Marketing (CEB) [Department of Marketing]

The Solvay Brussels Marketing Initiative (SBMI) [The Solvay Brussels Marketing Initiative (SBMI)]
It is a think tank preparing new proposals for the marketing of the future. Marketing professors at SBSEM want to offer to the marketing profession new innovative ideas, they also desire to build the image of the marketing discipline inside the School and the University. This initiative should be seen as inspiring, forward thinking and solution driven. [It is a think tank preparing new proposals for the marketing of the future. Marketing professors at SBSEM want to offer to the marketing profession new innovative ideas, they also desire to build the image of the marketing discipline inside the School and the University. This initiative should be seen as inspiring, forward thinking and solution driven. ]

Symbolic Brand Representations [Symbolic Brand Representations]
Up to now, there is no empirical validation of the different dimensions of symbolic brand representation. This study provides that framework. We started with more than 400 brand collages that were collected in the US, in Germany, in Belgium, and in Asia to elicit patterns and concepts/dimension. A second study validates that results and led to a brand taxonomy that is based on consumer perceptions. In a next study success drivers of the three types will be researched. [Up to now, there is no empirical validation of the different dimensions of symbolic brand representation. This study provides that framework. We started with more than 400 brand collages that were collected in the US, in Germany, in Belgium, and in Asia to elicit patterns and concepts/dimension. A second study validates that results and led to a brand taxonomy that is based on consumer perceptions. In a next study success drivers of the three types will be researched.]

Brand Inventories [Brand Inventories]
The core of classical brand research lies the relationship between a customer and a brand. We go a step further and analyze brand assortments of customers and try to find patterns in the ways how consumers combine brands (in a category and across categories). In a first step participants conducted whole brand inventories of all the brands they use and possess. In a second phase long interviews are carried out to understand the assortment-building strategies A second, linked research project analyzes the brands consumers really use in their life and how this usage is linked to their activities throughout the day. Therefore we film (with a helm camera) 24 hours in the life of respondents and then analyze the links between everyday activities and brand usage. [The core of classical brand research lies the relationship between a customer and a brand. We go a step further and analyze brand assortments of customers and try to find patterns in the ways how consumers combine brands (in a category and across categories). In a first step participants conducted whole brand inventories of all the brands they use and possess. In a second phase long interviews are carried out to understand the assortment-building strategies A second, linked research project analyzes the brands consumers really use in their life and how this usage is linked to their activities throughout the day. Therefore we film (with a helm camera) 24 hours in the life of respondents and then analyze the links between everyday activities and brand usage. ]

What WE do to receive a better service [What WE do to receive a better service]
The classical marketing stories are about companies which try to get a reaction from a consumer. In the field of services, companies develop(ped) techniques and actions to deliver good (or even better) service. We flip this idea and ask what consumers do to RECEIVE a better service. So we really follow the ideas of CO-everything and not only discuss co-production of services, but also co-experience and even co-manipulation. [The classical marketing stories are about companies which try to get a reaction from a consumer. In the field of services, companies develop(ped) techniques and actions to deliver good (or even better) service. We flip this idea and ask what consumers do to RECEIVE a better service. So we really follow the ideas of CO-everything and not only discuss co-production of services, but also co-experience and even co-manipulation. ]

Euromarketing :regional concepts. [Euromarketing :regional concepts.]
Most of the branding concepts, models, studies, and scales are US based and were developed within the north american culture. European aspects and 'specialities' are often neglected. Our research starts with an understanding of those cultural aspects that seem to be shared among Europeans, like for example Christmas, Football, the Eurovision Song Contest, and design. A second research stream analyzes and develops regional marketing concepts, like the 'Celtic marketing approach', a 'Mediterranean marketing', a 'Viking approach' and an 'Alpine marketing'. Based on these findings, a broad study of the top brands of nearly twenty European regions is planned for the year 2010, in partnership with a major advertising network. The goal of this study is to elicit main success drivers of succesful, regional European brands and link them with relevant aspects of the particular culture. [Most of the branding concepts, models, studies, and scales are US based and were developed within the north american culture. European aspects and 'specialities' are often neglected. Our research starts with an understanding of those cultural aspects that seem to be shared among Europeans, like for example Christmas, Football, the Eurovision Song Contest, and design. A second research stream analyzes and develops regional marketing concepts, like the 'Celtic marketing approach', a 'Mediterranean marketing', a 'Viking approach' and an 'Alpine marketing'. Based on these findings, a broad study of the top brands of nearly twenty European regions is planned for the year 2010, in partnership with a major advertising network. The goal of this study is to elicit main success drivers of succesful, regional European brands and link them with relevant aspects of the particular culture.]

