This book will help business and commercial professionals, who are bombarded with information from which they must draw conclusions to make valid business judgements. Underpinned by research and methodology, but carefully and wittily written to avoid the subject falling into the trap of being dull, this book offers a very accessible way for business people to understand their current deciphering processes and to find new ways of interpreting information to make better judgements.

Even casual observers will be familiar with the Cherry Blossom or Sakura tress of Japan. When in full bloom the sight is spectacular but it sadly only takes a week until the tree is bare. In a longer cycle of nations and business, we see, unfortunately, a similar pattern for Japanese Multinational Corporations.

In 2003, Goldman Sachs published a startling report on the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) region: These four countries would be larger than the G6 economics within 40 years, muscling their way to economic dominance and powering past developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. This book focuses on the technology and technology-enabled services that underpin this revolution. The editor analyses the reasons why these four countries are in a unique position to lead a 21st century growth in international services. He then features 12 chapters written by the most important chief executives from the BRICs service economy.

The projection of authenticity is one of the key pillars of marketing. Research reveals that consumers seek authenticity through the brands they choose. Based on extensive research with consumers and brand managers this book offers seven guiding principles for building brand authenticity.

The book covers the ongoing shift from mass-marketing and micro-marketing to sensory marketing in terms of the increased individualization in the contemporary society. It shows the importance in reaching the individuals' five senses at a deeper level than traditional marketing theories do.

Conjoint analysis (CA) and discrete choice experimentation (DCE) are tools used in marketing, economics, transportation, health, tourism, and other areas to develop and modify products, services, policies, and programs, specifically ones that can be described in terms of attributes. A specific combination of attributes is called a concept profile. Building on the authors? significant work in the field, Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis: Models and Designs explores the design of experiment (DOE) issues that occur when constructing concept profiles and shows how to modify commonly used designs for solving DCE and CA problems. The authors provide historical and statistical background and discuss the concepts and inference.

The book covers designs appropriate for four classes of DOE problems: (1) attributes in CA and DCE studies are often ordered; (2) studies increasingly are computer-assisted; (3) choice is often influenced by competition; and (4) constraints may exist on attribute levels. Discussion begins with commonly used "generic" designs. The text then presents designs that avoid "dominated" or "dominating" profiles that may occur with ordered attributes and explores the use of orthogonal polynomials to describe relationships between ordered attribute levels and preference. Computer administration entails limited "screen real estate" for presenting concept profiles. The book covers approaches for subsetting attributes and/or levels to "fit" profiles into available "screen real estate." It then discusses strategies for sequential experimentation. Choice also is influenced by the availability of competing alternatives. The book uses availability and cross-effects designs to illustrate the design and analysis of portfolios and shows the relationship between availability effects and interaction effects in analysis of variance models. The last chapter highlights approaches to experimental design in which constraints are imposed on the levels of attributes. These designs provide the means to untangle the pricing and formulation problems in CA and DCE.

In today's connected consumer environment, customers are better informed and harder to please, but they also leave a more visible evidence trail in the form of improved databases and customer information. Consumers are increasingly interconnected through various sorts of social networks, a trend that is facilitated by recent advances in electronic media and telecommunication (i.e., MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Cyworld). Consumers are also increasingly connected with brands and seek to play a more participative role in their relationship with companies, stimulating companies to reconsider how to connect with consumers.

This book consists of a collection of chapters by thought-leaders in the field of marketing and beyond that deals with the rich facets of connectivity. This edited volume is a great source of research ideas and fresh theory building for academics and students in marketing and related fields who wish to understand this exciting field. It will be a source of inspiration for practitioners who are eager to take up the challenge and adapt their marketing strategies to the changing nature of consumer and business markets.

Praise for JUST ASK A WOMAN

"Just when you think you know it all, Mary Lou Quinlan helps you with your thinking in a new and wonderful way. If you want to capture a larger piece of your market, read this book."
–Gordon Bethune, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Continental Airlines, Inc.

