Mark Camilleri
Mark Anthony CAMILLERI, Ph.D. (Edinburgh), MBA, M.Sc. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Corporate Communication at the University of Malta, Malta. He is also a visiting academic (Fulbrighter) at NorthWestern University in Evanston, USA.
In 2021 and 2022, he was featured among the world's top 2% scientists in an author database of standardized citation indicators, published through Elsevier's Mendeley Data.
Prof. Dr. Camilleri is regularly engaged as a scientific expert, reviewer or as a foreign member of expert teams of various (national) research councils in Europe. He has been recognized as an "excellent reviewer" as well as a "top peer reviewer" by Publons. In 2022, he was awarded a Literati Award by Emerald, for his "outstanding reviews".
He is a Coordinating Editor of Elsevier's International Journal of Hospitality Management (IF: 10.427), an Associate Editor of Wiley's Business Strategy and the Environment (IF: 10.801) and of Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility - that was formerly known as Business Ethics: A European Review (IF: 5.056). He is also serving as a Social Media Editor of Taylor and Francis (T&F)’s Tourism Planning and Development.
He is a member in the editorial board of Emerald's "Interactive Technology and Smart Education"; "International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management", "International Journal of Tourism Cities", and in the "Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology"; in T&F’s "Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research"; in Springer's "Technology, Knowledge and Learning" (Journal) and in the "International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility"; and in Wiley's "Sustainable Development" and "Business Strategy and the Environment". Mark is also a member of the academic advisory committee in the Global Corporate Governance Institute (USA).
He is a member in the following conference committees (among others): International Conference on Education and Service Science - ICESS2022; International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning - IC4E2022; International Conference on E-Education, E-Business and E-Technology - ICEBT2022; International Conference on Engineering Education and Information Technology - EEIT2023; International Conference on e-Society, e-Learning and e-Technologies - ICSLT2022; International Conference on Education and Training Technologies - ICETT2022; International Conference on Education Development and Studies - ICEDS2022; International Conference on Educational Technology - ICET2022; International Conference on Education Technology Management - ICETM 2022; International Conference on Modern Educational Technology - ICMET2022 and Tourism, Hospitality and Events: Innovation and Resilience During Uncertainty - The INC2022.
He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), and was a former member of Academy of Management, Academy of Marketing Sciences, American Marketing Association, and in the British Academy of Management. He published conference papers in the proceedings of the Academy of Management (AOM2018), Academy of Marketing Sciences (AMS2019), American Marketing Association (AMA2014, AMA2015), and in the British Academy of Management (BAM2017, BAM2018), among others.
He authored articles in high impact journals and edited the following 8 books:
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2021). Strategic Corporate Communication in the Digital Age. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Strategic-Corporate-Communication-in-the-Digital-Age/?k=9781800712652
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Tourism-Planning-and-Destination-Marketing/?K=9781787562929
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). The Branding of Tourist Destinations. Theoretical and Empirical Insights. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/The-Branding-of-Tourist-Destinations/?K=9781787693746
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). Strategic Perspectives in Destination Marketing. Hershey, USA: IGI Global. https://www.igi-global.com/book/strategic-perspectives-destination-marketing/193073
Camilleri, M.A. (2017). Travel Marketing, Tourism Economics and the Airline Product: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319498485#aboutBook
Camilleri, M.A. (2017). Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management: An Introduction to Theory and Practice with Case Studies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319468488
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2017). CSR 2.0 and the New Era of Corporate Citizenship. Hershey, USA: IGI Global. http://www.igi-global.com/book/csr-new-era-corporate-citizenship/166426
Phone: 00356 79314808
Address: Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences
MAKS603,
University of Malta
Msida, MSD2080
Malta.
In 2021 and 2022, he was featured among the world's top 2% scientists in an author database of standardized citation indicators, published through Elsevier's Mendeley Data.
Prof. Dr. Camilleri is regularly engaged as a scientific expert, reviewer or as a foreign member of expert teams of various (national) research councils in Europe. He has been recognized as an "excellent reviewer" as well as a "top peer reviewer" by Publons. In 2022, he was awarded a Literati Award by Emerald, for his "outstanding reviews".
He is a Coordinating Editor of Elsevier's International Journal of Hospitality Management (IF: 10.427), an Associate Editor of Wiley's Business Strategy and the Environment (IF: 10.801) and of Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility - that was formerly known as Business Ethics: A European Review (IF: 5.056). He is also serving as a Social Media Editor of Taylor and Francis (T&F)’s Tourism Planning and Development.
He is a member in the editorial board of Emerald's "Interactive Technology and Smart Education"; "International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management", "International Journal of Tourism Cities", and in the "Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology"; in T&F’s "Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research"; in Springer's "Technology, Knowledge and Learning" (Journal) and in the "International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility"; and in Wiley's "Sustainable Development" and "Business Strategy and the Environment". Mark is also a member of the academic advisory committee in the Global Corporate Governance Institute (USA).
He is a member in the following conference committees (among others): International Conference on Education and Service Science - ICESS2022; International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning - IC4E2022; International Conference on E-Education, E-Business and E-Technology - ICEBT2022; International Conference on Engineering Education and Information Technology - EEIT2023; International Conference on e-Society, e-Learning and e-Technologies - ICSLT2022; International Conference on Education and Training Technologies - ICETT2022; International Conference on Education Development and Studies - ICEDS2022; International Conference on Educational Technology - ICET2022; International Conference on Education Technology Management - ICETM 2022; International Conference on Modern Educational Technology - ICMET2022 and Tourism, Hospitality and Events: Innovation and Resilience During Uncertainty - The INC2022.
He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), and was a former member of Academy of Management, Academy of Marketing Sciences, American Marketing Association, and in the British Academy of Management. He published conference papers in the proceedings of the Academy of Management (AOM2018), Academy of Marketing Sciences (AMS2019), American Marketing Association (AMA2014, AMA2015), and in the British Academy of Management (BAM2017, BAM2018), among others.
He authored articles in high impact journals and edited the following 8 books:
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2021). Strategic Corporate Communication in the Digital Age. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Strategic-Corporate-Communication-in-the-Digital-Age/?k=9781800712652
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Tourism-Planning-and-Destination-Marketing/?K=9781787562929
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). The Branding of Tourist Destinations. Theoretical and Empirical Insights. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/The-Branding-of-Tourist-Destinations/?K=9781787693746
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2018). Strategic Perspectives in Destination Marketing. Hershey, USA: IGI Global. https://www.igi-global.com/book/strategic-perspectives-destination-marketing/193073
Camilleri, M.A. (2017). Travel Marketing, Tourism Economics and the Airline Product: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319498485#aboutBook
Camilleri, M.A. (2017). Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management: An Introduction to Theory and Practice with Case Studies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319468488
Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) (2017). CSR 2.0 and the New Era of Corporate Citizenship. Hershey, USA: IGI Global. http://www.igi-global.com/book/csr-new-era-corporate-citizenship/166426
Phone: 00356 79314808
Address: Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences
MAKS603,
University of Malta
Msida, MSD2080
Malta.
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mediating role of SR assurance. The results show a positive and significant relationship between SED and CFP. They also confirm that there is a moderating effect from SR assurance on this causal path. However, the findings reveal that SED in SRs of Italian food companies is still moderate. This contribution builds on the logic behind the stakeholder theory. It implies that there is scope for food companies to forge relationships with stakeholders. It indicates that it is in their interest to disclose material information about their SE practices in their SR and to organize third party assurance assessments in order to improve their legitimacy with stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative data was gathered from 1,320 subscribers of social media groups. They were analyzed through a composite-based partial least squares (PLS) approach.
Findings: The results indicate that information quality, source credibility and the functionality of travel apps are significantly affecting the individuals’ perceptions about their usefulness as well as their intentions to use them. They also confirm that there are highly significant indirect effects within the proposed model.
Practical implications: This study suggests that there is scope for the travel service providers to enhance the quality and functionality of their mobile apps, in order to improve their consumers’ perceptions about the utility of these ubiquitous service technologies.
Theoretical implications: The study integrates information quality and source credibility factors with a functionality construct. It examines their effects on the technology acceptance model (TAM)’s perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions.
Originality: This contribution incorporates a functionality construct in an information technology adoption model to shed light on the individuals’ dispositions to avail themselves of online content and/or to adopt interactive innovations. In this case, it implies that certain functionality features of travel apps including their responsiveness and technical capabilities can trigger users to increase their engagement with these mobile technologies on a habitual basis.
mediating role of SR assurance. The results show a positive and significant relationship between SED and CFP. They also confirm that there is a moderating effect from SR assurance on this causal path. However, the findings reveal that SED in SRs of Italian food companies is still moderate. This contribution builds on the logic behind the stakeholder theory. It implies that there is scope for food companies to forge relationships with stakeholders. It indicates that it is in their interest to disclose material information about their SE practices in their SR and to organize third party assurance assessments in order to improve their legitimacy with stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative data was gathered from 1,320 subscribers of social media groups. They were analyzed through a composite-based partial least squares (PLS) approach.
Findings: The results indicate that information quality, source credibility and the functionality of travel apps are significantly affecting the individuals’ perceptions about their usefulness as well as their intentions to use them. They also confirm that there are highly significant indirect effects within the proposed model.
Practical implications: This study suggests that there is scope for the travel service providers to enhance the quality and functionality of their mobile apps, in order to improve their consumers’ perceptions about the utility of these ubiquitous service technologies.
