Strategic planning and implementation issues are evident when organisations seek environmental sustainability outcomes. Critically, this can involve issues between employees and their behaviour, and their connection to, and within, higher-level social structures. Structuration theory is used to determine if employees have the power to change contexts for actions supporting the environment, or if they capitulate in the face of structural resistance. Further, we elaborate on the resources that employees may draw upon and rules that guide them, both of which are used to reproduce or change social structures that enable sustainable practice. We test a structuration framework using two empirical cases examining organisational strategy, thus applying a new lens to develop a unique understanding of these contexts. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion on how the model we use can inform new research and practice to identify and navigate structural barriers to implement environmental sustainability within organisations.

This paper argues for a systematic consideration of environmental sustainability from a behaviour change perspective. As there are so many approaches to ‘sustainability’ that there are easy excuses for those unwilling to be inconvenienced. It is our contention that environmental sustainability will not simply occur by changing attitudes. Behaviour change theory suggests that for change to occur whether it is at a societal, group and individual level individuals require a code of conduct for the desired behaviour. This paper discusses the survey results from a study of university web pages to ascertain the level of development of guidelines to enable ethical-decision-making for this micro community. It is found that very few universities are providing the effective communication about expected behaviours for this influential community.

Political marketing is increasing in importance as a field of study, and despite decades of study, researchers suggest that still more focus needs to be on the voter as a consumer. This article addresses the need by analyzing consumer voting decision-making. Voting decision-making research by O'Cass(2002a) and O'Cass and Pecotich(2005) was replicated and extended specifically for young adult (ages 18-25) voters using quantitative data collected in Australia using a self-completion survey. This model was adapted to include an additional construct of commitment to voting, then tested across two groups of young adult voters: those who previously voted for the current political party in power and those who did not. Structural equation modeling was used to compare lower-involvement voting decisions of the two groups of young adults. The results showed that an influential factor on young voter decision-making was their previous behavior, or usage, of the political party. This was especially strong in voters who had previously voted for the current party in power. Those who did not vote for the current party in power required more steps in deciding whom to vote for. Implications for political marketing practice are also provided.

A legion of 8000 volunteer committee members work behind the scenes to manage Crown land reserves across Victoria, also undertaking on-ground works and a multitude of other tasks to safeguard the upkeep of natural and built public assets. These local Committees of Management operate in a largely delegated manner on behalf of the Victorian Government. A number of societal trends appear to be threatening their work. This exploratory study asked a small non-representative sample of committee members, in group interviews, to assess their motives for undertaking this unpaid service and their perceptions of the key challenges associated with volunteering in public land management. The interviews identified four motivations to explain committee participation: (1) community improvement; (2) family legacy; (3) user group representation; and (4) socialising. The implications of these findings for government and communities, in terms of attracting new recruits to Committees of Management and retaining the existing cohort of experienced members, are discussed.

Recent trends in political marketing research and practice suggest a move from a short-term transaction-based approach to a relationship and network-based approach. The collection of new research i...

Political marketing has borrowed and adapted many terms from mainstream marketing, such as image management (segmentation, targeting, and positioning) and consumer (voter). In marketing, the terms "user'' and "usage'' have been established, yet their application to political marketing is less clear. This paper analyzes the feasibility and usefulness of usage in the political context. Drawing from the literature on usage, a model is developed and applied to four voting environments: Britain, Australia, Russia, and Belarus. One critical factor that emerges is the concept of choice, whereby the voter may chose to indicate their preference for one party yet be forced to use a different party as chosen by collective choice. Another issue is the potential for habitual voting behavior to limit decision making. It is concluded that usage needs to be contextualized specifically for political marketing.

Purpose Operatic events are an important sector of the performing arts industry and are currently facing the challenges of decreasing demand and price-based competition from other sectors of the performing arts industry. It is posited that adding value and ensuring satisfaction may enhance consumer loyalty, and therefore, the likelihood of sales and continued subscriptions may be increased. The purpose of this paper is to examine bundling as a marketing management technique for opera companies and hypothesises that offering attractive “package deals” that bundle various benefits with the seat ticket may increase participation and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A discrete choice experiment with opera patrons is used to evaluate the application of bundling to improve increased demand and loyalty. Findings It is concluded that offering bundles creates a greater likelihood of customer satisfaction and favourable behavioural intentions, which may lead to increased loyalty. Participants expressed strong support for value-added elements. Such package deals included a variety of elements: opportunity for a visit backstage to meet the cast, informative introductions to operas and facilitated parking options. Consumers’ level of overall willingness to purchase a bundle was altered based on the attributes that made up that bundle. The findings of this research confirm that the theory of bundling can be applied to arts marketing and provides support for the development of bundling strategies to enhance opera attendance. Research limitations/implications It is recognised that the research needs to be tested in different countries in order to know the extent to which the findings of this study can be generalised. Additionally, future research could use other statistical methods such as regression and structural equation modelling to holistically model behaviour. Finally, as well as testing customer-stated intentions, the model also needs to be tested with actual patronage behaviour following the development and application of bundling strategies. Future research could also consider how bundling and other aspects relating to opera attendance could be used as part of the branding strategy associated with opera attendance; in particular how to develop, increase and maintain loyalty and therefore brand resonance in opera attendees. Practical implications The findings have useful implications for event organisers and policymakers and suggest bundling strategies that could be utilised. It is has been found that loyalty can be enhanced by adding value and ensuring satisfaction, and therefore, increase the likelihood of sales and repeat purchase. Social implications Opera represents a significant cultural heritage and is a valuable component of the performing arts, both historically and currently. Opera is a form of art whose survival is threatened by an increasingly diminished audience whose average age is steadily increasing. This decrease in audience attendance has led to radical changes in the management and marketing of opera houses, where theaters have moved increasingly towards a business-oriented model where improved branding and bundling strategies can be utilised. Originality/value This makes a theoretical contribution by advancing performing arts research and furthering the notion that bundling can increase the likelihood of opera attendance, satisfaction, ongoing loyalty, and also addresses a managerial need of an arts marketing organisation.

