M31 - MarketingReturn

Companies with product quality labels, often micro-companies or solo entrepreneurs, do not have the marketing know-how of retail chains and are being outpaced in communication in the fast current online environment, especially on social media platforms. Current literature does not provide this specific knowledge, such as what are the important product quality characteristics which should be talked about in marketing campaigns and how these should campaigns be targeted. Thus, the aim of this article is to examine the product quality characteristics important for Czech consumers purchasing food products with a quality label and find suitable consumer characteristics for better targeting of marketing campaigns. The data were gathered using a questionnaire survey by the professional marketing agency Ipsos. The sample of 1,050 Czech consumers was filtered for consumers purchasing regional products or other products with a product quality label. The main statistical method used is the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's test with Bonferroni correction as a post-hoc test. The product quality characteristics are divided into 7 categories and sorted by their importance. The significance of third-party information being the most positively evaluated product quality characteristic suggests a shift in consumer trust. The study identifies demographic variations in quality perception, with older consumers (ages 54–65 and 36–44) valuing brand, composition and price, while younger consumers (ages 18–26) prioritise electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and online availability. Higher education levels correlate with a greater focus on price and communication as quality indicators, while gender differences reveal distinct preferences, such as women favouring traditional packaging and environmental friendliness and men prioritising eWOM and quality processing. Also, the archaic nature of quality labels in the Czech Republic is highlighted.
Implications for Central European audience: The results of this study reveal the most important food product quality characteristics for Czech consumers and might be applicable to neighbouring countries with high preferences for quality labels, such as Poland and Slovakia. This study also provides consumer characteristics usable in targeting of marketing campaigns, usable as a premise for further research in Central European countries.

The effectiveness of education policies and economic, social and environmental conditions play a crucial role in a country’s ability to attract intellectual capital and influence emigration levels. Effective management of migration processes requires coordinating and synchronizing policies across various economic sectors to address the complexity of these dynamics. This study employs a two-step system of the generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyse the impacts of population literacy and ICT skills on migration patterns in EU countries in the period 2007–2022. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing ICT skills and improving education systems. Population literacy has a statistically significant nonlinear impact on the net migration rate. Initially, higher literacy may lead to more emigration and lower net migration. However, as literacy rates reach very high levels, the country becomes more attractive to immigrants, leading to greater net migration. A 1% increase in ICT skills can significantly boost a country's ability to attract skilled migrants by up to 5%. Policymakers need to ensure that increasing literacy rates are complemented by sufficient local opportunities to retain the educated population.
Implications for Central European audience: This study highlights key strategies for Central European countries to manage migration and foster sustainable development. Investing in ICT skills and lifelong learning, increasing R&D to at least 1% and implementing balanced trade policies can attract and retain talent. Promoting sustainable economic growth improves living standards, reducing migration outflows. Tailored migration policies that address diverse migrant needs enhance integration and retention. Adopting data-driven approaches for continuous policy improvement ensures adaptability to emerging challenges. These combined efforts support a competitive workforce and long-term economic resilience, positioning Central Europe as a hub for innovation and sustainable growth.

This study aims to statistically investigate the effects of an infodemic as an external stimulus on consumer decision processes based on the stimulus-organism-response theory (SOR). An infodemic is known as an epidemic of misinformation, and the literature on infodemics in marketing is quite limited. With the research model created for this purpose, the mediating role of brand trust (organism) in the relationship between both infodemic and positive word-of-mouth marketing (stimulus) and consumers' store visit intentions (response) is examined. The findings suggest that infodemic news and positive word-of-mouth marketing influence consumers' shopping behaviour. Being influenced by infodemic news does not have a significant effect on store visit intention directly, but it has a positive effect through the mediation of brand trust. In addition, both direct and indirect effects of positive word-of-mouth marketing on store visit intention are positive. This suggests that brand trust functions as a coping mechanism for consumers to deal with the uncertainty or negative impact of infodemic news and that consumers' store visit intentions can be increased by enhancing their trust in the brand. As a result, it emphasises the importance of brands developing various communication strategies to increase their credibility and influence consumer decision-making mechanisms.
Implications for Central European audience: The study aims to investigate the effects of infodemic posts and positive word-of-mouth marketing on consumers' trust in a brand and their intention to visit a store. By doing so, it seeks to provide strategic recommendations that companies can apply in their communications with customers. Data analyses show that being influenced by an infodemic does not have a significant direct effect on store visit intention, but it does have a positive impact through brand trust. Additionally, positive word-of-mouth marketing has both direct and indirect positive effects on store visit intention. The study highlights brand trust as a critical element that can mitigate the negative effects of infodemic news. It is recommended that businesses focus on sustainability projects, ethical practices and the principle of transparency to enhance brand trust.

Cork is a natural, recyclable, non-toxic and renewable resource with unique functional characteristics that is part of a self-sustaining sector. It is increasingly being applied to fashion brands from its traditional use in the wine and construction sectors. This shift is posing new challenges, starting with the determination of the positioning axes that are viable to create brands with value. To answer this question, the methodology used consists of a three-step sequence that includes a series of interviews to identify potential positioning axes, a questionnaire with 152 answers to confirm the validity of these axes and then applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) pyramid model is used as the brand equity model. The results show that fashion brands of cork products can position themselves on the functional and symbolic axes. The axes are sustainability, Portugal, ecology, nationalism, heritage, lightness, creativity, biodiversity, softness, innovation, waterproofness and resistance. The application of PLS-SEM to the CBBE pyramid model has shown that brand equity can be built on the foundation of the validated positioning axes.
Implications for Central European audience: This study establishes a framework for the development of sustainable cork fashion brands, which are representative of the traditions or heritage that symbolically are a nation's identity. It comprises a structured sequence of interviews (to identify the positioning axes), a questionnaire (to ensure brand equity) and the application of PLS-SEM to the CBBE (to verify the compliance of the framework). Based on empirical evidence, this framework can be applied to other industries or products that want to create brands with value.

Many individuals enjoy sharing their stories and experiences through social media, which exemplifies social media word-of-mouth (social media WOM). This study examines the role of social media WOM in driving masstige purchase behaviour. This study involves perceptual distance, luxury perception, purchase intention and gender in such an investigation. Masstige refers to providing prestige to the masses, indicating luxury products for a broad audience. A survey of 246 consumers is conducted and structural equation modelling is employed to analyse the data. We find that social media WOM positively influences perceptual distance, luxury perception and purchase intention. Perceptual distance negatively influences purchase intention, while luxury perception positively influences such intention. Purchase intention positively influences purchase behaviour. This study does not find support that gender moderates the relationship between perceptual distance and purchase intention, as well as between luxury perception and purchase intention. The findings suggest that marketers need to identify social media platforms that match the luxury perception of their target audience and present exclusive content to encourage purchase intention and, further, masstige purchases. Masstige purchase behaviour is vital for collectivist countries because it can increase their consumers’ social status and prestige.
Implications for Central European audience: Cultural and social homogeneity among Asian people brings the popularity of masstige brands from Western countries (Paul, 2015), especially Central European brands to capitalise on the capabilities they have created (Alić et al., 2022). The findings of this study are crucial as Indonesia and the Visegrád Group (V4) of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have strong business relationships (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, 2019). 

Global dynamics, including globalization, resource mobility and capital flow, have profoundly transformed countries' long-term development policies and shaped migrants' motivations. Beyond traditional socioeconomic considerations, migrants prioritize a country's global brand and image, extending beyond economics to cultural, social and environmental factors. The paper aims to test the hypothesis positing a statistically significant correlation between the net migration index and the perceptions of a country's brand by external stakeholders. The study applies the ANOVA test to check the research hypothesis. The object of investigation is EU countries from 2000 to 2020. The ANOVA testing results highlight the significant influence of a country's brand on migration processes, serving as either a catalyst or an inhibitor. The study emphasizes the need to align national migration policies with effective national branding strategies to capitalize on the positive image of countries and attract intellectual capital. Policymakers should recognize the significant impact of a country's brand perception on migration patterns and consider sustainable practices to enhance overall attractiveness.
Implications for Central European audience: For the Central European audience, the study suggests that fostering a positive national brand is crucial in attracting skilled migrants and intellectual capital. Policymakers in Central European countries should consider integrating branding strategies into their migration policies to enhance global competitiveness and address demographic challenges through the attraction of qualified professionals. Central European countries should strategically attract a diverse array of migrants by making use of their unique historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing achievements in democracy and human rights, maintaining an affordable yet high standard of living, capitalizing on their pivotal economic position and showcasing both traditional and contemporary contributions, thereby creating a compelling narrative for sustained economic growth and cultural enrichment.

