Pleased to share that I have recently coauthored an open-access article about the growth hacking capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has been published in collaboration with my Italian colleagues from the University of Turin, via the Journal of Business Research.
Our research confirms that SMEs can leverage their growth potential through return-generating investments in disruptive innovations and by harnessing big data analytics. In sum, it suggests that core competencies, resources, and capabilities in these areas, can enhance the SMEs’ financial and operational performance.
Suggested citation: Giordino, D., Troise, C., Bresciani, S. & Camilleri, M.A. (2025). Growth hacking capability: Antecedents and performance implications in the context of SMEs, Journal of Business Research, 192, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115288
This is an excerpt from one of our latest contributions published through The Service Industries Journal. It features snippets from the ‘Introduction’, ‘Theoretical Implications’, ‘Practical Implications’ as well as from the ‘Limitations and Future ResearchAvenues’ sections.
Suggested Citation: Camilleri, M.A., Zhong, L., Rosenbaum, M.S. & Wirtz, J. (2024). Ethical considerations of service organizations in the information age, The Service Industries Journal, Forthcoming. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02642069.2024.2353613
Introduction
Ethics is a broad field of study that refers to intellectual and moral philosophical inquiry concerned with value theory. It is clearly evidenced when individuals rely on their personal values, principles and norms to resolve questions about appropriate courses of action, as they attempt to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, virtue and vice, justice and crime, et cetera (Budolfson, 2019; Coeckelbergh, 2021; Ramboarisata & Gendron, 2019). Several researchers contend that ethics involves a set of concepts and principles that are meant to guide community members in specific social and environmental behaviors (De Bakker et al., 2019; Hermann, 2022). Very often, commentators argue that a persons’ ethical dispositions are influenced by their upbringing, social conventions, cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, as well as by regulations (Vallaster et al., 2019).
Individuals, groups, institutions, non-government entities as well as businesses are bound to comply with the rule of law in their society (Groß & Vriens, 2019). As a matter of fact, the businesses’ organizational cultures and modus operandi are influenced by commercial legislation, regulations and taxation systems (Bridges, 2018). For-profit entities are required to adhere to the companies’ acts of the respective jurisdictions where they are running their commercial activities. They are also expected to follow informal codes of conduct and to observe certain ethical practices that are prevalent in the societies where they are based. This line of reasoning is synonymous with mainstream “business ethics” literature, that refer to a contemporary set of values and standards that are intended to govern the individuals’ actions and behaviors in how they manage and lead organizations (DeTienne et al., 2021).
Employers ought to ensure that they are managing their organization in a fair, transparent and responsible manner, by treating their employees with dignity and respect (Saks, 2022). They have to provide decent working environments and appropriate conditions of employment by offering equitable extrinsic rewards to their workers, that are commensurate with their knowledge, skills and competences (Gaur & Gupta, 2021). Moreover, it is in the employers’ interests to nurture their members of staff’s intrinsic motivations if they want them to align with their organizational values and corporate objectives (Camilleri et al., 2023). Notwithstanding, all businesses, including those operating in service industries have ethical as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities to bear towards other stakeholders in society (Aksoy et al., 2022).
This article raises awareness on a wide array of ethical considerations affecting service organizations in today’s information age. Specifically, its research objectives are threefold: (i) It presents the findings from a rigorous and trustworthy systematic review exercise, focused on “ethics” in “service(s)” and/or “ethical services”. This research involves a thorough scrutinization of the most-cited articles published in the last five (5) years; (ii) It utilizes a thematic analysis to determine which paradigms are being associated with service ethics. The rationale is to identify some of the most contemporary topics related to ethical leadership in service organizations. (iii) At the same time, it puts forward theoretical and practical implications that clarify how, why, where, when and to what extent service providers are operating in a legitimate and ethical manner.
A thorough review of the literature reveals that, for the time being, there are just a few colleagues who have devoted their attention to relevant theoretical underpinnings linked to the service ethics literature (Liu et al., 2023; Wirtz et al., 2023). For the time being, there is still limited research that has outlined popular research themes from the most cited articles published in the past five (5) years. It clearly differentiates itself from previous studies as this contribution’s rigorous and transparent systematic review approach clearly recognizes, appraises and describes the methodology that was used to capture and analyze data focused on the provision or lack thereof of ethical services. In addition, unlike other descriptive literature reviews, this paper synthesizes the findings from the latest contributions on this topic and provides a discursive argumentation on their implications. Hence, this article addresses a number of knowledge gaps in academic literature. In conclusion, it identifies the limitations of this review exercise, and outlines future research avenues to academia.
Theoretical implications
This contribution raises awareness of the underexplored notion of service ethics. A number of commentators are making reference to various theories and concepts to clarify how they can guide service organizations in their ethical leadership. In many cases, a number of theories indicate that decision makers ought to be just and fair with individuals or entities in their actions. Appendix A features a list of ethical theories and provides a short definition for them. For instance, the justice theory suggests that all individuals including service employees should have the same fundamental rights based on the values of equality, non-discrimination, inclusion, human dignity, freedom and democracy. Human rights as well as employee rights and values ought to be protected and reinforced by the respective jurisdictions’ rule of law, for the benefit of all subjects (Grégoire et al., 2019).
Business ethics literature indicates that just societies are characterized by fair, trustworthy, accountable and transparent institutions (and organizations). For instance, the fairness theory raises awareness on certain ethical norms and standards that can help policy makers as well as other organizations including businesses, to ensure that they are continuously providing equal opportunities to everyone. It posits that all individuals ought to be treated with dignity in a respectful and equitable manner (Wei et al., 2019).
This is in stark contrast with the favoritism theory that suggests that certain individuals including employees, can receive preferential treatment, to the detriment of others (Bramoullé & Goyal, 2016). This argumentation is synonymous with the nepotism theory. Like favoritism, nepotism is a phenomenon that is manifested when institutional and organizational leaders help and support specific persons because they are connected with them in a way or another (e.g. through familial ties, friendships, financial, or social factors). Arguably, such favoritisms clearly evidence their conflict(s) of interest, compromise or cloud their judgements, decisions and actions in workplace environments and/or in other social contexts. Many business ethics researchers contend that decision makers ought to be guided by the principle of beneficence (Brear & Gordon, 2021), as they should possess the competences and abilities to recognize between what is morally right and ethically wrong.
