Ingeborg Astrid Kleppe

Country and destination image – different or similar image concepts?

Country Image and Destination Image exist as two parallel research tracks with almost no cross-references although the concepts refers to nearly the same area of applied marketing, namely export products to international consumer markets. This paper aims to determine how country image and destination image refer to the same image objects. Concepts related to country image are organised in a hierarchical framework where country image is seen as an image pool for product-related image concepts. Similarly destination image can be seen as an umbrella concept for different geographical units, which can be organised in a vertical framework. By combining these two frameworks we claim that there is substantial overlap between the two concepts with regard to the objects they refer to.

Company Versus Country Branding: “Same, same but Different”

The aim of this study is to investigate whether countries can be branded like companies. Company brands are managed according to clear ownership and top-down control of brand management. In contrast, countries are governed according to the public interest, which requires transparency and participation.

Crowdsourcing innovation and product development: Gamification as a motivational driver

Abstract Crowdsourcing—outsourcing a job to external contributors through an open call—has become an important part of innovation process and product development. However, many crowdsourcing initiatives fail due to low engagement and participation. In the current paper, we aim to explore how companies can employ gamification—game elements and design techniques—to motivate contributions to a crowdsourcing project. Based on an exploratory case study of Threadless, a web-based apparel store, we propose implications that can assist companies in leveraging global capabilities for new product development. Threadless employs game thinking through a wide array of game elements and game mechanics including challenges, achievements, countdowns, discovery, points, reward schedules, and status. Our analysis shows that consumers are fun seekers. They will carry out activities without expecting anything in return, if they perceive it as being fun. Moreover, companies should openly acknowledge consumers’ contributions and give them recognition by using flexible reward system, statuses, and challenges. Despite the importance of extrinsic rewards, it is also essential to realize that intrinsic factors are crucial for maintaining consumers’ continued engagement and therefore we strongly recommend companies to build a strong virtual brand community around their crowdsourcing projects.

Hero shots: involved fathers conquering new discursive territory in consumer culture

ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore how visual expressions of culture offer new discursive territory within which consumer cultural ideals can be negotiated on a global scale. Through a critical visual analysis of the revelatory case Swedish Dads, we find hero shots depicting involved fathers where children’s needs and the hermetic confines of the home take center stage, as opposed to the traditional fatherhood ideals portrayed in western contemporary advertising, media, and popular culture. We demonstrate how the Swedish state’s gender ideology was encoded into a communicative event in the form of hero shots and subsequently dispersed by visual consumers as well as political and commercial stakeholders pushing this particular agenda and/or capitalizing on its tendencies. This in such a way that the event conquered new discursive territory fostering new types of consumer cultural negotiations on fatherhood ideals also in other cultural settings.