The metaverse is experiencing a resurgence, embodying a digital realm constructed through technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, cryptocurrency and the internet. The metaverse is a trending and widely discussed topic. Companies are still intensely weighing the pros and cons of joining this space, and it is not an easy decision for them to make. Thus, to make this decision easier, there is a clear need for studies that clarify users’ perception and intention of using the metaverse for purchasing products. Therefore, this study focuses on investigating the relationship between attitude and intention to purchase products in the metaverse and users' level of "fear of missing out" (FoMO) as a phenomenon that is currently significantly influencing consumers. A questionnaire was used for collecting the primary data. The research sample consisted of 425 respondents overall. The findings indicate that individuals in the cluster exhibiting heightened levels of FoMO tend to perceive metaverse product purchases as less sensible. Intriguingly, despite this lower perceived sensibility, over half of the individuals in this cluster express an intention to engage in metaverse-based purchases. Additionally, this particular cluster emerges as having the most pronounced inclination to purchase in the metaverse as soon as possible.
Implications for Central European audience: The outputs offer valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of users' perceptions and intentions concerning metaverse-based product purchases. These insights can serve as a foundation for refining marketing strategies, tailoring product offerings and developing targeted initiatives that resonate with the specific concerns and motivations of the Central European audience. Ultimately, the study outputs contribute to fostering a more informed and strategically aligned approach to navigating the evolving landscape of metaverse-related consumer activities.

The widespread use of blockchain technology (BCT) and the growing awareness of the numerous opportunities it offers its users have been the focus of recent research. Digital natives are surrounded by technology from birth and are naturally inclined to embrace it, but previous research has not addressed their attitudes towards BCT. This paper aims to investigate digital natives' attitudes towards the use of BCT in Croatia. The survey method is applied and data from 518 questionnaires are analysed with PLS-SEM. Results show that privacy threat, social influence, trust in BCT and trust in the community of blockchain users have a statistically significant positive effect on intention to use BCT. The study identifies the importance of BCT use from the perspective of users who belong to the digital native category, developing a model to better understand behavioural intentions at the individual level and presenting a starting point for future research on this topic.
Implications for Central European audience: The research findings may be of interest to audiences in other Central European countries, where blockchain technology is an extremely important segment of emerging technologies and Central Europe in particular is experiencing exponential growth in the use of this technology. Policymakers in Central European countries can benefit from the findings of this study to formulate policies that support the growth and regulation of the blockchain industry, including information that can contribute to informed decision-making and policy formulation, ultimately contributing to the growth and success of the blockchain technology sector in the region. From a theoretical point of view, the research results represent a contribution to the study of consumer behaviour, especially from the perspective of the use of innovative technologies. The practical contribution is reflected in the possibility of applying obtained results in the development of adequate marketing strategies that help BCT providers improve the quality of their offer and thus meet the modern demands of the digital natives’ segment.

In the sharing economy, P2P platforms must identify the target audience for their marketing campaigns to spend their marketing budgets effectively. The challenge is to convince those who are afraid of sharing with strangers. We analyse participant behaviour by testing whether people's willingness to participate differs depending on whether they shared with known or unknown people. Our study focuses not only on sharing with strangers and exploring this phenomenon but also on sharing with people we know to verify that these people are generally willing to share idle assets. We define four groups of sharing economy participants depending on whether they know the counterparty: (1) active participants afraid of sharing with strangers, (2) active participants indifferent, (3) active participants preferring to share with strangers, and (4) inactive participants. Generation Z will most likely share their idle assets with strangers, while Generation Y does not mind who they share with. Generation X prefers to share with strangers but is also the most inactive. The demand side is more complicated: Generation Z does not care who they demand from, but other generations’ preferences depend on the asset type. Again, Generation X is the most inactive. We assume that a generational perspective is essential for P2P marketing mix settings. We summarise new findings from not only a theoretical but also a practical perspective.
Implications for Central European audience: We provide a new perspective on sharing idle assets in the context of sharing with strangers. We emphasize a generational perspective and use cluster analysis to define four groups of participants from the perspective of sharing with strangers. P2P platforms operating in the sharing economy can gain more insights into Czech customers' consumer behaviour depending on whether they know the counterparty. The results can also benefit managers in other Central European countries. The findings can also contribute to the theoretical knowledge of the sharing economy and its implications for reducing marketing costs.

The success of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends upon the active support of all stakeholders. Thus, it is highly relevant and becomes the goal of this paper to perform a pilot case study of the negative determinants of readiness of the new Central European generation of financially sufficiently strong consumers to support CSR, in particular, to answer two research questions: (i) which is the prevailing determinant and (ii) whether it is gender-sensitive. Therefore, 53 male and 53 female Generation Z students from a private university in Prague, ready to pay a CSR bonus, were surveyed in the summer of 2021 regarding the negative determinants of their decisions. The collected answers were statistically processed via cross-tabulation and chi-squared test measures, and the dependence between negative determinants and genders was considered to answer both research questions. The data analysis implies four prevailing negative determinants, two of them related to the infodemic, represented differently by male and female members of Generation Z. This leads to propositions linked to prior studies and advancing them in a new direction. Namely, this indicative pilot case study suggests that Generation Z's readiness to support CSR by paying a CSR bonus is eroded by the infodemic and that male members of Generation Z are more sensitive in this respect than female members.
Implications for Central European audience: This article targets the underestimated issue of factors deterring committed young consumers from their support to sustainability via their readiness to pay a CSR bonus. It empirically points out the relevance of proper information and the negative and gender-sensitive impacts of the infodemic. Theoretical implications include a pioneering contribution to the conceptual appreciation, methodological processing and assessment of particular aspects of infodemic and negative CSR determinants for an emerging cohort of Central European consumers. Practical implications include the dramatic importance of enhancement of awareness and practical suggestions regarding how to inform these male and female consumers and engage them in sustainability and CSR.

The sharing economy is an interesting socio-economic system that has been studied by many researchers worldwide. It is an area that will affect the patterns of behaviour, processes and thinking experienced in various fields. The sharing economy is specific in that some people who have an asset they do not fully use may be willing to share it with consumers who do not have the asset but need it for a specific reason but are unable to or do not want to buy it. Platforms operating in the sharing economy need to know whom to target with their marketing strategy to spend marketing costs effectively. We used cluster analysis, a chi-square test, a Kruskal-Wallis test and descriptive analysis of data collected from 684 respondents across Generations X, Y and Z within the Czech Republic. We identified who constitutes the general supply of and demand for unused assets. While the willingness to supply prevails among Generation Y, the willingness to demand prevails among Generation Z. For Generation X, the willingness to supply and the willingness to demand are almost equal. Using cluster analysis, we defined three basic groups of participants in the sharing economy: double-sided active participants, one-sided active participants and inactive participants. We summarise new findings from not only a theoretical but also a practical perspective.
Implications for Central European audience: Platforms active in the sharing economy may better understand Czech customers regarding their supply of and demand for unused assets. The results could also be useful for managers in other countries of the Central European region. The findings may help enrich the theoretical knowledge of the sharing economy and its impact on marketing. Platforms can save money on marketing communications by focusing their marketing communications on a specific generation.

A sudden change in the external environment, such as the COVID-19 pandemic meant for senior customers in CEE, required coping mechanisms to adapt and a significant change in behavioural patterns. The paper presents the social and customer behaviour changes among elderly citizens caused by the pandemic and aims to identify regional differences in adapting to these changes. Results from CATI interviews of 5875 participants from Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were conducted as a part of the international SHARE project, bring a deeper understanding of regional differences. Behavioural segmentation made in each of the studied countries shows that the clusters created in each country are different and yet similar in certain aspects. Clusters of “adapters” – seniors with partial behavioural change – are found in all three countries, and even though they vary in some aspects of behaviour, they have significant commonalities as well. Clusters of the “vulnerable” – seniors who had undergone a complete change of behavioural patterns to protect themselves – and clusters of the “resistant” – seniors resisting the change – are found only in two of the studied countries. Differences in understanding the threat and feeling the need to react in certain ways are found not only between countries but also within cultures. By employing Hofstede’s cultural dimensions score to explain detected differences, the article brings more understanding of how power distance, indulgence and individualism could form differences in the usage of coping mechanisms among the elderly. The results bring insight into important aspects of changes in behaviour, which should be understood and mirrored in the business strategies of companies whose actual or potential customers are represented by this population.
Implications for Central European audience: The research into behavioural changes among senior consumers due to the COVID-19 pandemic was done in three CEE countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany and the implications are therefore well suitable for the CEE region, yet generalizations for other countries must be made carefully as the results show that behavioural segments identified in the studied countries indicate cultural differences.

