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Društvo za marketing Slovenije
AKADEMIJA MM
Slovenska znanstvena revija za trženje Slovenian scientific journal of marketing
25.
Ljubljana, december 2015
Letnik XIII/25. 2015 ISSN 1408-1652
Volume XIII, No. 25, 2015 ISSN 1408-1652
Uredniški odbor:
John MT Balmer, Brunel University, West London, Velika Britanija; William C. Gartner, University of Minnesota, ZDA; T C Melewar, Brunel University, West London, Velika Britanija; Udo Wagner, University of Vienna, Avstrija; Durdana Ozretić--Došen, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb, Hrvaška; Aviv Shoham, University of Haifa, Izrael; Wim Biemans, University of Groningen, Nizozemska; Graham J. Hooley, Aston Business School, Aston University, Velika Britanija; Peter Schnedlitz, Wirtschaftsuni-verität, Vienna, Avstrija; Aleksandra Brezovec, Turistica, Univerza na Primorskem, Slovenija; Barbara Čater, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Janez Damjan, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Urša Golob, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Zlatko Jančič, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Milan Jurše, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija; Tomaž Kolar, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Maja Konečnik Ruzzier, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Maja Makovec Brenčič, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Borut Milfelner, Ekonomsko--poslovna fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija; Damijan Mumel, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija; Aleksandra Pisnik Korda, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija; Klement Podnar, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Iča Rojšek, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Boris Snoj, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija; Dejan Verčič, Fakulteta za družbene vede, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Irena Vida, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija; Vesna Žabkar, Ekonomska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenija
25. številko Akademije MM je uredila Doc. dr. Mateja Bodlaj
Editorial board:
John MT Balmer, Brunel University, West London, Great Britain; William C. Gartner, University of Minnesota, ZDA; T C Melewar, Brunel University, West London, Great Britain; Udo Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria; Durdana Ozretić-Došen, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb, Croatia; Aviv Shoham, University of Haifa, Israel; Wim Biemans, University of Groningen, the Netherlands; Graham J. Hooley, Aston Business School, Aston University, Great Britain; Peter Schnedlitz, Wirtschaftsuniverität, Vienna, Austria; Aleksandra Brezovec, Turistica, University of Primorska, Slovenia; Barbara Čater, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Janez Damjan, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Urša Golob, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Zlatko Jančič, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Milan Jurše, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Tomaž Kolar, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Maja Konečnik Ruzzier, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Maja Makovec Brenčič, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Borut Milfelner, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia, Slovenija; Damijan Mumel, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Aleksandra Pisnik Korda, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Klement Podnar, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Iča Rojšek, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Boris Snoj, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Dejan Verčič, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Irena Vida, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Vesna Žabkar, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Issue No. 25 was edited by Assoc. Prof. Dr Mateja Bodlaj
Akademija MM je edina slovenska znanstvena in referenčna publikacija za področje marketinških znanosti. Kot taka vključuje tudi interdisciplinarne stroke in dognanja s področij tržnih komunikacij, integriranega komuniciranja, ekonomije, psihologije, sociologije in likovno-oblikovnih ved. Ustanovljena je bila z namenom širitve in utrjevanja marketinških znanosti v domačem okolju, prenosa znanja in aplikacije akademskih spoznanj v praksi.	Akademija MM is the only Slovenian indexed scientific publication in the field of marketing, covering interdisciplinary topics as well as marketing communications, integrated communication, economics, psychology, sociology and design. Our aim is to disseminate and strengthen marketing science both at home and abroad, and to transfer knowledge and the application of academic findings in practice.
Akademija MM je indeksirana v mednarodnih bazah EconLit, ProQuest in EBSCO.	Akademija MM is indexed in EconLit, ProQuest and EBSCO.