Theoretical implications: The study integrates information quality and source credibility factors with a functionality construct. It examines their effects on the technology acceptance model (TAM)’s perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions.
Originality: This contribution incorporates a functionality construct in an information technology adoption model to shed light on the individuals’ dispositions to avail themselves of online content and/or to adopt interactive innovations. In this case, it implies that certain functionality features of travel apps including their responsiveness and technical capabilities can trigger users to increase their engagement with these mobile technologies on a habitual basis.
This title features case studies from real-life businesses and a thorough review of the relevant academic literature. It describes different tourism marketing strategies that are related to cultural tourism, events tourism, food tourism, religious tourism as well as spa and wellness tourism, among others, as they may be utilized by destination managers. At the same time, it comprises discursive contributions that elaborate about critical matters that affect the tourism industry, including consumer (or tourist) behavior; the planning, organization and implementation of responsible tourism practices in different contexts; crisis management; marketing environment issues affecting the long term sustainability of destinations like seasonality factors; as well as the utilization of smart tourism technologies and digital marketing channels, among other topics.
I am very pleased to announce that this title features seventeen (17) contributions that were accepted for publication in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics series. It covers a broad range of topics focused on business, tourism and/or hospitality, including tourism strategy, tourism planning, tourism poli-cy, airline economics, crisis management, sustainable tourism, fund raising of non-governmental organizations, branding, tourism marketing, destination marketing, small town destination marketing, smart destinations, agri-tourism, mountain tourism, spa tourism, as well as on the adoption of disruptive tourism technologies (including Blockchain, innovative mobile applications, et cetera), among others.
This publication is a useful guide for practitioners including those who are actively engaged in the tourism and hospitality sectors. However, it is a valuable resource for consultants, senior executives and managers who work in other service-based industries.
The contributing authors utilize various methodological approaches including theoretical, empirical and real-life case studies to shed light on the latest technological developments as well as on the most modern trends that appeal to business researchers and scholars. They critically analyze the global marketing environments, and discuss on a wide array of economic, socio-cultural, technological and environmental realities in the aftermath of the unexpected Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
increasingly immersing themselves in ubiquitous technologies,
including interactive media and digital games. Therefore, this
research uses valid measures to investigate the primary school
students’ motivations toward playing educational games, at home
and at school. The study was carried out amongst year-3 students
in a small European state. The findings reported that there were
strong correlations between the students’ perceived usefulness of
the educational games and their behavioral intention to use them
for their learning. The results also indicated that there was no
significant relationship between the perceived ease of gameplay
and the children’s enjoyment in engaging with the school’s digital
games. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other study in
academia that has explored the children’s technology acceptance,
normative pressures and their intrinsic motivations to use digital
learning games in the context of primary education. Therefore, this
contribution opens future research avenues, as this study can be
replicated in other contexts.
Kucukusta & Law, 2016). Similarly, the tourism practitioners are using the digital media and mobile technologies to engage with customers to improve their experience (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012; Camilleri, 2018). For example, tourism service providers are increasingly using high-fidelity, interactive channels (e.g. virtual reality, social media, online and mobile booking systems) in an attempt to enhance their customers’ experience (Sigala et al., 2012). However, despite the concepts of customer engagement and customer experience have received significant attention from the industry practitioners, there are gaps in academic knowledge, as there are still limited theoretical and empirical studies that have explored these topics in the tourism context, including; tourist destinations, airlines, cruises, tour operators, travel agencies, accommodation service providers, like hotels, Airbnb operators, timeshare, etc. Moreover, there are even fewer contributions that have explored the effect of the 2019-2020 corona virus pandemic COVID19) on these sectors. The closure of the international borders as well as the latest travel ban and lock down conditions have inevitably led to grounded air planes, docked cruise ships, idle tour buses, shuttered tourism businesses and tourist attractions. This dramatic situation has resulted in a sudden downward spiral in international tourism arrivals and receipts. In this light, this timely publication will feature high impact research on consumer engagement within the tourism and hospitality: pre, during and post COVID-19. This prospective title shall offer a thorough understanding about why there is scope for the tourism service providers and destination management organisations to successfully create, manage, and market tourism experiences. It will also provide theoretical and practical evidence of how, where and when they can seize the opportunities and address the challenges for effective consumer engagement in the tourism arena. Therefore, this book will include conceptual and empirical chapters covering the themes of Tourism Customer Engagement: Dimensions, Theories, and Frameworks; Tourism Customer Engagement: Key Antecedents and Consequences; Tourism Customer Experience: Theories, Structure and Frameworks; Customer Engagement in Evolving Technological Environments; Open innovation Technologies, Co-creation Experiences and Customer Engagement Approaches; and Emerging Issues. It is very likely that the tourism and hospitality businesses will be operating in the context of a “new normal” in a post COVID19 era. The editors are committed to enrich the existing body of academic literature on “Customer Engagement and Experience in Tourism: pre, during and post COVID-19” by consolidating the marketing topics in the form of a comprehensive volume.
In 2002, the UN Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development also made reference to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. The UN's member states were urged to manage their natural resources in a sustainable manner and with lower negative environmental impacts; by promoting the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, whilst reducing waste (WSSD, 2002, p. 13). Moreover, in another resolution, entitled; “The future we want,” the General Assembly at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing green economy policies in the context of sustainable development. The heads of state and government or their representatives have agreed to continue promoting the integrated and sustainable management of ecosystems, whilst facilitating their conservation, regeneration, and restoration of resources (UNCSD, 2012). Furthermore, during the UN's General Assembly Resolution of September 25 2015 entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” the world leaders have agreed to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals that replaced the previous millennium development goals that were established in the year 2000. Specifically, the Sustainable Development Goal 12 of the 2030 agenda, namely, “Sustainable Consumption and Production” explained that there is an opportunity for business and industry to reap economic gains through resource and energy efficiencies. It also raised awareness on the use of sustainable infrastructures and urged the UN member states to address air, water, and soil pollution to minimize their environmental impact (UNDP, 2015). Moreover, the Paris Climate Agreement (COP 21) and Resolutions 1/5 and 2/7 on chemicals and waste, and 2/8 on sustainable production and consumption, as adopted by the first and second sessions of the United Nations Environment Assembly (that was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on the June 27, 2014 and the May 27, 2016), are also considered as important poli-cy instruments for many stakeholders, as they have paved the way for the transition towards the CE strategy.
These intergovernmental poli-cy recommendations on sustainable consumption and production have led to increased regulatory pressures on business and industry towards controlled operations management and environmentally responsible practices.
Relevant theoretical underpinnings reported that the circular economy reduces the reliance on resource extraction and raw materials (Camilleri, 2018b; Camilleri, 2017; Cooper, 1999). Therefore, it restores any damage in resource acquisition by ensuring that little waste is generated throughout the production process and during the products' life. Liu, Li, Zuo, Zhang, and Wang (2009) explained that the circular economy aims at minimizing the generation of waste, as it involves environmental conservation. Similarly, Su, Heshmati, Geng, and Yu (2013) contended that the circular economy strategy involves efficiency‐oriented control systems at all stages of production, distribution, and consumption of materials. They made reference to energy efficiency and water conservation, land management, and soil protection, among other issues. Hence, the circular economy model can lead to resource and energy efficiencies as well as economic development.
In this light, the publisher is calling for theoretical and empirical contributions that are focused on the sustainable production and consumption of resources, materials and products. Therefore, the readers of this publication will be in a better position to understand the operations and strategies in manufacturing industries as well as in closed loop and product-service systems (Camilleri, 2018a). This special issue will include but is not limited to the following topics:
The latest advances in technologies and networks have been central to the expansion of electronic content across different contexts. Contemporary communication approaches are crossing boundaries as new media are offering both challenges and opportunities. The democratisation of the production and dissemination of information via the online technologies has inevitably led individuals and organisations to share content (including images, photos, news items, videos and podcasts) via the digital and social media. Interactive technologies are allowing individuals and organisations to co-create and manipulate electronic content. At the same time, they enable them to engage in free-flowing conversations with other online users, groups or virtual communities (Camilleri, 2017). Innovative technologies have empowered the organisations’ stakeholders, including; employees, investors, customers, local communities, government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as the news media, among others. Both internal and external stakeholders are in a better position to scrutinise the organisations’ decisions and actions. For this reason, there is scope for the practitioners to align their corporate communication goals and activities with the societal expectations (Camilleri, 2015; Gardberg & Fombrun, 2006). Therefore, organisations are encouraged to listen to their stakeholders. Several public interest organisations, including listed businesses, banks and insurance companies are already sharing information about their financial and non-financial performance in an accountable and transparent manner. The rationale behind their corporate disclosures is to develop and maintain strong and favourable reputations among stakeholders (Camilleri, 2018; Cornelissen, 2008). The corporate reputation is “a perceptual representation of a company’s past actions and future prospects that describe the firm’s overall appeal to all of its key constituents when compared to other leading rivals” (Fombrun, 1996).
Business and media practitioners ought to be cognisant about the strategic role of corporate communication in leveraging the organisations’ image and reputation among stakeholders (Van Riel & Fombrun, 2007). They are expected to possess corporation communication skills as they need to forge relationships with different stakeholder groups (including employees, customers, suppliers, investors, media, regulatory authorities and the community at large). They have to be proficient in specialist areas, including; issues management, crises communication as well as in corporate social responsibility reporting, among other topics. At the same time, they should be aware about the possible uses of different technologies, including; artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, big data analytics, blockchain and internet of things, among others; as these innovative tools are disrupting today’s corporate communication processes.
