Suzan Burton

Interactive or reactive? Marketing with Twitter

Purpose – Despite rapid growth in organizational use of Twitter, there is little theoretical or empirical research examining how different organisations use Twitter. This paper aims to analyse and compare use of Twitter in 12 accounts held by six organisations in the USA and Australia, drawing on existing models of interactive communications.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on analysis of a random sample of tweets sent by each account.Findings – The results demonstrate different ways in which the interactive capabilities of Twitter can be used to communicate with customers. However by also demonstrating lack of consistency in Twitter practice within most organisations, the results reinforce the need for strategic consistency in developing Twitter practice.Research limitations/implications – The results are based on the Twitter practice of 12 organisational accounts in the USA and Australia from December 2009 to May 2010. As with any evolving medium, practices at the different organisations...

Prediction of attitude and behavioural intentions in retail banking

Purpose – This research seeks to explore the factors predicting customer loyalty in retail banking. Loyalty was measured in terms of a customers willingness to recommend a bank and their intention to remain with their main bank short‐term (in the next six months) and long‐term (from six months to five years).Design/methodology/approach – The study was based on a mail survey of 1,951 individuals. Potential predictors were drawn from the literature and included in three separate regression models to model different types of loyalty.Findings – The results indicate that willingness to recommend is best predicted by affective attitude, overall satisfaction and empathy. Short‐term behavioural intentions, however, were best predicted by overall satisfaction and responsiveness, while long‐term intentions were predicted by overall satisfaction, affective attitude and empathy. The three models explained a substantial amount of the variation in the dependent variables: 71 per cent for willingness to recommend, 43 p...

Elecronic Word-of-Mouth

ABSTRACTThe important influence of peer recommendations on consumer purchases has been strongly established. However, recent growth in electronic discussion boards has increased the potential for electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) between people who have never met. This study examines and compares the extent of eWOM on electronic discussion boards within U.S. and China based websites. Using online surveys (N = 214) and observation of discussion postings (N = 3029), data was collected from the “Digital Photography” discussion boards on eBay, Yahoo, and Google (U.S. based websites) and EachNet, Sina, and Netease (China based websites). The findings indicated both similarities and differences in the information giving and seeking behaviors, with the U.S. participants more likely to provide information than Chinese participants, resulting in the U.S. based discussion boards containing a richer source of information relative to requests.ABSTRACT The important influence of peer recommendations on consumer purchases has been strongly established. However, recent growth in electronic discussion boards has increased the potential for electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) between people who have never met. This study examines and compares the extent of eWOM on electronic discussion boards within U.S. and China based websites. Using online surveys (N = 214) and observation of discussion postings (N = 3029), data was collected from the “Digital Photography” discussion boards on eBay, Yahoo, and Google (U.S. based websites) and EachNet, Sina, and Netease (China based websites). The findings indicated both similarities and differences in the information giving and seeking behaviors, with the U.S. participants more likely to provide information than Chinese participants, resulting in the U.S. based discussion boards containing a richer source of information relative to requests.

The Association between seeing retail displays of tobacco and tobacco smoking and purchase : findings from a diary-style survey

AIMS To assess the impact of retail displays of tobacco on tobacco smoking and purchase by smokers and attempting quitters. DESIGN Population-based diary style survey. SETTING NSW, Australia. PARTICIPANTS A total of 998 smokers and 111 attempting quitters. MEASUREMENTS Demographic measures and 4-hourly records over 4 days: number of cigarettes smoked and bought; exposure to cigarette smoking by friends/family or other smokers; and exposure to retail displays of tobacco. FINDINGS Subjects reported seeing cigarettes for sale in more than 40% of the time-periods when they were outside their home. After allowing for factors which are known to increase smoking, people who saw cigarettes for sale were more likely to smoke, and smoked more cigarettes, even if they did not buy cigarettes in the same time-period. There was marginally significant evidence that people exposed to retail displays of tobacco in one time-period were more likely to buy in the following time-period. CONCLUSIONS In an environment which permits point-of-sale displays, smokers were found to see tobacco displays in more than 40% of the 4-hour periods that they were outside the home. Exposure to such tobacco displays was associated with a higher probability of smoking, and with higher levels of smoking, even when subjects did not purchase cigarettes.

Student Justice Perceptions Following Assignment Feedback.

