This thesis consists of three separate studies which were undertaken over the duration of my doctoral study in collaboration with other researchers. These are summarised below: The hist study investigates the extent that consumer ethnocentric tendancies (CET) affect consumption choices in China. Evidence of a resurgent nationalism partly fuelled by rapid economic growth portends a shift in consumption away from foreign towards domestic products. However, rising consumer demand for branded and luxury products cannot be fully met domestically. Much of the available evidence on Chinese consumer ethnocentrism is anecdotal and is based on attitudinal surveys that, as accurate measures of actual purchasing behaviour, suffer from certain methodological issues. In response, we report an experiment that measures the ethnocentrism of 447 Chinese consumers as their incentive-compatible choices between foreign and domestic products in a held setting. Our hndings show little effect of foreign origin on subjects’ choices that were only weakly related with attitudinal measures including the commonly used consumer ethnocentric tendencies scale (CETSCALE). Our results question the existence of ethnocentric consumer behaviour in China and the use of CETSCALE to gauge it generally. The second study looks at the importance of Chinese culture in cross-national negotiation, which has become conventional wisdom in international business research and practice. However, empirical work has not sufficiently established whether, how and under what conditions specific cultural values of the Chinese af­fect their negotiation decisions. We report an experiment with a purpose-designed game task in which Chinese subjects divide a fixed gain over escalating stages. We find that concerns for face and harmony promote cooperative? negotiation decisions while desire to win and risk seeking accentuate competitive ones. Val­ues only predict behaviour in the critical, final stage of the bargaining process supporting a dynamic view of the effect of culture on negotiation. The final chapter consists of an experiment investigating the effect of difference computer mediated communication environments on persuasiveness and persuad-ability, which previously has been almost exclusively measured as self-reported attitude change from communications regarding hypothetical opinion issues. We introduce an alternative experimental approach that measures persuasion as be­havior change in compatibly incentivised and fully informed subjects repeatedly performing a context-neutral task. We find that persuasion is far more effective in an audio-only condition, and investigate the effects of different demographic and personality factors on persuasiveness and persuadability.

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Social Networking Sites allow users to manage their homepages to present themselves, and to interact with friends through networked connections. Some of these sites attract people from different cultural backgrounds (e.g. Facebook), providing an opportunity for online multi-cultural social networking to occur. This project aimed to contribute to cross-cultural Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) research, by investigating this kind of multi-cultural social networking. It focussed upon: 1) the role of cultural differences on users’ perception of self-presentation of others; 2) the relationship between cross-cultural social capital and cross-cultural social networking on social networking sites; and 3) unveiling factors affecting users’ decisions regarding social networking interactions. The researcher firstly investigated whether cultural differences in online self-presentation through communication styles affect audiences’ perception, and whether audiences from different cultural backgrounds have different ways of perceiving others’ online self-presentation. Secondly, whether cross-cultural social capital was associated with the intensity of cross-cultural social networking, and through which ways users can obtain the benefits of social capital through social networking interactions. Lastly, explored the factors influencing users’ decisions on whether and/or how much effort to place upon each type of social networking.British and Chinese social networking users were chosen as research participants to represent two different cultural groups. By systematically comparing the difference between them, the results suggest: 1) Cultural differences in online self-presentation do influence people’s perception of others, though it is not the only factor that affects this perception. British and Chinese audiences tend to focus on different cues when perceiving online self-presentations. 2) Cross-cultural social capital was positively associated with cross-cultural social networking. Further interview analysis revealed all kinds of social networking interactions (i.e. observing, communicating, grouping) could help users obtain the benefits of bridging social capital (e.g. acquiring new information and diffusing reciprocity); however only communicating and grouping with strong relationships brought different aspects of the benefit of bonding social capital to British and Chinese users. For instance, communicating and grouping helped Chinese users receive substantive support and access to limited resources; whereas grouping with strong relationships helped British users mobilize solidarity. 3) Three main factors may influence users’ decisions regarding multi-cultural social networking interactions: (a) relationship strength - although both British and Chinese users tend to communicate mostly with strong relationships, they have differences in observing and grouping with different relationships. British users tend to observe mostly strong relationships and group with all relationships, whereas Chinese users tend to group mostly with strong relationships and observe all relationships; (b) perceived benefit of social capital - only bridging social capital benefit affected British users’ decision, whereas both bridging and bonding social capital benefits motivated Chinese users; and (c) users’ cultural background.

