Export marketing support services offered by the government and other agencies, particularly in developing countries, seem well-suited to exporting firms for their involvement in foreign markets. The effects of governmental export marketing support on firms' exporting activity is found a limited researched issue in international marketing, particularly the measurement of the effects of export promotion programmes (EPPs). Such programmes specifically are directed at assisting exporters' export market entry. The study addresses the role and effectiveness of export marketing support as the acquisition of such support is influenced by management's orientation and information search and use behaviour (Reid, 1984; Katiskeas and Piercy, 1993). The analysis involves:;1- A comparison of the sample groups of programmes' users (UEP) and programmes' non-users (NUEP). 2- A detailed investigation of the export promotion programmes (EPPs) in export market entry. Overall, the thesis findings suggest that certain behavioural differences exist between firms using export promotion programmes (EPPs) in their export market entry and the firms not using EPPs. But no difference was found as far as export performance of both sample groups is concerned. However, users of programmes seem more organised and proactive in export marketing activity. Measurement of the effectiveness of export promotion programmes (EPPs), however, appears complicated by a variety of factors which could not be clearly attributed to the use of EPPs. Such programmes are seen as having a lasting effect on the exporting firms' export market involvement. Although the role of export promotion programmes must be seen as complementary to firms' export marketing efforts in general, these are accorded importance in export market entry.

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The received wisdom in industrial selling emphasizes systematic approaches where the typical sales scenario comprises prospecting, pre-approach, approach, presentation, handling objections, closing and follow-up. However, times are changing, making such a systematic approach to selling not always optimal. As markets become more unpredictable, salespersons must frequently employ unplanned, spur-of-the-moment responses to be responsive in unexpected and urgent situations. In spite of the pervasiveness of such improvised responses, the literature has yet to account for them. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to investigate the consequences, antecedents and boundaries of salesperson improvisation. From a descriptive decision-making perspective, the study proposes a conceptual model of salesperson improvisation and tests it on a sample of industrial salespersons in Ghana. Findings support a two-dimensional structure of salesperson improvisation comprising salesperson creativity and spontaneity. Findings also show that the dimensions may have differential implications for sales performance. Salesperson creativity during improvisation may engender sales losses while spontaneity may be related to sales success. However, neither dimension has a significant direct relationship with sales performance. Rather, the paths from creativity and spontaneity to sales performance become activated by resource availability, pressure to perform and individual agency. Resource availability renders the creativity–performance link positive while individual agency makes it negative. On the other hand, given high performance pressures, the positive non-significant path from spontaneity to sales performance assumes a significant negative tone. The study also finds that the two dimensions differ, to some extent, in the factors that drive them. Self-efficacy drives creativity but reduces spontaneity during improvisation. Experience also reduces spontaneity but has no direct effect on creativity. Salesperson autonomy, however, is a universal driver of both creativity and spontaneity. Implications of these findings for the sales management and improvisation literatures, and for practice are discussed. The researcher also outlines opportunities for future research.

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This dissertation explores how high-end goods were bought and sold in Liverpool andManchester during the eighteenth century. It examines the physical development of the twotowns, and the behaviour of local suppliers and consumers. It will demonstrate that bothLiverpool and Manchester were able to sustain vibrant luxury economies prior to 1800. Thethesis will highlight how the consumer markets of Liverpool and Manchester bore differencesfrom one another in terms of their emphases on fashion, value and the lure of London. Byfocussing on the presence of high-end shops and the development of districts with a highvolume of such premises, it will show that the town’s suppliers were operating in organised andconfident – but distinct – commercial environments. It will also be shown that the efforts ofsuppliers to attract consumers from the highest ranks of society were successful, and that theelite in and around Liverpool and Manchester patronised local shops rather than London for themajority of their high-end goods. In doing so, this thesis aims to contribute to the discussion ofnorthern towns that has until recently been dominated by a focus of nineteenth-centuryexpansion and industrialisation. This thesis will make original contributions to a number of debates. It challenges sometraditional views of provincial emulation by evaluating the way goods were marketed andconsumed, revealing a more complicated role played by London in provincial markets than haspreviously been identified. In focusing on two rapidly expanding provincial towns with dramaticpopulation growth during the eighteenth century, the thesis extends the analysis that has beenundertaken of the shopping streets of London and provincial ‘leisure towns’ to new and evolvingconsumer markets. By exploring the spending habits of members of the elite in and aroundLiverpool and Manchester, this thesis identifies nuances in elite spending that expands on thevery recent examination of this group as consumers. The first half of this thesis explores the commercial environments of Liverpool and Manchester. Chapter One examines the way the towns were perceived by visitors in terms of the fashion, trade and character of the people. It argues that while both towns were seen as thrivingcentres for trade, the nature of their expansion was perceived differently. The chapter alsoaddresses a temporal shift in the perception of luxury consumption from residents in the townsthat is in keeping with the wider debates on luxury in of eighteenth-century Britain. Chapter Twodiscusses the creation of districts with high concentrations of luxury shops in both towns, andhighlights the relationship between shopping streets and urban improvement. The second half of the thesis looks at the way people operated in the towns. Chapter Three focuses on suppliers, identifying key individuals whose behaviour epitomised the main differences between the consumer markers in the towns. It examines newspaper advertising and trade cards to explore how suppliers marketed themselves to attract customers of the highest status and spending power. Chapter Four examines some of these elite consumers, and argues that patterns in habits of consumption within the elite are a useful way of re-examining influential and important groups that have been relatively neglected in terms of their spending.