"Mary Lou’s fascinating book delving into the commonsense insights of women toward products both mundane and high tech is a watershed event. Mary Lou shows that women are both procedural and disciplined (many even use an ‘informal board of directors’ to confirm their own opinions), and marketers who don’t take them seriously do so at their own peril."
–Rance Crain, Editor-in-Chief, Advertising Age

"A deeply insightful and actionable articulation of how women live today, their deepest feelings and hopes and desires. There’s a depth of understanding here that clearly reveals the enormous experience that Quinlan has had in marketing and advertising."
–John Pepper, Chairman, Executive Committee of the Board
Procter & Gamble

"Think you know how to make women buy your product? Think again. Mary Lou Quinlan surprises and delights with insight into what it takes to sell almost anything to any woman."
–Melanie Wells, Senior Editor, Forbes

"Mary Lou Quinlan harnesses her decades of experience to provide powerful insights into how to not only ‘ask a woman’ but also to listen to her. Highly readable, this book speaks cogently to practicing and aspiring marketers about tapping into the minds and pocketbooks of women. Quinlan provides a guide to smarter and better marketing."
–Stephen A. Greyser, Professor of Marketing and Communications Emeritus
Harvard Business School

Based on the results of 177 survey responses, Tobias Weigl shows that the simple transfer of managerial and organizational skills, techniques, values and culture from developed countries to Russia is a false assumption among academics and practitioners.

Marketing research is vital to part of organizational effectiveness in today's highly competitive marketplace. But many managers in small businesses with limited budgets consider it out of reach. In Marketing Research That Won't Break the Bank, Alan Andreasen shows readers how to get the information they need to make smart, strategic decisions without spending a lot of money. The tools and techniques presented will help managers gain an in-depth understanding of their target market, competitors, and environment without stretching the organization's budget.

Contemporary Consumer Culture Theory contains original research essays written by the premier thought leaders of the discipline from around the world that reflect the maturation of the field Customer Culture Theory over the last decade. The volume seeks to help break down the silos that have arisen in disciplines seeking to understand consumer culture, and speed both the diffusion of ideas and possibility of collaboration across frontiers. Contemporary Consumer Culture Theory begins with a re-evaluation of some of the fundamental notions of consumer behaviour, such as self and other, branding and pricing, and individual vs. communal agency then continuing with a reconsideration of role configurations as they affect consumption, examining in particular the ramifications of familial, gender, ethnic and national aspects of consumers' lived experiences. The book move on to a reappraisal of the state of the field, examining the rhetoric of inquiry, the reflexive history and critique of the discipline, the prospect of redirecting the effort of inquiry to practical and humanitarian ends, the neglected wellsprings of our intellectual heritage, and the ideological underpinnings of the evolving construction of the concept of the brand. Contemporary Consumer Culture Theory is a reflective assessment, in theoretical, empirical and evocative keys, of the state of the field of consumer culture theory and an indication of the scholarly directions in which the discipline is evolving providing reflection upon a rapidly expanding discipline and altered consumption-scapes by some of its prime movers.

What Makes a BLOCKBUSTER?

More than half of all new products fail in the marketplace. But companies can dramatically improve their odds of success by implementing five key practices -- all within their control. Drs.Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly share the results of a ten-year research study illustrated by the inside stories of nearly fifty of the most successful products ever created.

Lynn and Reilly explain the five keys for companies wishing to develop the next blockbuster. Without these crucial elements a blockbuster new product is virtually impossible:

Compelling Product Vision • Product Improvisation • Information Exchange • Senior Management Commitment • Teamwork

Whereas most insights concerning the dynamics of work groups come from North American or Western European environments, Hannah Titilayo Seriki concentrates on teams operating within the complex societal context of sub-Saharan Africa. The author develops a multi-level theory of African teams' innovative performance and regards the team as a sub-system of the organisation, which is subjected to societal influences.

This book provides the definitive economic study of the global motorsport industry. Drawing on a decade of research, and interviews with top industry executives and international commentators, the global grid of motorsport is analyzed and the world's national motorsport industries benchmarked. Motorsport Going Global concludes on scenarios for the global industry as it enters a new era of market growth and global opportunity.