Stalni uredniški odbor: doc. dr. Mateja Bodlaj z Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, izr. prof. dr. Urša Golob s Fakultete za družbene vede Univerze v Ljubljani in doc. dr. Matjaž Iršič z Ekonomsko-poslovne fakultete Univerze v Mariboru.	Editorial Staff: Ass. Prof. Dr Mateja Bodlaj (University of Ljubljana), Assoc. Prof. Dr Urša Golob (University of Ljubljana), and Ass. Prof. Dr Matjaž Iršič (University of Maribor)
Tehnični urednik in jezikovni pregled: mag. Nenad Senić	Technical Editor: Nenad Senić
Ustanovitelj: Društvo za marketing Slovenije - DMS	Founder: Slovenian Marketing Association - SMA
Izhaja od leta 1997	Published since 1997
Založnika: Društvo za marketing Slovenije - DMS v sodelovanju z Akademsko sekcijo DMS	Publishers: Slovenian Marketing Association - SMA with the Academic Section of SMA
Naklada: 50	Circulation: 50
Tisk: Trajanus, Kranj, december 2015	Printed by: Trajanus, Kranj, December 2015
Naslov uredništva: Društvo za marketing Slovenije - DMS Dimičeva ulica 13, 1000 Ljubljana E-pošta: amm@dmslo.si Spletna stran: www.dmslo.si	Editor's Address: Slovenian Marketing Association - SMA Dimičeva ulica 13, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Email: amm@dmslo.si Website: www.dmslo.si
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KAZALO CONTENTS
UVODNIK / EDITORIAL Doc. dr. Mateja Bodlaj
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Sara Stojanovski, Urša Golob DIGITALNE VSEBINE TRŽNIH ZNAMK IN PARTICIPACIJA PORABNIKOV DIGITAL BRANDED CONTENT AND CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT	11
Miran Grah, Maja Rožman, Damijan Mumel VPLIV BARVE EMBALAŽE ČOKOLADE NA ZAZNAVANJE OKUSA IN TEKSTURE ČOKOLADE
THE IMPACT OF COLOUR OF CHOCOLATE PACKING ON THE PERCEPTION OF TASTE AND TEXTURE OF CHOCOLATE	29
Urban Šebjan, Domen Merc, Denis Rogan THE IMPACT OF FAIR INSURANCE SERVICES ON THE QUALITY AND STRENGTH OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUSTOMERS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES VPLIV POŠTENIH ZAVAROVALNIH STORITEV NA KAKOVOST IN MOČ ODNOSA MED UPORABNIKI IN ZAVAROVALNICAMI	39
Vesna Kuralt, Anja Mohorko, Mihael Kline DETECTING CONSUMERS WITH LOW FAMILIARITY IN COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN RESEARCH
ZAZNAVANJE POTROŠNIKOV S ŠIBKIM POZNAVANJEM DRŽAVE IZVORA	53
UVODNIK EDITORIAL
CONTEMPORARY MARKETING CHALLENGES
Dear readers, here is already the 25th issue of Akademija MM. There are four original scientific papers on current research questions about different marketing aspects and challenges that brands face today. How to successfully integrate digital content with brands' marketing communication network? How to measure the engagement of different types of digital content? How a packaging colour affects the perception of products' features? How fair insurance services affect a relationship between the insurance company and their customer? How does the perception of customers with low familiarity with the country of origin affect the country of origin? The papers in this issue do not only continue to contribute to the development of theoretical and empirical marketing knowledge in Slovenia, but they also bring important implications for the business.
First, Sara Stojanovski and Urša Golob examine a very current issue concerning digital branded content and consumer engagement: a comprehensive review how the new media have changed the use of branded digital content and have increased consumer engagement. The authors explore how effectively owned media generate visit compared to paid media as well as the hierarchy of engagement conversion and how the latter is linked to types of digital content. Their study suggests that, indeed, digital content is becoming increa-
SODOBNI TRŽENJSKI IZZIVI
Spoštovane bralke in spoštovani bralci! Pred vami je že 25. številka Akademije MM. V njej so štirje izvirni znanstveni članki, ki obravnavajo aktualna raziskovalna vprašanja v povezavi z različnimi trženjskimi vidiki in izzivi, s katerimi se srečujejo podjetja v današnjem času. Kako uspešno integrirati digitalne vsebine v trženjsko-komuni-kacijski splet podjetja? Kako izmeriti uspešnost različnih vrst digitalnih vsebin pri participaciji porabnikov? Kako barva embalaže vpliva na zaznavanje značilnosti izdelka? Kako poštena zavarovalna storitev vpliva na odnos med zavarovalnico in porabnikom? Kakšni so vplivi države izvora, kadar porabniki slabo poznajo tujo državo? Avtorji člankov odgovarjajo na omenjena vprašanja. Njihova spoznanja pomembno prispevajo k razvijanju teoretičnega in empiričnega trženjskega znanja v slovenskem prostoru, hkrati pa prinašajo pomembne implikacije za podjetja.
V prvem prispevku Sara Stojanovski in Urša Golob obravnavata zelo aktualno problematiko, povezano z digitalnimi vsebinami tržnih znamk in participacijo porabnikov. Avtorici predstavita celosten pogled na to, kako so novi mediji spremenili način uporabe digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk in omogočili večjo participacijo porabnikov. V empiričnem delu proučita, kako uspešni so lastni mediji pri generiranju obiska v primerjavi s plačanimi mediji ter kakšna je hierarhija konverzij participa-tivnih vedenj in kako je povezana z vrsto digitalnih
singly important, however, success depends on a combination of paid, owned and earned media. This paper is very important for all businesses that want to strengthen relationships with their target groups with new media.