This research confirms that frequently, organizational leaders have to deal with difficult and challenging situations, where they are expected to make hard decisions (Islam et al., 2021a; Islam et al., 2021b; Latan et al., 2019; Naseer et al., 2020; Schwepker & Dimitriou, 2021). In such cases, the most reasonable ethical approach would be to follow courses of action that will result in the least possible harm to everyone (Heine et al., 2023). The service organizations’ members of staff are all expected to be collaborative, productive and efficient in their workplace environment. This line of reasoning is related to the attributional theory (Bourdeau et al., 2019) and/or to the consequentialism theory (Budolfson, 2019). Very often, the proponents of these two theories contend that while honest, righteous and virtuous behaviors may yield positive outcomes for colleagues, subordinates and other stakeholders, wrong behaviors can result in negative repercussions to them (Deci & Ryan, 1987; Francis & Keegan, 2020; Lee et al., 2020; Paramita et al., 2021)
Other researchers who contributed to the ethics literature related to the utilitarianism theory, suggest that people tend to make better decisions, when they focus on the consequences of their actions. Hence, they will be in a better position to identify laudable behaviors and codes of conduct that add value to their organization (Coeckelbergh, 2021; Michaelson & Tosti-Kharas, 2019; Ramboarisata & Gendron, 2019). Very often, they argue that there are still unresolved issues in social sciences including the unpredictability of events and incidents from happening (Du & Xie, 2021), and/or the difficulty in measuring the consequences when/if they occur. For example, this review indicated that various authors discussed about the challenges, risks and possible dangers of adopting various technologies including AI, big data, et cetera (Breidbach & Maglio, 2020; Chang et al., 2020; Flavián & Casaló, 2021; Rymarczyk, 2020). In many cases, they hinted that the best ethical choice is to identify which decisions and actions could lead to the greatest good, in terms of positive, righteous and virtuous outcomes (Budolfson, 2019; Gong et al., 2020; Paramita et al., 2021).
Various academic authors who contributed to the formulation of the virtues theory held that there are persons including organizational leaders, whose characters, traits and values drive them to continuously improve and to excel in their duties and responsibilities (Coeckelbergh, 2021; Fatma et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2020). They frequently noted that the persons’ affective feelings as well as their intellectual dispositions enable them to develop a positive mindset, to make the best decisions and to engage in the right behaviors (Gong et al., 2020; Huang & Liu, 2021; Yan et al., 2023). This is congruent with the theory of positivity too, as it explains how the individuals’ optimistic feelings may result in their happiness and wellbeing. Some commentators imply that such positive emotions can influence the individuals’ state of minds and can foster their resilience to engage in productive behaviors (Paramita et al., 2021).
This argumentation is in stark contrast with the emotional labor theory that is manifested when disciplined employees suppress their emotions by engaging in posturing behaviors in order to conform to the organizational culture (Mastracci, 2022). This phenomenon was evidenced in Naseer et al.’s (2020) contribution. In this case, the authors indicated how the employees’ overidentification with unethical organizations can have a negative impact on their engagement, thereby resulting in counterproductive work practices. In addition, Islam et al. (2021b) also suggested that abusive supervision led employees to undesirable outcomes like knowledge hiding behaviors and to low morale in workplace environments.
Several commentators who are focused on psychological issues argue that the individuals’ intrinsic motivations are closely related to their self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1987). Very often, they contend that individuals should have the autonomy and freedom to make life choices, in order to improve their well-being in the future. The findings from this research reported that organizational leaders who delegated responsibilities to their members of staff, have instilled trust and commitment in their employees, and also improved their intrinsic motivations (Francis & Keegan, 2020; Lee et al., 2020; Schwepker & Dimitriou, 2021).
Hence, organizational leaders of service businesses ought to be aware that there is scope for them to empower their human resources, to help them make responsible choices and decisions relating to their work activities, in a discrete manner (Bourdeau et al., 2019; Islam et al., 2021a; Tanova & Bayighomog, 2022). The employees’ higher levels of autonomy and independence can influence their morale (Paramita et al., 2021; Ramboarisata & Gendron, 2019) and reduce stress levels (Schwepker & Dimitriou, 2021). Various researchers confirmed that employees would be more productive if they were empowered with duties and responsibilities (e.g. Nauman et al., 2023).
This argumentation is congruent with the conservation of resources theory, as business leaders are expected to look after their human resources’ cognitive and emotional wellbeing, if they want to foster their organizational commitment to achieve their corporate objectives. Indeed, their ethical leadership can lead to win-win outcomes, particularly if their employees replicate responsible and altruistic behaviors with one another, and if they strive in their endeavors to develop a caring environment in their organization (Parsons et al., 2021; Saks, 2022). This reasoning is closely related to the social cognition theory that presumes that individuals acquire emotional knowledge and skill sets such as intuition or empathy, among others, through social interactions, including when they are at work (Čaić et al., 2019; Campbell et al., 2020; Rauhaus et al., 2020).
Practical implications
The findings from this research confirm that various service organizations are becoming acquainted with ethical leadership and with social issues in management. Evidently, several listed businesses and large undertakings in service industries are increasingly proving their legitimacy and license to operate, by engaging in ethical behaviors that promote responsible human resources management. Very often, they are fostering an organizational climate that encourages ongoing dialogue, communication and collaboration among members of staff; they empower employees with duties and responsibilities to make important decisions; provide them with equitable compensation that is commensurate with qualifications and experience; and implementing work-life balance policies. Generally, these laudable measures are resulting in motivated, committed and productive employees.
On the other hand, unethical behaviors including abusive organizational practices and coercive leadership styles are generating bitterness and feelings of resentment among employees. The lack of ethical leadership can lead to demotivation, low morale, job stress and even to counterproductive behaviors including wrongdoings like knowledge hiding and abusive supervision in workplace environments. This research reported about irresponsible practices of service businesses operating in the sharing economy, as a number of hospitality companies are subcontracting their food delivery services to independent contractors, who are not safeguarding the rights of their employees. Very often, the workers of the gig economy are offered precarious jobs and unfavorable conditions of employment. Generally, they are not paid in a commensurate manner for their jobs, are not eligible for health or retirement benefits, and cannot affiliate themselves with trade unions.
This discursive review shed light on the service businesses’ dealings with employees and with other stakeholders. It also narrated about their relationships with customers as well as on their ethical and digital responsibilities towards them. For example, it indicated that many businesses are gathering and storing data of customers. Frequently, they are using their personal and transactional information to analyze and interpret shopping behaviors. They may do so to build consumer profiles and/or to retarget them with promotional content. The findings of this research imply that it is the responsibility of service businesses to inform new customers that they are capturing and retaining data from them, when and if they do so (even though in many cases, they are aware that many online users can quickly unsubscribe to marketing messages and/or are becoming adept in blocking advertisements from popping-up in their screens). The authors contend that service providers ought to explicitly ask their customers’ consent (through opt-in or opt-out choices) to ensure that the former can avail themselves of their consumers’ data.