Based on face to face interviews with decision makers of 16 German firms Michael Klug analyses the applied strategy and the motivation for market entry. He investigates different strategy theories for their suitability to explain the firms' strategy abroad and discusses the operational design including forms of market presence and marketing mix to realise a chosen strategy.

The twenty-first century has brought with it an inundation of information with which business has to grapple. For those who have to make sense of information on a day-to-day basis, a new set of information skills and competencies, a new set of habits are required to handle the new world of multi-source data.

In this book help is at hand. It is full of practical guidance on how to effectively process and action modern marketing and business information to maximum competitive advantage. The authors provide a step-by-step practical approach to the holistic analysis of information and data, complete with tools and checklists.

For 'knowledge workers' who have to make sense of new sources of business information for effective marketing decision-making, this book provides:

• the 'craft skills' to scan, gut and action information
• the tools to effectively apply qualitative and quantitative marketing information to the decision-making process

This is a perfect guide to understanding the core principles of qualitative marketing research. It presents qualitative marketing research in the broader context of marketing and managerial decisions, consumer psychology and contemporary knowledge about unconscious and automatic processes. Different types of qualitative marketing research methods are examined, from the classic focus group interview (FGI) and individual in-depth interview (IDI), to more cutting-edge methods such as ethnography or bulletin boards, which enable marketing researchers to discover and understand real consumer motivations, needs, values, and attitudes. With numerous international case studies, including PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone, Nestle, Aviva and Citibank, the book is uniquely practical in its approach. It is vital reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of marketing research, consumer behaviour and consumer psychology.

Generation Z, ranging from tweens to young adults, has enormous spending power; yet it is one of the most challenging generational cohorts for brands to reach. It is projected to be the largest consumer demographic in history, driving a forecast from the HRC Retail Advisory of 40% of all US consumer spending, and another 40% of all consumers in the US, Europe and BRIC by 2020 (Brazil, Russia, India, China), according to other sources. Embodying an unrelenting relationship with information and mobile technology from a young age, Generation Z's ecosystem is infinitely more complex and varied than any generation before. Staying tuned-in to this demographic's impatience, confidence and constantly evolving trends can be daunting for any marketer trying to keep up.

The Gen Z Frequency offers a comprehensive guide for any brand or organization trying to reach this demographic, covering fundamental truths, content creation, engagement strategies and tactics such as social media, experiential, emerging technologies, and much more. It is woven with fascinating case studies and real-world stories from the trenches, plus key insights from leading youth brands and Gen Z themselves. Whether you are new to marketing or a seasoned expert, The Gen Z Frequency is the ultimate resource for tuning in to Generation Z.

Foreword Qing-Yun Jiang was born in Fujian, China. He studied International Business Administration at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade in Shanghai, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics. In 1997, he started studying at the University of Hamburg. After his Master study and his successful completion of the necessary law examinations, he was admitted as a doctoral student in the law faculty in 2001. In addition to his study of German civil, criminal and administrative laws, Jiang demonstrated an increasing interest in law and economics, especially in the relationship between law and economic development. It is now a well-established fact that the rule of law, the protection of property rights and a swift and timely resolution to conflicts are corner stones of economic development and long-term economic growth. In many developing countries court delays are a major shortcoming of the legal system. This is true for countries in Latin America and in many Asian countries. Empirical findings show a 15 year length of civil procedure from the first filing of the case to the Supreme Court decision. This leads to court crises in the sense that private disputes are not brought to the court. Private parties attempt to circumvent the official legal system all together. When making contracts they resort to self enforcing contracts, to self help and, if available, to private alternative dispute settlement. In his thesis, Jiang presents an empirical study of court delays in China.

Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research is the essential guide to the theory and practice of conducting ethnographic research in consumer environments. Patricia Sunderland and Rita Denny argue that, while the recent explosion in the use of "ethnography" in the corporate world has provided unprecedented opportunities for anthropologists and other qualitative researchers, this popularization too often results in shallow understandings of culture, divorcing ethnography it from its foundations. In response, they reframe the field by re-attaching ethnography to theoretically robust and methodologically rigorous cultural analysis. The engrossing text draws on decades of the authors' own eclectic research-from coffee in Bangkok and boredom in New Zealand to computing in the United States-using methodologies from focus groups and rapid appraisal to semiotics and visual ethnography. Five provocative forewords by leaders in consumer research further push the boundaries of the field and challenge the boundaries of academic and applied work. In addition to reorienting the field for academics and practitioners, this book is an ideal text for students, who are increasingly likely to both study and work in corporate environments.

This book offers a cultural studies approach to marketing and advertising and shows readers how scholars from different academic disciplines make sense of marketing's role in American culture and society. It is written in an accessible style and has numerous drawings by the author to give it more visual interest.

Drawing together the new techniques available to the market researcher into a single reference, "The Handbook of Online and Social Media Research" explores how these innovations are being used by the leaders in the field. This groundbreaking reference examines why traditional research is broken, both in theory and practice, and includes chapters on online research communities, community panels, blog mining, social networks, mobile research, e-ethnography, predictive markets, and DIY research.

""This handbook fills a significant learning gap for the market research profession" "and Ray Poynter has once again proven that he is a guiding light. The practical and" "pragmatic advice contained within these pages will be relevant to new students of" "research, young researchers and experienced researchers that want to understand" "the basics of online and social media research. Ray's views on 'how to be better" "with people' and 'how to maximise response rates' are vital clues that are likely to" "shape the future of market and social research.""
Peter Harris, National President, Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS).

""It's hard to imagine anyone better suited to covering the rapidly changing world of" "online research than Ray Poynter. In this book he shows us why." "Whether you are new to online or a veteran interested in broadening your" "understanding of the full range of techniques--quant and qual--this book is for you.""
Reg Baker, President and Chief Operating Officer, Market Strategies International

""Finally, a comprehensive handbook for practitioners, clients, suppliers and students" "that includes best practices, clear explanations, advice and cautionary warnings." "This should be the research benchmark for online research for some time. Poynter" "proves he is the online market research guru.""
Cam Davis, Ph.D., former Dean and current instructor of the online market research course for the Canadian Marketing Research and Intelligence Association

""Ray Poynter's comprehensive, authoritative, easy to read, and knowledgeable" "handbook has come to our rescue ... it is a must read for anyone who needs to" "engage with customers or stakeholders in a creative, immediate and flexible way" "that makes maximum use of all the exciting, new technology now open to us. Market researchers need to know this stuff" "now. I can guarantee that anyone who buys the" "book will find it a compelling read: they will be constantly turning to the next page in" "order to find yet another nugget of insight from Ray's tour de force.""
Dr David Smith, Director, DVL Smith Ltd; Professor, University of Hertfordshire, Business School

- Homes in on the key areas of Marketing Research, making it perfect supplementary reading for any module on the subject. - Takes a step-by-step approach to the full Marketing Research process. - Pedagogical features include an essential summary, discussion questions for use as a teaching resource, and worksheets as supplementary resources for practical planning.

Cases in Consumer Behaviour Cases in Consumer Behaviour contains a selection of case studies which examine different aspects of the behaviour of European consumers. These case studies consider, amongst other issues, personal consumer decisions and interactive household decision making; cultural and social effects on consumer behaviour; new product development and diffusion in different countries; marketing communications; and consumer satisfaction and welfare. This casebook is closely related to, and is recommended for use with, Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective by Gerrit Antonides and W. Fred van Raaij. Features of the casebook include:

• The authors of these cases are drawn from nine different European countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, France, Greece and Hungary
• The cases reflect the consumer perspective on marketing problems
• Each case presents a practical problem in the consumer area and poses questions for the reader.

Using tools of modern industrial economics Urs Meister examines the effects of privatisation and competition in the piped water industry. Considering the two main approaches for competition in an industry with natural monopoly character, common carriage (interconnection) and franchise bidding (auctions), he analyses costs, retail prices and investment. Such analysis shows that competition may be a valuable opportunity to improve the efficiency of water supply.