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Corporate Mobility Management (CMM) is a key part of the transformation towards sustainable mobility and has an impact on emissions and employee satisfaction. Mobility budgets (MBs), categorized as employee benefits, offer a unique solution for transforming employee mobility. This article summarizes the results of two studies and provides a comprehensive overview. Study I, a representative survey (n=994) in Germany, examines the differences between MB users (MBN) and non-users (NU). NU show longer commuting distances and a lower perception of sustainability, which underlines the transformative effect of MB. Socio-demographic nuances, including gender and socio-economic factors, further influence mobility choices. Study II focuses on three case studies presenting different MB implementations. Overall, our results underline the transformative potential of MBs regarding the change towards sustainability. Policy makers and companies should develop solutions for different socio-demographic groups, take gender preferences into account and consider the impact on commuting behavior. The presented holistic framework contributes to a more sustainable and satisfying mobility experience for workers and is in line with broader environmental goals.

This study aims to understand the impact of the platform owner’s assortment and customer activity metrics in the context of a mobility-as-a-service platform. The results based on an analysis of transaction data from 50 different cities show that city-specific differences in the platform’s total assortment and customer’s cross-category and cross-provider buying have positive impacts on customer activity metrics. However, we also find that this impact is attenuated in cities with a larger platform assortment. These findings have important implications for platform owners, as increasing customer activity is key to the long-term success of the platform.

A solid understanding of when travel decisions are made in relation to travelers’ planning horizons is crucial for travel service providers. Despite its importance, there are very few empirical studies investigating the planning horizon and its antecedents in travel research literature. This study contributes to bridging this gap by conceptualizing a two-level model of antecedents of travelers’ planning horizons. In addition to individual traveler- and trip-related aspects, the model provides a cross-cultural perspective on international travelers’ planning horizons by including uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and long-term orientation as cultural-level antecedents. Drawing on a nested dataset of 4,074 international travelers from 17 countries worldwide, the results of a two-level hierarchical regression model show that, in addition to individual-level aspects, cultural antecedents play an important role in determining planning horizons. Based on the empirical results, the paper discusses implications for theory and travel service providers.

Set up in the right way, ecosystems are promising to partners, consumers, and society at large. In practice, however, establishing an ecosystem is oftentimes complicated, particularly when contributing partners offer competing services. Building on a set of qualitative interviews conducted with practitioners involved in existing or new ecosystems in the mobility sector, our research provides a practice-based assessment of strategically relevant managerial issues related to platform ecosystems. We identify six areas of governance that are particularly relevant for an ecosystem to function effectively, namely strategic direction, revenue sharing, ownership rights, investment and finance, additional value provided to the customer, and the competitive relationship between partners. Suggesting that ecosystems are more complex to manage than previously believed, the study provides a framework for strategizing ecosystem governance, outlining constitutional elements that have to be clarified when setting up a mobility ecosystem.

While the issue of standardisation versus adaptation has dominated the field of international marketing for the last few decades, it has been largely neglected in the area of domestic marketing, and especially in retailing. Yet, in franchise management, the standardization/adaptation dilemma remains one of the core challenges. However, while there is strong theoretical consensus in the literature on the issue, there is a lack of empirical research on standardization and adaptation in franchising. Against this background, the main objective of the paper is to gain insight into standardization in franchising and its potential effects on various performance outcomes. Specifically, the study investigates the following research questions: (1) What variables are critical to standardisation in franchising? (2) To what extent does the standardisation of such variables as pricing, uniqueness of the stores, or employee qualification convert into performance outcomes? In accordance with the findings from the international marketing literature, a conceptual model is developed that is based on the assumption that the degree of standardization versus adaptation affects performance. It is suggested that standardisation issues determine consumer performance, franchisee performance, financial performance and market performance. To test our conceptual model, we collected data from 61 franchise systems. The sample covered the following service areas: retailing (28.2