This thesis reports user experience (UX) research towards understanding the complexities of users’ judgment of websites and investigating factors beyond usability that affect the user judgments and websites overall preferences. Several models have been proposed to understand users’ judgment, some focused on the user and others on the interactive system; nevertheless, a number of factors in both areas have not been investigated in depth, and the relative importance of the quality criteria needs further research. Three empirical studies were conducted to explore the roles of user characteristics (religious identity, user values and culture), the interactive system (website interactivity), repeated exposure and the relative importance of the quality criteria that influence users’ judgment. Several UX criteria were assessed through questionnaires. Interviews were conducted to support questionnaire results by eliciting the reasons for users’ judgment. The first study compared Muslims and Christians evaluations of websites, with either Christian- or Muslim-oriented content in health, aid and e-commerce domains. Results showed that the religious identity strongly influenced users’ overall preferences. Users preferred matching-identity websites and evaluated them more positively than non-matching sites; the effect was stronger for Muslims probably because they had stronger religious commitment than the Christians. In addition, the strength of religious beliefs affected respondents’ judgments when the website matched their religious background, although it did not seem to have an effect on non-matching websites. The study also showed that when a religion-neutral e-commerce brand was added, both Muslims and Christians favoured it, followed by the matching and then the non-matching sites.The second study compared UK and Jordanian respondents’ evaluations of health-related websites. Results showed that a familiar website brand with comprehensive content and interactive features had the strongest effect on users’ judgment. Respondents were more positive to a website with a familiar brand (NHS-UK), comprehensive content and interactive features, while there were minor effects of health awareness on users’ overall preferences. The results also demonstrated that the two groups varied in their website preferences where culture influenced the brand recognition and overall preference of websites.The third study tested the influence of website interactivity and repeated exposure on respondents’ judgments. Users viewed (low, mid and high) interactive e-commerce websites for three visits with a two-week gap between each visit. They preferred more interactive websites over non/less-interactive ones while repeated exposure improved attitudes towards the more interactive website over time. The research further shows that the criteria that people consider as important may not always be used to discriminate between websites. Content and usability were constantly ranked in the top positions, and content discriminated between sites in overall preference; however, usability did not strongly affect users’ overall preferences. The thesis finally proposed a preliminary model based on the investigations, which shows the factors that may have an influence on users’ overall preference.

This thesis explores the rise of embedded branding (‘branded content’) since the early 2000s, a funding model in which sponsors are integrated into media content. It examines its implications for the functioning of the media as a cultural public sphere. Located within the political economy approach, the research takes a critical perspective, arguing that ‘branded content’ is, in Habermasian terms, an act of manipulation. Two case studies of British and Israeli reality television shows were used to explore three questions: 1. How does the ‘branded content’ market work? 2. Are we witnessing a new phase of content commercialisation and if so, what are its characteristics? 3. What are the implications for the media’s functioning as a cultural public sphere and, consequently, how should regulators and policy makers cope with the phenomenon? The findings uncover a niche market in which branded content agents facilitate formal agreements between sponsors and producers. As both sides have the need to look for alternative funding models in a growingly fragmented reality, these co-operations typically start as ‘synergetic’, however their implementation often becomes rife with conflict. The data further suggests sponsors influence media content in two key ways. First, through ‘deep integration’: brands appearing through abstract and surreptitious representations in programming (rather than ‘classic’ product placement). Second, through ‘continuous integration’: the tendency of these agreements to encompass multiple platforms, and predominantly the Internet, which enables personal data collection. Embedded branding therefore should be seen as a new commercialisation phase, typical of the digital age, in which brands gain omnipresence in the cultural public sphere. The two main potential harms caused by these developments are first, the saturation of the media with manipulative messages by sponsors, which distorts the editorial process and threatens freedom of expression. The second relates to the gradual loss of audience trust in the media as a platform for public debate, which is the gravest threat ‘branded content’ presents to the role of the media in democracies.

The thesis investigates perceptions of marketing activities in private higher education, and the extent to which these marketing activities have an impact on the image of universities. Pragmatism was the philosophy adopted as it serves the requirement of this study. The study used mixed methods; both quantitative and qualitative tools were used to answer the questions of the study, and to achieve its objectives. The results showed that perceptions of marketing were still in the early stages, in which it was perceived as practising traditional and promotional activities, rather than as a way of thinking or a philosophy for the whole university. In general, there was no precise definition for marketing, or indications of using a strategic marketing plan. Product and selling approaches were usually adopted more than marketing approaches; furthermore, product element was the dominant in the marketing mix. Marketers were more concerned with practising traditional roles for public relations and student admissions, rather than participating in putting together a strategic marketing plan for the university. The results support the conclusion that there is an absence of marketing orientation in these universities. Positioning and building university image was not among the first priorities of these universities when implementing marketing, announcements and recruiting students being more important. With regard to students, choosing a university was influenced by the accreditation of qualifications, the academic reputation and the availability of the subject they wished to study. Moreover, they were more influenced by image and reputation of the university than marketing factors. Word-of-mouth played an important role as a sourceof information in the decisionmaking process. There was a strong association between satisfaction with marketing activities relating to programme and physical evidence and their perception of their university’s image. A conceptual model of current marketing activities and practices in private higher education in Egypt was suggested, together with an assessment of practical issues facing private higher education institutions. This model could be useful to understand the process of practising marketing in developing countries in a general, and in the Middle- East specifically.

