Browsing by Author "Human, Debbie"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The corporate social dimension of the triple bottom line : a sustainable development perspective
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004-04) Human, Debbie; Leibold, M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the past the social dimension of business has often been neglected and regarded as inferior to issues related to the financial sphere of business. The rise of sustainable development and a growing awareness regarding the frailty of earth's resources have placed renewed emphasis on the importance of the corporate social dimension for sustained business success. Scrutiny of the literature revealed that numerous misconceptions regarding the corporate social dimension still prevailed and that the success of sustainable development is often jeopardised by a lack of implementation. The triple bottom line (TBL), a concept that embraces corporate economic, environmental and social elements, was identified as a most appropriate way of elucidating the corporate social dimension and for operationalising sustainable development, as it provides several philosophic and implementation principles and guidelines. The objective of this study was to contribute to an improved understanding of the corporate social dimension and its implementation as one of the three parts of the TBL, within the perspective of sustainable development. To achieve this objective it was considered fundamental to analyse the importance and development of the corporate social dimension, the concepts and terminology related to the social dimension, and the current status of the corporate social dimension in both a South African as well as a global context. The positive aspects and limitations of extant approaches were subsequently delineated. Another important prerequisite for achieving the objective of the study was the clarification of the importance, meaning and implications of sustainable development, and the TBL approach as an operationalisation method. The development, three drnensions, importance and benefits of the TBL approach were analysed and several fundamental principles and compulsory guidelines were identified as vital conditions (e.g. a stakeholder approach, leadership support and involvement, equal consideration of all the elements of the TBL, etc.) for apt TBL adoption and sustained business success. An analysis of the relevance of sustainable development and TBL principles and guidelines for the corporate social dimension, and the interrelation between business, government and the social dimension, contributed towards an improved understanding of the social dimension of the corporate triple bottom line and its implementation within the perspective of sustainable development, thereby facilitating the achievement of the objective of the study. The most salient conclusions of the study focused on the importance of addressing the corporate social dimension in an integrated manner within the perspective of sustainable development and by means of the TBL approach, despite the seemingly elusive nature of the social dimension and numerous debates and viewpoints regarding it. Based on the conclusions of the study a number of recommendations were made regarding the process of leveraging the context-specific and dynamic nature of corporate social definitions and viewpoints, the advancement of business application, and the advancement of theory.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The influence of cause-related marketing campaign structural elements on consumer intention, attitude and perception.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Human, Debbie; Terblanche, N. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Business Management.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Cause-related marketing is a transaction-based approach characterised by an offer from a firm to make a contribution to a donation recipient when consumers purchase a particular cause-linked product. It is a technique that offers benefits to firms, non-profit organisations and consumers in an era where firms are held responsible for their societal actions, non-profit organisations are confronted with increasing social demands and decreasing funding, and consumers value the social identity and warm glow provided by charitable involvement. Cause-related marketing campaigns are constructed from various campaign structural elements. Such elements include the product featured in the campaign, the donation promised and the donation recipient. Research has indicated that consumers are generally positive toward cause-related marketing and that campaign structural elements influence consumer responses, both independently and interactively. Given the number of potential campaign structural elements, the multiplicity of their possible permutations, the simplicity of some previous studies and the contextual nature of cause-related marketing, further inquiry into the influence of these elements on consumer responses have been recommended. The current study responded to this call for research. The purpose of the research was to explore South African middle- to high income consumers’ knowledge and opinions about cause related marketing, and to investigate the independent and interactive influence of selected campaign structural elements on consumer responses. The research was conducted by means of qualitative focus groups and a quantitative 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 factorial experiment. The study adopted a communications approach and therefore focused on the campaign structural elements that are typically communicated to consumers as part of a cause-related marketing offer. The campaign structural elements that were investigated as independent variables in this study were product involvement (high; low), donation recipient specificity (specified; vague), donation magnitude (high; low) and donation expression format (actual amount; percentage-of-price). Product involvement and donation recipient specificity have received limited attention within the cause-related marketing research arena, whilst previous donation magnitude and donation expression format findings have been elusive and indicative that their influence often occur in interaction with other elements. As previous studies focused extensively on cause-related marketing outcomes derived from the campaign, the purpose of this research was to investigate those consumer responses pertaining to the communicated campaign itself. The consumer responses that exert the most determinant influence on cause-related marketing effectiveness are attitudes and behavioural intentions. Given this knowledge, purchase intention, participation intention, attitude toward the cause-related marketing advertisement, cognitive and affective attitude toward the communicated cause-related marketing offer and attitude toward the alliance featured in the offer were investigated as dependent variables along with perceived firm motives for participating in cause-related marketing. The qualitative research revealed that South African consumers are positive toward cause related marketing and that they prefer positive prosocial campaign messaging. The experiment confirmed that campaign structural elements exert significant independent and interactive influences on consumer intentions, attitudes and perception. A low involvement product, a specified donation recipient and a high magnitude actual amount donation were found to have the most positive impact on consumer responses.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Should puffery advertising in South Africa be banned? an interdisciplinary analysis
    (SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein, 2010) De Wet, Francoi; Marais, Martin; Human, Debbie
    Advertising is employed to influence consumer decision-making by informing, persuading and reminding. Legal persuasive advertising is referred to as puffery (praise for a product by means of subjective opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally stating no specific facts). This article addresses the question whether, considering the legal, regulatory and potential welfare losses perspective, puffery in South Africa should not be banned. The article concludes that outlawing puffery would harm the self-regulating nature of the marketing industry in South Africa. It is suggested that firms re-visit their ethical standards and policies; re-commit to the societal marketing paradigm and all it entails, and re-align to the spirit of creativity and the Advertising Standards Authority Code of Practice.