Exploring Consumer Perceived Ethicality [Exploring Consumer Perceived Ethicality]
The research investigates consumers ethical perceptions of companies and brands, termed consumer perceived ethicality (CPE). A specific focus is on conceptualising the construct of CPE by exploring influencing factors, investigating psychological processes underlying its formation and developing a scale for measurement. [The research investigates consumers ethical perceptions of companies and brands, termed consumer perceived ethicality (CPE). A specific focus is on conceptualising the construct of CPE by exploring influencing factors, investigating psychological processes underlying its formation and developing a scale for measurement.]

Migrant consumption in a multicultural world [Migrant consumption in a multicultural world]
The present thesis aims at offering an insight into consumption in multicultural environments, by explaining how migrants consumption is influenced by their definition of home, as well as their idea of multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and ethnic belonging. [The present thesis aims at offering an insight into consumption in multicultural environments, by explaining how migrants consumption is influenced by their definition of home, as well as their idea of multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and ethnic belonging. ]

Consumers in Transformation: Consumption and the Performance of Narrative Identity [Consumers in Transformation: Consumption and the Performance of Narrative Identity]
In the context of a fast-paced world, this project aims at investigating consumers during turning moments in life to further understand consumption experiences as compensators for the multiplicity, change and contradiction to which consumers are naturally exposed in liquid societies. [In the context of a fast-paced world, this project aims at investigating consumers during turning moments in life to further understand consumption experiences as compensators for the multiplicity, change and contradiction to which consumers are naturally exposed in liquid societies. ]

Firms' strategies when answering customer complaints [Firms' strategies when answering customer complaints]
Past research has focused on the customer side rather than on the firms' side when examining behaviors based on customer satisfaction, in particular customer loyalty. Yet, we still know very little about actual firms' practices in a complaint setting and their effect on actual customer behavior. We try to tackle these issues by using for the first time a set of primary data that allows to apply the justice theory framework and show precisely how firms answer to complaints. The first part of this research was dedicated to defining and measuring politeness of firms' answers to customer complaints. The antecedents of politeness (which is a component of justice theory) had surprisingly not been studied; we knew very little about what actually influenced perceived politeness and which antecedents had the biggest effect. The results of this research were presented at the http://www.esade.edu/research-webs/eng/rnmr13> 5th International Conference on Rhetoric and Narratives in Management Research held in Barcelona. This presentation ended with managerial recommendations on 'http://blog.intotheminds.com/50-of-complaints-answered-without-apology-bad-for-customer-satisfaction/ how to increase customer satisfaction in a complaint setting. Ongoing and upcoming researches on justice theory :- Improve our understanding of factors influencing the perception of politeness: we are currently planning an experiment to reveal the possible interactions existing between spelling mistakes, education level and perceived politeness in French language. As anticipated by Marcoccia (2005) we believe that the online communication channels have changed the landscape, in particular as far as politeness and complaint resolution are concerned. - Validate the politeness quantitative model on a larger sample : a sample of ca. 1000 answers is currently being investigated to validate our findings on politeness and enhance the validity of the correlations found.- Enhance the sample analysis with the other dimensions of justice theory: in a next step (2014) we plan to reuse our sample and apply the whole framework of justice theory to reveal the most important patterns when firms answer to customer complaints. [Past research has focused on the customer side rather than on the firms' side when examining behaviors based on customer satisfaction, in particular customer loyalty. Yet, we still know very little about actual firms' practices in a complaint setting and their effect on actual customer behavior. We try to tackle these issues by using for the first time a set of primary data that allows to apply the justice theory framework and show precisely how firms answer to complaints. The first part of this research was dedicated to defining and measuring politeness of firms' answers to customer complaints. The antecedents of politeness (which is a component of justice theory) had surprisingly not been studied; we knew very little about what actually influenced perceived politeness and which antecedents had the biggest effect. The results of this research were presented at the http://www.esade.edu/research-webs/eng/rnmr13> 5th International Conference on Rhetoric and Narratives in Management Research held in Barcelona. This presentation ended with managerial recommendations on 'http://blog.intotheminds.com/50-of-complaints-answered-without-apology-bad-for-customer-satisfaction/ how to increase customer satisfaction in a complaint setting. Ongoing and upcoming researches on justice theory :- Improve our understanding of factors influencing the perception of politeness: we are currently planning an experiment to reveal the possible interactions existing between spelling mistakes, education level and perceived politeness in French language. As anticipated by Marcoccia (2005) we believe that the online communication channels have changed the landscape, in particular as far as politeness and complaint resolution are concerned. - Validate the politeness quantitative model on a larger sample : a sample of ca. 1000 answers is currently being investigated to validate our findings on politeness and enhance the validity of the correlations found.- Enhance the sample analysis with the other dimensions of justice theory: in a next step (2014) we plan to reuse our sample and apply the whole framework of justice theory to reveal the most important patterns when firms answer to customer complaints.]