This thesis addresses the implementation and application of integrated marketing communications (hereinafter referred to as 'IMC'). The thesis is located within the field of marketing communications and focuses on IMC perceptions and practices within large global and national companies located in the UK and Germany. The aim of this thesis is to understand how and to what extent IMC has developed and is practiced in the selected firms. This study takes the perspective that IMC can only be understood via social actors i. e. via marketing and communication practitioners - including brand managers, and senior executives, as they are the people who possess the practical knowledge of complex business settings in relation to their own business and/or its related brands. As such, these practitioners have the ability and managerial capacity to design and implement integrated approaches to marketing communications. In a qualitative two phase research design, interviews and case studies are the chosen methods that allow this investigation to access the research problem. The design of this thesis is as follows: 1. Current marketing communication and IMC literature is reviewed which serves to identify research gaps. 2. During the first phase, data was collected from 10 large national and global companies located in Germany and 15 similar firms located in the UK. Four different industries were selected: service, retail, consumer durable and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). 3. In the second phase of the research design, three extensive case studies with fast-moving consumer goods companies were carried out in relation to IMC perceptions and practices. The case firms included two multinational firms i.e. SABMiller and Imperial Tobacco, and one very rapidly growing strategic business unit, namely Tryton Foods, which is a subsidiary of a national UK firm. 4. An interpretive theory building approach was used. The qualitative data analysis was guided by the principles of content analysis. Based on the empirical findings of the research, the final outcome of this thesis complements and advances current knowledge about marketing communications and particularly in relation to integrated marketing communications. A significant outcome of this research is that IMC is purely client-led. In addition, it is found that the majority of participating firms have only recently started to implement IMC, and indeed, that current IMC practices can be further advanced and augmented. At least in business-to-consumer industries, firms need to listen more actively to the needs and wants of their customers in order to be able to create consumer-driven marketing communication approaches.

Brand personality is considered as an important element in building and maintaining strong and valuable brands. Several brand personality scales have been proposed within the brand marketing literature, but no reliable and valid brand personality scale has yet been produced for the Islamic context. Therefore, scholars and practitioners have been unable to empirically assess brands‘ personalities, identity and image in such a context. In addition to developing a brand personality measure for an Islamic context, this study explored Islamic religious beliefs‘ influence on brand personality. A related scale was conceptually and empirically explored in this research, and the influence of Islamic religious beliefs on subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and new religious compliant product adoption was investigated. The study also examines the moderation effects of the demographic variables of age and income, and the mediation effects of the constructs of subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, relative advantage, compatibility and complexity. This study advances the marketing knowledge by presenting a more critical and empirical understanding of the degree to which Islamic religious beliefs influence a brand personality measure, consumers‘ favouring or not favouring a brand‘s personality, and their adoption of new religious compliant products in religiously featured societies. The influence of Islamic religious beliefs on new product adoption generally has not been investigated previously, with exception of the study by Shabbir (2010), and more specifically no previous study has examined the influential relationship between Islamic religious beliefs and new religious compliant product adoption. Given that the value of while the religious markets‘ is expanding, with the Muslim market value alone estimated to be US$ 2.7 trillion currently, and expected to increase to US$30 trillion by 2050, this makes this study a valuable addition to the marketing management field. A quantitative methodology was employed to collect data from the three largest cities in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam; a total of 352 usable questionnaires were returned. After verifying raw data coding accuracy, the missing values from the raw data were assessed, and data tested for normality, outliers and multicollinearity. The brand personality scale development and the conceptual framework were assessed with 287 questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to purify the scale, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to verify the scale and determine its psychometric properties. The hypothesised relationships were tested by employing structural equation modelling based on partial least square procedures. Mediation effects were examined using the Sobel test, and moderation effects were assessed using multi group analysis. The findings yielded a unique Islamic brand personality with four dimensions and 28 sub items, which contained one dimension with five religious traits. Gender, age and income were found to moderate some of the hypothesised relationships. Significant influence of Islamic religious beliefs was observed on the Islamic brand personality scale, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and new religious compliant product adoption. The influence of Islamic religious beliefs on the brand personality measure was observed to be stronger than anticipated by this study. Also surprisingly it was found that the adoption behaviour differs between men and women with the same Islamic religious beliefs and values. Wealthy and educated participants were found to be more concerned with whether the personality of the products that they purchase contradicts with their Islamic religious beliefs or not. The developed Islamic brand personality scale will significantly support marketing managers who operate in the Muslim market to design a more desirable brand personality for their brands. Additionally, marketing practitioners will be helped understand the factors that affect their consumers‘ behaviour and purchasing activities, and carry out the segmentation process more effectively bearing in mind the differences observed between the age, gender and income groups. Finally, this study is one of the first that explores the links between Islamic religious beliefs, brand personality and new religious compliant product adoption in the light of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT). It develops a new Islamic brand personality scale and it is believed to provide a ground for different directions for future research.

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