Currently, certain jurisdictions are not in a position to protect consumers from entities that could use their personal information for different purposes as they did not enact substantive data protection legislation. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), are two examples of data regulations that are intended to safeguard the consumers’ interests in this regard. Online users ought to be educated and guided through regulations, policies and data literacy programs, to protect them from potentially unethical technological applications and practices of big data algorithms and advanced analytics. At the moment, various stakeholders including policy makers and academia, among others, are calling for responsible AI governance and for the formulation of (quasi) regulatory frameworks, in order to maximize the benefits of AI and to minimize its negative impacts to humanity.
This research raises awareness about the importance of disclosing corporate governance procedures, and of regularly reporting CSR/ESG credentials with regulatory stakeholders and with other interested parties. In many cases, the majority of service businesses are genuinely following ethical norms and principles that go beyond their commercial and legal obligations. They should bear in mind that their sustainability accounting, transparent ESG disclosures, as well as their audit and assurance mechanisms, can ultimately reduce information asymmetry among stakeholders, whilst enhancing their reputation and image with interested parties. Their ongoing corporate communications can ameliorate stakeholder relationships and could increase their organizational legitimacy in the long run.
Limitations and future research avenues
The notion of service ethics is gaining traction in academic circles. Indeed, it is considered as a contemporary and timely topic for service researchers specializing in business administration and/or business ethics. In fact, the findings from the bibliographic analysis demonstrate that there were more than eleven thousand (11,000) documents focused on service(s), ethics and ethical service(s), published in the last 5 years. This research adds value to the extant literature as it sheds light on the most cited articles focused on these topics. Yet, it differentiates itself from previous papers, as it identifies the themes of fifty (50) of the most cited papers in this promising area of research, describes the methodology that was employed to capture and analyze the data on this topic, and scrutinizes their content, before synthesizing the findings of this contribution.
This article presents the findings of a rigorous review and evaluation of the latest literature revolving on ethical leadership of service organizations. The authors are well aware that, in the past, other academic colleagues may have referred to synonymous keywords to service ethics or ethical services, including ethical business, business ethos, business ethics, business code of conduct, and even corporate social responsibilities of service businesses, among other paradigms. Therefore, future researchers may also consider using these keywords when they investigate ethical behaviors in services-based sectors. It is hoped that they will delve into the research themes, fields of studies and theoretical bases that were identified in this contribution including on the service organizations’ ethical leadership, as proposed in the following table. This research confirms that it is in the interest of service entities to foster a fair and just working environment, particularly for the benefit of their employees, as well as for other stakeholders including for regulatory institutions, creditors, shareholders and customers, among others.
A future agenda for service ethics research
(Developed by the authors)
Indeed, there is scope to investigate further the service organizations’ roles in today’s societies, as they are being urged by policy makers and other interested parties to communicate about their responsible organizational behaviors, in various contexts. Entities operating in service industries including small and medium-sized businesses as well as micro enterprises are increasingly acquainting themselves with sustainability accounting, non-financial reporting and ongoing assurance exercises, as comprehensive CSR/ESG disclosures can enable them to prove their legitimacy and license to operate with stakeholders. Moreover, prospective researchers are invited to continue raising more awareness about ethical leadership among service organizations, particularly when they are adopting disruptive innovations.
Big data refers to datasets that are too large or complex to be dealt with via conventional data processing software. These systems handle large volumes as well as a variety of information very quickly.
I am co-editing a Special issue for Sustainability (IF: 2.592). Your contributions should be related to “The Sustainable Development of Smart Cities through Digital Innovation”
Deadline for manuscript submissions:31 October 2020.
Special Issue Information
The ‘smart city’ concept has been wrought from distinctive theoretical underpinnings. Initially, this term was used to describe those cities that utilized advanced computerized systems to provide a safe, secure, green, and efficient transportation services and utilities to meet the demands of their citizens (Caragliu, Del Bo & Nijkamp, 2011; Hall, Bowerman and Braverman, Taylor, Todosow and Von Wimmersperg, 2000). A thorough literature review suggests that several cities are already using disruptive technologies, including advanced, integrated materials, sensors, electronics, and networks, among others, which are interfaced with computerized systems to improve their economic, social and environmental sustainability (Camilleri, 2015, 2017; Deakin and Al Waer, 2011; Hall et al., 2000). These cities are increasingly relying on data-driven technologies, as they gather and analyze data from urban services including transportation and utilities (Ramaswami, Russell, Culligan, Sharma and Kumar, 2016; Gretzel, Sigala, Xiang and Koo, 2015). Their underlying objective is to improve the quality of life of their citizens (Ratten, 2017; Buhalis and Amaranggana, 2015). Hence, ‘smart cities’ have introduced technological innovations to address contingent issues like traffic congestion; air pollution; waste management; loss of biodiversity and natural habitat; energy generation, conservation and consumption; water leakages and security, among other matters (Camilleri, 2019; 2014; Ahvenniemi, Huovila, Pinto-Seppä and Airaksinen, 2017; Ratten and Dana, 2017; Ratten, 2017).
Ecologically-advanced local governments and municipalities are formulating long-term sustainable policies and strategies. Some of them are already capturing data through multisensor technologies via wireless communication networks in real time (Bibri, 2018; Bibri and Krogstie, 2017). Very often, they use the Internet’s infrastructure and a wide range of smart data-sensing devices, including radio frquency identification (RFID), near-field communication (NFC), global positioning systems (GPS), infrared sensors, accelerometers, and laser scanners (Bibri, 2018). A few cities have already started to benefit from the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and its sophisticated network that consists of sensor devices and physical objects including infrastructure and natural resources (Zanella, Bui, Castellani, Vangelista and Zorzi, 2014).
Several cities are crunching big data to better understand how to make their cities smarter, more efficient, and responsive to today’s realities (Mohanty, Choppali and Kougianos, 2016; Ramaswami et al., 2016). They gather and analyze a vast amount of data and intelligence on urban aspects, including transportation issues, citizen mobility, traffic management, accessibility and protection of cultural heritage and/or environmental domains, among other areas (Angelidou, Psaltoglou, Komninos, Kakderi, Tsarchopoulos and Panori, 2018; Ahvenniemi et al., 2017). The latest advances in technologies like big data analytics and decision-making algorithms can support local governments and muncipalities to implement the circular economy in smart cities (Camilleri, 2019). The data-driven technologies enable them them to reduce their externalities. They can monitor and control the negative emissions, waste, habitat destruction, extinction of wildlife, etc. Therefore, the digital innovations ought to be used to inform the relevant stakeholders in their strategic planning and development of urban environments (Camilleri, 2019; Allam & Newman, 2018; Yigitcanlar and Kamruzzaman, 2018; Angelidou et al. ,2018; Caragliu et al., 2011).
