Neil Granitz

Web 2.0 and Marketing Education: Explanations and Experiential Applications

Although both experiential learning and Web 2.0 tools focus on creativity, sharing, and collaboration, sparse research has been published integrating a Web 2.0 paradigm with experiential learning in marketing. In this article, Web 2.0 concepts are explained. Web 2.0 is then positioned as a philosophy that can advance experiential learning through greater student construction of pedagogical materials, by bringing more of the outside world into the classroom and by modifying the role of the professor. Next, Web 2.0 principles are applied to create specific class marketing activities. Finally, using technology champions and incentives, strategies to motivate faculty adoption of the Web 2.0 paradigm are presented.

Individual, Social and Organizational Sources of Sharing and Variation in the Ethical Reasoning of Managers

A growth in consumer and media ethical consciousness has resulted in the need for organizations to ensure that members understand, share and project an approved and unified set of ethics. Thus understanding which variables are related to sharing and variation of ethical reasoning and moral intent, and the relative strength of these variables is critical. While past research has examined individual (attitudes, values, etc.), social (peers, significant others, etc.) and organizational (codes of conduct, senior management, etc.) variables, it has focused on their influence on the individual – and not on their role in relation to patterns of group sharing and variation in an organization. Introduced as a new methodology to study ethics, microcultural analysis stipulates that to explain patterns of sharing and variation, one must understand how individual, social and organizational variables influence sharing and variation. Key hypotheses predict that managers who share in individual, social or organizational determinants will be more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent. Qualitative and quantitative research supports the key hypotheses, finding social ties, personal moral intensity, Machiavellianism, locus of control and codes of ethics as significant determinants. Individuals who share in these determinants are more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent. Additionally, regression analysis reveals social ties and personal moral intensity to be the strongest determinants. Based on these results, managerial recommendations focus on a holistic approach, manipulating these three determinants to cultivate a unified code of ethics within an organization.

Applying E-Marketing Strategies to Online Distance Learning

This article uniquely identifies distance learning over the Internet as a form of e-commerce and applies e-marketing strategies to the implementation of online distance learning. Challenges posed by faculty and students of distance learning, as well as those resulting from incompatibilities between media and course content, are outlined. The e-marketing strategic themes of personalization and customization, community, disintermediation, reintermediation, consumer tracking, enhanced customer service, and mixing bricks and clicks are then applied to the challenges for the purpose of providing guidance toward the most appropriate deployment of the Internet for distance education.

Actual and Perceived Sharing of Ethical Reasoning and Moral Intent Among In-Group and Out-Group Members

Despite an extensive amount of research studying the influence of significant others on an individuals ethical behavior, researchers have not examined this variable in the context of organizational group boundaries. This study tests actual and perceptual sharing and variation in ethical reasoning and moral intent within and across functional groups in an organization. Integrating theory on ethical behavior, group dynamics, and culture, it is proposed that organizational structure affects cognitive structure. Departmental boundaries create stronger social ties within the group as well as intergroup biases between the groups. Thus individuals will be more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent with members of their own functional group (in-group) than with members of other functional groups (out-group). Additionally, they will perceive that they are more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent with in-group members than with out-group members. Responding to two versions of two ethical scenarios, respondents contrasted their own ethical behavior to their expected ethical behavior of in-group and out-group members. Empirical results confirmed the hypotheses. Organizational group boundaries create actual as well as perceptual sharing and variation in ethical reasoning and moral intent. Furthermore, when comparing perceptual sharing to actual sharing, results show that individuals understate their sharing of ethical reasoning and moral intent with out-group members and overstate their sharing with in-group members. As organizational boundaries can create actual and perceived differences between groups that could lead to inter-group conflict, suggestions for management focus on removing or blurring inter-group boundaries.

Creating and Diffusing a Technology Champion Course

Excitement has been generated for using Internet technology as a vehicle to further numerous educational objectives, including enhanced student learning, greater integration of business school functional areas, and increased job market relevance. This article discusses how the Introductory Internet Marketing course can be positioned as a technology champion to accomplish a number of these marketing education objectives. Following this, a plan to diffuse the activities from the champion course to other marketing courses is presented.