Successful service recovery is one of the major tasks for every service provider. This paper transfers the theory of service recovery from traditional industries to the spectator sport context, more precisely to football. A satisfied and committed consumer is one of the main goals for every business entity, as well as for football clubs. The main purpose of this paper is to examine factors that predict satisfaction with service recovery and its outcomes in the context of the spectator sport industry. The research methodology used previously established scales related to service recovery satisfaction in terms of other industries, which are modified in order to meet the requirements of this research. The research was conducted on 408 active consumers of services provided by Croatian football clubs. The research results show that perceived service recovery equity affects recovery satisfaction in terms of football as the most popular spectator sport in the world. Furthermore, it has been established that recovery satisfaction predicts satisfaction with club services and trust in football clubs. Relationships between predictors such as recovery satisfaction, satisfaction with club services, trust and its proposed outcome, such as commitment towards the club could not be supported. This could be due to the fact that spectator sport consumers possess enormous emotional and psychological loyalty towards the club, which surpasses traditional consumer theory understanding. Furthermore, a significant relationship between consumer commitment and positive word of mouth has been established.
Implications for Central European audience: Obtained results can also be of interest for audience from other Central European countries where football is also an extremely important part of their leisure activities and overall culture. 

The true identity of brands fades with changes in the market environment. Growing concerns regarding the decline of long-established brands have caught the attention of academicians and practitioners both. There is undivided attention witnessed in literature to develop a research framework to identify antecedents and intervening factors and their impact on Brand Revitalization. The primary aim of the study is to categorise identified variables into different approaches and integrate intervening variables to propose a research framework for empirical validation. Based on the systematic literature review approach, 93 studies from more than three decades (1984 to 2021) were undertaken after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. 62 per cent of qualitative research and 27 per cent of empirical and mixed research papers were obtained. A total of 63 variables from 18 empirical studies were categorised into two approaches ‘Brand re-enchantment’ and ‘Brand modernity’, which significantly influenced brand revitalisation. 9 mediators and 12 moderators were obtained from which ‘Advertising’ was introduced as a mediator for effective brand revitalisation. The research paper provides a scope to empirically validate the proposed research framework in different sectors and industries to carry the domain of brand revitalisation to an advance level.
Implications for Central European audience: According to Eurostat , the Annual inflation rate in the Euro Area increased from 4.1% in 2021 to 8.9% in 2022. Price has been accelerated for food, beverages, industrial goods and services. This has declined the purchasing power of consumers while making goods and services more expensive. As a result, demand-side is slowing down and consumers are shifting to low or no-frills brands making it challenging for brands to capture the likely brand decline. However, mature or declining brands often enjoy strong brand equity and there is residual salience which can be leveraged to retain existing consumers. The study offers guidelines to recognize the acute and latent signs of brand decline and provide possible revitalization strategies to increase market share, aid in internationalization, and strengthen the perceived brand image of Central European brands. Advertising illustrates the brand’s features, benefits, and uses, which may help in conveying the desired image of brands to the audience of central European countries.

Perceived price and perceived quality are two generic factors influencing purchasing decisions. Their importance is also connected with the effect of the country of origin. The main aim of the article is to examine the perception of price and quality in the context of individual countries of origin of the European Union and influence of the consumer ethnocentrism on this perception. From the point of view of methodology, we use general philosophical-scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, scientific abstraction etc.) and, to a large extent, also methods of descriptive and inductive statistics. Specifically, we use correlation analysis to examine the direction and intensity of relationships, cluster analysis to examine the similarities of individual countries of the European Union in terms of perceived price and quality, as well as a one-way ANOVA test to verify hypotheses. Scale tools for measuring perceived quality, perceived price, and the degree of consumer ethnocentrism achieve a high degree of estimation of validity and reliability (estimated using McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha). The results indicate differences in the perception of price and quality of individual countries of origin of food. It can be assumed that the level of consumer ethnocentrism is below average in the conditions of Slovakia, and it has an impact on food evaluation only in the home country. The results can be used both for marketing and in the conditions of international trade, tourism, and in many other fields of theory and praxis.
Implications for Central European audience: Knowledge of the perception of price and quality of individual countries is important for international trade and marketing. Knowledge of the perception of these two factors helps to create strategies for both domestic and foreign companies operating in Slovakia. In this article, we examine the perception of all countries in the European Union, which allows for comparison. Foods from certain countries perceived better quality and cheaper will be more in demand. Demonstrating the effectiveness of consumer ethnocentrism has an impact on the development of strategies by domestic companies and the government to create support for the purchase of domestic production.

Netnography, an online qualitative research method that evolved from ethnography, previously typically used in anthropology, is experiencing its boom in contemporary marketing research worldwide. It helps to answer research questions about a variety of topics, and it is used in many different ways. Therefore, each netnographic study is unique, not only content-wise but also in terms of the approach to the use of the method. In the presented paper, the case study research method was applied to aim at the identification of the best practices in contemporary marketing research when using netnography. Based on the analysis of chosen articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals, the paper defines the features of the research problem suitable for the application of netnography, the typical process, and its variances, as well as basic criteria for use. As a result of observed significant differences in applying the method, the paper captures the variability of netnography use in the Model of NET Dimensions of Netnography. The model shows how each netnographic study has to deal with three dimensions of decisions that need to be taken: ‘the Niche’ – the place ‘where’ and the group ‘whom’ it researches, ‘the Engagement’ – the extent to which the researcher is engaged in the studied community, and ‘the Time’ – the timeline – ‘when’ and timespan ‘how long’. The combination of all the possibilities of NET dimensions makes the netnography so variable, flexible, and adaptable, and therefore a very suitable method for many research problems.
Implications for Central European Audience: The paper presents the variety of use of netnography in contemporary marketing research. Although the method originated at the end of the 20th century and is starting to be very popular worldwide, especially with the growth of life online, there is still very little research done using this method in the CEE. Researching the various scholar engines at the time of the article submission, we found very few published studies originating from the CEE. And yet, as the presented paper shows, the method is very well-fitting for a large variety of research problems, and it is very handy, especially now when other qualitative methods are often more difficult to be carried out due to COVID-19 restrictions. The method has the potential to help to answer many of the real businesses’ questions as well as to solve some academic puzzles. Therefore, we see a need to promote it within the academic and business community.

Currently, multinational fast-food restaurant like the American fast food restaurant business is in great demand in Asian countries, especially in Indonesia. Maybe it can be categorised as a trend that is currently in effect. The uniqueness of the presentation or product appearance, the various types of menus and tastes, the restaurant environment, the prices offered, and several other factors contribute to creating the purchase intention of Indonesian customers. However, it is still rare to use this concept of thinking as the basic basis for measuring customer satisfaction, especially in American fast food restaurant branches in Asia, especially in Indonesia. Based on this explanation, the purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between product quality, service quality, physical environment quality, perceived price, satisfaction, loyalty, happiness, and trust in the customers of the fast-food restaurant. We distributed online questionnaires via google with a purposeful sampling method to 130 respondents conducted in July 2021. This study uses the SEM analysis method. The results show that there is a relationship between perceived price, product quality, service quality, physical environment quality, and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on loyalty and happiness. Trust can moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. The results can be applied by fast-food restaurants that are interested in learning about similar factors that can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, especially in developing countries that have almost the same respondent criteria as Indonesia.
Implications for Central European audience: The knowledge used in various marketing studies that support customer satisfaction and customer loyalty can be built on the quality they receive and their perception of the price of the product. Also noteworthy is the finding that the effect of product quality and service quality does not always affect each product category. These results can be utilised by fast-food restaurant businessmen and other culinary businesses who use foreign themes to increase competitiveness in the country. But it can also be used for European producers who want to open their culinary business in Asian countries.

With the expansion of different brands in similar classes of products and the close competition of brand owners in attracting and retaining more customers, the production of ethical brands that are subject to ethical principles in all stages of the process of supply, production, presentation, and sale of products has become one of the most important factors in creating superiority and brand differentiation in expanding customer communication and interaction with the brand. Given the importance of the role of brand ethical value in establishing effective customer relationships with the brand, this study aimed at investigating the predictions and consequences of consumer hope for the brand of Hydroderm with the role of brand charisma. The present study used a survey method to collect data and a correlation method to analyze the data. The statistical population of the study included 327 consumers of Hydroderm cosmetics brands; they were selected using the available sampling method. Information was collected using a Likert-point questionnaire, and data analysis was performed by structural equation modelling. The findings showed that the perceived ethical value of the brand on the obsessive brand passion and harmonious brand passion on consumer hope for the brand had a positive and significant effect. Moreover, obsessive brand passion did not have a significant effect on consumer hope for the brand. In addition, brand charisma mediated the effect of the perceived ethical value of the brand on the harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion. Finally, a positive and significant effect was found between consumer hope for brand and brand-customer interaction.
Implications for Central European audience: Since most Central European countries seek to use the social media space to introduce and sell their brands to all parts of the world, including Asian countries, identifying and understanding how the perceived ethical value of the brand affects consumers interaction of with the brand can be a good practical guide to improve their activities with Asian countries that are subject to Islamic and ethical values. The recommendations obtained from the results show that the behavioural, personality, operational values of the brand as well as its responsibility can increase customers’ desire for the brand and maintain their interactive relationship by giving the consumer hope for the brand.

