Issue #3 (Volume 16 2020)

This study investigated the meaning of passenger motor vehicle brands among Generations X and Y in South Africa, a developing country. The study was conducted in the form of a quantitative survey at four universities in KwaZulu-Natal to access a spread of Generations X and Y respondents. It aimed to generate insights into consumer perceptions and choices regarding these two generations’ preferred motor vehicle brands who account for the bulk of car buyers. The study investigated specific brand dimensions, namely, factors related to quality, value, personal and group identity, status, and family traditions. The main finding was that the personal or individualistic factors, namely quality, value, and personal identity, were more important than the group-oriented factors, namely status, group identity, and family tradition. The implication is that marketers should focus on the buyer’s individualistic perceptions, wants, and needs, rather than those that are influenced by others through group processes or perceptions. This research has added to current knowledge on consumer behavior regarding motor vehicle brands by investigating the factors that influence the Generations X and Y buyer decision-making process in a developing country.

The study aims to evaluate the impact of selected factors of viral campaigns on Millennials customers’ consumer behavior. This goal was achieved in two steps: in the first step, the authors determined the impact of selected attributes on purchasing behavior in general, and in the second step, they compared the impact of the selected research campaigns – the guerrilla campaign of the company 4KA and the viral campaign of the company ABSOLUT. The inputs to the analyses were obtained through answers from 360 respondents, which completed the questionnaire on a sample of Millennials customers generation (1975–2000) – social generation, which collaborate and cooperate, expect technology to simply work for adventure and passionate about values (Smith, Nichols, 2015). The survey part of the questionnaire consisted of 8 attributes (Novelty, Relevance, Aesthetics, Clarity, Humor, Emotion arousal, Surprise, Design, Purchase intention). Data were collected based on participants’ availability and their will to participate in the questionnaire and quota selection. The PLS PM method was used to assess the impact, and the bootstrap-based parametric method was used to assess the difference in the impact. One of the most important findings is that attributes such as Novelty, Relevance, Humor, and Surprise significantly affect purchasing behavior. Concerning the company 4KA, significant impacts were seen in Relevance and Surprise, and with the company ABSOLUT, significant impacts were seen in Relevance, Humor, and Surprise. When analyzing the difference in the impact, there were no significant differences between the campaigns.

Acknowledgment
This article is one of the partial outputs under the scientific research grant VEGA 1/0694/20, VEGA 1/0609/19.

The article aims to investigate the role and features of the content and test proposed indicators for evaluating its effectiveness within the marketing enterprise communications with the client using Internet technologies. The differences between traditional content communications and content communications using unifying content have been presented. Based on review of scientific works and statistic data and results of the studies, a system of indicators for evaluating the level of content supply cost-effectiveness is proposed: average cost of attracting one user of website, coefficient of lead generation of the Internet website, average cost of attracting one lead, content effectiveness ratio, average purchase in consequence of content supply, profit from the sale of goods in consequence of content supply, profitability of using the Internet marketing tools. This system of indicators allows monitoring of content effectiveness at key stages of enterprise-customer interaction. The proposed indicators of content effectiveness were tested on two leading enterprises in the field of water purification and water supply in Ukraine: “ZIKO Company” and “BWT Ukraine”. It was concluded that only a high quality of content supply could provide an enterprise with a high level of customer conversion and significant visibility of its website in different search engines.

Understanding marketing channel performance is a crucial and complex task for the mobile financial technology segment of the mobile industry in emerging markets. However, poor techniques and capabilities for channel optimization of the mobile money users across available channels by the service providers often undermine the performance of these channels. The research aims to develop a target selection and campaign optimization framework for mobile money customers along two channels of transactions. It is complemented by mapping the appropriate campaign techniques across digital and non-digital channels of mobile money transactions. The key analytical method is the combination of fuzzy c-means clustering and RFM algorithm for the target selection development through the usage logs of customers (n = 300) of a mobile service provider. The results indicated that fuzzy c-means clustering and RFM algorithm are efficient for target selection. Also, the mapping of clusters with the appropriate channel of transactions revealed that mobile money users’ transactions could be optimized along the digital channel. The analytic model’s output enables appropriate cross-selling and up-selling campaigns that optimize the service provider revenue from existing and new mobile money users within the customer base. The channel evaluation revealed mobile application channels to be a promising and future channel for mobile money transactions as smartphone penetration continues to grow in emerging mobile markets. That is a positive sign of the digital channel’s future potential for mobile money transactions in developing markets.

Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank the University of Pecs under the Higher Education Institution Excellence Program of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology in Hungary within the framework of the 4th Thematic Program – “Enhancing the Role of Domestic Companies in the Re-industrialization of Hungary.”

Social network usage is a prerequisite for the functioning of companies and their competitiveness. The level, focus of their usage, and link with the company process are important. This research focuses on SMEs, how they use social networks, and how this affects their innovation potential. The study aims to determine the importance of social networks for SME’s competitiveness and long-term stability. To achieve this goal, 359 European SMEs were studied (2017–2019), two research questions and seven hypotheses were developed. Pearson’s correlation and stepwise regression were used, and the obtained results were verified by experimental testing. The research results showed that companies using social media as a main component of their business, are active at using modern technologies and are declaring the importance of social networks to develop innovation potential. Fastness and reliability of communication are crucial for business operations in the company. Social networks offer many opportunities and connections between strategic planning, controlling management, and performance level. All SMEs mostly use Facebook, and this does not depend on size, age or industry. The research results lead to the understanding that social networks and controlling-oriented management support SME business activities and their innovation potential and long-term stability in a hyper-competitive environment.

