Roy Toffoli

The Adoption of "E-Banking" by Lebanese Banks: Success and Critical Factors

This article examines the organizational, structural, and strategic factors that can speed up or slow down the adoption of E-banking innovations by financial institutions in the Lebanese market. A conceptual model is developed based on a review of the major innovation adoption theories and other research findings, and tested with a survey administered through a census of the population of Lebanese banks. Findings revealed that the organizational variables of bank size, presence of functional divisions, technical staff and infrastructure, as well as the degree of international experience and tolerance of risk of the decision makers exert a significant impact on the adoption of E-banking. Two structural characteristics, the internal technological environment, and relative advantage of the innovations were also found to impact adoption. The two strategic factors related to the banks’ degree of international operations were also found to positively influence the adoption of E-banking. Recommendations were provided on ways of accelerating the rate of adoption of E-banking in an important developing Middle Eastern country.

Strategic Brand Evaluations Among Fast-Food Franchises: A Test of Two Frameworks

Abstract This study, first of all, tests the Brisoux-Laroche brand categorization paradigm and the Bliemel price-quality evaluation model in the context of the choice of fast-food restaurants. It also examines the need for and possible benefits of subcategorizing the Brisoux-Laroche brand categories. The results support the hypothesized profiles of the four Brisoux-Laroche brand categories (i.e., evoked, hold, foggy, and reject) and the Bliemel price-quality evaluation impact on brand categorization. It also found empirical support for the notion of splitting these sets based on a brand’s market share position and subjective utility. Of particular significance is the finding of greater perceived utilities among the low-end brands, demonstrating both their vulnerability vis-a-vis the higher share brands, as well as an opportunity to improve their standing.

Cultural and language effects on Chinese bilinguals' and Canadians' responses to advertising

The first objective of this study was to examine how Hong Kong Chinese and Anglo-Canadians differed in their perceptions of the honesty and forcefulness of a message source in informational advertising. A second objective was to explore the reaction of bilingual Chinese subjects to an advertisement and questionnaire administered either in their native language or in their second language. An experiment was carried out with Anglo-Canadian and Chinese students. Findings revealed that the former perceived significantly greater source honesty and less forcefulness in the ad compared to the latter group exposed to the instrument in their native language. The comparison of the English language and Chinese language treatments for the Chinese subjects revealed that the former perceived significantly greater source honesty, significantly less perception of forcefulness on the part of the source, and developed significantly greater attitudes towards the brand than the latter, similar to that found for the Anglo subjects. These results help to confirm the operation of a cultural accommodation process.

Social Mobility and the Demand for Luxury in Russia: A Typology of Russian Consumers of Luxury Goods

BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) countries, the largest and fastest growing emerging markets representing about a half of the world population (Wilson & Purushothaman, 2003; Lanzeni, 2008), need particular attention from the marketing scholars and practitioners. Rapid change of disposable income and accumulated wealth in BRICs resulted in steep increase of luxury consumption significantly exceeding the growth rate of GDI per capita (O’Leary, 2008). This phenomenon was registered by brand managers and advertisers catering to the luxury market segment, but consumer behavior requires further scholarly research to be adequately explained (Conway Dato-on & Moustafaeva, 2004; Okonkwo, 2009). Russia due to its unique social, cultural and geopolitical characteristics represents a particular challenge for such research.

Promotion Via Sms, Effective or Not? A Study of Consumers’ Attitude Toward Reception of Promotional ADS by Sms on Mobile Phone

According to current trends, American companies will be investing more than a billion dollars in mobile phone advertisement in 2012 (Gauntt, 2009). This new sales promotional channel enables companies to build relationships across time with consumers by regularly supplying them with information and interacting with them (Benou et Bitos, 2008; Ferris, 2007). The mobile phone allows for quick and efficient communication between persons and companies (Hongcharu et Eiamkanchanalai, 2009; Benou et Bitos, 2008 ; McCasland, 2005 ; Spurgeon, 2005 ; Bauer et al., 2005). With those characteristics, the mobile phone could be the ideal medium for a direct and personalized communication with consumers Bauer et al., 2005).

Three Dichotomies of Luxury Consumption in Russia

Our study is centered on understanding a paradoxical behavior of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa): consumers manifest an escalation of luxury consumption at rates, which are disproportionally higher than increases in their disposable incomes (e.g., Mishra, 2010; Astmon et al, 2011). Western behavior models fail to adequately predict or explain this phenomenon in a consistent manner. We believe that, while BRICS’ cultures are quite diverse, they share the common dynamic aspect – progressing from collectivism to individualism (Parker et al, 2009). Such a transition activates certain behavioral mechanisms leading to self-expression via consumption of luxury goods and services - a pattern shared across the BRICS.

The Influence of Organizational Culture on Advertising Agencies: The Case of the French Advertising Industry

Using semi-directed interviews of managers of French subsidiaries of multinational advertising agencies, this study sought to examine the influence of the organizational culture of a firm on (1) the operation of the advertising agency, (2) its impact on the content of the advertising messages and campaigns produced by these agencies and (3) to explore the function of these values on consumer choices.

The Moderating Effect of Individualism-Collectivism on the Differential Perception of One-Sided Versus Two-Sided Advertising Appeals

Two-sided messages are generally more effective than one-sided messages when it comes to changing a strongly held attitude (Hawkins, Best, Coney 1995; Jackson and Allen 1987), and their use appears to be increasing in North America. However, with the globalization of business the question arises as to whether this message strategy is just as effective in other cultures. The focus of this paper is on examining the role of a major cultural dimension, namely, Individualism/ Collectivism (I/C) on the differential effectiveness of these two message forms.

An Item Response Theory Analysis of Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale

Traditional scale purification methods and an Item Response Theory (IRT) approach (Testgraf) are applied to a 5 item unidimensional composite, the abridged Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale. Traditional methods indicate that the scale is highly reliable in its English and Chinese language versions. On the other hand, IRT analysis identifies anomalies with individual scale items. In particular, items tend not to discriminate well between individuals who score highly on self-esteem and those whose score is lower. Moreover, Differential Item Functioning (DIF) appears for some items in comparisons between Chinese and English versions of the scale. It is argued that IRT analysis capabilities augment the current measure development paradigm.

The Attitude of Tunisian Consumers Towards Comparative Advertising

This research examines the reactions and attitudes of Tunisian consumers towards several forms of comparative advertisements (CA), specifically, direct comparative ads (DCA), indirect comparative ads (ICA), and two-sided comparative ads (TSCA). Although DCA are illegal in Tunisia, ICA are permitted. However, the use of the latter is still very limited. A number of hypotheses are advanced and tested in order to ascertain the persuasiveness of these three types of CA with respect to non comparative ads (NCA).