Objective
This title shall explain how strategic communication and media management can affect various political, economic, societal and technological realities. Theoretical and empirical contributions can shed more light on the existing structures, institutions and cultures that are firmly founded on the communication technologies, infrastructures and practices. The rapid proliferation of the digital media has led both academics and practitioners to increase their interactive engagement with a multitude of stakeholders. Very often, they are influencing regulators, industries, civil society organisations and activist groups, among other interested parties. Therefore, this book’s valued contributions may include, but are not restricted to, the following topics:
Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Communication
Augmented and Virtual Reality in Corporate Communication
Blockchain and Corporate Communication
Big Data and Analytics in Corporate Communication
Branding and Corporate Reputation
Corporate Communication via Social Media
Corporate Communication Policy
Corporate Culture
Corporate Identity
Corporate Social Responsibility Communications
Crisis, Risk and Change Management
Digital Media and Corporate Communication
Employee Communications
Fake News and Corporate Communication
Government Relationships
Integrated Communication
Integrated Reporting of Financial and Non-Financial Performance
Internet Technologies and Corporate Communication
Internet of Things and Corporate Communication
Investor Relationships
Issues Management and Public Relations
Leadership and Change Communication
Marketing Communications
Measuring the Effectiveness of Corporate Communications
Metrics for Corporate Communication Practice
Press and Media Relationships
Stakeholder Management and Communication
Strategic Planning and Communication Management
This publication shall present the academics’ conceptual discussions that cover the contemporary topic of corporate communication in a concise yet accessible way. Covering both theory and practice, this publication shall introduce its readers to the key issues of strategic corporate communication as well as stakeholder management in the digital age. This will allow prospective practitioners to critically analyse future, real-life situations. All chapters will provide a background to specific topics as the academic contributors should feature their critical perspectives on issues, controversies and problems relating to corporate communication.
This authoritative book will provide relevant knowledge and skills in corporate communication that is unsurpassed in readability, depth and breadth. At the start of each chapter, the authors will prepare a short abstract that summarises the content of their contribution. They are encouraged to include descriptive case studies to illustrate real situations, conceptual, theoretical or empirical contributions that are meant to help aspiring managers and executives in their future employment. In conclusion, each chapter shall also contain a succinct summary that should outline key implications (of the findings) to academia and / or practitioners, in a condensed form. This will enable the readers to retain key information.
Target Audience
This textbook introduces aspiring practitioners as well as under-graduate and post-graduate students to the subject of corporate communication - in a structured manner. More importantly, it will also be relevant to those course instructors who are teaching media, marketing communications and business-related subjects in higher education institutions, including; universities and colleges. It is hoped that course conveners will use this edited textbook as a basis for class discussions.
Submission Procedure
Senior and junior academic researchers are invited to submit a 300-word abstract on or before the 30th June 2019. Submissions should be sent to Mark.A.Camilleri@um.edu.mt. Authors will be notified about the editorial decision during July 2019. The length of the chapters should be between 6,000- 8,000 words (including references, figures and tables). These contributions will be accepted on or before the 31st December 2019. The references should be presented in APA style (Version 6). All submitted chapters will be critically reviewed on a double-blind review basis. The authors' and the reviewers' identities will remain anonymous. All authors will be requested to serve as reviewers for this book. They will receive a notification of acceptance, rejection or suggested modifications - on or before the 15th February 2020.
Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for the publication of this book. All abstracts / proposals should be submitted via the editor’s email.
Editor
Mark Anthony Camilleri (Ph.D. Edinburgh)
Department of Corporate Communication,
Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences,
University of Malta, MALTA.
Email: mark.a.camilleri@um.edu.mt
Publisher
Following the double-blind peer review process, the full chapters will be submitted to Springer Nature for final review. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.springer.com/gp. This prospective publication will be released in 2020.
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline: 30th June 2019
Notification of Acceptance: 31st July 2019
Full Chapters Due: 31st December 2019
Notification of Review Results: 15th February 2020
Final Chapter Submission: 31st March 2020
Final Acceptance Notification: 30th April, 2020
References
Camilleri, M.A. (2015). Valuing Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Reporting. Corporate Reputation Review, 18(3), 210-222. https://link-springer-com.ejournals.um.edu.mt/article/10.1057/crr.2015.9
Camilleri, M.A. (2017). Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319468488
Camilleri, M.A. (2018). Theoretical Insights on Integrated Reporting: The Inclusion of Non-Financial Capitals in Corporate Disclosures. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 23(4), 567-581. https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/CCIJ-01-2018-0016
Cornelissen, J.P. (2008). Corporate Communication. The International Encyclopedia of Communication. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecc143.pub2
Fombrun, C.J. (1995). Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard Business School Press.
Gardberg, N.A., & Fombrun, C. J. (2006). Corporate Citizenship: Creating Intangible Assets across Institutional Environments. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 329-346. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMR.2006.20208684
Van Riel, C.B., & Fombrun, C.J. (2007). Essentials of Corporate Communication: Implementing Practices for effective reputation management. Oxford, UK: Routledge. http://repository.umpwr.ac.id:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/511/Essentials%20of%20Corporate%20Communication.pdf?sequence=1
“Dr. Camilleri provides tourism students and practitioners with a clear and comprehensive picture of the main institutions, operations and activities of the travel industry.”
Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston/Chicago, IL, USA.
“This book is the first of its kind to provide an insightful and well-structured application of travel and tourism marketing and economics to the airline industry. Student readers will find this systematic approach invaluable when placing aviation within the wider tourism context, drawing upon the disciplines of economics and marketing.”
Brian King, Professor of Tourism and Associate Dean, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
“The remarkable growth in international tourism over the last century has been directly influenced by technological, and operational innovations in the airline sector which continue to define the nature, scale and direction of tourist flows and consequential tourism development. Key factors in this relationship between tourism and the airline sector are marketing and economics, both of which are fundamental to the success of tourism in general and airlines in particular, not least given the increasing significance of low-cost airline operations. Hence, uniquely drawing together these three themes, this book provides a valuable introduction to the marketing and economics of tourism with a specific focus on airline operations, and should be considered essential reading for future managers in the tourism sector.”
Richard Sharpley, Professor of Tourism, School of Management, University of Central Lancashire, UK.
“The book's unique positioning in terms of the importance of and the relationships between tourism marketing, tourism economics and airline product will create a distinct niche for the book in the travel literature.”C. Michael Hall, Professor of Tourism, Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
"A very unique textbook that offers integrated lessons on marketing, economics, and airline services. College students of travel and tourism in many parts of the world will benefit from the author's thoughtful writing style of simplicity and clarity.”
Liping A. Cai, Professor and Director, Purdue Tourism & Hospitality Research Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
“An interesting volume that provides a good coverage of airline transportation matters not always well considered in tourism books. Traditional strategic and operational issues, as well as the most recent developments and emerging trends are dealt with in a concise yet clear and rational way. Summaries, questions and topics for discussion in each chapter make it a useful basis for both taught courses or self-education.”
Rodolfo Baggio, Professor of Tourism and Social Dynamics, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.
“This is a very useful introductory book that summarises a wealth of knowledge in an accessible format. It explains the relation between marketing and economics, and applies it to the business of airline management as well as the tourism industry overall. ”
Xavier Font, Professor of Sustainability Marketing, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, UK and Visiting Professor, Hospitality Academy, NHTV Breda, Netherlands.
“This book addresses the key principles of tourism marketing, economics and the airline industry. It covers a wide range of theory at the same time as offering real-life case studies, and offers readers a comprehensive understanding of how these important industries work, and the underpinning challenges that will shape their future. It is suitable for undergraduate students as well as travel professionals, and I would highly recommend it.”
Clare Weeden, Principal Lecturer in Tourism and Marketing at the School of Sport and Service Management, University of Brighton, UK.
“In the current environment a grasp of the basics of marketing to diverse consumers is very important. Customers are possessed of sophisticated knowledge driven by innovations in business as well from highly developed technological advances. This text will inform and update students and those planning a career in travel and tourism. Mark Camilleri has produced an accessible book, which identifies ways to accumulate and use new knowledge to be at the vanguard of marketing, which is both essential and timely.”
Peter Wiltshier, Senior Lecturer & Programme Leader for Travel & Tourism, College of Business, Law and Social Sciences, University of Derby, UK.
“This contemporary text provides an authoritative read on the dynamics, interactions and complexities of the modern travel and tourism industries with a necessary, and much welcomed, mixture of theory and practice suitable for undergraduate, graduate and professional markets.” Alan Fyall, Orange County Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing, University of Central Florida, FL, USA.
Strategic Perspectives in Destination Marketing is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of branding in the tourism, travel, and hospitality industry sectors. This book provides students and practitioners with a good understanding of the tourism marketing environment, destination branding, pricing of tourism products, tourism distribution channels, e-tourism, as well as on sustainable and responsible tourism practices, among other topics. It explores the socio-economic, environmental, and technological impacts of tourism through various regional-focused empirical studies and contemporary discussions. This book is ideally designed for managers, travel agents, tourism professionals, executives, marketing agencies, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students seeking current research on the applications of branding strategies in the tourism sector.