Second, Miran Grah, Maja Rožman and Damijan Mumel examine the impact of packaging colour of chocolate on the perception of taste and texture of chocolate. There isn't much research done on this question, even less when it comes to chocolate. This paper is based on qualitative and quantitative research. Their experiment shows that packaging colour affects how we perceive taste and texture of chocolate. Their research findings are not relevant only to chocolate manufacturers, but also to others in the food production industry and others who are faced with packaging challenges.
Third, Urban Šebjan, Domen Merc and Denis Ro-gan explore a very interesting and a very current question about the effects customer perception of fairness in insurance services has on the relationship between a customer and an insurance company. Although this is an important question, the authors stress that it is poorly examined. Their findings show that perceived fairness of insurance services positively and significantly affects the strength and quality of the relationship between the users of insurance services and the insurance company. The findings are important for insurance companies as they must provide fair services to gain and retain customers.
Fourth, Vesna Kuralt, Anja Mohorko and Mihael Kline focus on the perception of customers with low familiarity with the country of origin. A conceptual model is introduced to highlight the connection between customers' affinity towards a foreign country, a perceived risk, the country image and their willingness to purchase foreign products. The model was empirically tested on a sample of foreign respondents about Slovenia as an example of an unfamiliar country of origin. The results show the significance of emotions in assessing the image of the country of origin and it brings a fresh view on this topic. These findings will be interesting to Slovenian export companies.
On behalf of the editorial staff I'd like to thank all of authors for the papers. Also let me thank all reviewers who make this journal better. And thank you, our readers, for staying loyal to the journal.
Ass. Prof. Dr. Mateja Bodlaj
vsebin. Njuna študija primera potrjuje, da digitalne vsebine v praksi postajajo vse pomembnejše, vendar pa je za uspeh ključnega pomena kombinacija plačanih, lastnih in prisluženih medijev. Prispevek je zelo relevanten za vsa podjetja, ki želijo z novimi mediji okrepiti odnos s ciljnimi porabniki.
Miran Grah, Maja Rožman in Damijan Mumel v drugem prispevku proučijo vpliv barve embalaže čokolade na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade. Ugotavljajo, da je v znanstveni literaturi razmeroma malo empiričnih spoznanj o vplivu barve embalaže na zaznavanje prehrambenih izdelkov, kar še posebej velja na področju čokolad. V empiričnem delu predstavijo rezultate kvalitativne in kvantitativne raziskave. Z eksperimentom avtorji potrdijo, da barva embalaže vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade. Ugotovitve njihove raziskave prinašajo relevantne implikacije ne samo za proizvajalce čokolad, temveč tudi za druga podjetja v prehrambeni dejavnosti in širše gledano za vsa podjetja, ki se soočajo z izzivi oblikovanja embalaže izdelkov.
Tretji prispevek so pripravili Urban Šebjan, Domen Merc in Denis Rogan, ki obravnavajo zanimivo in zelo aktualno vprašanje o vplivu porabnikovega zaznavanja poštenosti zavarovalnih storitev na odnos med porabnikom in zavarovalnico. Čeprav gre za pomembno vprašanje, avtorji ugotavljajo, da je to področje še razmeroma slabo raziskano. V svoji študiji predstavijo in empirično potrdijo konceptualni model o vplivu poštenih zavarovalnih storitev na moč in kakovost odnosa med porabnikom in zavarovalnico. Njihove ugotovitve kažejo, da zaznana poštenost zavarovalne storitve močneje vpliva na kakovost odnosa med zavarovalnico in porabnikom. Predstavljena raziskava prinaša pomembne implikacije za zavarovalnice, saj poudarja pomen poštenih storitev pri pridobivanju in ohranjanju porabnikov.
V četrtem prispevku se Vesna Kuralt, Anja Mohorko in Mihael Kline osredotočijo na zaznavanje porabnikov s šibkim poznavanjem države izvora. Avtorji predstavijo konceptualni model, ki prikazuje povezanost med porabnikovo naklonjenostjo do tuje države, zaznanim tveganjem, podobo države in pripravljenostjo za nakup tujih izdelkov. Model empirično preverijo na vzorcu tujih respon-dentov v kontekstu Slovenije kot primera neuveljavljene države izvora. Rezultati kažejo različna modela učinkov (neuveljavljene) države izvora za anketirance z visoko in nizko stopnjo poznavanja Slovenije. Predstavljena raziskava potrjuje pomen čustev pri ocenjevanju podobe države izvora in prinaša svež pogled na proučevano tematiko. Ugotovitve so še posebej zanimive za slovenska podjetja, ki delujejo na tujih trgih.
