Australasian Marketing Journal

While a substantial body of literature has examined the effect of fear appeals in advertising, few, if any, studies have looked into the ethicality of using such threatening messages, particularly for socially desirable outcomes. In this paper, a review of the different theories of ethics leads to the development of an empirical study where the effects of using both physically and socially threatening messages to encourage juveniles to develop anti-smoking behavioural intentions were tested. Using the data collected from a convenience sample of about 250 undergraduates from the University of Adelaide, the results show that fear appeals may indeed be perceived as unethical, even when used for socially desirable purposes. Moreover, social threats were perceived as more unethical and generated less fear than physical threat, suggesting that their use may be counter productive with this type of population. Finally, ethicality did not appear to relate necessarily to change in behavioural intentions.

This paper presents the results of a survey of Australian and Bangladeshi corporate managers’ response patterns in the food and textile sectors to increasing demands for improved corporate social performances. Based on an analysis of six internal and external decision areas using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), significant differences were found in corporate action between countries and within selected industries. Australian managers were more likely to act on the internal marketing decision areas (product, price, distribution and communication), Bangladeshi managers tended to act on external environmental decision areas. The strategic implications of these findings are that macro- and micro-environmental variables and government and business capabilities in diverse settings significantly influence managerial actions on social responsibility pressures.

The aim of this paper was to explore the attitudes and associations of smoking among adolescents to highlight the implications for the development of social policy. We report the results of a study based on a series of in-depth focus group discussions among school children. Several themes are identified, providing some indication of the susceptibility factors that can lead to smoking behaviour: the perception of infallibility despite knowledge of smoking related diseases; social influences from friends and family; the desire to experiment; and stress. The social policy initiatives recommended include the creation of anti-smoking messaging for cinema audiences in order to counteract the effect of aspirational role models. Targeting anti-smoking education programmes at the primary school level, extending current initiatives addressed at Maori and Pacific Island populations to pre- and primary-school education, and encouraging family involvement in these education programmes are also recommended. The reframing of current physical threatthemed media communication to focus more on social threat themes, and the widening of the media mix to reflect adolescent audience use are believed to be effective.

Since the late 1960s, research into gender stereotypes in advertising has been prolific. The emergence of more magazines that target children and adolescents raises the question of whether the female images portrayed in these publications reinforce prevailing stereotypes of women and portray diversity in ethnicity. This study examines the female images shown by advertisers in the Australian editions of Barbie, Girlfriend and Dolly magazines. Findings indicate there is limited diversity in physical attributes as well as ethnicity of the models portrayed in these publications. Limitations are noted and future research issues are discussed.

In recent years, private individual giving has gained much importance as a source of support for non-profit organisations (NPOs). Most academics consider psychographic criteria as the basis for segmenting and targeting donors. In marketing practice, however, fundraisers are often confined to socio-demographic data on their target groups. This article suggests certain socio-demographic characteristics, when combined with behavioural aspects, can be traced back to fundamental dimensions that represent efficient criteria for potential donor segmentation. The authors conducted an investigation in Austria to find which individuals (as defined by age, gender and social class) donate what amounts, how frequently, to which organisations, and in which forms. Reviewing the data and their statistical results in a succeeding interpretative process, they were able to deduce three basic conditions under which individuals are particularly prone to donate: (1) when the purpose of the NPO pertains to the individual's sphere; (2) when the individual might benefit from the services of an organisation; (3) when the donation does not represent overmuch expense and/or effort. These conditions are proposed as dimensions for selecting and targeting specific donor-segments, allowing NPOs to increase their fundraising efficiency through easy-to-get socio-demographic data.

New Zealand shares a common problem with other countries: a shortage of blood donors. Approximately 4% of New Zealand's total population donate blood, yet up to 20% may need to receive donated blood or blood products. However, there has been little success in accurately predicting willingness to donate blood, and greater knowledge is needed of those variables most likely to predict potential donors’ behaviour, so that efforts to increase the number of blood donors can be effectively directed.

This study compared the predictive ability of Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour, based on the measurement of attitudinal variables, and Labaw's behavioural approach, in the context of willingness to donate blood. The findings indicated attitudinal variables were better predictors of behavioural intentions but a behavioural approach better predicted reported donation behaviour. This result provides support for further study of the framework proposed by Labaw.