In this light, we are calling for theoretical and empirical contributions that are focused on the creation, diffusion, as well as on the utilization of technological innovations and information within the context of smart, sustainable cities. This Special Issue will include but is not limited to the following topics:
Advancing the circular economy agenda in smart cities;
Artificial intelligence and machine learning in smart cities;
Blockchain technologies in smart cities;
Green economy of smart cities;
Green infrastructure in smart cities;
Green living environments in smart cities;
Smart cities and the sustainable environment;
Smart cities and the use of data-driven technologies;
Smart cities and the use of the Internet of Things (IoT);
Sustainable energy of smart cities;
Sustainable financing for infrastructural development in smart cities;
Sustainable housing in smart cities;
Sustainable transportation in smart cities;
Sustainable tourism in smart cities;
Technological innovation and climate change for smart cities;
Technological innovation and the green economy of smart cities;
Technological innovation and the renewable energy in smart cities;
Technological innovation and urban resilience of smart cities;
Technological innovation for the infrastructural development of smart cities;
The accessibility and protection of the cultural heritage in smart cities;
The planning and design of smart cities;
The quality of life of the citizens and communities living in smart cities;
Urban innovation in smart cities;
Urban planning that integrates the smart city development with the greening of the environment;
Urban planning and data driven technologies of smart cities.
Department of Corporate Communication, University of Malta, Msida, MSD2080, Malta. Interests: sustainability; digital media; stakeholder engagement; corporate social responsibility; sustainable tourism
Prof. Dr. Vanessa RattenE-MailWebsite
Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Marketing, La Trobe University – Melbourne, Australia Interests: innovation; technology; entrepreneurship
References:
Ahvenniemi, H., Huovila, A., Pinto-Seppä, I., & Airaksinen, M. (2017). What are the differences between sustainable and smart cities?. Cities, 60, 234-245.
Allam, Z., & Newman, P. (2018). Redefining the smart city: Culture, metabolism and governance. Smart Cities, 1(1), 4-25
Angelidou, M., Psaltoglou, A., Komninos, N., Kakderi, C., Tsarchopoulos, P., & Panori, A. (2018). Enhancing sustainable urban development through smart city applications. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 9(2), 146-169.
Bibri, S. E., & Krogstie, J. (2017). Smart sustainable cities of the future: An extensive interdisciplinary literature review. Sustainable cities and society, 31, 183-212.
Bibri, S. E. (2018). The IoT for smart sustainable cities of the future: An analytical framework for sensor-based big data applications for environmental sustainability. Sustainable Cities and Society, 38, 230-253.
Buhalis, D., & Amaranggana, A. (2015). Smart tourism destinations enhancing tourism experience through personalisation of services. In Information and communication technologies in tourism 2015 (pp. 377-389). Springer, Cham.
Camilleri, M. (2014). Advancing the sustainable tourism agenda through strategic CSR perspectives. Tourism Planning & Development, 11(1), 42-56.
Camilleri, M. A. (2015). Environmental, social and governance disclosures in Europe. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 6(2), 224-242.
Camilleri, M. A. (2017). Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment. Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, 2(1), 59-74.
Camilleri, M. A. (2019). The circular economy’s closed loop and product service systems for sustainable development: A review and appraisal. Sustainable Development, 27(3), 530-536.
Caragliu, A., Del Bo, C., & Nijkamp, P. (2011). Smart cities in Europe. Journal of urban technology, 18(2), 65-82.
Deakin, M., & Al Waer, H. (2011). From intelligent to smart cities. Intelligent Buildings International, 3(3), 140-152.
Gretzel, U., Sigala, M., Xiang, Z., & Koo, C. (2015). Smart tourism: foundations and developments. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 179-188.
Hall, R. E., Bowerman, B., Braverman, J., Taylor, J., Todosow, H., & Von Wimmersperg, U. (2000). The vision of a smart city (No. BNL-67902; 04042). Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (US).
Mohanty, S. P., Choppali, U., & Kougianos, E. (2016). Everything you wanted to know about smart cities: The internet of things is the backbone. IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, 5(3), 60-70.
Ramaswami, A., Russell, A. G., Culligan, P. J., Sharma, K. R., & Kumar, E. (2016). Meta-principles for developing smart, sustainable, and healthy cities. Science, 352(6288), 940-943.
Ratten, V., & Dana, L. P. (2017). Sustainable entrepreneurship, family farms and the dairy industry. International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD), 8(3), 114-129.
Ratten, V. (2017). Entrepreneurship, innovation and smart cities. Routledge: Oxford, UK.
Yigitcanlar, T., & Kamruzzaman, M. (2018). Does smart city policy lead to sustainability of cities? Land Use Policy, 73, 49-58.
Zanella, A., Bui, N., Castellani, A., Vangelista, L., & Zorzi, M. (2014). Internet of things for smart cities. IEEE Internet of Things journal, 1(1), 22-32.
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
The latest disruptive technologies are supporting the marketing mix elements as they can improve the businesses’ interactive engagement with prospective customers, and enhance their personalization of services. They may also provide secure pricing options.
Many firms are evolving from their passive, rigid, and product-centric state to a more flexible, dynamic, and customer-centric environment. Technology is enabling data-driven companies to monitor and detect any changes in consumer sentiment. Savvy technology giants including Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are capturing (and analyzing) the online and mobile activity of prospective customers. Their analytics captures the consumers’ interactions with brands and companies through digital media. Big data is enabling them to target and re-target individuals and online communities with instantaneous pricing and access options, across multiple channels (via web-site activity, mobile,video, social media, e-commerce, among others).
Mobile tracking technologies are being utilized by big technology conglomerates as they gather information on the consumer behaviours, including their shopping habits, lifestyle preferences , et cetera. Businesses have learnt how to take advantage of on-demand, real-time information from sensors, radio frequency identification and other location tracking devices to better understand their marketing environments at a more granular level (Storey and Song, 2017). This way business could come up with personalised products and services, that are demanded by individual customers. From a business perspective, it is important to acquire this data, quickly, and in high velocities.