The paper assesses the perception of clothing products’ quality using two independent samples of Czech respondents answering a questionnaire. It fills the current research gap in revealing how the quality of clothing products is currently perceived by different socio-demographic groups and whether other factors neglected previously (e.g., type of store, store’s trade name, etc.) contribute to the perceived garment quality. The results show that age plays an important role in assessing some of the parameters by which people define whether garments are quality garments. This demographic criterion also influences the intensity of quality consideration when people buy a product, but no statistically significant dependence was found for the intensity of quality consideration when people buy a clothing product. These and other papers’ results may help companies in the clothing industry, and the related sectors better comprehend how different categories of people determine garment quality.
Implications for Central European audience: Businesses active in the apparel and fashion industries may better understand the current preferences of Czech customers regarding their clothing quality perceptions. The results could also be useful for managers in other countries of the Central-European region.

The article aims to evaluate the level of the analytical part of CRM in SMEs in Czechia and its impact on increasing the companies’ profitability. In the empirical part, primary quantitative research was carried out. The subject of quantitative research was selected for analytical activities. The object of the research was SMEs in the Moravian-Silesian Region. The questionnaire survey was attended by 1 067 respondents. To evaluate the level of the utilisation of selected analytical activities, the PDCA method (Deming cycle), which is used to evaluate process quality, was modified. The choice of this method was inspired by the Anglo-Australian approach to the evaluation of relationship marketing based on quality management. The starting point for the application of the PDCA method was the mode. This article provides a different perspective on CRM level assessment. A research question addressed the level of analytical activities performed. This approach highlighted the highest level in the evaluation of sales, customer satisfaction analysis, and customer segmentation, which are basic marketing activities. CRM cannot work without these activities. The lowest level was reflected in customer churn prediction and in setting up a method of measuring customer loyalty. Building long-term relationships are the main CRM goal, which should contribute to improving the economic results of companies. Therefore, five hypotheses were formulated, expressing the relationship between the level of selected analytical activities and the increasing profitability of the companies. The hypotheses were verified by regression analysis. All analytical activities had an impact on the profitability of companies.

In this article, we focus on ethnocentrism applying to the theory of consumer behaviour while a relatively new concept of consumer ethnocentrism was created, which is under-studied in Slovakia. A patriotism indicates a second research issue. However, this concept is used in purchase and marketing conditions rarely. Based on these facts, we decided to contribute to a set of knowledge with new findings and broaden a knowledge base. This work’s main aim is to research consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism impact on evaluation and preference of domestic products. The primary quantitative survey supports this study. The fundamental part of our survey is 628 respondents. We created partial goals which produce a foundation for the phrasing of survey questions and hypotheses. These were tested by a one-way ANOVA test. We used a model of linear regressive analysis for pinpointing direction and frequency effect. Results suggest a strong link between consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism. Based on these results, consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism can be marked as factors that positively influence a preference and evaluation of domestic products. But both concepts show themselves in different frequency in different product categories. Based on the results, we can state that it is necessary to explore both concepts when speaking of product categories. Results can be used in different fields (sociology, psychology and marketing) while representing a benefit for a theory and practice.
Implications for Central European audience: A knowledge used in different marketing campaigns supporting a domestic purchase can be established from the trade and marketing perspective. Noteworthy is also a discovery that the influence of concepts is not visible equally in each product categories. Results can be used by the Slovak republic government and domestic producers who are interested in an increase of competitiveness of domestic products. But also, it is for foreign producers who have an interest in expansion on the Slovak market.

Consumers play extra-role behaviours while actively participating in designing and improving goods and services, thus becoming prosumers. Modding, i.e. game modifications which aim at creating a new or improving experience for the players, is an interesting form of prosumption observed in the game industry. The general purpose of the study is to identify to what extent players are willing to perform game modding, as well as who and how may benefit from this extra-role behaviour. Qualitative research was conducted in the form of focus groups with Polish game players. Results of the conducted research allow identifying benefits for four groups of beneficiaries, i.e., players as mod users (game diversification, better customisation, higher quality of games, more realism of the game, fun and excitement to play a modified or a new game, prolonged games’ lifespans), modders as mod creators (creativity, gaining knowledge about how to create a game, social affiliation and pride or career development) game developers (extending games’ lifespans, updating, and renewing game, improving the quality of games, the opportunity to reach a wider audience) and intermediaries like cloud gaming platforms which share the benefits with game developers.
Implications for Central European audience: The study provides evidence that customers’ inclination to prosume may vary and is stimulated by specific drivers in the form of perceived benefits. Thus, the research supports Adam’s equity theory. From the managerial perspective, the current study provides useful, actionable guidance on how to encourage players to engage in real prosumtion in virtual worlds. Game producers need to learn about their customers’ needs outside of normal exchange processes. Players shall be perceived as an inseparable part of the gaming industry, who deliver an extra value to the market by game modding activities.

Country of origin (COO) plays a vital role in the luxury market. This paper investigates the extent to which luxury shoppers are aware of domestic luxury brands, and in which categories they would consider buying them. Our results, based on a survey of 253 luxury buyers in the Czech Republic, indicate that there is an opportunity for local brand development in categories such as luxury glass and crystal home accessories, designer furniture and lights, which are outside the scope of the “traditional luxury industry”. Additional findings are also highlighted: for more than two-thirds of actual luxury shoppers; the local COO would be a reason to consider purchasing a luxury brand. Perceptual differences of domestic vs global luxury brands are also indicated.
Implications for a Central European audience: Managerial implications target at managers of domestic or emerging luxury brands in non-traditional luxury markets with a specific demographic segment of potential mature luxury customers. They have a higher affinity for domestic luxury products.

In the young Croatian democracy, there is a necessary role of the strategic approach to the political marketing communication campaigns, especially in using the new media, social networks and Facebook, being the most representative one. This paper aims to analyse to what degree the political parties use Facebook, how they manage this, and the opinions and viewpoints of the voters. This study has two major goals: to analyse how the leading political parties in Croatia use and manage social media services, particularly Facebook, and to evaluate perspectives of the Croatian voters regarding social media during political campaigns. Two instruments were created based on the secondary research: a protocol for in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with the social media specialists of the leading Croatian political parties (n = 3) and a survey of voters (n = 557), ranging in age from 18-45 years (78.1%), 46-55 years (14.7%), 56-65 years (6.1%) and older than 66 (1.1%). Croatian political parties do not use Facebook's entire potential. The respondents who vote regularly believe that the political parties' Facebook pages are significant in their promotion and visit these pages more frequently. These pages are visited more frequently during political campaigns. It is imperative to focus on increased quality and more frequent communication, direct communication and turning to young people in the campaigns. There are statistically significant differences with regard to age on the issue of voting. Croatian political parties can improve the potential of social networks, primarily Facebook, in election campaigns.
Implications for a Central European audience: In addition to the specified deficiencies of the Facebook pages, the voters provided suggestions for improving the Facebook content and increasing page visits. When used in combination with other social media, Facebook has the strongest potential for influencing the young voters. The results indicate the need for professional management of relevant social media strategies and tactics. The improvements of the Facebook pages can be grouped in several categories, the most important being "Content", "Communication" and "Strategy". The improvements would yield more frequent visits by the potential voters.

With a growing interest in social media, social networks have been discussed largely in brand management and marketing communications literature. Specifically, Facebook, as the leading brand in social networks, is increasingly popular both for users and companies. However, it is not entirely clear what differences occur among Facebook users regarding their attitudes toward brand profiles. The goal of the research is to identify which demographic factors are related to the functional and hedonistic attitude towards the brand fan page and the overall social value of the page on Facebook. A quantitative survey was conducted on a representative sample of 454 users. The concepts of functional, hedonic and social value were measured using Likert-type questions (four for each of these concepts). Using cluster analysis, homogeneous groups were identified in the data set, resulting in two main segments for the functional and hedonic concept and three for social value. Subsequently, these groups were compared with selected demographic characteristics using Chi-square statistics.
Implications for Central European audience: Results of the analysis showed that there is no evidence that gender or age relates to any attitudinal measures towards brand pages on Facebook. The paper ends with a conclusion about the usability of the results for further research and business practice.