Disruptive innovation as a theory lacks concrete definition and is often misinterpreted in the literature. Previous studies dealing with the phenomenon largely focus on the process of market disruption and the factors that drive the process. However, little research exists that seeks to quantitatively validate existing theory. In response to these problems, we develop a market growth model that is capable of analysing multiple market segments and innovations. Building on existing models of consumer choice and innovation diffusion, we develop a utility-based model that considers the effects of preference structure, demand structure, and development dynamics on market disruption. The model is simulated using data on worldwide shipments of hard disk drives (HDD) across four market segments, namely: mainframe, minicomputer, desktop computer, and portable computer markets. Results show that the proposed model is capable of estimating successive waves of disruptive technological innovation experienced in the HDD industry. Furthermore, qualitative analysis of differing preference structures, demand structures, and development dynamics provide significant insights into how the process occurs. We find that the distance between market segment preferences, the magnitude of optimal demand, and growth rates in technological improvement and absorptive capacity directly influence the speed and likelihood of market disruption. Findings suggest that disruption is not always absolute. Disruptive and disrupted innovations can coexist in the market under certain conditions. Thus, the structure of the market and competition determine the diffusion behaviours of disruptive innovations.

In this research, the researcher examines the capability of consumers’ physical sensation of cleanliness in influencing their subsequent green product evaluation in line with the embodied cognition paradigm. According to the literature, there are two possible cognitive effects that can be elicited by consumers’ physical sensation of cleanliness: to perceive the sensory information that indicates cleaning effectiveness and to inflate their sense of moral superiority. Yet, it has not been studied whether these effects can simultaneously be elicited and can both influence consumers’ subsequent evaluations of green products. Furthermore, it has been indicated in the green marketing literature that consumers tend to express different levels of product attractiveness on the same green product due to the perspective difference (how attractive this green product is to me and how attractive I perceive this green product is to other consumers). This evaluation difference implies that consumers might set different priorities, to go for cleaning effectiveness or to go green, in the way they make different aspects of green product evaluation. There is also a need of further studies to examine this underlying mechanism. To conclude, this research is designed to contribute both consumer decision making and green marketing literature regarding (1) the co-existence of the two possible cognitive effects that consumers’ physical sensation of cleanliness can have on their subsequent product evaluations and (2) further insight with respect to the nature of consumers green product evaluations. Three experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that consumers’ physical sensation of cleanliness can simultaneously make them perceive the sensory information that indicates product effectiveness and inflate their sense of moral superiority. The perceived sensory information that indicate cleaning effectiveness had a negative and significant impact on how participants rated the attractiveness of the green product to themselves compared to its non-green counterpart. The inflated sense of moral superiority had a negative and significant impact on how they perceived the green product would be relatively attractive to other consumers compared to its non-green counterpart. With respect to the evaluation gap between how the green product was attractive to me compared to how it would be to other consumers, an interaction effect was found between the perceived sensory information that indicates cleaning effectiveness and the inflated sense of moral superiority. Specifically, the inflated sense of moral superiority positively significantly influenced this evaluation gap under the condition of low levels of the perceived sensory information that indicates cleaning effectiveness. This thesis is an attempt to advance both the green marketing and consumer decision making literature by demonstrating two possible cognitive effects that consumers’ physical sensation of cleanliness can have in their thinking process, by examining how these two effects can influence consumers’ subsequent green product evaluation and by providing further insights regarding the nature of consumers’ green product evaluations. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Owing to the high sponsorship fees and category exclusivity of sponsorship rights in the major events, ambush marketing activities are increasingly planned and practiced in order to capitalize on the benefits associated with the event. As a result, the integrity of the sponsorship‘s rights is broken and the sponsor‘s investment is undermined, which has the potential to threaten the financial viability of the events. In order to maintain event integrity and protect official sponsors from attack by ambushers, the International Olympic Committee introduced a "Name and Shame" campaign to create public awareness of companies‘ ambushing efforts. This study aims to explore consumers‘ response to ambush marketing disclosure by using a survey questionnaire approach. Balance theory and attribution theory are incorporated into an integrated model illustrating how the factors, including the event-related factor (event involvement), the sponsor-related factor (consumer attitude towards the sponsor), the ambusher-related factor (prior brand knowledge and perceived corporate social responsibility), and consumers‘ perceived motives for sponsorship and ambush marketing, have an impact on the degree of blame consumers place on ambushing attempts and thus their attitudes towards ambushing companies. Eight hundred questionnaires were collected in the UK and structural equation modelling was adopted to analyse the data. The model was tested respectively under two different types of ambushing contexts, that is, predatory ambushing (n=400) and associative ambushing (n=400). In both contexts, the results shows that event involvement and consumer attitude towards the sponsor have a positive influence on consumer blame, while prior brand knowledge of the ambusher are negatively related to consumer blame. However, consumers‘ perceived CSR of the ambusher can negatively influence consumer blame only in an associative ambushing context, but not in a predatory ambushing context. In addition, consumers‘ perceived motives are confirmed to play a critical role in affecting consumers‘ response to a company‘s ambushing practice.