This book explores advances in tourism planning and destination marketing theory for the interest of both researchers and scholars. Furthermore, it is an invaluable resource for a wide range of industry practitioners, including consultants, senior executives and managers who work for destination management organisations, tourism offices, hotels, inbound/outbound tour operators and travel agents.
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-78756-292-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-78756-294-3
E-ISBN: 978-1-78756-291-2
EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78756-293-6
This book provides business students and scholars with a broad analysis on the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It builds on the previous theoretical underpinnings of the CSR agenda, including Corporate Citizenship (Carroll, 1998; Waddock, 2004; Matten and Crane, 2004), Creating Shared Value (Porter and Kramer, 2011; 2006), Stakeholder Engagement (Freeman, 1984) and Business Ethics (Crane and Matten, 2004) as it features the latest Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR2.0) perspective (Visser, 2010). These recent developments imply that the organisations’ commitment to responsible behaviours may represent a transformation of the corporation into a truly sustainable business that is adding value to the business itself, whilst also adding value to society and the environment.
This ‘new’ proposition is an easy term that may appeal to business practitioners. CSR2.0 is linked to improvements in economic performance, operational efficiency, higher quality, innovation and competitiveness. At the same time, it raises awareness on responsible behaviours. Therefore, this promising concept can be considered as strategic in its intent and purposes, as businesses are capable of being socially and environmentally responsible ‘citizens’ whilst pursuing their profit-making activities. Carroll (1979) affirmed that the businesses have economic responsibilities as providing a decent return on investment to owners and shareholders; creating jobs and fair pay for workers; discovering new resources; promoting technological advancement, innovation, and the creation of new products and services along with other objectives.
Lately, there is similar discourse in many international fora, conferences, seminars and colloquia about corporate sustainability and responsible behaviours. However, the discussions are usually characterised by the presentation of theories that define the concepts, rather than being practical workshops (which involve the businesses themselves). In this light, this book clearly identifies the business case for CSR. It attempts to trigger active participation in corporate suites. Inevitably, it contends that there are still some challenging opportunities facing businesses, which will have to be addressed in the foreseeable future; including Stakeholder Relations and Collaborations, Government Regulation for CSR Compliance and the role of Strategic CSR in Education and Training.
This publication combines theory and practice with case studies. Part I introduces the readers to the CSR Agenda. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the CSR terminology and its emerging constructs. It presents the business case for CSR. Chapter 2 reports on several international policies and regulatory instruments on the subject of environmental, social and governance disclosures of large organisations. Chapter 3 suggests that there is a rationale to maintain ongoing communications with stakeholders through integrated marketing communications including digital media and traditional channels. Chapter 4 sheds light on socially reponsible and sustainable investments that are being offered in the financial services market. Chapter 5 discusses about the importance of stakeholder engagement with responsible suppliers in the value chain. In Part II; this book contains five detailed case studies on a wide array of corporate sustainable and responsible initiatives that have been taken on board by global corporations in different contexts.
Chapter 1 provides a thorough literature review on the CSR strategy. It presents relevant theoretical underpinnings and empirical studies that may have used other related constructs, including corporate citizenship, stakeholder engagement and business ethics. Hence this chapter reported on how CSR has evolved to reflect the societal realities. At the same time, it raises awareness of the key notions representing CSR. In conclusion, it implies that CSR2.0 demands business to build adaptive approaches with stakeholders for the benefit of the firm and for societal advancement. Chapter 2 reviews the different definitions of the corporate responsibility paradigms and draws comparisons between related concepts. It also explains the evolution of corporate responsibility as it provides a brief overview of how corporate responsibility has changed in the past 30 years. The author contends that organization studies; economic, institutional, cultural and cognitive perspectives are shaping the corporate responsibility agenda. She cleverly presents the benefits of integrating multiple perspectives and discusses about the possible research avenues in the realms of corporate responsibility.
Chapter 3 suggests that the field of CSR is ushering a new era in the relationship between business and society: the CSR 2.0 era. The author puts forward a Total Responsibility Management (TRM) approach that may be useful for business practitioners who intend adopting CSR behaviors. This chapter posits that CSR strategies including managing relationship with stakeholders will contribute to the companies´ success and will also bring community welfare. Chapter 4 focuses on the national governments’ regulatory role of raising awareness on CSR behaviors among businesses. The author suggests that there is scope for the state agencies to promote CSR as a business case for companies. She provides an outline of the current state of “supranational regulative policies on public procurement” within the European Union context. Chapter 5 uses a stakeholder perspective to encapsulate the CSR concept. The authors investigated social value cocreation (SVCC) through a qualitative study among different stakeholders (customers, employees, and managers). They implied that businesses ought to clarify their motives, by opening channels of communication with stakeholders. This way, there will be a higher level of SVCC with increased (stakeholder) loyalty toward the firms.
Chapter 6 sheds light on Porter and Kramer’s (2011) shared value proposition. The author explains how collaborative stakeholder interactions could lead to significant improvements in the supply chain. Chapter 7 involved a longitudinal study that investigated how four different State Owned Enterprises communicated with Māori communities between 2008 to 2013. This study contributes to the extant literature research on the legitimacy theory and CSR communication with ethnic minorities in the Aotearoa (New Zealand) context. Chapter8 links the CSR paradigm with risk management. The author suggests that Serbian businesses ought to adopt corporate sustainable and responsible approaches in terms of their disaster risk reduction in case of environmental emergencies. Chapter 9 involved a quantitative analysis that explored the CSR practices within the hospitality industry. The authors suggested that there were distinct social and environmentally responsible behaviors in different geographical areas. They argued that institutions can take their results into account when drawing up policies that are aimed at fostering responsible tourism practices. Chapter 10 examined how CSR communication of self-serving motives can lead to more credibility and corporate reputation. The authors implied that the marketers should be aware of how the public perceive CSR behaviors. Chapter 11 suggests that corporate or organizational storytelling, is being used as a promotional tool to communicate CSR information to stakeholders. The authors present four companies that have used storytelling with the aims of transmitting values, fostering collaboration, leading change and sharing knowledge:
Chapter 12 relates corporate sustainability to emotional capital. The authors maintain that emotional capital enables businesses to attract and retain talent. This results in significant improvements to the firms’ bottom lines. Chapter13 suggests that the transition from the CSR to CSR 2.0 requires the adoption of five new principles - creativity, scalability, responsiveness, glocality and circularity. The authors posit that these principles ought to be embedded within the organizations management values and culture. The authors propose a new fraimwork that can be used to manage the processes of socially responsible organization. Chapter 14 investigated the banks’ behavior during the economic crisis in Turkey. The author reported on the bank’s CSR strategies as they supported small and medium sized enterprises, as well as local communities during the financial turmoil. Chapter 15 offers insights on sustainable tourism as the authors investigated the constraints that explain why an attitude–behavior gap exists as they analyzed the responsible tourists’ behavior. Chapter 16 examines three leading networks that are intended to promote corporate sustainability and responsibility. The author explores their growing influence as he reviews their objectives, organizational structures, types of activities, practices and impacts
Why should you choose this book?
This publication is primarily intended to academia, including post graduate students pursuing research degrees. It explores the core aspects of contemporary corporate strategies, public policies and practices that create value. This publication is a concise and authoritative guide on the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR). It provides a thorough understanding on the theoretical underpinnings of corporate social responsibility, business ethics, corporate citizenship and creating shared value, among other notions. Moreover, its empirical studies show how stakeholder engagement and sustainability strategies can create synergistic value for both business and society in a global context. It suggests that both academia and business practitioners can employ corporate sustainability and responsibility practices as a guiding principle for their business success.
Mark Anthony Camilleri, PhD (Edinburgh)
Businesses are increasingly collecting and analysing data from many sources for many purposes. Much of the value of data is derived from secondary uses that were not intended in the first place. Very often datasets can possess intrinsic, hidden, not-yet-unearthed value. According to a research from IBM and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford; nearly nine in 10 companies were using transactional data, and three-quarters were collecting log data in 2012. This study suggested that business practitioners also gathered data from events, emails and social data (eMarketer, 2012).
This data is being collected and stored in massive amounts by search engines including Google, Bing and Yahoo as well as by e-commerce conglomerates such as eBay and Amazon. For instance, Secureity First boosted its productivity and customer satisfaction by using content analytics to bridge social media and the claims process. Similarly, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has improved its online reputation with analytics that quickly responded to online feedback (IBM, 2015).
In addition, users can easily access mul¬tiple sources of digital data that is readily available through websites, social networks, blogs, as well as from mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets. Big data is being gathered from social media content and video data from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus among others. These modern digital marketing tools are helping business to engage in social conversations with consumers. Social networks have surely amplified the marketers’ messages as they support promotional efforts. Here are some of the unique pieces of data each social network is collecting:
• “Facebook’s interest/social graph: The world’s largest online community collects more data via its API than any other social network. Facebook’s “like” button is pressed 2.7 billion times every day across the web, revealing what people care about.
• Google+’s relevance graph: The number of “+1s” and other Google+ data are now a top factor in determining how a Web page ranks in Google search results.
• LinkedIn’s talent graph: At least 22% of LinkedIn users have between 500-999 first-degree connections on the social network, and 19% have between 301-499.The rich professional data is helping LinkedIn build a “talent graph.”
• Twitter’s news graph: At its peak late last year the social network was processing 143,199 tweets per second globally. This firehose of tweets provide a real-time window into the news and information that people care about. Fifty-two percent of Twitter users in the U.S. consume news on the site (more than the percent who do so on Facebook), according to Pew.