Research on sustainability programs within universities consistently emphasizes that sustainability requires a combination of factors so as to move beyond the significant-but-often-limited activities such as recycling and energy saving to achieve systemic implementation. This study applied Brennan and Binney's 9Ps Framework for Organizational Sustainability to investigate sustainability practices of member universities of ACTS (Australian Campuses Towards Sustainability). A questionnaire based on qualitative research obtained data from 25 of the 27 member universities. Data analysis including descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and gap analysis was used to determine the relationships between importance and performance of the behaviors under investigation.Over the 9Ps, 27 items were used to identify important aspects of environmental sustainability. The same items were assessed for whether or not these actions were being performed in the university. It was generally found that while many universities had policies in place, these were not being implemented and sustainability practices were not maintained. Significant differences were found between the aspects perceived to be important by the expert respondents and those actually being performed by staff. Management could use these findings to address the gap between importance and performance of sustainable practices. Further study to identify the specific barriers to widespread adoption of these sustainable initiatives is suggested.

Purpose– This study aims to specifically focus on the lower-involvement young adult voters within the Australian compulsory voting context. It explores voters’ political decision-making by considering the influence of the consumer behaviour theory of involvement.Design/methodology/approach– A thematic analysis was conducted to analyse the interviews within the two research questions: information seeking and decision-making.Findings– Key themes within information seeking are the reach of the information available, the frequency of the information presented, the creativity of the message and one-way versus two-way communication. Key themes within evaluation are promise keeping/trust, achievements or performance and policies. Lower-involvement decision-making has the potential to be a habitual, limited evaluation decision. However, issues of trust, performance and policies may encourage evaluation, thereby reducing the chances of habitually voting for the same party as before.Practical implications– This new area of research has implications for the application of marketing for organisations and political marketing theory. Considering voting decision-making as a lower-involvement decision has implications for assisting the creation and adaptation of strategies to focus on this group of the population.Originality/value– The compulsory voting environment creates a unique situation to study lower-involvement decision-making, as these young adults are less likely to opt out of the voting process. Previous research in political marketing has not specifically explored the application of involvement to young adult voting within a compulsory voting environment.

This chapter provides the results of case study research conducted amongst higher education institutions (HEIs) on the topic of sustainability. Sustainability for HEIs is a complex and potentially expensive goal. However, the measure used in this research illustrates that sustainability principles need not be esoteric or predominantly theoretical. The case study takes a whole-of-system look at how sustainability is enacted within the organization. The results show that the barriers and facilitators to sustainability within HEIs can be classified according to their cumulative effects on the servicescape elements. Furthermore, using an importance /performance matrix, the study highlights specific areas for improvement for HEIs seeking to enhance their sustainability efforts. A principal finding is that internal social marketing is necessary to sustainability efforts within HEIs, as is the creation of an appropriate behavioural infrastructure to allow participation in sustainability activities.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Thailand by focusing on the consumer-organisational relationship and test the conceptual framework of Du et al. ( 2007). Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative study was conducted using a mall intercept survey of 184 Thai mobile phone service provider consumers in Bangkok, Thailand. Findings - A CSR emphasised brand is more likely than non-CSR emphasised brands to accrue consumer CSR awareness, positive attitude to company motivations and beliefs in the CSR of that company. Although beliefs are associated with consumers' greater identification and advocacy behaviours towards the CSR emphasised brand than the non-CSR emphasised brands, they are not associated with loyalty. Practical implications - The paper provides potential guidance for companies to more effectively position and communicate their CSR activities to create differential advantages. Originality/value - Findings of the study demonstrate some support for a business case for CSR in Thailand.

This book provides a concise overview of the behaviour change models that are relevant to social marketing in order to assist academics and practitioners in social marketing program development. The book features a review and analysis of the most validated models of behaviour change, together with a number of case studies from international researchers that illustrate these models in practice. The models covered include cognitive, conative, affective, social-cultural and multi-theory models, consumer behavior decision models and social change models.

'This is essential reading for social marketing practitioners, researchers and students. the book describes a comprehensive range of behavior change theories of relevance to social marketing and is complemented with illustrative case ...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Thailand by focusing on the consumer-organisational relationship and test the conceptual framework of Du et al. (2007). Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative study was conducted using a mall intercept survey of 184 Thai mobile phone service provider consumers in Bangkok, Thailand. Findings – A CSR emphasised brand is more likely than non-CSR emphasised brands to accrue consumer CSR awareness, positive attitude to company motivations and beliefs in the CSR of that company. Although beliefs are associated with consumers’ greater identification and advocacy behaviours towards the CSR emphasised brand than the non-CSR emphasised brands, they are not associated with loyalty. Practical implications – The paper provides potential guidance for companies to more effectively position and communicate their CSR activities to create differential advantages. Originality/value – Findings of the study demonstrate some support for a business case for CSR in Thailand.