Mònica Casabayó

Key changes and challenges for brands in an uncertain environment

Purpose – Brands are facing key changes and challenges that need to be addressed from both the academic as well as the managerial perspectives. This paper aims to discuss some of them and revises the research agenda of the field of brand management.Design/methodology/approach – Conceptual implications are drawn from the analysis and discussion of the papers of this special issue, as well as from previous literature.Findings – In this global world in which brands are present in many different countries and operate in really diverse business sectors the classical brand management theories and many of their assumptions may need to be revised.Originality/value – The paper discusses the key challenges that brands are facing and encourages academics to use the rich diversity of methodologies that they have at their disposal and that can be extremely helpful to address the future research agenda of this field.

Influences in children's materialism: a conceptual framework

Purpose – This paper aims to answer two questions: According to research carried out in the last decades, what are the factors that influence materialism in children? And, can these factors be classified in a comprehensive conceptual framework? Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the most cited articles on the topic published in academic journals during the last 35 years, as well as a selection of articles in specific journals published during the last ten years. Findings – A conceptual framework is provided which classifies the factors in three groups: individual factors, semi-contextual factors (family related) and contextual factors (external influences). Practical implications – The classification helps to understand how the factors relate to each other, and is intended to be a tool for parents, educators and policy makers willing to understand how to deal effectively with materialism in children. Originality/value – As far as is known, this paper is the first attempt to classify the facto...

Using AI Techniques in the Grocery Industry: Identifying the Customers Most Likely to Defect

The food retailing market has reached a mature stage where companies need to be competitive if they are to survive. Customers are ever more demanding and retailers need to design and introduce new ways of learning about their customers if they are to retain them (Leeflang & Van Raaij 1995 ). This article examines the efficiency of the LAMDA classifier (Learning Algorithm Machine for Data Analysis) (Aguado 1998 ; Aguado et al. 1999 ) in identifying customers behaviour; specifically examining which customers are most likely to defect when a new retailer appears on the scene. The study carried out in this project is based on data gathered from a Spanish grocery chain: Supermercats Pujol, SA – ‘Plus Fresc’, winner of the 1998 Global Electronic Marketing Award, www.plusfresc.es