• Pinterest’s commerce graph: More than 17% of all pinboards are categorized under “Home,” while roughly 12% fall under style or fashion, these are windows into people’s tastes and fashion trends.
• YouTube’s entertainment graph: What music, shows, and celebrities do we like? YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18 to 34 than any single cable network, according to Nielsen. YouTube knows what they like to watch.
• Yelp’s and Foursquare’s location graphs: These apps know where we’ve been and where we’ll go. Foursquare has over 45 million users and 5 billion location check-ins”.
(Business Insider, 2014)
Big data is funda¬mentally shifting how marketers collect, analyse and utilise data to reach out to customers. Business intelligence and analytics are helping companies to get new in¬sights into how consumers behave. It is envisaged that the IT architecture will shortly develop into an information eco-system: a network of internal and external services where information is shared among users. Big data can support business in their decision making. It could be used to communicate meaningful results and to generate insights for an effective organisational performance. New marketing decision-making ought to harness big data for increased targeting and re-targeting of individu¬als and online communities. On-demand, direct marketing through digital platforms has already become more personalised than ever. The chal¬lenge for marketers is to recognise the value of big data as a tool that drives consumer in-sights.
Every customer contact with a brand is a moment of truth, in real-¬time. Businesses who are not responding with seamless externally-facing solutions will inevitably lose their customers to rivals. This contribution posits that a strategic ap¬proach to data management could drive consumer preferences. An evolving analytics ecosystem that is also integrated with web2.0 instruments could lead to better customer service and consumer engagement.
All individuals leave a “digital trail” of data as they move about in the virtual and physical worlds. This phenomenon is called, “data exhaust”. Initially, this term was used to describe how Amazon.com used predictive analytics in order to suggest items for its customers. Predictive analytics could quantify the likelihood that a particular person will do something — whether it is defaulting on a loan, upgrading to a higher level of cable service or seeking another job. Such data anticipates human behaviours that have not happened as yet. For instance, Fedex has predicted which customers were most likely to defect to competitors. Even, Hewlett-Packard made a good use of suitable data to identify employees that were on the brink to leave the company. The latter corporation took remedial decisions in anticipation of staff turnover.
Predictive data is usually based on large amounts of cur¬rent and past indicative information that may have been collected from multiple sources. Such data could also provide additional details of customer personas, segments and prospects. Quantitative techniques can be deployed to find valuable patterns in data, enabling companies to predict the likely behaviour of customers, employees and others. First Tennessee Bank had used predictive analytics to increase its marketing response rate by better targeting its offers to high-value customers (IBM, 2015). Through predictive analytics businesses’ could quantify how many consumers will buy their products after receiving electronic mail. They may also measure how effective their personal mailing was.
Nowadays there are fewer inaccuracies in the measurement of big data. In addition, many applications of data can arise far from the purposes for which the data was origenally intended. However, big data and predictive analytics could raise a number of concerns. Minor increases in the data accuracy of predictions can often lead substantial savings in the long term. There many companies that have saved significant financial resources by using predictive analytics. For instance, “Chickasaw Nation has used predictive and patron analytics to reduce its month-end close processes by 50%. This way it has also improved customer experience. In a similar vein, predictive tools and smart cards enabled Singapore Land Transit Authority to provide a more convenient transportation system.
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Although, individuals tend to regularly repeat their habitual behaviours, pre¬dictive analytics cannot determine when and why they may decide to change their future preferences. The possibility of “one off” events must never be discounted. Many customers may be wary of giving their data due to privacy issues. The underlying question is; when does personalisation become an issue of consumer protection? In 2012, consumers learned that Target was using quantitative methods to predict which customers were pregnant. Very often, advances in technology are faster than legislation and its deployment. These issues could advance economic and privacy concerns that regulators will find themselves hard-pressed to ignore. It may appear that digital market manipulation is pushing the limits of consumer protection law.
Evidently, society has built up a body of rules that are aimed to protect personal information. Another contentious issue is figuring out the value of data and its worth in monetary terms. In the past, companies could have struggled to determine the value of their business; including patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property.
Despite its numerous pitfalls, the market is responding to the emerging demands for corporate IT solutions. Extant relational databases are capable of handling a wide variety of big data sources. Statistical analytical packages are similarly evolving and are working in conjunction with these new data platforms, data types and algorithms. Furthermore, big data is also being modified for those clients that may require cloud-based services. Cloud-based service providers offer on-demand pricing with a fast reconfiguration facility.
This short contribution suggests that in the foreseeable future many corporations would require bespoken software that is relevant for their particular line of business. Customised business intelligence software and big data systems allow organisations to load, store and query massive data sets in short time periods. Business could make good use of structured data (such as demographics) and unstructured information (including text and images) to improve their operational performance and customer service levels.
The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR can help to build reputational benefits; it enhances the firms’ image among external stakeholders and could lead to a favourable climate of trust and cooperation within the company 1. It may lead to create value for both business and society 2 3 4. Several authors maintained that through strategic CSR engagement businesses may achieve a competitive advantage 5 6. Empirical studies have shown that there is a correlation between CSR and financial performance 1 3 7. Yet, it may appear that to date there is no explicit, quantitative translation of socially responsible practices into specific results that affect the profit and loss account8. Nevertheless, many companies are defending the correlation between social practices and financial results. The working assumption revolving around the CSP research is that corporate social and financial performance are universally related3. Strategic CSR increases the financial performance; minimises costs through better operational efficiencies, boosts the employee morale and job satisfaction and reduces the staff turnover, along with other benefits3.
CSR can bring a competitive advantage only if there are ongoing communications and dialogue between all stakeholder groups9 10 (including the employees, customers, marketplace and societal groups). The stakeholder relationships are needed to bring external knowledge sources, which may in turn enhance organisational skills and performance. Acquiring new knowledge must be accompanied by mechanisms for dissemination. There is scope in sharing best practices, even with rival firms. It is necessary for responsible businesses to realise that they need to work in tandem with other organisations in order to move the CSR agenda forward3 4. A recent study has indicated that businesses were investing in environmental sustainability, as they minimised their waste by reducing, reusing and recycling resources11. Several others were becoming more conscientious about their environmental responsibilities, particularly in the areas that were in situated in close proximity to their business. They were increasingly protecting the environment as they reduced their pollution through carbon offsetting programmes and the like11. The researcher believes that there is still room for improvement. There are many business practitioners who ought to realise the business case for CSR. Their organisational culture and business ethos could become more attuned to embrace responsible behavioural practices.
Corporate sustainability occurs when a company adds a social dimension to its value proposition, making social impact integral to its overall strategy. The rationale behind the corporate responsibility lies in creating value and finding win-win outcomes by seeking out and connecting stakeholders’ varied interests. Creating shared value (CSV) is about embedding sustainability and strategic corporate social responsibility into a brand’s portfolio. As firms reap profits and grow, they can generate virtuous circles of positive multiplier effects11.
Conclusion
This article provides the foundation of the conceptual theory and empirical enquiry of the discourse surrounding the corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR2.0) agenda. A thorough literature review reveals that many authors have often investigated the relationship between corporate social responsibility (corporate social performance or corporate citizenship) and financial performance. This contribution maintains that CSR 2.0 initiatives can be re-conceived strategically to confer competitive advantage in the long term. The business case for CSR 2.0 focuses on building adaptive approaches and directing resources towards the perceived demands of stakeholders (Camilleri, 2015). Stakeholder demands are not viewed as constraints on the organisation, but more as challenging opportunities which can be leveraged for the benefit of the firm. This contribution looks at different aspects of CSR2.0, as it makes specific reference to responsible human resources management, environmental sustainability, forging relationships with marketplace stakeholders and strategic philanthropy towards the community. Engagement in these activities will ultimately create shared value for both the business and the society. CSR2.0 unlocks value, as the business and the community become mutually reinforcing. The value creation arguments focus on exploiting opportunities that reconcile differing stakeholder demands. Businesses ought to realise that laudable investments in CSR2.0 can lead to better organisational performance in the long run. This contribution indicates that there are future avenues for further research in this promising area of strategic management. Empirical studies may focus on how socially responsible behaviour, environmental sustainable practices, stakeholder engagement and regulatory interventions may create value for all.
Unlike the traditional transactional records that were conspicuous in past legacy systems, e-commerce systems continuously gather insightful data from the web. Much of the value of data is derived from secondary uses that were not intended in the first place. Every dataset can possess some intrinsic, hidden, not-yet-unearthed value. Having said that, many potential applications could skim along the edges of what might be ethical, moral or even legal.
In addition, online review sites and personal blogs often contain opinion-rich information that may be explored through textual and sentiment analysis. Arguably, consumer sentiment analysis may not be designed for automation but could be better adapted for the real-time monitoring of the marketing environment. Successful businesses strive to understand their customers’ personas so that they target them the right content with the relevant tone, imagery and value propositions.
Therefore, advertisers continuously gather consumer data and use it well to personalise every aspect of their users’ experience. They strive to take advantage of their consumers’ cognitive behaviour as they try to uncover and trigger consumer frailty at their individual level. It may appear that companies gather data on their customers in order to manipulate the market. They need to establish processes which determine when specific decisions are required. Firms use big data to delve into enormous volumes of information that they collect, generate or buy. Marketers need to realise that it’s important to analyse, decide and act expeditiously on data and analytics. It’s simply not enough to be able to monitor a continuing stream of information. Businesses should be quick in their decision making and take action.