The world’s human population and its natural environment are currently facing many unfavourable effects from climate change. A significant proportion of this phenomenon is attributable to air pollution generated by combustion engines used in transportation (greenhouse gases, dust particles, etc.). Despite the inevitable need for decisive actions to reverse climate change, central authorities may face significant pushbacks when actually promoting or enforcing electric and hybrid-based mobility, if a wrong (ineffective) mix of restrictions and incentives is applied. Using primary data from the Czech Republic (surveyed in 2019), we use logistic regression and other means of quantitative analysis to provide detailed information on socio-demographic and lifestyle factors affecting individual stances towards different aspects involved with the upcoming transition towards clean personal transportation. In this paper, we focus on topics related to electric and hybrid vehicles. Based on our analysis, we provide actionable information to facilitate the complex process of turning combustion-based transportation into a sustainable feature of our modern society. We find important gender and age-related differences in opinions towards diverse aspects related to changes in personal mobility. Women and older individuals are significantly more in favour of environmentally responsible transportation means. Active car-drivers (individuals who perceive themselves as such) in lifestyle segmentation are distinctively less in favour of ecologically oriented changes – hence such individuals ought be the primary targets for marketing and educational activities (perhaps even state-sponsored) aimed to shift vehicle (mobility in general) procurements towards environmentally responsible choices. Implications for Central European audience: Climate protection is a key subject embedded in multiple EU policies. In Central European countries, the forthcoming transitioning of individual mobility towards EVs and hybrids might be a bit more complicated as compared to “old” EU members: our purchasing power is weaker, our car markets are more price sensitive and they rely heavily on imported second-hand cars. Our insights may be used to alleviate possible complications and bottlenecks in the process of reducing environmental pollution produced by individual transportation.

Financial institutions have not paid much attention to customers in the past. In the Slovak republic, this approach has changed only since the late 1990s. Banks have recognized that understanding the customer and its behaviour is key to their success. This contribution aims to answer the research question of whether there are different segments of customers (generations) that would differ in the level of perception of the bank's brand subconsciously. The data used in the presented study was obtained by our survey carried out by a sample size of 2000 respondents (Slovak citizens older than 15 years of age). The given data has been statistically evaluated by testing hypotheses and the factor analysis supported by the implementation of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Test, Bartlett's test of sphericity, and calculation of Cronbach's Alpha for brand value sources in general as well as for all generation. In accordance with previously mentioned, the results consist of the identification of specifics in brand value sources in the banking industry on the case study of Slovak Republic creating so a platform for future research of relevant disparities in cross-cultural brand value sources from the psychographic point of view. Implications for the Central European audience: There are some implications of the article in managerial practice. First of all, the paper presents a valuable source of relevant information for brand managers. They are anticipated to enhance and deepen the understanding of managerial previous practice as well. Overall, the findings help to understand the complexity of internal and external factors motivating consumers to interact with the brand, generating added value for consumers.

The textile industry has been massively affected by structural changes in recent years. The fashion market is currently in a phase of stagnation. This means that market saturation has been reached, competition between companies and retailers has increased, and predatory competition has set in. Gains in market share are mainly achieved through an aggressive pricing policy, for example, through earlier price reductions. Nonetheless, there are still uncertainties regarding specific product mix-related marketing measures in fashion markets. There is a lack of scientific evidence about the exact proportion of product mix-related marketing measures used.
As an aim, this study focuses on the effects of various influencing factors on consumer loyalty. Factors examined include product quality, product selection, service quality and price-to-performance ratio. To investigate the proportion of the chosen marketing measures, a conceptual model was proposed, four hypotheses were derived.
In order to shed more light on fashion markets related marketing measures, the research methodology of cross-sectional face-to-face survey research was applied. For this purpose, randomly sampled fashion shoppers were asked to answer a questionnaire, using tablets. The collected data were then analysed using multiple regression and evaluated.
Implications for Central European audience: The study has derived some remarkable key findings that contrast with other non-fashion markets. First of all, service quality is not the most important factor, whereas product quality is an important criterion for the price-to-product ratio and consequently, for customer loyalty. Finally, practical guidelines are provided, limitations discussed and suggestions for future research provided.

Online grocery shopping is becoming an integral part of life for more and more customers around the world and has truly changed the way consumers acquire their groceries. Nevertheless, the offline environment is still a priority for most customers. Therefore, it is not surprising that new technologies are also being introduced in traditional stores. The purpose of this paper is to explore if all generations of customers equally perceive pressure to apply new technologies into the purchasing process and how previous online grocery shopping acceptance can influence customer behaviour. This research was conducted on a sample of 1,050 online respondents. The answers of respondents have a nominal character. Therefore, Pearson´s chi-square test was used for testing. Subsequently, the frequency analysis was used for a more detailed examination. The results indicate that online grocery shopping acceptance positively influences the perception of new technologies from the perspective of all generations of customers. An interesting finding is that if traditional retailers entered the online market, 67% of online grocery shoppers would change retailers. This paper brings a new perspective on online and offline generations of customers and states that online grocery shopping acceptance is a predictor of positive perception of other technologies in retailing. Managers should take steps to increase the acceptance of technologies in stores, which will facilitate the business processes in the store and optimize the use of the workforce. This paper also demonstrates an opportunity for traditional retailers to enter the online marketplace.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an emerging trend in different fields: science, business, medicine, automotive and education. AI has also reached marketing. The aim of the paper is to research how deeply AI is applied in marketing and what implications there are for marketing practitioners. Authors stated two research questions - which areas of AI are used in marketing and what implications AI delivers for marketing managers. To answer those questions, the authors conducted research on secondary data with AI examples used for marketing purpose. The analysis of gathered examples shows that AI is widely introduced into the marketing field, though the applications are at the operational level. This may be the effect of careful implementation of the new technology, still at the level of experimenting with it. The uncertainty of the outcome of AI implementation may affect the caution in putting these innovations into practice as well. Gathered examples proved that AI influences all aspects of marketing mix impacting both consumer value delivery as well as the marketing organization and management. The paper delivers implications for business, especially ideas about implementing AI into marketing, designing innovations and the ideas on how to incorporate new skills into marketing team required by the new technology.

The reality of the market has shown that traditional brand management theory lacks success. There is a need to provide a revision to this theory with an emphasis on behavioral approach. In contemporary times, the theory has been limited mainly in this criterion and to avoid from the exact identification of specific brand value sources in conditions of particular nations. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify relevant brand value sources which are significant for Slovak socio-cultural profile and to propose an effective innovative model of brand value building and management. The data used in the presented study were obtained by our own survey carried out on the sample of 2000 respondents (citizens of the Slovak Republic older than 15 years). The given data was statistically evaluated by the so-called factor analysis supported by implementation of the KMO Test, Barlett's test of sphericity and calculation of Cronbach's Alpha (for individual brand value sources and their components in general as well as on the example of sportswear brands). The specificities of the national socio-cultural profiles were found to be identical in the priority of the components of the individual, subjectively perceived sources of the brand value. In contrast, the order of importance of brand sources is different and reflects the specificity of the branded product category. Therefore, the specifics of the national socio-cultural profile affect the priority of the components of the individual brand value sources, while the specifics of the product categories affect the priority of the brand value sources itself.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the centers of corporate dominance in Germany, and the main drivers of recent headquarter relocations within the country. The analysis is based on a literature review, a database comprising the 10,000 most significant companies in Germany and additional research for qualitative input to support the interpretation of the findings. The findings show that corporate dominance in Germany is decentralized. Centers with relative corporate dominance tend to host a higher proportion of public limited companies. These public limited companies had a turnover of over one billion Euros, and most of these companies were founded after the year 2000. The main drivers for recent HQ relocations were corporate restructuring (mergers and demergers) and the centralization of functions. Furthermore, it has been found that differences in the trade tax burden between municipalities have had no influence on recent relocation decisions within Germany.

Although the notion of customer engagement has been an important topic of ongoing discussion in marketing academia and business practice, still little is known on the impact of customer value that comprises of hedonic and utilitarian dimensions, on customer behavioral manifestations toward the brands or firms that goes beyond purchase. The main purpose of this study is to examine whether and how hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of customer value impact customer engagement across distinct consumer markets. Based on the computer-assisted web interviews with 1,559 consumers in the age of 15-64, descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling are used in this study. Consumers of three distinct product categories such as clothing, beer, and mobile phones are interviewed. Drawing on the behavioral interpretation of customer engagement and means-ends models of customer value, this paper reveals the crucial impact of hedonic and utilitarian values on customer engagement manifested in three forms such as customers’ communication, customer complaints and customer collaboration, offering the holistic perspective on multi-faced nature of customer engagement. The research also uncovers some disparities in the strength of the hedonic and utilitarian drivers of customer engagement across markets. Thus, the current study contributes to the better understanding of the customer-based factors affecting customer engagement and offers managerial implications on designing the effective sets of incentives for mobilizing customer engagement.

This paper contributes to the debate about the relationships among tourism experience co-creation, satisfaction with vacation experience, satisfaction with the impact of vacation on overall life, life satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The main purpose of this paper is to point out the importance of tourist engagement in the co-creation of the vacation experience and the impact of satisfaction with that experience on life satisfaction and behavioral intentions. A survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 263 international tourists who visited several tourist destinations in Croatia. To test the proposed model, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed. It has been established that co-creation of tourism experience significantly contributes to the satisfaction of tourists staying in a destination, which has a positive effect on life satisfaction and future behavioral intentions.

