Luca Cacciolatti

Marketing intelligence in SMEs: implications for the industry and policy makers

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to demonstrate empirically the relationship between firm characteristics and information use within a small and medium sized enterprises (SME) context, proposing that firm characteristics are a catalyst of information use. With marketing information it is intended all data usable within for a marketing purpose.Design/methodology/approach – First, firm characteristics and their impact on information use amongst SMEs were identified in the literature. After that, a quantitative study was performed analysing the data through multivariate data analysis techniques, specifically principal component analysis (PCA), canonical correlation analysis and regression. The results of the analysis are discussed and the paper ends with the conclusions, implications for practitioners and policy makers, limitations of the study and indications for future research.Findings – The results of this study show the importance of the association between firm characteristics and information use amo...

Traditional Food Products: The Effect of Consumers’ Characteristics, Product Knowledge, and Perceived Value on Actual Purchase

The study demonstrates the importance of customer orientation in markets dominated by small food and drink manufacturers. The study evaluates the effect of consumers’ personal characteristics and perceptions on purchase and provides better understanding of their role in business development in specialty food markets. The United Kingdom’s Mediterranean food market was chosen as a context, focusing specifically on Greek feta. Two hundred seventy-three UK specialty food shoppers were surveyed online to determine what aspects of consumers’ cognition and what personal characteristics would affect purchase decisions. The findings reveal, through 3 models (R2 = .26/.20/.19), that product knowledge (p < .01), country of origin (p < .10), perceived transactional value (p < .10), consumers’ life stage (p < .05), and available income (p < .01) are 5 critical factors affecting decision making. The managerial implications for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) lie in the need to create and deliver value to consumers by informing production decisions on consumers’ insight rather than on customers’ (wholesalers, retailers) specifications.

The Effects of Biofeedback-based Stimulated Recall on Self-Regulated Online Learning: A Gender and Cognitive Taxonomy Perspective

Previous studies posited the effectiveness of Stimulated Recall (SR) by exposing learners to recorded videos enhancing their personal perceptions and authentic understanding of knowledge in an interactive classroom. However, few studies explored how SR is implemented in a relatively static context, e.g., online self-directed learning, or took human factors, e.g., cognitive style and gender, into consideration in such a context. To fill this gap, the current study, based on previous psychological research findings, aims to introduce biofeedback as a stimulus for learners to engage in retrospection regarding their learning behavior. A quasi-experimental design study was carried out over a 12-week set of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) self-regulated online reading activities. The participants consisted of an experimental group (54 undergraduate students) and a control group (52 undergraduate students) at one Chinese university. Pre-post tests on reading performance and their association with a specific cognitive taxonomy were assessed through a developed scale instrument, whereas physiological signals (e.g., gazing duration, verbal fixation and brain wave) were captured via eye-tracking and electroencephalograph (EEG) technology. The results emphasized that (a) students’ reading ability and cognitive hierarchy significantly improved through biofeedback. Moreover, (b) learners in single level-one cognitive hierarchic groups had significant improvements in both cognitive abilities and reading comprehension, whereas learners in multi-level hierarchic groups had no significant enhancements. Finally, (c) the optical data results and EEG reports showed that males favor procedural feedback and females have a preference for a conclusive assessment.

The Nature of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise

When we study small businesses we often wonder: how do we define small businesses? How small or big is a small business? And what size is a medium or large business? These are all legitimate questions that students reading about entrepreneurship may encounter.

Growth Strategies within an SME Context

The importance of growth to an SME consists in the ability of the company to survive major changes in its environment. This is the reason why companies in general, and SMEs in particular, should not point their strategies simply to survival, but should instead opt for business strategies aimed at enhancing growth.

Pricing and Distribution Decisions in a Context of Low Distribution Capacity

SMEs often have to deal with the problems related to low profitability and low liquidity. Low profitability might also be affected by slow business growth and gives an indication of the lack of efficiency within an SME, whereas lack of business growth might indicate difficulties in the existing market, other than with the firm itself. Low market growth and low profitability cause problems in terms of liquidity, because undercapitalised SMEs do not have the necessary working capital-i.e., the capital used to cover liabilities with current assets — and therefore are subject to debt when assets cannot be turned quickly into cash.

Value Propositions: How to Build SMEs’ Offering

Marketing developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Several models were proposed over time by researchers in universities, in order to understanding how marketing works. Amongst the most common models are the 4 Ps of marketing, which was extended to 7 Ps for an industrial context, the 7 Cs of communication, and so on. You have already studied these in modules like introduction to marketing or marketing communications. Some extensions of these models are often taught in universities in modules like international marketing, marketing strategy or marketing management. Within the SME context, we could talk about the 4 Ps; however, it would be restrictive and a bit too rigid when looking at the loose and unstructured marketing that characterises SMEs. With SMEs, it is more appropriate to talk about ‘value propositions’.

The Role of Structured Marketing Information in SMEs’ Decision-Making

Marketing decisions are critical to firms’ business success. However, competitive markets are characterised by asymmetry of information; therefore, the level of uncertainty of firms’ outcomes when operating in a market makes it difficult to make the right decisions. Firms need information to support their decision-making.

Small Business Owners and Their Environment

In your life, you must have come across different small businesses. Sometimes you might have found that in some, you encounter very proactive people running the business. Sometimes, these proactive people tend to be very good communicators; they make you smile, and they might also joke with their customers. Among these people, you might find some who are easily taken by passion: they might get really excited about their customers’ experience, become very talkative, push customers to try new products, or simply engage in exciting conversations. You can see their passion for what they do.

Supply Chain Relationships Management: SMEs’ Partners

In the past two decades, the disciplines of marketing and supply chain management got closer and closer, to the point where now parts of supply chain management have merged with marketing, and in the most recent publications and textbooks about marketing, we can find chapters on supply chain management. But why is it so important to marketing?