Many businesses are already benefiting of the programmatic advertising environment; where buyers and sellers of digital advertising connect online to exchange available inventory (Busch,2016; Stevens et al., 2016). The challenge for tomorrow’s businesses is to recognize the value of smart technologies as effective tools that can help them analyse their marketing environment; that comprise their customers as well as their competitors.
The predictive-analytical tools can examine different scenarios as they can anticipate what will happen, when it will happen, and can explain why it happens. These technologies can monetise data by identifying revenue generating opportunities and cost savings.
Other innovations, including; blockchain’s distributed ledger technologies are improving data privacy. This technology involves the verification and the secure recording of transactions among an interconnected set of users. Blockchain tracks the ownership of assets before, during, and after any online transaction. Therefore, this technology could be used by different businesses to facilitate their transactions with marketplace stakeholders, including; suppliers, intermediaries, and consumers across borders. The block chain will probably be more convenient than other payment options, in terms of time and money. Therefore, blockchain’s ledger technology can possibly lead to better customer service levels and operational efficiencies for businesses.
The smart tourism technologies, including big data analytics are shifting how organisations collect, analyze and utilise and distribute data. A thorough literature review suggests that the crunching of big data analytics is generating meaningful insights and supporting tourism marketers in their decision making. Moreover,other technologies, including the programmatic advertising and block chain are helping them to improve their financial and strategic performance, whilst minimizing costs. Table 1 illustrates how smart tourism businesses are capturing, analysing and distributing data.
Table 1. Data-driven approaches for smart tourism
(Camilleri, 2018)
Emerging Trends and Future Research
Tomorrow’s tourism businesses will be serving customers from geographically-diverse regions. There will be more travellers from emerging markets and developing economies. The tourism service providers will have to cater to different demographics, including senior citizens and individuals with special needs; as the populations are getting older in many countries.
Therefore, smart technologies can be used to anticipate the discerned consumers’ requirements. For instance, the use of programmatic advertising will probably increase the individuals’ intuitive shopping experiences and can tap into the individuals’ discretionary purchases.
It is very likely, that the third-party retailers will continue to form part of the distribution mix. However, many service providers will be using their direct channels to reach out to their targeted customers.
The sales of products will continue to rely on mobile devices with increased consumer interactions through speech and voice recognition software. The service providers may possibly rely on artificial intelligence and other forms of cognitive learning capabilities, like machine learning and deep learning.
The businesses’ distributive systems could interface with virtual reality software to help online intermediaries to merchandise their products in captivating customer experiences. Many online prospects may use blockchain’s secure technology to purchase tourism products, in the foreseeable future.
This contribution calls for further empirical research that could explore smart tourism innovations for individuals and organisations, including; mobile social networking, mobile visualisation, personalization and behavioural modelling for mobile apps, programmatic advertising, blockchain, AI, and the internet of things, among other areas.
References
Busch, O. (2016), “The programmatic advertising principle”, In Programmatic Advertising (pp. 3-15). Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
Camilleri, M.A. (2018) Data-Driven Marketing and Disruptive Technologies. Working Paper 08/2018, Department of Corporate Communication, University of Malta.
Stevens, A., Rau, A., and McIntyre, M. (2016), “Integrated campaign planning in a programmatic world”, In Programmatic Advertising (pp. 193-210), Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
Storey, V. C., and Song, I. Y. (2017), “Big data technologies and Management: What conceptual modeling can do?”, Data and Knowledge Engineering, Vol. 108, pp. 50-67.
An excerpt from my latest Working Paper, entitled: The Use of Big Data, Programmatic Advertising and Blockchain Technologies in Tourism
The latest disruptive technologies are supporting the tourism businesses’ marketing mix elements as they improve the interactive engagement with individual prospects, enhance the personalisation of services, whilst providing secure pricing options. Many tourism firms are evolving from their passive, rigid, and product-centric state to a more flexible, dynamic, and customer-centric environment, as they monitor and detect any changes in consumer sentiment. Data-driven companies are increasingly capturing and analysing the online and mobile activity of prospective customers, as they delve into ecommerce and review sites, personal blogs and social media (Sigala, 2017; Kumar et al., 2017). Their analytics captures the consumers’ interactions with brands and companies through digital media. Therefore, big data is enabling them to target and re-target individuals and online communities with instantaneous pricing and access options, across multiple channels (via web-site activity, mobile, video, social media, ecommerce, among others). Large technology giants use mobile tracking technologies, to gather information on the consumer behaviours, including their shopping habits, lifestyle preferences , et cetera (Aksu et al., 2018).
Tech-savvy firms have learnt how to take advantage of on-demand, real-time information from sensors, radio frequency identification and other location tracking devices to better understand their marketing environments at a more granular level (Storey & Song, 2017). This way business could come up with personalised products and services, that are demanded by individual customers (Li et al., 2017). From a business perspective, it is important to acquire this data, quickly, and in high velocities. This paper reported that many businesses are already benefiting of the programmatic advertising environment; where buyers and sellers of digital advertising connect online to exchange available inventory (Busch, 2016; Stevens et al., 2016).
The challenge for tourism businesses is to recognise the value of smart technologies as effective tools that can analyse their marketing environment, including the customers as well as their competitors. The predictive-analytical tools can examine different scenarios; and the prescriptive analytics anticipate what will happen, when it will happen, and explains why it happens. These technologies can monetise data by identifying revenue generating opportunities and cost savings.
Other innovations, including blockchain’s distributed ledger technologies are improving data privacy, as it involves the verification and the secure recording of transactions among an interconnected set of users. Blockchain tracks the ownership of assets before, during, and after any online transaction. Therefore, this technology could be used by tourism businesses to facilitate their transactions with marketplace stakeholders, including suppliers, intermediaries, and consumers across borders. The block chain will probably be more convenient than other payment options, in terms of time and money. Therefore, blockchain’s ledger technology can possibly lead to better customer service levels and operational efficiencies for the tourism businesses.
The smart tourism technologies, including big data analytics are shifting how organisations collect, analyse and utilise and distribute data. A thorough literature review suggests that the crunching of big data analytics is generating meaningful insights and supporting tourism marketers in their decision making. Moreover, other technologies, including the programmatic advertising and blockchain’s distributed ledger system is helping them to improve their financial and strategic performance. In conclusion, this contribution calls for further research on data-driven tourism.
This is an excerpt from: Camilleri’s latest book on Travel Marketing (2018)
How to Cite:Camilleri, M. A. (2018). Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. In Travel Marketing, Tourism Economics and the Airline Product (Chapter 4, pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
The advances in technology have enabled many businesses to reach their potential customers by using digital and mobile applications.