The topics of sustainability and strategic corporate social responsibility are currently being discussed by different stakeholders on academic, industry and various activist levels; however, the level to which they are incorporated into organizations’ strategy varies significantly by industry. The needs of the customers as well as the requirements from state governance may challenge the currently relatively “CSR silent” luxury industry to become more active in its contribution to social responsibility.  This paper investigates the topic of corporate social responsibility within the context of the luxury industry, the extent to which customers are aware of CSR and the significance of the role it plays in their customer journey.  The authors provide a literature review focused on exploring CSR variables that impact customer purchase intention in general and specifically in the luxury segment, from which they identify key CSR measures and conduct qualitative research to develop a theoretical framework. It suggests that purchase intention in the luxury segment is dependent on the luxury values, individual sustainable dimension and awareness of the brand’s CSR, the last two relationships being potentially moderated by certain conditions such as demographics and general positive attitudes towards CSR and sustainability. The model’s output is in the formulation of several propositions for further research. Overall, the qualitative interviews indicate that while knowledge of the specific CSR activities of particular luxury brands was low, luxury buyers in this research tend to express quite positive attitudes towards CSR in general, were rational, and very open to considering CSR as an added value to their luxury shopping.

The axiom “unseen – unsold” implies that marketing communication cannot be effective if it does not bypass the filter of attention, which is difficult in today’s information clutter. As internet has emerged as powerful channel for marketing communication, the same axiom applies to the online marketing communication. In this research the analysis and synthesis of scientific literature as well as two eye tracking experiments are applied for the analysis of internet context-related elements influencing consumer visual attention and as a consequence having influence on consumer behavior. As a result, the guidelines for the selection of advertising message-related factors and advertisement’s position in the internet news portals are provided. Moreover, recommendations for the attraction of consumer visual attention in the search engines are presented.

This paper aims to understand how born global firms develop their international pricing strategies, practices, and models. It aims to expand the study of international entrepreneurship and born global firms by including a broader and deeper range of pricing aspects than is normally found in the international entrepreneurship and pricing literature. The paper opted for a multiple case-study research design using different sources of evidence, including four in-depth interviews with CEOs of born global firms. The case-study firms were selected using a purposive selection method. The theoretical framework of Ingenbleek, Frambach & Verhallen is used. The results suggest that successful leaders act as ‘integrating forces’ on two levels: by applying a structured and disciplined price-setting process with regular reviews and by mediating between corporate financial goals and the local market reality. The results support the claim that policy makers should offer insights, training and financial support to give promising born global firms the possibility to select the most efficient international pricing models and strategies. The results are relevant for entrepreneurs to understand the importance of efficient price-modelling processes and the influence of the different price strategies and price models on financial results and sales revenues.

This paper aims to define the consumer journey of children through their childhood stages and provide specific touchpoints relevant for a given age, which could be integrated into the marketing communication of car brands to start building this young audience as future buyers. A qualitative study of children in different age brackets was used to identify their current and potential touchpoints with the car industry. The results of the study present specific stands on the prepurchase stage of the children’s consumer journey where the brand might interact with children and build the long-term positive attitudes of this group of potential customers. Specific implications for the industry in terms of understanding the language of the mobile game applications, computer games, YouTubers and integrating those specific activities into the brand’s marketing communication are highlighted for the car industry marketers.

Globally, there are many profound changes going on within the automotive sector. There are new technological developments like e-mobility and autonomous cars, as well as new business models such as car sharing that may make purchasing a car obsolete for the younger, international target group. The intention of this paper is to identify the role and importance of cars in the young target group internationally and to explore current motives for buying an automobile. To this end, the authors conducted a psychological research study on a diverse group of upper division undergraduate and master’s degree level students originating from more than twenty different nations.  Research methods used include structured one-on-one interviews and in-depth focus groups. The study’s results are useful for international marketing practitioners as they contribute to understanding the relevance and importance of automobiles for the international youth target market as well as identification of motives regarding car purchase across various countries. The results have implications for international managers within the automotive industry for the development of new mobility concepts as well as for international marketing communications within the automotive sector.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the intercultural and gender differences between American and Czech customers in relation to their perceptions of the verbal and nonverbal personality characteristics of a salesperson during the personal sales process. This research provides scholars and practitioners with an understanding of the cultural and gender-specific personal interaction factors that should be addressed when designing effective interpersonal sales approaches. The study utilized an experimental design approach. Personal selling scenarios were filmed and shown to respondents (university students acting as potential customers) who completed a survey regarding sales effectiveness. The resulting data was factor analyzed and a conceptual personal sales model was developed. The model suggests that salesperson authenticity and personal interaction factors impact sales success in both the U.S. and the Czech Republic. However, there are variations in the receptivity of potential U.S. and Czech customers to specific interpersonal communication factors. Gender-based variations were also identified. The study focused on automotive retail sales scenarios in the United States; however, the results can be generalized to similar markets.

Comparative advertising had been traditionally banned in most EU countries and was allowed by the European law just relatively recently. That is why in the EU this form of advertising is relatively new, as opposed to the situation in the US, where comparative advertising has been widely used and well accepted by consumers for decades. The literature has been silent on the topic of the effectiveness of comparative advertising in the Czech Republic, as well as in other Central and Eastern European countries. The goal of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of comparative advertising campaigns in the Czech Republic. Using an online survey with 160 Czech respondents, we found that the attitude towards comparative advertising is rather positive in the Czech Republic. We also identified that the gender of the recipient influences the general perception of comparative advertising. On the other hand, the age of the recipient does not seem to be a moderator of the attitude towards comparative advertising, in general. The results also do not signal any impact of the gender and the age of the recipient on the change of the perception of any of the brands involved in the campaign. Managerial implications target mainly marketing and advertising managers responsible for Central European markets.

The aim of this paper is to describe the outsourcing of marketing communications as a business trend. The author discusses possible scopes of external entities' involvement and presents positive and negative aspects of marketing communications outsourcing. Efficient use of modern forms of marketing communication is the domain of a highly specialized group of agencies and other providers of marketing services. The use of their creativity, competence and skills in the field of communication has a significant impact on its effectiveness. For many companies, it is currently more profitable to benefit from external specialists instead of hiring them and improving their competence within the organization. This solution also seems more beneficial with respect to the effectiveness of management and optimization of resources. However, given the importance of the brand as a company's most crucial intangible asset of strategic importance, delegating all decision-making power associated with it beyond the company is irrational. The choice of strategies and determination of key assumptions relating to integrated marketing communication should remain the responsibility of the parent company.

The expansion of the European Union (EU) and economic growth have propelled the development of intermodal transportation and logistics activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Yet, the inland location of most CEE economies requires improved connectivity to port terminals on both the Atlantic/Baltic and Mediterranean/Black Sea ranges. The paper provides a broader research perspective on inland logistics platforms focusing on the CEE region, particularly as it concerns the role of the public sector in port hinterland infrastructure development. The paper identifies the current bottlenecks in logistics activity in regard to the whole range of the national transport chains. A dual regionalization process is taking place between the ports of the Northern and Mediterranean ranges and that the Northern Range is more effective at servicing the CEE region, including the Czech Republic, in spite of the proximity advantage of Mediterranean ports.

In recent years the luxury industry has been strongly affected by the rapid evolution of digital technology and the internet. The use of the internet and the new digital technologies has contributed to the growth of the market and its different sectors. This meant an advantage for others, but for the luxury sector, it has been a challenge and the adaptation process slow. The online participation - in certain cases incipient - of some brands in the sector has been directed by new consumption habits, which had an impact in the marketing and communication strategies on a managerial level. Based on a theoretical review, this paper proposes a central concept known as brand expression, from which elements involved in the phenomenon of the digital era, some significant for the development of the study, are described. The resulting relations between them, together with findings obtained in interviews of consumers in the sector, describe the reason for the adaptation in content and approach of the current strategies; that in turn sets the guidelines for continuing and future developments.

Opera has a famous history and even the present-day repertoire in opera houses mostly consists of classical and well-known works. Marketers are trying to find new ways that would enable opera lovers all over the world to enjoy top quality performances. One of the most successful models is real-time transmissions of operas to geographically remote cinemas. Cinemas from all around the world participate in the project. In this paper, the authors analyze the spectators' profile and point out differences between North America and the Czech Republic, focusing on transmissions of performances by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The authors submit a detailed analysis of the socio-demographic characteristics of the spectators and the attendance frequency. Special attention is paid to the marketing profile of Czech spectators, based on primary data gathered in the research. The paper is a combination of research report and business case study. The study reveals that female visitors prevail. Elderly people are also represented in high percentages. The spectators are characterized by refined taste in their lifestyles and familiarity with modern technology.

