with much of Quattrone’s argument, and in particular with his problematising of “economic man”, we draw an opposite conclusion. Rather than looking to a trans‐disciplinary removal of boundaries, we use a survey of 30 years of research in corporate annual reports to defend narrowly disciplinary work. We make our case through discussing problems of intra‐ and inter‐disciplinary unity in research, the puzzle of the role of “economic man” in the study of annual reports, and the alternative to him in science and technology studies (STS). Our approach yields a better fit than Quattrone’s own solution with his aims of an evolutionary perspective that allows for historical shifts, and for a reflexivity that includes the inevitable entanglement of researchers in what they study. We conclude by noting that our approach is applicable to the study of corporate communication more generally.

Who are the Shareholders in Australia and What are Their Ethical Opinions? An Empirical Analysis

Analysis of the 2003 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes verifies claims that Australia is a share-owning democracy. We show that higher income earners are most likely to own shares and to own shares in a large number of companies, and that the 45–54 and 54–56 year age groups are the peak for ownership. We also investigate ethical issues relating to shareownership by examining scenarios under which owners would sell their shares. Ethical concern is highest on the issue of child labour. Yet there is surprisingly little concern amongst shareowners over racial discrimination, which was less likely to lead to the sales of shares than investment in genetically modified crops or foods, paying large bonuses to executives or the production of military weapons. Women are more likely than men to adopt an “ethical” stance on share ownership across all scenarios, although high income earners are less likely to sell shares in the face of racial discrimination or the production of military weapons by their companies. Postmaterialists are just as likely as materialists to own shares, but much more likely to sell them for ethical reasons, while those on the “left” of politics appear to be more ethical than the “right”. Finally, owning shares in several companies reduces the likelihood of ethical behaviour, with those owning shares in six or more companies least likely to sell for any ethical reason.

Share ownership in Australia: The emergence of new tensions?

The rise in private share ownership over the last decade is an interesting but relatively poorly researched issue in Australia. In the expectation that relations between large companies and their shareholders are already important and will become increasingly so, we report exploratory longitudinal studies of two aspects of the interaction. Regression analysis of shareholders’ demographic and attitudinal characteristics, drawn from National Social Science and Australian Electoral Study surveys, shows what shareholders might expect from their companies. Content-analysis of corporate annual reports shows how two companies have reacted; here we compare Coles Myer, the subject of recurrent scandal, with Amcor, as a model of corporate responsiveness. We conclude that widespread share ownership is conducive to increasing social tension across a range of dimensions.

The social bases of cosmetic surgery in Australia

Despite the demand for cosmetic surgery, little is known about the characteristics of recipients beyond the well-known gender divide. Data from a nationally representative Australian survey profiles the social background of cosmetic surgery recipients and those desiring surgery. Aside from strong gender differences, the middle-aged were most likely to desire cosmetic surgery, but older people were most likely to have had it, with body dissatisfaction also associated with desiring and having cosmetic surgery. Social status (education, occupation, income) effects and the fact that those who identify with the Liberal and National parties are more likely than Labor or Greens identifiers to have had surgery suggest it is an aspect of (upper) middle-class lifestyles and sought by those who aspire to them.

Adoption of community engagement in the corporate culture of Australian forest plantation companies

This paper provides practical insight into what can be done to improve the adoption of community engagement (CE) in the corporate culture of two Australian forest plantation companies. Previous research has identified that CE can be limited by corporate cultures that promote a narrow range of CE benefits. However, no previous studies have detailed the relationship between corporate culture and CE adoption within forest companies. This research provides an empirical grounding for exploration of the relationship between corporate culture and CE adoption. We undertook case studies of two forest companies to understand how to enhance CE adoption. Interviews were conducted with 19 company staff including field staff, middle managers and senior managers. We found that both companies had some commitment to CE. Many employees believed CE was essential for the ongoing operations of their company. CE adoption, however, was constrained by issues such as a lack of resources and difficulties in discerning when CE was necessary. Based on our findings we provide strategies for enhancing adoption of CE in corporate culture. These strategies include (a) providing more incentives for individuals to engage with a broader range of stakeholders, (b) developing better tools to gather feedback from stakeholders and measure their social licence to operate, and (c) developing more effective stakeholder identification and engagement strategies.