Google, Facebook, Ebay and Amazon, among others are dominating digital marketing; and are pushing the entire field of advertising to new levels. The use of personal info, web-browsing, search history, geographic location, apps and eCommerce transactions have gone mainstream. For example, Google has begun using transaction records to prove that its ads are working, and are pushing people to make more online purchases. This allowed the technology giant to determine the effectiveness of its digital ad campaigns and to verify their conversion rates.
All individuals leave a “digital trail” of data as they move about in the virtual and physical worlds. This phenomenon is called, “data exhaust”. Initially, this term that was used to describe how Amazon.com has used predictive analytics as it suggested items to its customers. However, predictive analytics cannot determine when and why individuals may decide to change their habitual behaviours, as the possibility of “one off” events must never be discounted. Yet, a firm with sufficient scarce resources could be in a position to exploit big data and analytics to improve its businesses operations.
For instance, Deloitte Consulting have developed a mobile app that has enabled Delta Airlines’ executives to quickly query their operations. For instance, when users touch an airport on a map, the system brings up additional data at their disposal. Executives could also drill further down to obtain granular information on staffing requirements. and customer service levels, as they identify and predict problems in their airline operations.
Nevertheless, business intelligence and predictive analytics could possibly raise a number of concerns. Many customers may be wary of giving their data to the businesses and their stakeholders. Very often, the technological advances anticipate legislation, and its deployment. These contingent issues could advance economic and privacy concerns that regulators will find themselves hard-pressed to ignore. Some academics argue that the digital market and its manipulation may be pushing the limits of consumer protection law. Evidently, society has built up a set of rules that are aimed to protect personal information. Another contentious issue is figuring out the value of data and its worth in monetary terms. In the past, companies could have struggled to determine the value of their business; including patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property.
Targeted Segmentation through Mobile Devices
The mobile is an effective channel to reach out to many users. Portable devices, including smart phones and tablets are surely increasing the productivities and efficiencies of individuals as well as organisations. This has led to the growth of mobile applications (apps). As a result, the market for advertising on mobile is still escalating at a fast pace. Moreover, there are niche areas as new applications are being developed for many purposes on different mobile platforms.
Recent advances in mobile communication and geo-positioning technologies have presented marketers with a new way how to target consumers. Location-targeted mobile advertising involves the provision of ad messages to mobile data subscribers. This digital technology allows marketers to deliver native ads and coupons that are customised to individual consumers’ tastes, geographic location and the time of day. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, location-targeted mobile advertising are increasingly offering tremendous marketing benefits.
In addition, many businesses are commonly utilising applications, including browser cookies that track consumers through their mobile devices, as they move out and about. Very often, when internet users leave the sites they visited, the products or services they viewed will be shown to them again in retargeted advertisements, across different websites. Several companies are using browsing session data combined with the consumers’ purchase history to deliver “suitable” items that consumers like. There are also tourism businesses who are personalising their offerings as they collect, classify and use large data volumes on the consumers’ behaviours. As more consumers carry smartphones with them, they may be easily targeted with compelling offers that instantaneously pop-up on their mobile screens.
Furthermore, consumers are continuously using social networks which are indicating their geo-location, as they use mobile apps. This same data can be used to identify where people tend to gather. This information is valuable to brands as they seek to improve their consumer engagement and marketing efforts. Therefore, businesses are using mobile devices and networks to capture important consumer data. For instance, smart phones and tablets interact with networks and convey information on their users’ digital behaviours and physical movements to network providers and ISPs. These devices have become interactive through the proliferation of technologies, including; near-field communication (NFC). Basically, embedded chips in the customers’ mobile phones are exchanging data with the retailers’ items possessing such NFC tags. The latest iPhone, Android and Microsoft smartphones have already incorporated NFC capabilities. The growth of such data-driven, digital technologies is surely adding value to the customer-centric marketing. The latest developments in analytics are enabling businesses to provide a deeper personalisation of content as they use socio-demographic and geo-data that new mobile technologies are capable of gathering.
For example, mobile service companies are partnering with local cinemas, in response to the location-targeted mobile advertising; as cinema-goers may inquire about movie information, and could book tickets, and select their seats through their mobile app. These consumers who are physically situated within a given geographic proximity of the participating cinemas may receive location-targeted mobile ads. The cinemas’ ads will inform prospects what movies they are playing and could explain how to purchase tickets through their smart phone. The consumers may also call the cinemas’ hotlines to get more information from a customer service representative. Besides location-targeted advertising, the mobile companies can also promote movie ticket sales via mobile ads that are targeted to individuals, according to their behaviour (not by location). Therefore, companies may direct their mobile-ad messages to those consumers who had previously responded to previous mobile ads (and to others who had already purchased movie tickets, in the past months). Moreover, the cinema companies can also promote movies via Facebook Messenger Ads if they logged in the companies’ websites, via their Facebook account. Mobile users may also receive instant message ads via pop-up windows whenever they log into the corporate site of their service provider.
It is envisaged that such data points will only increase in the foreseeable future, as the multi-billion dollar advertising monopolies are being built on big data and analytics that are helping businesses personalise immersive ads as they target individual customers. The use of credit card transactions is also complementing geo-targeting and Google Maps, with ads; as the physical purchases are increasingly demanding personalisation, fulfillment and convenience. There may be consumers and employees alike who out of their own volition, are willing to give up their data for value. Therefore, the businesses need to reassure them through concise disclosures on how they will use personal data. They should clarify the purpose of maintaining their consumer data, as they are expected to provide simple user controls to opt in and out of different levels of data sharing. This way, they could establish a trust-worthy relationship with customers and prospects.
Companies are already personalising their shopping experience based on the user situation and history. Tomorrow’s tourism businesses are expected to customise the user experiences of their mobile applications and web interfaces, according to the specific needs of each segment. Big data and analytics capabilities are increasingly allowing businesses to fully leverage their rich data from a range of new digital touchpoints and to turn them into high impact interactions. Those businesses that are able to reorient their marketing and product-development efforts around digital customer segments and behaviours will be in a position to tap into the hyper-growth that mobile, social media and the wearables markets are currently experiencing.
The mobile is an effective channel to reach out to many users. The mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets could increase the productivities and efficiencies of organisations. For the time being, the mobile applications (apps) are an “in demand” area for research and development. Gartner (2015) anticipated that mobile analytics was going to be one of the latest technologies that could disrupt business intelligence. In fact, the market for advertising on mobile is still escalating at a fast pace. Moreover, there are niche areas for professional growth, as more and more individuals are increasingly creating new applications for many purposes on mobile operating systems.