While the issue of standardization versus adaptation has dominated the field of international marketing for the last few decades, it has been largely neglected in the area of domestic marketing, and especially in retailing. Yet, in domestic franchise management, the standardization/adaptation dilemma remains one of the core challenges. However, while there is strong theoretical consensus in the literature on the issue, there is a lack of empirical research on standardization and adaptation in franchising. Against this background, the objective of the paper is to analyze (1) what variables are critical to standardization in franchising and (2) to what extent the standardization of these variables convert into performance outcomes such as customer satisfaction, revenue and profit. On the basis of a review on literature on standardization and adaptation in international marketing and franchising we developed a conceptual model which was tested empirically using a self-administered questionnaire which was sent to managers and CEOs of 463 German franchise systems. The final sample consisted of 61 franchise systems across different service sectors. More precisely, we examined the following set of hypotheses:

The decision to enter a franchise system and to become a franchisee represents an important change in an individual’s work environment (Kaufmann and Stanworth 1995). Once having signed a franchise contract, franchisees usually give up their current jobs and have to learn how to successfully establish and operate a franchise business. The initial phase of an individual’s engagement as a franchisee is often accompanied by entrepreneurial euphoria, resulting from the fascination and excitement of beginning a new phase in their working life (Frazer 2001). However, recent research on relationship formation between franchisees and franchisors indicates that after some time, this initial fascination decreases due to sobering experiences with the franchise system. Blut and colleagues (2011) argue that this typical downturn of relationship properties may lead to a number of negative consequences such as increased opportunism of the franchisees, reduced investments, and lowered operational input (Oxenfeldt and Kelly 1968). Thus, it is important for the franchisor to understand why some franchisees adjust well after some time while others do not. Against this background, the contribution of this study is twofold. First, it develops a conceptual model of factors influencing the adjustment of franchisees during their first years. Second, it empirically tests the model including measures in the area of (a) job design, (b) knowledge management, and (c) attractiveness of the franchise using a matched sample consisting of 32 franchise systems and 1,581 franchisees. Based mainly on arguments from the expatriate literature and from social learning theory, we empirically test three hypotheses: Due to the nested nature of the data, we test our model using a multilevel regression model. Looking at the level-1 regression results, we note that franchisee satisfaction is significantly lower for franchisees in the disillusionment stage. We also find two significant negative effects on franchisee trust and franchisee commitment. These results indicate that after a period of excitement, franchisees experience disillusionment leading to lower relational properties. Turning to the level-2 effects, we find several cross-level interactions of measures in the area of job design, knowledge management, and attractiveness of the franchise. As expected through our conceptual reasoning, a high degree of franchisee autonomy, franchisee participation, knowledge transfer, prior self-employment, royalty, and reputation of the system buffer the disillusionment of franchisees for each of the three relationship properties, satisfaction, trust, and commitment. Moreover, initial investments are found to display only a buffering effect for trust but not for satisfaction and commitment. Finally, we do not find a cross-level interaction for contract length neither on the slopes of lifecycle-stage on satisfaction, trust, nor commitment. In sum, the results indicate that franchisors can indeed facilitate franchisee adjustment.

Die wahrgenommene Fairness von Preisen hat sich als zentrales Konstrukt der Marketingforschung zur Analyse der Wirkung von Preiserhöhungen etabliert. Ausgangspunkt der interdisziplinären Preisfairnessforschung ist, dass Kunden ein Angebot nicht nur rational-ökonomisch bewerten, sondern zusätzlich eine emotionale Komponente bei der Bewertung der Fairness eines Preises relevant ist. Dieser Beitrag bezieht sich daher auf die Analyse emotionaler Aspekte für die Bildung des Fairnessurteils bei Preiserhöhungen, während bisherige Studien, mit wenigen Ausnahmen, auf die Untersuchung kognitiver Größen abstellen. Die auf Basis der Equity-Theorie postulierte Relevanz von Emotionen für das Fairnessurteil bei Preiserhöhungen und dessen Auswirkung auf die Preisbereitschaft können durch eine empirische Untersuchung gestützt werden. Die Ergebnisse dienen der Ableitung von Handlungsempfehlungen für die Unternehmenspraxis und die Forschung.