Teaching About Marketing and Teaching Marketing With Innovative Technology Introduction to the Special Edition

Rather than academic disciplines or practices shape their tools, it is the tools that mold academic disciplines and their practices. Marketing, as we know, it is more as it is because its tools have shaped it rather than a discipline that has created the tools it has needed, and needs (Deighton, 1997). Marketers today use broadcast media, retail scanner data, the Internet, and social media not because they invented them for a marketing purpose but because these tools were all invented for other purposes and then used by marketers in ways that changed how marketing was practiced. This is equally true of the ways in which marketing is taught at our colleges and universities. The technologies we use to teach marketing are seldom a reflection of what we as marketing teachers have envisaged or designed. Rather, our tools and technologies have shaped how we teach. Socrates taught (very successfully) by asking questions and discussing, and as far as we know used no tangible technology at all. In the early 1800s, someone realized that thin sheets of black or gray slate could be written on with sticks of calcium sulfate, or gypsum, commonly called “chalk” (although technically, not “chalk”), and so the teacher’s technology became the “blackboard” or “chalkboard.” Teachers were judged by how well they used the board to communicate with their students. In the late 1950s, teaching styles changed again, as overhead projectors began to allow teachers to write equally badly on transparent plastic sheets and to project this onto a screen or wall. These in turn were replaced by dedicated computer projectors in the early 1990s, and the advent of easy-to-use computer graphics presentation software such as PowerPoint threatened to make mediocre communicators of everyone. Nowadays, a plethora of hardware technologies such as tablet computers (of which the iPad is the iconic example), smartphones, and wireless clicker systems continue to change the way teachers teach and students are taught. These are accompanied by remarkable advances in software technologies, especially in terms of social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. More so than any previous technologies, these new technologies are aggressively being used as marketing tools by practitioners, while educators are experimenting with ways to teach with these tools. Thus, new technologies are affecting marketing educators across two dimensions: teaching about new technology used for marketing and using new technology to teach about marketing. Additionally, what distinguishes this new wave of technology from previous ones is that current and future students are already using these technologies. Seventy-three percent of teens (12-17 years) and young adults (18-29 years) use social media; and employing various devices (laptop, cell phone, gaming device), up to 90% of teens and 55% of young adults access the Internet from anywhere, wirelessly (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Before faculty used it, students did not use PowerPoint or chalkboards; however, they now use Twitter, Facebook, and mobile apps, downloadable to digital devices. Thus, in terms of understanding and using these technologies, faculty are in a position where they must catch up not only to practitioners but also to students.

Progressive Yet Traditional

Historically, women have had low participation in technological fields, and this has been reflected through negative portrayals of women in technology advertisements. As producers of e-commerce, women have made significant advances, in many cases approaching and even exceeding men. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine whether e-commerce advertisements continue to reflect negative stereotypical sex differences in relation to technology. Understanding these patterns is critical, as negative portrayals may propagate harmful stereotypes to men and women; in addition, women exposed to these ads may view them disapprovingly and develop negative attitudes toward the brands. To examine this, a content analysis of e-commerce ads in magazines was conducted. Results illustrate that, compared to past studies, ads for e-commerce products and services portray women more equitably.

Eco-Friendly Behavior – A Comparison of Five Countries

Eco-friendly behavior like recycling, choosing modes of transportation, or saving resources differs among countries: In some countries walking instead of driving a car is perceived as being out of the question and in other countries getting to work by walking in combination with public transportation is part of the daily routine. If there is no infrastructure for either recycling or for alternative mobility options like public transportation or bike lanes in a country, people will not be able to engage in recycling activities or use their car to a lesser extent. A comparison of eco-friendly or green behavior in five countries will show the differences. Whether it is a matter of age, gender, education or income or whether regulations or infrastructure might have an influence will be shown in this article.