In higher education, students are exposed to regular feedback about their performance, and a prominent aspect of students’ attention to feedback concerns the extent to which grades are consistent with what a student has expected to receive. Any discrepancies that arise can result in negative justice perceptions, which research has shown are associated with negative cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences. However the extent of, and consequences of, these negative justice perceptions within the learning process have gone largely unexplored. This study investigates the relationship between expectation/performance discrepancies, justice perceptions, student satisfaction and self‐efficacy. In particular, we found an interaction between the grade received and negative justice perceptions; poor performers with negative justice perceptions were more likely to have lower subsequent self‐efficacy and satisfaction than those who did not have injustice perceptions. However, self‐efficacy rose for those who had negative justice perceptions if they also received moderate to high performance feedback. The results reflect the complexity of cognitive and behavioral responses to performance feedback. Implications for grading and recommendations for reducing injustice perceptions are discussed.

Surviving your thesis

1. Is a Thesis Right for You? 2. An International Perspective on Theses 3. Cross-Cultural Issues 4. Choosing a Topic/Supervisor 5. Ethical Issues during Candidacy 6. Developing a Research Proposal 7. The Literature Review 8. Qualitative Analysis 9. Quantitative Analysis 10. Motivating Yourself 11. Writing the Thesis 12. Responding to Criticisms 13. Advice from the Examiners 14. Preparing your Work for Publication 15. Common Problems and Potential Solutions 16. Resources for Thesis Writing

Online word‐of‐mouth: a comparison of American and Chinese discussion boards

Purpose – The important influence of peer recommendations on consumer purchases has been strongly established. However, the growth of electronic discussion boards has created a channel for online word‐of‐mouth (OWOM) between people who have never met. This study aims to examine and compare the frequency and content of postings on digital camera electronic discussion boards within US and China based websites.Methodology – Data was collected from the “Photography” discussion boards on eBay and EachNet (a China based website). A total of 552 discussion postings from 257 participants over a three month period were analyzed and coded.Findings – The analysis showed quantitative and qualitative differences in the content across the two sites. There were differences in the pattern of brand mentions across the two websites, and requests for information seeking behaviour also varied across the two sites; users of EachNet were more likely to request information, thus possibly increasing the likelihood of, and influe...

Marketing cigarettes when all else is unavailable: evidence of discounting in price-sensitive neighbourhoods

Objective Since price is both a key determinant of smoking and one of the few remaining marketing strategies available in countries without point-of-sale tobacco display, this study examines cigarette price variations in the Australian market and assesses whether those variations are consistent with price being used to increase or maintain smoking among price-sensitive groups. Method An audit of 1739 tobacco retailers was used to collect variations in the price of the best-selling Australian cigarette brand, as well as record retailer compliance with tobacco retailing legislation. We examined variation in pricing across outlet type, demographic variations (socioeconomic level, % in the area under 18 and % born in Australia), remoteness and retailer compliance with tobacco retailing legislation. Results Multipacks were offered by 27.8% of retailers, with the average pack price in a twin pack

Competing voices : marketing and counter-marketing alcohol on Twitter

1.32 (or 7.3%) cheaper than a single pack. Prices were significantly lower in some outlet types, in lower socioeconomic postcodes and in those with a higher percentage of people under 18. In contrast with other consumer goods, prices were lower (although not significantly so) outside major cities. Conclusions The provision of substantial multi-pack discounts and lower prices in postcodes with a higher proportion of price-sensitive smokers (young people and those from lower socioeconomic groups) is consistent with targeted discounts being used as a tobacco marketing strategy. The results support policy interventions to counter selective discounts and to require disclosure of trade-based discounts.

Towards a better understanding of factors affecting transfer of brand associations

Excessive alcohol consumption constitutes a global health problem, and despite increasing efforts to promote safe drinking, spending on alcohol advertising far outweighs spending on safe-drinking messages. Twitter represents a new channel for social marketing, but its use to promote safe drinking has not been examined. In this study, six Twitter accounts maintained by advocates of safe drinking and/or abstinence were compared with six accounts maintained by alcohol companies using a mixed-method design. The Twitter accounts of alcohol companies were followed by more people, and their tweets were more likely to use interactive features such as hashtags, to be forwarded to others, and to be associated with positive stimuli, suggesting greater interactivity and influence than prohealth Twitter messages. The results suggest social marketers may benefit from adopting the practices of for-profit marketers to increase the visibility of, engagement with, and influence of their tweets.