Recent advances in mobile communication and geo-positioning technologies have presented marketers with a new way how to target consumers based on their location (Camilleri, 2016). Location-targeted mobile advertising involves the provision of ad messages to mobile data subscribers. This digital technology allows marketers to deliver ads and coupons that are customised to individual consumers’ tastes, geographic location and the time of day. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, location-targeted mobile advertising are increasingly offering tremendous marketing benefits.
In addition, many businesses are commonly utilising applications, including browser cookies that track consumers through their mobile devices as they move out and about. Very often, when users leave the sites they visited, the products or services they viewed will be shown to them again in advertisements, across different websites. Hence, many companies are using browsing session data combined with the consumers’ purchase history to deliver “suitable” items that consumers like. There are also tourism businesses who are personalising their offerings as they collect, classify and use large data volumes on the consumers’ behaviours. As more consumers carry smartphones with them, they may be easily targeted with compelling offers that instantaneously pop-up on their mobile devices.
For instance, consumers are continuously using social networks which are indicating their geo location, as they use mobile apps. This same data can be used to identify where people tend to gather — this information that could be very useful. This information is valuable to brands as they seek to improve their consumer engagement and marketing efforts. It may appear that businesses are using mobile devices and networks to capture important consumer data. For instance, smart phones and tablets that are wifi-enabled interact with networks and convey information to network providers and ISPs. This year, more businesses shall be using mobile devices and networks as a sort of sensor data – to acquire relevant information on their consumers’ digital behaviours and physical movements. These businesses have become increasingly interactive through the proliferation of near-field communication (NFC). Basically, embedded chips in the customers’ mobile phones are exchanging data with the retailers’ items possessing the NFC tags. The latest iPhone, Android and Microsoft smartphones have already included these NFC capabilities. This development has recently led to the use of mobile wallets. The growth of such data-driven, digital technologies is surely adding value to the customer-centric marketing. Therefore, analytics can enable businesses to provide a deeper personalisation of content and offers to specific customers.
The geo-based marketing message or offer is delivered at the right time, and at the right place. The brands that hold customer data can gain a competitive edge over their rivals. Of course, firms will need more than transaction history and loyalty schemes to be effective at this. They may require both socio-demographic and geo-data that new mobile technologies are capable of gathering.
For instance, many mobile service companies are partnering with local cinemas, in response to the location-targeted mobile advertising; as cinema-goers often inquire about movie information, and they may book tickets and select their seats through their mobile app. The consumers who are physically situated within a given geographic proximity of the participating cinemas could be receiving location-targeted mobile ads. The cinemas’ ads will inform prospects what movies they are playing and could explain how to purchase tickets through their phone. The consumers may also call the cinemas’ hotlines to get more information from a customer service representative. Besides location-targeted advertising, the mobile companies can also promote movie ticket sales via mobile ads that arte targeted to individuals, according to their behaviour (not by location). Therefore, the companies may direct mobile-ad messages to those consumers who had previously responded to previous mobile ads (and to others who had already purchased movie tickets, in the past months). Moreover, the cinema companies could also promote movies via Facebook Messenger Ads if they logged in the companies’ website, via their Facebook account. The mobile users might receive instant message ads via pop-up windows whenever they log into the corporate site of their service provider.
It is envisaged that such data points will only increase as the multi-billion dollar advertising monopolies are built on big data and analytics that can help businesses personalise immersive ads to target individual customers. The use of credit card transactions is also complementing geo-targeting and Google Maps, with ads; as the physical purchases are increasingly demanding personalisation, fulfillment and convenience. Consumers and employees alike are willing to give up their data for value. Therefore, the businesses need to reassure their customers through concise disclosures on how they will use personal data. They should clarify the purpose of maintaining consumer data, as they should provide simple user controls to opt in and out of different levels of data sharing. This way, they could establish a trust-worthy relationship with customers and prospects.
Companies are already personalising their mobile shopping experience based on the user situation and history. Tomorrow’s tourism businesses are expected to customise their user experiences of applications and web interfaces, according to the specific needs of each segment. Big data and analytics capabilities are increasingly allowing businesses to fully leverage their rich data from a range of new digital touchpoints and to turn this into high impact interactions. Those businesses that are able to reorient their marketing and product-development efforts around digital customer segments and behaviours will be in a position to tap into the hyper-growth that mobile, social media and the wearables market are currently experiencing.
Impact investing is one of the fastest growing and promising areas of innovative development finance (Thornley, Wood, Grace & Sullivant, 2011; Freireich & Fulton, 2009). This form of socially-responsible investment (SRI) also has its roots in the venture capital community where investors unlock a substantial volume of private and public capital into companies, organisations and funds – with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
The stakeholders or actors in the impact investing industry can be divided into four broad categories: asset owners who actually own capital; asset managers who deploy capital; demand-side actors who receive and utilise the capital; and service providers who help make this market work.
Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets, and target a range of returns from below market to market rate; depending on the investors’ strategic goals. Bugg-Levine and Emerson (2011) argued that impact investing aligns the businesses’ investments and purchase decisions with their values. Defining exactly what is (and what is not) an impact investment has become increasingly important as it appears that the term has taken off among academia and practitioners.
The impact investments are usually characterised by market organisations that are driven by a core group of proponents including foundations, high-net worth individuals, family offices, investment banks and development finance institutions. Responsible entities are mobilising capital for ‘investments that are intended to create social impact beyond financial returns’ (Jackson, 2013; Freireich & Fulton 2009). Specific examples of impact investments may include; micro-finance, community development finance, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, conservation, micro-finance and affordable and accessible basic services, including; housing, healthcare, education and clean technology among others.
Micro-finance institutions in developing countries and affordable housing schemes in developed countries have been the favorite vehicles for these responsible investments, though impact investors are also beginning to diversify across a wider range of sectors (see Saltuk, Bouri, & Leung 2011; Harji & Jackson 2012). Nevertheless, micro-finance has represented an estimated 50% of European impact investing assets (EUROSIF, 2014). This form of investing has grown to an estimated €20 billion market in Europe alone (EUROSIF, 2014). The Netherlands and Switzerland were key markets for this investment strategy, as they represented an estimated two thirds of these assets. These markets were followed by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Generally, the investors’ intent is to ensure that they achieve positive impacts in society. Therefore, they would in turn expect tangible evidence of positive outcomes (and impacts) of their capital. Arguably, the evaluation capacity of impact investing could increase opportunities for dialogue and exchange. Therefore, practitioners are encouraged to collaborate, exchange perspectives and tools to strengthen their practices in ways that could advance impact investing. The process behind on-going encounters and growing partnerships could surely be facilitated through conferences, workshops, online communities and pilot projects. Moreover, audit and assurance ought to be continuously improved as institutions and investors need to be equipped with the best knowledge about evaluation methods. Hence, it is imperative that University and college courses are designed, tested and refined to improve the quality of education as well as professional training and development in evaluating responsible investments.