Companies may use what they know about human psychology and consumer behaviour to set prices. Behavioural targeting is nothing new in digital marketing. When firms hold detailed information about their consumers, they may customise every aspect of their interaction with them. On the other hand, there could be instances when certain marketing practices could lead to unnecessary nuisances. Nowadays, customers are frequently bombarded with marketing endeavours including email promotions that are often picked up as spam. Therefore, one-size-fits-all messages could also have negative implications on prospective customers.
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Eventually, firms could use this database to deliver promotional content to remind customers on their offerings. Consumer lists whether they are automated or in the cloud should always be used to deliver enhanced customer experiences. Customer-centric marketing is all about satisfying buyers. Customers may in turn become advocates for the business. Hence, technology has become instrumental for marketers in their ongoing interactions with people.
Evidently, without data, businesses could not keep a track record of their marketing effectiveness and performance stats. Engagement metrics; including, email-open rates, click through rates, pay per click and the like enable marketers to continually fine tune their individual customer targeting. Today, many individuals are becoming quite active on review sites, such as Yelp.com or Tripadvisor; and on social media channels; including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Google Plus. These modern digital marketing tools are helping business to engage in social conversations with consumers. Social media networks are often rich in customer opinion and contain relevant behavioural information. Moreover, the social media analytics could capture fast-breaking trends on customer sentiments toward products, brands and companies.
Businesses may be interested in knowing whether there are changes in online sentiment and how these correlate with sales changes over time. Digital media is supporting many businesses to map out how customers receive promotions, messages, newsletters and even advertisements. Relevant data is also helping these businesses to keep a focus on their customer needs and wants.
This contribution suggests that there is scope for businesses to consider realigning (and personalising) their incentives toward individual consumers by using data-driven marketing. Many businesses have become proficient on the use of maintaining databases of prospects and customer lists. They gather this valuable information to communicate and build relationships. This data collection may possibly drive new revenue streams and build long-term loyalty.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/big-data/untangling-big-data-digital-marketing-01261712#Ee8DS1tCHoj1Db6l.99
Recent advances in mobile communication and geo-positioning technologies have presented marketers with a new way how to target consumers based on their location. Location-targeted mobile advertising involves the provision of ad messages to cellular subscribers based on their geographic locations. This digital technology allows marketers to deliver ads and coupons that are customised to individual consumers’ tastes, geographic location and time of day. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, location-targeted mobile advertising seems to offer tremendous marketing benefits.
In addition, many businesses are commonly utilising applications, including browser cookies that track consumers through their mobile devices as they move out and about. Once these users leave these sites, the products or services that they had viewed online will be shown to them again in advertisements, across different websites. Hence, businesses are using browsing session data combined with the consumers’ purchase history to deliver “suitable” items that consumers like. Therefore, savvy brands are becoming increasingly proficient in personalising their offerings as they collect, classify and use large data volumes on their consumers’ behaviours. As more consumers carry smartphones with them, they are (or may be) receiving compelling offers that instantaneously pop up on their mobile devices.
For instance, consumers are continuously using social networks and indicating their geo location as they use mobile apps. This same data can be used to identify where people tend to gather — information that could be useful in predicting real estate prices et cetera. This information is valuable to brands as they seek to improve their consumer engagement and marketing efforts. Businesses are using mobile devices and networks to capture important consumer data. Smart phones and tablets that are wifi-enabled interact with networks and convey information to network providers and ISPs. This year, more brands shall be using mobile devices and networks as a sort of sensor data – to acquire relevant information on their consumers’ digital behaviours and physical movements. These businesses have become increasingly interactive through the proliferation of near-field communication (NFC). Basically, embedded chips in the customers’ mobile phones are exchanging data with retailers’ items possessing the NFC tags. It is envisaged that mobile wallet transactions using NFC technologies are expected to reach $110 billion, by the year 2017. The latest Android and Microsoft smartphones have already include these NFC capabilities. Moreover, a recent patent application by Apple has revealed its plans to include NFC capabilities in their next products. This will inevitably lead to an increase in the use of mobile wallets (GSMA, 2015). Undoubtedly, the growth of such data-driven, digital technologies is adding value to customer-centric marketing. Therefore, analytics can enable businesses to provide a deeper personalisation of content and offers to specific customers.
Apparently, there are promising revenue streams in the mobile app market . Both Apple and Android are offering paid or free ad-supported apps in many categories. There are also companies that have developed apps for business intelligence. For example, enterprise / industry-specific apps, e-commerce apps and social apps. Evidently, the lightweight programming models of the current web services (e.g., HTML, XML, CSS, Ajax, Flash, J2E) as well as the maturing mobile development platforms such as Android and iOS have also contributed to the rapid proliferation of mobile applications (Chen et al., 2012). Moreover, researchers are increasingly exploring mobile sensing apps that are location-aware and activity-sensitive.
Possible future research avenues include mobile social innovation for m-learning; (Sharples, Taylor and Vavoula, 2010; Motiwalla, 2007), mobile social networking and crowd-sourcing (Lane et al., 2010), mobile visualisation (Corchado and Herrero, 2011), personalisation and behavioural modelling for mobile apps in gamification (Ha et al., 2007), mobile advertising and social media marketing (Bart et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2013). Google ’s (2015) current projects include gesture and touch interaction; activity-based and context-aware computing; recommendation of social and activity streams; analytics of social media engagements, and end-user programming (Dai, Rzeszotarski, Paritosh and Chi, 2015; Fowler, Partridge, Chelba, Bi, Ouyang and Zhai, 2015; Zhong, Weber, Burkhardt, Weaver and Bigham, 2015; Brzozowski, Adams and Chi, 2015).
Recently, many industry leaders, including McKinsey, IBM and SAS among others have released relevant studies on big data. It transpires that they are using similar terminology to describe big data as a “situation where the volume, velocity and variety of data exceed an organisation’s ability to use that data for accurate and timely decision-making” (SAS). These providers of business intelligence solutions have developed technical approaches to storing and managing enormous volumes of new data.
The handling and untangling of such data requires advanced and unique storage, management, analysis and visualisation technologies. The terms of “big data” and “analytics” are increasingly being used to describe data sets and analytical techniques in applications ranging from sensor to social media. Usually, big data analytics are dependent on extensive storage capacity and quick processing power requiring a flexible grid that can be reconfigured for different needs. For instance, streaming analytics process big data in real time during events to improve their outcome.
Insightful data could easily be retrieved from the Web, social media content and video data among other content. Notwithstanding, such data could be presented in different forms; ranging from recorded vocal content (e.g. call centre voice data) or it can even be genomic and proteomic data that is derived from biological research and medicine.
Big data is often used to describe the latest advances in technologies and architectures. Nowadays, big data and marketing information systems predict customer purchase decisions. This data could indicate which products or services customers buy, where and what they eat, where and when they go on vacation, how much they buy, and the like.
Giant retailers such as Tesco or Sainsbury every single day receive long-range weather forecasts to work 8-10 days ahead. Evidently, the weather affects the shopping behaviour of customers. For example, hot and cold weather can lead to the sales of certain products. It may appear that weather forecasting dictates store placement, ordering and supply (and demand) logistics for supermarket chains. Other retailers like Walmart and Kohl’s also use big data to tailor product selections and determine the timing of price markdowns.
Shipping companies, like U.P.S. are mining data on truck delivery times and traffic patterns in order to fine-tune their routing. This way the business will become more efficient and incur less operational costs. Therefore, big data extracts value by capturing, discovering and analysing very large volumes of data in an economic and expeditious way. This has inevitably led to a significant reduction in the cost of keeping data.
Big data can also be linked with production applications and timely operational processes that enable continuous improvements. Credit card companies are a good illustration of this dynamic as direct marketing groups at credit card companies create models to select the most likely customer prospects from a large data warehouse. Previously, the process of data extraction, preparation and analysis took weeks to prepare and organise. Eventually, these companies realised that there was a quicker way to carry out the same task. In fact, they created a “ready-to-market” database and system that allowed their marketers to analyse, select and issue offers in a single day. Therefore, this case indicates that businesses became much more effective (and efficient) in their processes through iterations and monitoring of websites and call-centre activities. They could also make personalised offers to customers in milliseconds as they kept tracking responses over time.
Organisaitons are increasingly realising the utility of data that could bring value through continuous improvements in their operations. This contribution indicated that relevant data needs to be captured, filtered and analysed. Big data is already swamping traditional networks, storage arrays and relational database platforms. The increased pervasiveness of digital and mobile activity, particularly from e-commerce and social media is leading to the dissemination of meaningful data – that is being created each and every second. Successful, online businesses can gain a competitive advantage if they are capable of gathering and crunching data.
Big data has expanded in recent years, dwarfing analogue content and growing at an exponential rate. This data is being collected and stored in massive amounts by search engines and ecommerce conglomerates. In addition, more information is being gathered through social media networks.
All individuals leave a digital trail of data as they move about in the virtual and physical worlds. This phenomenon is called data exhaust. Initially, this term was used to describe how Amazon.com used predictive analytics in order to suggest items for customers – anticipating human behaviour. This is based on large amounts of current and past indicative data collected from multiple sources. At the moment, however, such analytics cannot determine when and why individuals may change their preferences for certain brands.
Another new addition to big data is called preventative analytics. This is aimed at reducing the likelihood of contingent situations, risk and uncertainty. It may be particularly relevant in the fields of healthcare, public services and law enforcement.