The methods currently used in innovation marketing research are focused on the late phases of the innovation process and are usually methodologically complex. This limits their practical impact. The presented work aims to create a simple self-report scale applicable in the initial and late phases of the innovation process, highly modular and suitable for a wide range of research. The main battery of questions was inspired by the adopter categorization by Rogers. The questions determine both (1) general characteristics of innovation adopters and (2) their relationship to a specific innovation. The scale was tested during robust longitudinal online research, thematically focused on users of modern technologies. A representative sample of 4,000 Internet users in the Czech Republic took part in the survey from 2013 to 2015. The result is a new self-report scale measuring consumer innovativeness applicable for prototyping, strategic decisions and effective communication of innovations to consumers.

Loyalty programs rank among the most important marketing tools used for motivating customers in repeated purchases. The history is more than a hundred years old and there are many interesting points in the development. At present, programs can be built on the basis of various algorithms. In any case, it is necessary to develop such programs that are positively accepted by customers, viewed as useful, creating emotional ties to a retailer or to a brand. This study is based on primary data collected in the Czech Republic and in Great Britain, and it aims at two research targets. The first is to compare customers' preferences in choosing loyalty programs in the two countries, to find similarities and differences. The second target is to make a comparison of customers' willingness in disclosing their personal data for a retailer when signing up for a loyalty program.

This paper is primarily focused on analyses of the research undertaken to understand the awareness of food advertising's self-regulation authority (Council for Advertising) and of the Czech Code of Conduct in the context of the growing issue of child obesity. The objective is to find out the perception of food advertising to children and awareness of regulation and industry self-regulation amongst Czech mothers. Our theoretical framework presumes dependence between the awareness levels and selected demographic variables. We conclude several actions to overcome low awareness of the Council of Advertising and its Code of Conduct and to transfer the industry's self-regulation into an efficient and recognized tool of shaping the culture of responsible advertising in the Czech Republic. The conclusions lead towards stronger protection of children.

The goal of the current research is to analyze the impact of customers' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on their loyalty towards mobile telecommunication companies within the particular socio-cultural and economic context of one of the largest national markets of Central and Eastern Europe. In order to achieve this goal, a survey was conducted among a sample of 1,464 mobile telecommunication customers from the urban area of Romania. The findings point out the fact that Romanian mobile telecom customers' loyalty is not significantly impacted by how they perceive their service suppliers' responsibilities with regard to their employees or economic success, while their perceptions of companies' responsibilities towards customers, public authorities, the environment, community development, and sponsorship have a significant impact on corporate brand loyalty. The findings have managerial implications in what concerns the appropriate implementation and communication of CSR policies by mobile telecommunication companies from the region in order for them to enhance their customer's loyalty.

Brand revitalization is a process, which is often necessary when the brand's offer of products as well as associated attention from consumers decline. Even so, the core of a brand needs to be clearly defined, in order for brand revitalization to be successfully implemented. Marketing managers need to be able to recognize the acute, as well as the latent signs of brand aging, and need to implement brand revitalization elements and strategies that are most suitable for a certain brand. The goal of the paper is presenting brand revitalization through the practical example of two Slovenian brands, which both went through the process of brand revitalization. With the review of secondary data, as well as interviews with the brand's marketing managers, the paper proposes main steps and serves as a guideline to other managers, when going through brand revitalization.

Social media is becoming a key part of business communication strategy. Despite all the advantages, social media also poses a threat to business reputation. Dissatisfied customers can reach a large audience and share their negative experiences with others. This paper deals with the impact of social media on the practice of public relations. The goal of the paper is to formulate a set of rules for dealing with negative contributions and generally with crisis communication in social media. It is based on two surveys. Individual interviews with social media experts are the core part of the analysis. They are complemented by questioning of consumers to get deeper insight into complaining behavior via social media. The defined set of rules provides a useful tool for the social media crisis management.

This paper has been devoted to theoretically examining the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) agenda which has been dominating the business world in recent years. Customer relationship management is a new competitive weapon for organizations for serving internal and external customers. Today's organizations are focusing on conquering the minds of customers, to make them satisfied and loyal with the help of sophisticated, well-organized CRM efforts. This paper is to explore the CRM agenda in organizational interfaces and its effectiveness with regards to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The related literature demonstrates that there is a significant association among effective CRM, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Internationalization has different connotations for different social sciences and its social, economic and cultural impacts have been examined by a number of studies. While firms' internationalization processes have been understood as being dynamic, the concept of international readiness has rarely been the main focus of research efforts, which until a decade ago, focused principally on explaining sequences of entry modes and choices of markets. The emergence of the study of international entrepreneurship has enhanced the role of readiness. This study reviews the concept of international readiness by experimental and theoretical studies. Axioms in this research are based on content analysis. The framework incorporates measures to evaluate SMEs' international readiness. The paper concludes with a research agenda as a guide for future work on considering the readiness as a critical phase before the internationalization process.

In international management, there are observable difficulties in development processes and international alignments similar to situations in international diplomacy. This article presents application of the theories and concepts of international diplomacy on the practice of international marketing. It is the first application of the concept of international diplomacy for management, especially marketing practices. The goal of the article is to elaborate the concepts and solutions of international diplomacy for international marketing. The used research method is secondary analysis of existing theories and concepts of diplomacy in combination with expert interviews with international diplomats as well as international marketing practitioners. The results of the presented examination have interesting managerial implications for international marketing development processes, showing that the virtues of international diplomacy can be adapted to the practice of international marketing.

Functional cooperation between marketing and sales should be the basic element in all market-oriented companies. This paper investigates the fundamental instruments and tools how to foster the relationship between marketing and sales departments. The authors begin with a review of existing literature in order to gain an overall picture of the respective field. Subsequent qualitative research is based on in-depth expert interviews with midlevel managers. Middle management representatives and their subordinates must interact with the opposite department on a daily basis. Sixty expert interviews reveal that respondents evaluate their relationship with the other department mostly as functional in the way that the common goals are always reached. Research results have shown that the most functional interconnecting elements are the organizational culture that promotes cross-functional communication and information exchange between the representatives of both departments. Very beneficial are common goals, cross functional teams and an open data sharing culture. Effective cooperation should be always endorsed by the top management. At the end, several managerial implications are developed.

The purpose of this work is to show the economic conditions of the postal market in Poland. The pace of economic transformation and growing competition in the postal market means that Polish Post is somehow forced to take new measures to improve the effectiveness of communication with their market environment. The focus points of this study are the economic mechanisms of the effectiveness and efficiency of the process of communicating specified value to the customer, and an attempt to identify the factors boosting an increase in efficiency. The reflections contained in the paper do not have definite characteristics and should be treated as an opinion in the discussion.

Due to multi-dimension viewpoints, since decision-making and purchase process are emerging based on the human spirit or internal value of customers, this research seeks to introduce and analyze a model in this regard. In this research, the effects model of ethicality on brand personality dimensions and creation of brand equity were studied, aiming on raising awareness and highlighting the role of ethical values in branding. The population includes all the customers within Iranian chain stores (as a developing country). The results show that "perceived business ethicality" has a positive effect on responsibility, activity and emotionality. Moreover, responsibility and activity have a positive effect on "overall brand equity". According to total effect, "responsibility" and "perceived business ethicality" have the highest effect on brand equity.

This paper explores the approach of the food industry towards the issue of rising children obesity in the context of the external regulatory environment and industry self-regulation. It presents the roles and positions of the industry associations, self-regulation and industry representatives through a case study of best practices in applying self-regulation rules. It proves that companies, acting in accordance with the long-term strategy of social responsibility, approach the self-regulation respectfully, because its absence would be a cause for development and implementation of stricter legislation over the long run.

The article presents the idea of gaining a position of competitive advantage by companies operating in the knowledge-based economy and in the age of modern technology. The rate of change in companies' environments forces organizations to react quickly to clients' needs. In recent years, there has been an observed systematic increase in the importance of communicating customer value in Poland. This paper shows changes (trends) in the system of market communication in the age of modern technology and changes in the economy. The author presents the mechanisms and effects of communication in age new technology in Poland. Modern technologies enable the collection, storage and transmission of information. Reflections contained in the paper do not have definite characteristics and should be treated as an opinion in the discussion.

Many studies show that marketing has recently lost its strategic position within companies. Customer Lifetime Value represents a relatively new approach to reestablishing marketing's position as the core management instrument in market driven companies. The main goal of this paper is to summarize the current development and basic principles of the Customer Lifetime Value conceptual model, which sets customers back into the position of key company assets. The paper presents findings that prove the need for a marketing focus change in order to be able to properly manage customer relationships and secure a company's long-term sustainable development.