This research examines the evolution of interorganizational relationships in a franchising context. Using U-curve theory, we develop three hypotheses and contrast them with traditional lifecycle theory. Three groups of constructs are affected by lifecycle: cooperation variables, dependence variables, and relationship variables. Four distinct stages emerge, with highest levels of variables in the honeymoon stage, lower levels in routine and crossroad stages, and increasing levels in the stabilization stage. Franchisors should strive for “stability on high levels” before operational realities influence the franchisees. Franchisees’ intermediate lifecycle phases are most critical for the system, since opportunistic behavior and switching are most likely.

Consumer's differentiated perception and appraisal of a product's country-of-origin (COO) exerts large influence on perception of the COO-image (COI) and on the perceived product quality.At peripheral information processing COO-Image (COI) provides a basis to ease requirements for information processing in form of heuristics.Most of internationalization literature examines the COO effect with respect to high-involvement products and in context of cognitive processing. However studies from Maheswaran and Chen (2006) point out, that besides cognitive influences, also specific emotions impact on COO-effects. Whereas the influence of negative emotions like anger, sadness or frustration on processing and judgments could be exposed, the issue of positive emotions' impact still stays open.Since the question should be answered, if emotions impact on COO-Effects, it is emphasized to focus on COO as an affective heuristic operating as a "halo" effect on attitudes towards a product. Because both marketing and evolutionary theories of emotion act on the assumption of satisfaction of human needs, latter is specified, describing emotions as complex chains of events with stabilizing feedback loops. Particularly, in the context of impulsive purchasing emotion plays a vital role. Impulsive buyers are more emotionalized, experiencing more enthusiasm, joy, and glee than nonbuyers. Thus "joy" leads to impulsive decision making behavior.Drawing on the extant literature, we develop our conceptual framework to analyze whether, and if so, how positive emotions (such as joy) affect the impact of COO on product evaluation. Based on an experimental study including 130 respondents, we test three hypotheses: whether the COO has an impact on product evaluation (H1), whether the positive emotion of joy has a stronger positive influence on product evaluation than neutral emotional states (H2), and whether the positive emotion of joy reduces the positive relationship of COO on product evaluation (H3).In the experimental design, it is hypothesized that the latent variable Emotion impacts on the latent variable COI and in addition that these latent variables, both influence beliefs towards the product in terms of a halo effect. Latent variables in each case get measured with manifested variables in form of validated scales. Cause-and-effect relations are revealed in an experiment concerning a factorial test arrangement with a 2x2 factor design, consisting of two COOs (China vs. Germany) and two emotional states (joy vs. neutral state). Complex pictures from International Affective Picture System state standardized stimuli obtaining specific emotions. The apparel industry serves as the product category used in the experiment because impulsive buying behavior is quite common in this product category. Moreover, we chose women as respondents because they rather purchase for emotional and relationship-oriented reasons. Products get labeled with woven tags and tags at clothes hangers manipulating COO.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) can be counted among the most important analysis methods in marketing research and is used for analysis, with emotional state and COO being the independent variables and product evaluation as the dependent variable. Prior to probing hypothesized assumptions a manipulation check concerning induced emotions was successful. Participants primed with the joyful IAPS checked a significantly higher percentage of positive adjectives than respondents primed with the neutral IAPS (joyful=. 76, neutral =. 61; F= 7.59, p<. 001). Also the used scale of Product Evaluation could be validated by confirmatory factor analysis.The main effect of emotion is highly significant for product evaluation. Following Cohen (1988), the strength of the effects is large (eta 2 = 10.8 %). Product evaluation is influenced by a highly significant interaction effect (Emotion * COO, EtaSquare: 6.2 %). COO has a significant influence on product evaluation giving support for H1. Furthermore respondents in a joyful state evaluate the product significantly better than respondents in a neutral state (MVJoy= 4.89 vs. MVNeutral= 4.33, F= 11.359, p<. 001). This finding confirms our hypothesis H2. Since the product evaluation is influenced by an interaction effect, the impact of COO must be analyzed in both cases for (1) joy and (2) neutral state. In a neutral emotional state respondents evaluate products of German origin (MV= 4.73) significantly better compared to a Chinese COO (MV= 3.94). In contrast to this, COO does not affect product evaluation when the respondent is in a joyful mood: The Chinese product (MV =4.89) is evaluated better than the German product (MV= 4.87). However, the difference is not statistically significant. This finding confirms hypothesis H3.This survey increases acknowledgement concerning emotional impacts on perception of COO serving as affective heuristic, because during induction of joyful emotional states a tendency towards an alleviated COO-Effect is demonstrated. Thus emotion impacts on perception of COO information at such a rate that poor COIs can be valorized, while beneficial domestic COIs rather level off.Insights for retailers and manufacturers' brand management are that they should pay attention to consumer's emotional state while developing foreign markets. They have to continually encourage consumers' positive emotion through store design, product displays, package designs and sales in order to valorize poor COIs. Contrariwise brand management from manufacturers offering brands, featuring beneficial COIs should mind that encouraging consumers' positive emotions by recommended actions, impacts on apparel featuring poor COIs in superior manner.