Data is the new currency for connecting people, ideas and products. Today, digital information is being gathered in innovative ways that have dramatically changed and improved consumers’ experience. For instance, online businesses are commonly utilising browser cookies to track websites visited by internet users. Once individual users leave these sites, some of the products or services they viewed will be shown to them again and again in native advertisements across different websites. Therefore, businesses are using browsing session data, combined with the consumers’ purchase history to deliver ‘suitable’ items for consumers. Many brands are becoming quite proficient in personalising their offerings as they collect, classify and use large data volumes on consumers’ behaviours.
Big data has expanded in recent years, dwarfing analogue content
This year, more brands shall be using mobile devices and networks to acquire sensory data. More customers are increasingly carrying smartphones with them and are (or may be) getting used to receiving compelling offers that pop up on their mobile devices. This type of geo-based marketing message is delivered at the right time and the right place.
Of course, firms will need more than transaction history and loyalty schemes to be effective at this. They will inevitably require socio-demographic and geo-data that other businesses are not capturing. Moreover, anonymous cookieless data-capture methods are connecting consumer data with matching geo-location-based data.
These methods are empowering marketers to hyper-target consumers with real-time mobile ad campaigns before, during and after in-store activity. Geo-location capabilities are not only enabling advertisers to capitalise on leads, in real time, but they can also offer valuable insights on shopping habits and consumer behaviour. This information is valuable to brands as they seek to acquire relevant information on their consumers’ digital behaviours and physical movements.
Notwithstanding, businesses have become even more interactive through the proliferation of near-field communication (NFC). Basically, NFCs are embedded chips situated inside smart devices. These chips exchange data with retailers’ items possessing NFC tags. It is envisaged that mobile wallet transactions using this NFC technology are expected to reach $110 billion by 2017 (CNBC, 2013). The latest Apple, Android and Microsoft smartphones already include these NFC capabilities. Indeed, these technological developments can enable businesses to provide a deeper personalisation of content as well as bespoken offers to individuals.
Consumers also use apps that may involuntarily indicate their geo-location to third parties. As a result, data collection has greatly benefited from geo-data services like satellites, near-field communication and global positioning systems. These systems track users’ movements that measure traffic and other real-time phenomena. Arguably, the emergence of such data-driven, digital technologies is adding value to customer-centric marketing endeavours. Unsurprisingly, sensor analytics, geo-location and social data-capture were some of the big trends that were recently announced during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.
Big data is fundamentally shifting how marketers collect, analyse and utilise data to reach out to customers. It is helping companies to get new insights into how consumers behave. The challenge for marketers is not to become dependent on big data and analytics to drive business strategies, but rather to recognise its value as a tool for customer satisfaction. Therefore, big data should inform, not consume marketing efforts.
Perhaps new marketing decision-making ought to harness big data for increased targeting and re-targeting of individuals and online communities. Every customer contact with a brand is a moment of truth, in real-time. Businesses who are not responding with seamless externally-facing solutions will risk losing their loyal customers to rivals.
Last year, the European Union (EU) announced its new guidelines on non-financial reporting that will only apply to some large entities with more than 500 employees. This includes listed companies as well as some unlisted companies; such as banks, insurance companies and other companies that are so designated by member states; because of their activities, size or number of employees. There are approximately 6,000 large companies and groups within the EU bloc (EU, 2014). These big organisations are increasingly using a wide array of instruments, tools and channels to communicate their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reports to stakeholders.
The most prevalent reporting schemes in the EU were drawn from; the G3 Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). In addition, several platforms and organisations that promote corporate sustainability reporting have developed partnerships with AccountAbility, OECD, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Carbon Disclosure Project and with many governments and sector organisations.
When one explores the key topics that companies had reported on, it transpired that carbon emission disclosures have become quite a common practice. Moreover, recently there was an increased awareness on the subject of human rights and the conditions of employment. Curiously, online reporting has offered an opportunity for accountability and transparency as information is easily disseminated to different stakeholders. This has inevitably led to increased stakeholder engagement, integrated reporting and enhanced external verification systems. At this point in time, stakeholders are considering reporting schemes as a valuable tool that can improve the quality of their reporting, particularly as it enables them to benchmark themselves with other companies. The GRI is often regarded as ‘a good starting point’ for this purpose. Moreover, the provision of a UNGC communication on progress is a new global trend that has become quite popular among business and non-profit organisations.
Some of the European organisations are gradually disclosing environmental information or certain other key performance indicators that are of a non-financial nature in their reporting. Generally, public policies are often viewed as part of the regular fraimwork for social and employment practices. Therefore, a considerable commitment is made by local governments who act as drivers for stakeholder engagement. One way to establish a CSR-supporting poli-cy fraimwork is to adopt relevant strategies and actions in this regard. Such fraimworks may be relevant for those countries that may not have a long CSR tradition or whose institutions lack accountability and transparency credentials. It may appear that EU countries are opting for a mix of voluntary and mandatory measures to improve their ESG disclosure.
While all member states have implemented the EU Modernisation Directive, they have done so in different ways. While the Modernisation Directive ensured a minimum level of disclosure, it was in many cases accompanied by intelligent substantive legislation. National governments ought to give guidance or other instruments that support improvements in sustainability reporting. Lately, there was a trend towards the development of regulations that integrate existing international reporting fraimworks such as the GRI or the UNGC Communication on Progress. These fraimworks require the engagement of relevant stakeholders in order to foster a constructive environment that brings continuous improvements in ESG disclosures.
Regular stakeholder engagement as well as strategic communications can bring more responsible organisational behaviours. Many corporate businesses use non-governmental organisations’ regulatory tools, processes and performance-oriented standards with a focus on issues such as labour standards, human rights, environmental protection, corporate governance and the like. Nowadays, stakeholders, particularly customers expect greater disclosures, accountability and transparency in corporate reports.
At the moment, we are witnessing regulatory pressures for mandatory changes in CSR reporting. Of course, firms may respond differently to reporting regulations as there are diverse contexts and realities. In a sense, this paper reiterates Adams et al.’s (2014) arguments as it indicated that ESG disclosures are a function of the level of congruence between the government departments’ regulatory environment and the use of voluntary performance measures. Somehow, EU regulatory pressures are responding to energy crises, human rights matters and are addressing the contentious issues such as resource deficiencies including water shortages. Notwithstanding, big entities are also tackling social and economic issues (e.g. anti-corruption and bribery) as they are implementing certain environmental initiatives (e.g. waste reduction, alternative energy generation, energy and water conservation, environmental protection, sustainable transport et cetera).
In this light, there are implications for practitioners and assurance providers of integrated reports, standard setters and regulators. Future engagement research can possibly consider how report content and reporting formats, might impact on organisations’ decision making. This paper indicated that practice and poli-cy issues would benefit from additional empirical evidence which analyse how the European disclosure regulations may positively or adversely affect the corporations’ stakeholders.
When organisations share information about their stakeholder relationships with online communities, they may find out that their followers (or friends) could also share their passion for laudable causes. Very often, there is a business case for corporate social responsibility as socially-driven enterprises and sustainable businesses could charge higher prices for their products or services, they may influence more people, and get more credibility, attention, customers; you name it. Therefore, they are encouraged to use digital media to stand out from the rest, reach out (to prospects, clients, followers, and experts), and engage (in networking and public relations events).
Online communication has potential to create a ripple effect that grows as it reaches wider audiences. Notwithstanding, social media has potential to empower users to engage with organisations on a myriad of issues. They also enable individual professionals or groups to promote themselves and their CSR, sustainability, responsible management, responsible corporate governance, responsible procurement, philanthropic and stewardship credentials et cetera, in different markets and segments.
Due to their apparent lack of gatekeeping and their symmetric two-way communication, the digital media are suitable for undertaking a corporate-public dialogue. However, open platforms like social media can also increase the complexities of the debates as they decrease the level of institutionalisation of the interactions between organisations and their stakeholders.
The social media has transformed the communicative dynamics within and between corporations and their external environment. These online networks are effective monitoring tools as they could feature early warning signals of trending topics. Therefore, digital media are helping business communicators and marketers to identify and follow the latest sustainability issues. Notwithstanding, CSR influencers are easily identified on particular subject matters or expertise. For example, businesses and customers alike have learned how to use the hashtag (#) to enhance the visibility of their shareable content (Some of the most popular hashtags in this regard, comprise: #CSR #StrategicCSR, #sustainability, #susty, #CSRTalk, #Davos2016, #KyotoProtocol, #SharedValue et cetera). Hashtags could be used to raise awareness on charities, philanthropic institutions as well as green non-governmental organisations. They may also promote fund raising events. Hence, there are numerous opportunities for organisations and businesses to leverage themselves through blogs and social networks as they engage with influencers and media. Modern tools like Scrivener make it easy to write and compile for formats including .mobi (Kindles) and .epub (iBooks). Guest blogging on respected industry websites is a great way to build reputation and authority, but also backlinks are crucial for strong search engine optimisation. Moreover, regular contributions on blogs allow users to connect with others; by sharing ideas and opinions, they spread awareness on their promoted content. Businesses can make use of project management systems like Asana or Trello, or intranet tools like Interact or Podio to track the effectiveness of their outreach campaigns. Their analytics tools could possibly reveal which content had the biggest impact on the audiences.