Acknowledgment
The paper has been prepared within the project “Risk Management in Industry 4.0” supported by the Specific University Research Funds of the University of Finance and Administration, Estonská 500, 101 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic. Funder ID: 04274644. 3. Award number: 7427/2019/02 IGA VŠFS.

Although there were many consumer behavior studies, their focus was on traditional brands. Despite that, their conclusions and recommendations can serve as a model for private label research. This paper aims to find out the influence of packaging on consumer purchasing decisions in the yoghurt segment. Attention was drawn to Slovak consumers under the age of 25 years. To achieve the aim, survey, structured questionnaire (549 randomly chosen respondents) and blind test (20 respondents) methods were used. For a deeper analysis, four hypotheses were set out and tested using statistical methods of Pearsons’ Chi-Square Test, Friedman test, Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square Test, Phi Coefficient, Cramer’s V Coefficient and correspondence analysis. The results proved that almost 58% of respondents bought private labels sporadically, over 20% of respondents bought them multiple times a week, and over 18% of respondents bought them once a week. In terms of perceived quality, it can be said that quality of private label products is perceived as good and adequate, they evoke impression of adequate quality at a reasonable price, the decisive factor for their purchase is a combination of reasonable price and quality, and the reasons not to buy are high price, low quality and lack of information about the producer. Regarding the impact of packaging on respondents’ purchasing decisions, it is found that less than 34% of respondents believe that packaging of private label products is unattractive, and up to 33% of respondents think that packaging does not affect them.

Acknowledgement
The paper was supported by the research project GA SUA No. 8/2019 “Private labels as the alternative to purchase”, which is solved at the Department of Marketing and Trade, Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra.

Nowadays, brand storytelling is an important element of successful brand management on the business-to-consumer market. Based on brand storytelling, consumers create their own brand stories. Therefore, consumer storytelling becomes an essential component of word-of-mouth communication. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the possibility of using consumer storytelling as an element of word-of-mouth communication of nostalgic brands. The results of the empirical studies concerning 24 international and Polish, generational and transgenerational nostalgic brands, conducted among 1,000 Polish consumers, are presented. The research is based on a personal interview technique, an online survey technique and a focus group interview. Research results confirm that nostalgic brands – that reflect personal history – generate stories more often than their non-nostalgic counterparts. Consumer storytelling is more common among older respondents. Consumers create stories about nostalgic brands and are happy to share them. Given the strength of consumer storytelling, it is worth encouraging consumers to share stories about the brand that can be an important element of word-of-mouth communication.

Acknowledgement
The research project was funded by the National Science Centre (project Opus 9, No. 2015/17/B/HS4/00945, “Nostalgia in brand management”) for the period 2016–2020.

Online technologies are currently the most dynamically developing industry, both in product creation and promotion. The study focuses on their incorporation into the SME (small and medium enterprises) segment, which comprises the most economically stable element of any European economy. This paper aims to identify and evaluate dependency in the area of online technologies and promotion tools use in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) related to company age and export involvement. Most research on SMEs focuses on external influences and factors, while this article reflects the internal environment of business entities, which is the source of this study’s originality. The hypotheses were validated by an empirical study of a sample of 743 respondents (companies and entrepreneurs, including family businesses). The research method was a combination of CATI and CASI, and the research tool was a structured questionnaire. To analyze the survey results, the Chi-square test of independence was applied. The key finding was validation of the dependence between the use of the online tools for manufacturing and promotion and the export focus of companies. Companies operating on foreign markets use a wider range of online tools for their business than companies focused on the domestic market. On the other hand, the presumed significant differences in the use of online tools between young businesses and companies long-term established on the market were not confirmed.

Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, University of Technology in Brno and University of Finance and Administration in Prague, Project No.: “TL02000434 Rodinné podniky: generátory hodnoty a určování hodnoty v procesu nástupnictví” for financial support to carry out this research.

This research aims to integrate the functional, social, security, and personal dimensions to study mobile app usage antecedents in the Northern Capital Region of India. Convenience sampling was used, and an online survey resulted in 407 valid responses. The measurement and structural models were estimated using PLS-SEM. Perceived usefulness and social influence had no significant impact on usage, implying that contemporary consumers are much more discerning and do not get swayed by the benefits offered or the influence of those around them. The findings show that perceived ease of use had a significant impact on perceived usefulness and attitude formation. Since security is the most important factor determining usage and trust, the industry should have stringent standards to maintain security protocols in every interaction with the user. Also, security concerns need to be allayed, and grievances need to be resolved immediately to gain customer satisfaction and loyalty. Personal innovativeness and lifestyle compatibility are important determinants of attitude and usage. Firms should target mobile apps to students and the active working population who possess innovativeness and for whom mobile apps are compatible with their lifestyle. These users can act as influencers and help in improving their adoption.

This research aimed to investigate the impact of smartphone advergames characteristics on purchasing intentions. Four dimensions were considered (irritation, entertainment, credibility, and informativeness). To achieve this aim, the researchers developed a model based on literature reviews and previous studies; a self-administrated questionnaire was designed and distributed over a convenience sample. The researchers used a quantitative method and a descriptive-analytical approach; the study sample consisted of 600 consumers, and 519 questionnaires were returned with an 86.5% response rate. Various statistical methods, including descriptive, simple linear regression, were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. This research’s key findings were that there is a statistically direct impact of irritation, entertainment, credibility, and informativeness on consumers’ purchasing intentions. Moreover, there is a mediating role of game involvement between advergames and consumers’ purchasing intentions. Hence, many Jordanian companies can use smartphone mobile advertising to increase sales and create product brand image among consumers. Smartphone advergaming provides numerous opportunities and challenges for advertisers in the current dynamic business environment.

Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Middle East University, Amman, Jordan, for the full financial support granted to this research project.