Michael Klafft

Street Marketing: How Proximity and Context Drive Coupon Redemption

Purpose - In 2009, U.S. coupons set a new record of 367 billion coupons distributed. Yet, while coupon distribution is on the rise, redemption rates remain below 1%. This article shows how recognizing context variables, such as proximity, weather, part of town and financial incentives interplay to determine a coupon campaigns’ success.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports an empirical study conducted in co-operation with a restaurant chain: 9.880 Subway coupons were distributed under different experimental context conditions. Redemption behavior was analyzed with the help of logistic regressions.Findings – We found that even though proximity drives coupon redemption, city center campaigns seem to be much more sensitive to distance than suburban areas. The further away the distribution place from the restaurant the less does the amount of monetary incentive determine the motivation to redeem.Practical implications – When designing a coupon campaign for a company, coupon distribution should not follow a ‘one-is-good-for-all-strategy’ even for one marketer within one product category. Instead each coupon strategy should carefully consider contextual influence.Originality – This article is the first to our knowledge that systematically investigates the impact of context variables on coupon redemption. We focus on context variables that electronic marketing channels will be able to easily incorporate into personalized mobile marketing campaigns.

Diffusion of emergency warnings via multi-channel communication systems an empirical analysis

This paper analyzes the propagation of emergency alerts and emergency-related information via multi-channel communication systems. Results of two empirical studies are presented. The first study was conducted with 362 test users in a rural area in Germany and analyzes how quickly recipients actually notice a warning after it has been issued via multiple channels (SMS, E-Mail, pagers). The second study involving 13,950 participants from Hamburg, Germany, focuses on information search behaviour and analyzes access patterns to a disaster-related website after distribution of an official (test) warning message.

Early warning systems in practice: performance of the SAFE system in the field

Extreme weather conditions often cause considerable damage. Much of this damage could be mitigated if people were better prepared for disasters to come. Therefore, public authorities and private enterprises have been investing in Early Warning Systems (EWS) in the past few years. The EWS SAFE (Sensor-Actuator based Early warning system for extreme weather conditions) provides an integrated platform which combines (i) distributed weather sensor networks, (ii) efficient location-specific weather prognosis modules, and (iii) an alerting system. The alerting system is used to supply the general public and emergency services with personalized, situation-dependent information on upcoming extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, SAFE is able to steer remote-controlled actuators that induce automated counter measures, such as disconnecting sensitive electronic equipment from the power grid. This paper describes the deployment of SAFE by an industrial consortium in the town of Mering in Germany, with focus on its performance when alerting the public during a severe thunderstorm.

A concept and prototype for the integration of multi-channel disaster alert systems

In many countries, the responsibility for issuing disaster alerts to the general population lies with different local, regional, or national authorities. These disaster alert systems are usually managed independently and without any automatic co-ordination. However, it would be highly beneficial for system operators (a) to obtain an overview of the crisis communication that other actors have already undertaken, and (b), to integrate as many dissemination channels as possible to maximize the impact of alerts. This paper presents a concept for such a holistic alert solution, as well as a prototypical implementation of the system. The prototype also allows for a personalization of alert messages for different groups of recipients such as tourists or people with different types of disabilities.

ICKEwiki: requirements and concepts for an enterprise wiki for SMEs

Extensive empirical studies of the use of Web 2.0 applications in small and medium-sized enterprises, together with requirements analyses among pilot users, served as the basis to compile requirements for a wiki knowledge and collaboration platform. This experience report discusses the requirements and their implementation in a new wiki engine (ICKEwiki). Initial field experiences with the ICKEwiki implemented among three pilot users are analyzed and potentials for the use and refinement of the platform are presented.

Die Warnung der Bevölkerung im Katastrophenfall

Eine wesentliche Herausforderung des Katastrophenschutzes ist die Warnung der Bevolkerung im Katastrophenfall. Hierbei haben sich in den vergangen Jahren digitale Kanale wie Warn-Apps und soziale Medien als Erganzung traditioneller Warnkanale (wie z. B. Sirenen, Lautsprecherwagen, Radio und Fernsehen) etabliert. Das vorliegende Kapitel diskutiert Eigenschaften, Moglichkeiten und Grenzen unterschiedlicher Warnkanale und zeigt auf, wie diese sinnvoll miteinander kombiniert und in eine ubergeordnete Warnstrategie eingebettet werden konnen. Ausgehend von den verschiedenen Schritten des Informationsverarbeitungsprozesses werden die Herausforderungen der Bevolkerungswarnung diskutiert. Anhand von Beispielen werden Gestaltungsempfehlungen fur Warnnachrichten abgeleitet. Soweit der Warnkanal dies technisch zulasst, konnen dabei Kernbotschaften mit multimedialen Informationen angereichert werden. Insgesamt kommt es darauf an, eine konsistente Warnkommunikation zu gewahrleisten, und trotzdem die Vorteile unterschiedlicher Kanale optimal zu nutzen. Welche Kanale – bei gegebenen Budgetrestriktionen – letztlich zum Einsatz kommen sollten, hangt dabei auch von der Risikosituation vor Ort ab, da die Auswahl der Warnkanale auch von typischen Gefahrenlagen und ihren Vorwarnzeiten bestimmt wird.

High impact — Low probability incidents at a coastal metropolis: Flood events and risk mitigation by crowd-tasking systems

The 21st century is facing a paradigm shift in disaster risk mitigation and the importance of crowd-tasking systems is rising. This paper presents a concept to estimate the benefits of crowdtasking systems in the context of high impact, low probability incidents in a coastal region with more than 1.7 million inhabitants.

Assessing the Impact of Crowd Tasking Apps on Resuscitation Success: The Case of Sudden Cardiac Arrests in Germany

Sudden cardiac arrest SCA is among the three most prominent causes of death in industrialized nations. Therefore, experts are calling for solutions, including IT-systems to mobilize volunteers. SCA emergencies require immediate action and advanced first aid skills. As of today, emergency services are often unable to arrive at the victim in time, and laypeople on the scene frequently fail to conduct resuscitation properly. One approach to solve this problem is to rely on skilled volunteers, who are alerted by smartphone apps. Among others, German researchers are currently developing a crisis response system with a crowd tasking app. It aims to help reduce the effects of large-scale events, but also of ad-hoc incidents including SCA. This paper describes an approach to determine the potential of the system to increase the survival rate of SCA illustrated based upon data from Germany. Its concept was analyzed by experts and benefited from their feedback.

Privacy-aware and distributed system design for personalised alerting

This paper presents a concept for the privacy-friendly generation and distribution of personalized emergency alert messages. Based upon a discussion of possible benefits of alert personalization in disaster situations, relevant target groups for personalized alerting and their respective information requirements are identified. Subsequently, different system design approaches will be discussed, with emphasis on client-centric versus server-centric personalization, ansynchronicity and interoperability. A design concept will be presented which also facilitates the integration of additional alerting functionalities on smart phones.