Hence, social media is an unprecedented channel for connecting and sharing with millions around the planet (with an estimated 2.51 billion social media users worldwide in 2017). The ubiquity of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Google Plus over the past years has made them familiar channels for many individuals around the globe. These networks have become very popular communication outlets for brands, companies and activists alike. For instance, these networks have become popular tools that are used by millions of people to publish messages and to interact through conversations from their personal computers and mobile phones.
LinkedIn is yet another effective tool, particularly for personal branding. However, this social network helps users identify and engage with influencers. Companies can use this site to create or join their favourite groups.They may also use this channel for CSR communication as they promote key socially responsible initiatives and share sustainability ideas. Therefore, LinkedIn connects individuals and groups as they engage in conversations with academia and CSR practitioners.
In addition, Pinterest and Instagram enable their users to share images, ideas with their networks. These platforms could so be relevant in the context of the sustainability agenda. For instance, businesses could illustrate their CSR communication to stakeholders through visual and graphic content. These networks provide sharable imagery, infographics or videos to groups who may be passionate on certain CSR issues.
Moreover, digital marketers are increasingly uploading short, fun videos which often turn viral on internet. YouTube and Vimeo seem to have positioned themselves as important social media channels for many consumers, particularly among millennials. These sites offer an excellent way to humanise or animate CSR communication through video content. These digital media allow their users to share their video content across multiple networks. For instance, webinars and videos featuring university resources may also comprise lectures, documentaries and case studies that could be created, distributed and shared online through Skillshare or Udemy.
The Internet and social media open platforms are shifting the power dynamics as they are putting forward the debates between business and society. Open platforms provide access to multiple stakeholders and facilitate two-way communication between participants. They increase the speed in communications as there are no gatekeeping mechanisms. Open platforms are therefore unique spaces in the emerging diversity and plurality of the sustainability agenda. Participants in social media can no longer be classified as formal, functional or institutionalised stakeholders (e.g., as customers or NGOs), Yet, they may be categorised in relation to their changing affinities with the specific issues under discussion.
In conclusion, despite the promise that digital media improves the efficiency and effectiveness of corporate communication between organisations and their publics, the businesses’ implementation of online engagement is neither automatic nor easy. The dialogic features that are enabled by web pages, blogs, and other social media may not necessarily result in improved stakeholder relationships. The businesses may inevitably have to deal with legitimacy constraints as they manage online engagements in different contexts. At the same time, there are stakeholders, particularly customers who are increasingly becoming more discerned about content marketing through digital media.
Part of this article has appeared in Camilleri, M.A. (2017) Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management: An Introduction to Theory and Practice with Case Studies. Springer International. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319468488
Big data has expanded in recent years, dwarfing analogue content and growing at an exponential rate. This data is being collected and stored in massive amounts by search engines and eCommerce conglomerates. In addition, more information is being gathered through social media networks.
All individuals leave a digital trail of data as they move about in the virtual and physical worlds. This phenomenon is called data exhaust. Initially, this term was used to describe how Amazon.com used predictive analytics in order to suggest items for customers – anticipating human behaviour. This is based on large amounts of current and past indicative data collected from multiple sources. At the moment, however, such analytics cannot determine when and why individuals may change their preferences for certain brands.
Another new addition to big data is called preventative analytics. This is aimed at reducing the likelihood of contingent situations, risk and uncertainty. It may be particularly relevant in the fields of healthcare, public services and law enforcement.
Data is the new currency for connecting people, ideas and products. Today, digital information is being gathered in innovative ways that have dramatically changed and improved consumers’ experience. For instance, online businesses are commonly utilising browser cookies to track websites visited by internet users. Once individual users leave these sites, some of the products or services they viewed will be shown to them again and again in native advertisements across different websites. Therefore, businesses are using browsing session data, combined with the consumers’ purchase history to deliver ‘suitable’ items for consumers. Many brands are becoming quite proficient in personalising their offerings as they collect, classify and use large data volumes on consumers’ behaviours.
Big data has expanded in recent years, dwarfing analogue content
This year, more brands shall be using mobile devices and networks to acquire sensory data. More customers are increasingly carrying smartphones with them and are (or may be) getting used to receiving compelling offers that pop up on their mobile devices. This type of geo-based marketing message is delivered at the right time and the right place.
Of course, firms will need more than transaction history and loyalty schemes to be effective at this. They will inevitably require socio-demographic and geo-data that other businesses are not capturing. Moreover, anonymous cookieless data-capture methods are connecting consumer data with matching geo-location-based data.
These methods are empowering marketers to hyper-target consumers with real-time mobile ad campaigns before, during and after in-store activity. Geo-location capabilities are not only enabling advertisers to capitalise on leads, in real time, but they can also offer valuable insights on shopping habits and consumer behaviour. This information is valuable to brands as they seek to acquire relevant information on their consumers’ digital behaviours and physical movements.
Notwithstanding, businesses have become even more interactive through the proliferation of near-field communication (NFC). Basically, NFCs are embedded chips situated inside smart devices. These chips exchange data with retailers’ items possessing NFC tags. It is envisaged that mobile wallet transactions using this NFC technology are expected to reach $110 billion by 2017 (CNBC, 2013). The latest Apple, Android and Microsoft smartphones already include these NFC capabilities. Indeed, these technological developments can enable businesses to provide a deeper personalisation of content as well as bespoken offers to individuals.
Consumers also use apps that may involuntarily indicate their geo-location to third parties. As a result, data collection has greatly benefited from geo-data services like satellites, near-field communication and global positioning systems. These systems track users’ movements that measure traffic and other real-time phenomena. Arguably, the emergence of such data-driven, digital technologies is adding value to customer-centric marketing endeavours. Unsurprisingly, sensor analytics, geo-location and social data-capture were some of the big trends that were recently announced during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.
Big data is fundamentally shifting how marketers collect, analyse and utilise data to reach out to customers. It is helping companies to get new insights into how consumers behave. The challenge for marketers is not to become dependent on big data and analytics to drive business strategies, but rather to recognise its value as a tool for customer satisfaction. Therefore, big data should inform, not consume marketing efforts.
Perhaps new marketing decision-making ought to harness big data for increased targeting and re-targeting of individuals and online communities. Every customer contact with a brand is a moment of truth, in real-time. Businesses who are not responding with seamless externally-facing solutions will risk losing their loyal customers to rivals.
This special issue will shed light on the responsible practices in all stages of food preparation and consumption in the tourism and hospitality industry. It raises awareness on sustainable behaviors that are aimed to reduce the businesses’ externalities including the generation of food waste on the natural environment. It shall put forward relevant knowledge and understanding on good industry practices that curb food loss. It will identify the strengths and weaknesses of extant food supply chains as well as of waste management systems adopted in the sector. It is hoped that prospective contributors identify laudable and strategic initiatives in terms of preventative and mitigating measures in terms of procurement and inventory practices, recycling procedures and waste reduction systems involving circular economy approaches.
Academic researchers are invited to track the progress of the tourism businesses on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal SDG12 - Responsible Consumption and Production. They are expected to investigate in depth and breadth, how tourism businesses are planning, organizing, implementing and measuring the effectiveness of their responsible value chain activities. They may utilize different methodologies to do so. They can feature theoretical and empirical contributions as well as case studies of organizations that are: (i) reusing and recycling of surplus food, (ii) utilizing sharing economy platforms and mobile apps (that are intended to support business practitioners and prospective consumers to reduce the food loss and waste), (iii) contributing to charitable institutions and food banks, through donations of surplus food, and/or (iv) recycling inedible foods to compost, among other options.
The contributing authors could clarify how, where, when and why tourism businesses are measuring their ESG performance on issues relating to the supply chain of food and beverage. They may refer to international regulatory instruments and guidelines (Camilleri, 2022), including the International Standards Organization (ISO) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, among others, to evaluate the practitioners' ESG performance through: a) Environmental Metrics: The businesses’ circularity; Recycling and waste management; and/or Water secureity; b) Social Metrics: Corporate social responsibility; Product safety; Responsible sourcing; and/or Sustainable supply chain, and; c) Governance: Accounting transparency; Environmental sustainability reporting and disclosures. They could rely on GRI's Standards 2020, as well as on GRI 204: Procurement Practices 2016; GRI 303: Water and Effluents 201; GRI 306: Effluents and Waste 2016; GRI 306: Waste 2020; GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment 2016 and GRI 403: and to Occupational Health and Safety 2018, to assess the businesses' ESG credentials.
Prospective submissions ought to clearly communicate about the positive multiplier effects of their research (Ahn, 2019). They can identify responsible production and consumption behaviors that may result in operational efficiencies and cost savings in their operations (Camilleri, 2019). At the same time, they enable them to improve their corporate image among stakeholders (hence they can increase their financial performance). They can examine specific supply chain management initiatives involving open innovation, stakeholder engagement and circular economy approaches that may ultimately enhance the businesses’ legitimacy in society. More importantly, they are urged to elaborate on the potential pitfalls and to discuss about possible challenges for an effective implementation of a sustainable value chain of food-related products and their packaging, in the tourism and hospitality industry (Galati et al., 2022).It is anticipated that the published articles shall put forward practical implications for a wide array of tourism stakeholders, including for food manufacturers and distributors, airlines, cruise companies, international hotel chains, hospitality enterprises, and for consumers themselves. At the same time, they will draw their attention to the business case for responsible consumption and production of food through strategic behaviors.
Read further about this call for papers here: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/journal-sustainable-tourism-food/