One of the topical themes of today's marketing is customer loyalty. There are many tools that can be used to attract a customer and make him loyal. Most frequently applied are special loyalty programs. Some of them are well designed; others are often difficult to understand and they do not bring positive effect. This paper concentrates on e-shop loyalty programs with regard to the young generation of customers. Based on primary data, the goals of e-shops' loyalty programs are compared to the loyalty benefits preferred by customers. Whereas e-shop providers often remunerate their customers on the scheme of cumulative purchase history, customers appreciate an instant reward, regardless of whether it's small or not.

In international macroeconomics, there is a specific concept explaining deviations in international trade relations showing that countries have a bias and a strong preference for the consumption of their home-country goods. This article presents an application of the concept on brand preferences in West and East Germany, where a home-bias-in-consumption has been observed for the East of Germany. It is the first application of the concept on the territory of brand preference that explains the strong rootedness of the Eastern German consumers to their regionally known and familiar brands. The goal of the article is to elaborate more deeply the differences in attitudes towards brands between Eastern and Western German consumers. The main research method is secondary analysis of the data collected in two large research studies: (1) "West-East brand study", and (2) "Consumer Analysis". The results of the presented study have interesting managerial implications in brand management, showing that brands should utilize their local rootedness.

The forthcoming research characterises and analyses the key market players (shipping lines), their customer service policy together with the implications the container transport bottlenecks have for the market in the Czech Republic with customer orientation being one of these. Evaluating companies' customer orientation and analyzing container shipping dimensions in the market of transport and logistics is a highly complex task, especially in the times of the changes in the market. To obtain the data necessary for an informed analysis, open interviews with selected customer service managers will be made and questionnaires distributed in the Czech Republic. Due to the concentration of container and logistics activity within a relatively small number of global shipping lines present in the countries with substantial market share, the approach of market characteristics will be case study based. It must be stressed this is a conceptual paper only, the data has not been collected yet; therefore, there is no conclusion on the research. It is focused primarily on methodology applied and a literature review.

This paper investigates the importance of brand building in the business-to-business world. Not only B2C companies must take branding into account and put it among their top priorities in order to survive and succeed on the market. The first part of the article deals with the theoretical background of brand importance and market specifics of B2B markets and results in the setting of two hypotheses. The following research has to find out how the managers of a pure business-to-business company perceive the importance of a brand; moreover, it has to evaluate the importance of eight specific brand building factors. Fourteen expert interviews document the growing of brands in the B2B market and their main aspects. At the end of the article, we will focus on future implications for B2B management.

This paper provides an overview of key stakeholders involved in food marketing to children in Europe and in the Czech Republic. It analyzes the role of the legislation as well as voluntary codes of conduct in the food industry. The industry part of the issue is also covered by an explanation of their role and position in the obesity issue. The form of food industry cooperation in the Food Chamber through a working group of involved companies is analyzed and an example of a corporate responsibility program is shown. The paper serves as a review of the issue for further exploration needs.

Small- and medium-sized companies usually perceive controlling in connection with financial management. However, this is a serious mistake, which may have very unpleasant consequences for businesses. Such consequences are usually connected with a failure to achieve operational and strategic aims in the area of sales, production, innovation or marketing. For companies, a failure of marketing and sales controlling means that achieving the aims in the area of customer relations management is threatened, which subsequently results in the company's sales not being fulfilled. This may result in a failure of the corporate strategy in the medium-term, which tends to be followed by a failure of sales and a threat to liquidity. Absence of marketing and sales controlling is usually the most frequent cause of a crisis. Therefore, the aim of the article is to describe the main areas of marketing and sales controlling and its relation to risk management.

Central Europe, due to its history, is not perceived as a region from which a luxury brand could originate, rather luxury is traditionally connected to Western European countries (such as France, Italy or Switzerland). Country of origin (COO) plays an important role in the perception of any brand but for luxury brands the COO is usually even more important than for mainstream brands because it is an important part of the brand's heritage. But despite their unfavorable origin, in the last few years, we can observe that brands which originate from the CEE region have positioned themselves in the luxury market. The goal of this article is to investigate the COO effect for a luxury brand originating in the Czech Republic - namely the watchmaker Prim - and its impact on the marketing strategy of this brand. The main research method used in this article is the case study method which combines the findings of in-depth interviewing and observations together with findings of secondary research. The managerial implications mainly target brand managers of luxury or premium market brands originating from the Czech Republic and other CEE countries. The investigated brand case of Czech watchmaker Manufacture Prim 1949 proved that it is possible to build a luxury brand originating in the Czech Republic and also successfully enter foreign markets with this brand. However, for foreign markets, the marketing strategy (mainly the communication) strategy needs to be adapted as the COO does not bring any additional value for customers in those markets and it needs to be replaced by other values (such as the long tradition of the brand, interesting story of the brand, etc.). Overseas, the COO could be used as a positive value by stressing the European origin instead of the Czech one. Targeting also needs to be adapted as local patriotism would not work for the brand.

The article examines recent developments in the Russian retail trade and automobile industry as two very dynamic sectors of the Russian economy by stating and forecasting sales trends, presenting the main market participants, shares of business forms and deducing perspectives for Central and Eastern European investors. The article uses a standard methodology for description of industries and econometric models for sales forecasts and analysis. The article's main benefit for Central and Eastern European managers is its concise and up-to-date description of the both sectors of the Russian economy, which is not easily accessible for foreigners due to language barriers and marketing agency fees.

Understanding current and potential customers' behavior is one of the key factors of marketing efficiency and it brings competitive advantage. Companies usually classify their customers and create client groups with similar characteristic features. Such grouping activity is called segmentation or typology. There are many possible methods to obtain data for the segmentation process (e.g. data mining, demographic segmentation, analyzing shopping behavior, media behavior or their combination). This paper concentrates on the financial behavior of the Czech population and brings a survey based on primary data. It takes into consideration aspects like attitude towards risk and savings and even aspects like money ethics and the role of money in society. Seven consumer segments that differ in attitudes towards money were identified and described.

The first large-scale (909 products, 79,679 individual price listings) empirical study of price dispersion based on data from the Czech Republic's online shops is presented in the paper. First, simple descriptive indicators were calculated for each product. Second, several versions of linear regression models were constructed for each of the 13 product categories and evaluated against the hypotheses. The price dispersion was regressed against its mean market price and the number of shops. For the majority of categories R² is high or very high (the mean market price variable accounts for 86.6% to 96.7% in the price dispersion) or at least medium (from 56% to 69%). Also, price dispersion (measured by range and standard deviation) remains quite high for the majority of the analyzed product categories. The important role of pricebots for online shop owners and marketing managers and some other findings are also discussed.

The objective of this research is to analyze the customer service orientation and policy of Czech logistics providers (3PLs), global shipping lines and multimodal transport operators (MTOs). Evaluating customer orientation in the market of transport and logistics is a highly complex task. To obtain the data necessary for an informed analysis, open interviews will be made and questionnaires will be distributed to the relevant companies' managers in the Czech Republic. Due to the concentration of container and logistics activity within the relatively small number of important market players active in the country's market, the approach of market characteristics will be case study based. Moreover, the research will offer an important analysis of the shipping lines' and logistics providers' services in terms of customer service policy in the Czech Republic. If possible and feasible given the data, a survey of customer perspectives will also be undertaken. The conceptual part of the paper focuses on a literature review, methodology and anticipated results only.

This paper outlines the growing potential of the aging population in Europe with a focus on its impact on the food industry. The importance of mature consumers over the next few decades will radically grow. The impact on companies' volumes will be significant without sophisticated innovations in products and communication. The objective of this paper is to selectively highlight relevant research of the segment of senior consumers and using this to clarify two important areas with significant implications for marketers: (i) the importance of the senior segment for future food marketing and (ii) the specifics of the mature segment in terms of benefits selection for the development of brand positioning strategies. Additionally, different segmentation approaches to the senior market, together with their implications on targeting and communication, are discussed.

This paper investigates whether the current economic slowdown in four CEE countries was accompanied by strong growth of private-label share as theory suggests. Unexpectedly, based on the data of Nielsen Retail Measurement Service, we prove that the private-label share grew relatively slowly, although all four countries had a large potential for growth of this share. We demonstrate that the key reason behind this development was probably the massive in-store promotions that were decreasing the price gap between private labels and branded products. The managerial implications of these findings for both manufacturers and retailers within the region are discussed.

A two-dimensional involvement scale is presented in this paper. The scale is based on a comprehensive model and captures the two antecedent factors of purchase-related involvement, namely whether motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic and whether risk is perceived as low or high. The procedure of scale development and item selection is described. The scale turns out to perform well in terms of validity, reliability, and objectivity despite the use of a small set of items - four each - allowing for simultaneous measurements of up to ten purchases per respondent. The procedure of administering the scale is described so that it can now easily be applied by both scholars and practitioners. Finally, managerial implications of data received from its application, i.e. those that provide insights into possible strategic marketing conclusions, are discussed.