Previous research on price changes has focused on the analysis of price increases on the basis of rational processes. This paper focuses on the examination of the moderating role of emotions on the relationship between the magnitude of price increases and perceived price fairness. In addition, we analyze the effect of perceived price fairness and willingness to pay in consideration of the moderating influence of emotions. The empirical results demonstrate that emotions have the potential to compensate for the negative impact of price increases on perceived price fairness and the willingness to pay.

Die Fahigkeit, individuelle Losungen bestehend aus Produkt und produktbegleitenden Dienstleistungen anzubieten und Kunden damit einen zusatzlichen Nutzen zu liefern, stellt heutzutage einen zentralen Wettbewerbsvorteil fur produzierende Unternehmen dar. Um diese Fahigkeit gezielt als Werthebel nutzen zu konnen, mussen Unternehmen den Mehrwert dieser Angebote in Mehr-Erlose umsetzen, die uber den Kosten der zusatzlichen Leistung liegen. Fur die Preisbestimmung eignet sich im Dienstleistungsbereich insbesondere eine nutzenorientierte Herangehensweisen, da der Nutzen von Dienstleistungen fur den Kunden meist vollig entkoppelt von den Kosten der Dienstleistungen auf Anbieterseite ist. Die Aufgabe des Controllings besteht in diesem Zusammenhang darin, geeignete Instrumente zur Quantifizierung des Kundennutzens zu konzipieren und den Vertriebsmitarbeitern zur Verfugung zu stellen. Der vorliegende Artikel stellt solche Instrumente vor und gibt Anwendungsempfehlungen fur ihren erfolgreichen Einsatz in der Unternehmenspraxis.

Die Controlling - Zeitschrift für erfolgsorientierte Unternehmenssteuerung liefert Monat für Monat fundierte und anwendungsorientierte Fachbeiträge für das Management sowie das Finanz- und Rechnungswesen in Unternehmen. Klar gegliedert und strukturiert werden für alle Controlling-Bereiche die Faktoren für eine erfolgreiche Unternehmenssteuerung aufgezeigt.

Ausgangspunkt der interdisziplinären Preisfairnessforschung ist, dass Kunden ein Angebot nicht nur rational-ökonomisch bewerten, sondern zusätzlich beurteilen, wie fair dieses ist. Der Fokus dieses Beitrags liegt in der Analyse emotionaler Aspekte für die Bildung des Fairnessurteils bei Preisen. Auf Basis der Equity-Theorie wird die Relevanz von Emotionen für das Fairnessurteil nach Preiserhöhungen geprüft. Dabei bestätigen sich die vermuteten positiven Wirkungszusammenhänge. Die Ergebnisse dienen der Ableitung von Handlungsempfehlungen für die Unternehmenspraxis und die Forschung.