Customer satisfaction in Small and Medium Enterprises [Customer satisfaction in Small and Medium Enterprises]
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 99% of firms in Belgium and at the European level about 95% percent of firms are SME's. The socio-economic impact of SME's going out of business is tremendous which explains why authorities and institutions are dedicating so many resources to assist and help SME's. Crutzen (2009) showed that twenty-eight percent of bankruptcies are due to deficiencies in strategic management and among others to a misalignment with the market, underlying thus the importance of marketing. The importance of marketing within SMEs is also recognized by Knight (2000): «for most companies, because it tends to be the nexus of the strategic gestalt, skillful marketing strategy can be the most important requirement for success».Among modern marketing, customer satisfaction is one major construct. It has attracted the attention of practitioners because of the popularized relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty and further between loyalty and profits. Satisfying customer might therefore be a cornerstone for the success of SMEs and yet no comprehensive research has been dedicated to it in this context. After reviewing thoroughly the different streams of literature on http://blog.intotheminds.com/the-relevance-of-customer-satisfaction-in-sme customer satisfaction theories, antecedents and practices, our current research focuses on understanding small business owners' perception and practices on customer satisfaction.More than 20 qualitative interviews have been carried out so far with businesses mirroring the structure of the Brussels economy. [Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 99% of firms in Belgium and at the European level about 95% percent of firms are SME's. The socio-economic impact of SME's going out of business is tremendous which explains why authorities and institutions are dedicating so many resources to assist and help SME's. Crutzen (2009) showed that twenty-eight percent of bankruptcies are due to deficiencies in strategic management and among others to a misalignment with the market, underlying thus the importance of marketing. The importance of marketing within SMEs is also recognized by Knight (2000): «for most companies, because it tends to be the nexus of the strategic gestalt, skillful marketing strategy can be the most important requirement for success».Among modern marketing, customer satisfaction is one major construct. It has attracted the attention of practitioners because of the popularized relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty and further between loyalty and profits. Satisfying customer might therefore be a cornerstone for the success of SMEs and yet no comprehensive research has been dedicated to it in this context. After reviewing thoroughly the different streams of literature on http://blog.intotheminds.com/the-relevance-of-customer-satisfaction-in-sme customer satisfaction theories, antecedents and practices, our current research focuses on understanding small business owners' perception and practices on customer satisfaction.More than 20 qualitative interviews have been carried out so far with businesses mirroring the structure of the Brussels economy.]