For evaluation to be conducted with ever more precision and utility, it must be informed by mobilising research and analytics. Some impact investing funds and intermediaries are already using detailed research and analysis on investment portfolios and target sectors. At the industry-wide level, the work of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and IRIS (a catalogue of generally accepted Environmental, Social and Governance – ESG performance metrics) is generating large datasets as well as a series of case studies on collaborative impact investments. Similarly, the Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS) also issues quarterly analytics reports on companies and their respective funds in industry metrics (Camilleri, 2015).
For the most part, those responsible businesses often convert positive impact-investment outcomes into tangible benefits for the poor and the marginalised people (Garriga & Melé, 2004). Such outcomes may include increased greater food security, improved housing, higher incomes, better access to affordable services (e.g. water, energy, health, education, finance), environmental protection, and the like (Jackson, 2013).
Interestingly, high sustainability companies significantly outperform their counterparts over the long-term, both in terms of stock market and accounting performance (Eccles, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2012). This out-performance is stronger in sectors where the customers are individual consumers, rather than companies (Eccles et al., 2012).
It may be complicated and time-consuming to quantify how enterprises create various forms of humanitarian and environmental value, yet some approaches and analytical tools can help to address today’s societal challenges, including the return on impact investments in social and sustainability projects.
References
Bugg-Levine, A., & Emerson, J. (2011). Impact investing: Transforming how we make money while making a difference. innovations, 6(3), 9-18.
Camilleri, M. A. (2015). Environmental, social and governance disclosures in Europe. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 6(2), 224-242.
Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2012). The impact of a corporate culture of sustainability on corporate behavior and performance (No. W17950). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Freireich, J., & Fulton, K. (2009). Investing for social and environmental impact: A design for catalyzing an emerging industry. Monitor Institute, January.
Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of business ethics, 53(1-2), 51-71.
Harji, K., & Jackson, E. T. (2012). Accelerating impact: Achievements, challenges and what’s next in building the impact investing industry. New York, NY: The Rockefeller Foundation.
Jackson, E. T. (2013). Interrogating the theory of change: evaluating impact investing where it matters most. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 3(2), 95-110.
Saltuk, Y., Bouri, A., & Leung, G. (2011). Insight into the impact investment market: An in-depth analysis of investor perspectives and over 2,200 transactions. New York, NY: J.P. Morgan.
Thornley, B., Wood, D., Grace, K., & Sullivant, S. (2011). Impact Investing a Framework for Policy Design and Analysis. InSight at Pacific Community Ventures & The Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University.
The use of data and its analyses are becoming ubiquitous practices. As a result, there has been a dramatic surge in the use of business intelligence and analytics. These developments have inevitably led to endless opportunities for marketers to leverage themselves and gain a competitive advantage by untangling big data. Relevant data could help businesses to better serve customers as they would better know what they need, want and desire. This knowledge will lead to customer satisfaction and long lasting relationships.
Businesses are increasingly collecting and analysing data from many sources for many purposes. Much of the value of data is derived from secondary uses that were not intended in the first place. Very often datasets can possess intrinsic, hidden, not-yet-unearthed value. According to a research from IBM and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford; nearly nine in 10 companies were using transactional data, and three-quarters were collecting log data in 2012. This study suggested that business practitioners also gathered data from events, emails and social data (eMarketer, 2012).
This data is being collected and stored in massive amounts by search engines including Google, Bing and Yahoo as well as by e-commerce conglomerates such as eBay and Amazon. For instance, Security First boosted its productivity and customer satisfaction by using content analytics to bridge social media and the claims process. Similarly, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has improved its online reputation with analytics that quickly responded to online feedback (IBM, 2015).
In addition, users can easily access multiple sources of digital data that is readily available through websites, social networks, blogs, as well as from mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets. Big data is being gathered from social media content and video data from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus among others. These modern digital marketing tools are helping business to engage in social conversations with consumers. Social networks have surely amplified the marketers’ messages as they support promotional efforts. Here are some of the unique pieces of data each social network is collecting:
“Facebook’s interest/social graph: The world’s largest online community collects more data via its API than any other social network. Facebook’s “like” button is pressed 2.7 billion times every day across the web, revealing what people care about.
Google+’s relevance graph: The number of “+1s” and other Google+ data are now a top factor in determining how a Web page ranks in Google search results.
LinkedIn’s talent graph: At least 22% of LinkedIn users have between 500-999 first-degree connections on the social network, and 19% have between 301-499.The rich professional data is helping LinkedIn build a “talent graph.”
Twitter’s news graph: At its peak late last year the social network was processing 143,199 tweets per second globally. This firehose of tweets provide a real-time window into the news and information that people care about. Fifty-two percent of Twitter users in the U.S. consume news on the site (more than the percent who do so on Facebook), according to Pew.
Pinterest’s commerce graph: More than 17% of all pinboards are categorized under “Home,” while roughly 12% fall under style or fashion, these are windows into people’s tastes and fashion trends.
YouTube’s entertainment graph: What music, shows, and celebrities do we like? YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18 to 34 than any single cable network, according to Nielsen. YouTube knows what they like to watch.
Yelp’s and Foursquare’s location graphs: These apps know where we’ve been and where we’ll go. Foursquare has over 45 million users and 5 billion location check-ins” (Business Insider, 2014).
Big data is fundamentally shifting how marketers collect, analyse and utilise data to reach out to customers. Business intelligence and analytics are helping companies to get new insights into how consumers behave. It is envisaged that the IT architecture will shortly develop into an information eco-system: a network of internal and external services where information is shared among users. Big data can support business in their decision making. It could be used to communicate meaningful results and to generate insights for an effective organisational performance. New marketing decision-making ought to harness big data for increased targeting and re-targeting of individuals and online communities. On-demand, direct marketing through digital platforms has already become more personalised than ever. The challenge for marketers is to recognise the value of big data as a tool that drives consumer in-sights.
Every customer contact with a brand is a moment of truth, in real-time. Businesses who are not responding with seamless externally-facing solutions will inevitably lose their customers to rivals. This contribution posits that a strategic approach to data management could drive consumer preferences. An evolving analytics ecosystem that is also integrated with web2.0 instruments could lead to better customer service and consumer engagement.
Substantia Mea 
You must be logged in to post a comment.