ЕШ
AKADEMIJA
Vsem avtorjem se v imenu uredništva zahvaljujem za pripravljene prispevke. Prav tako se zahvaljujem recenzentom, ki so s svojimi predlogi in komentarji avtorjem pomagali izboljšati prispevke. Hvala tudi vsem vam, ki berete revijo Akademijo MM. Želim vam zanimivo in koristno branje!
Doc. dr. Mateja Bodlaj
AKADEMIJA
Ш1
AKADEMIJA
DIGITALNE VSEBINE TRŽNIH ZNAMK IN PARTICIPACIJA PORABNIKOV
Sara Stojanovski, univ. dipl. trž. kom. sara.stojanovski@parsek.com
izr. prof. dr. Urša Golob
Fakulteta za družbene vede Univerza v Ljubljani ursa.golob@fdv.uni-lj.si
Izvirni znanstveni članek Original Scientific Paper
Povzetek: Digitalne vsebine tržnih znamk se v stroki vse bolj uveljavljajo kot eden izmed pomembnejših trendov in so odgovor na spremenjeno medijsko okolje. V tem okolju se spreminja tudi vloga porabnikov, ki se iz pasivnih spreminjajo v aktivne. K aktivnosti porabnikov sodi tudi koncept participacije. Namen prispevka je bil ugotoviti, kateri tipi digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk participacijo bolj ali manj spodbujajo. To smo raziskali s primerjavo lastnih digitalnih vsebin z vsebinami, kjer je potreben zakup prostora oz. s spletnim oglaševanjem. Preverili smo predpostavko, da je spletno oglaševanje v novem medijskem okolju vse manj učinkovito. Pri tem smo za metodo uporabili študijo primera; analizirali smo kampanjo digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk. Ugotovitve analize so pokazale, da digitalne vsebine v praksi dobivajo vedno večji pomen, vendar same po sebi niso zadostne. V skladu s teorijo o konvergenci medijev je za uspeh še zmeraj ključna kombinacija plačanih, lastnih in prisluženih medijev.
Ključne besede: digitalna vsebina tržnih znamk, vsebinski marketing, participacija porabnikov, spletno oglaševanje, konvergenca medijev
DIGITAL BRANDED CONTENT AND CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Abstract: Digital branded content as means of communication is considered to be one of the key marketing trends in the changing media environment. The role of consumers is also changing - they are no longer just passive receivers but rather engaging participants. A concept of consumer engagement is therefore an integral part of transformation associated with new media. The aim of this paper is to recognize which types of digital branded content encourage engagement on a higher/lower level by comparing owned, earned, and paid media. We argue that paid media is becoming less and less effective compared to the other two. Our research
is based on a case study analysis of a digital branded content campaign. Our analysis indicates that digital content is becoming increasingly important but may still not be enough for a successful campaign. Informed by the theory of media convergence the practice shows that the combination of paid, owned, and earned media remains a critical success factor for an online communication strategy.
Keywords: digital branded content, content marketing, consumer engagement, online advertising, media convergence
1. UVOD
Porabniki se v razdrobljenem medijskem okolju srečujejo s številnimi tržno-komunikacijskimi dražljaji, zato je njihova pozornost močno selektivna. To velja tudi za spletne in digitalne oblike tržnega komuniciranja, kar krepi dvom o uspešnosti in učinkovitosti tradicionalnega spletnega oglaševanja za doseganje tržno-komunikacijskih ciljev. Oglaševanje s pasicami ne izkorišča polnega potenciala novih medijev, ki med drugim obsega personalizacijo sporočil, ciljano komuniciranje, dialog in participacijo porabnikov. Slednja postaja ena izmed glavnih komponent digitalnih kampanj, saj pomeni pomemben korak pri vzpostavljanju dolgoročnih odnosov s porabniki in izkoriščanju njihovega vseživljenjskega potenciala za podjetje.
V digitalnem okolju se uveljavljajo inovativni načini komuniciranja in vzpostavljanja odnosov s porabniki. Eden izmed takšnih pristopov so t. i. digitalne vsebine tržnih znamk, ki za razliko od oglaševanja ne zahtevajo medijskega zakupa in podjetje o njih lahko komunicira tudi prek lastnih kanalov. Raziskovali smo, ali so relevantne in kakovostne vsebine tržnih znamk lahko odgovor na to, kako doseči porabnika. Pri tem izhajamo iz ugotovitev Yadava in Pavloua (2013), ki pravita, da je z razvojem novih medijev marketing pred izzivom, kako na novo osmisliti tipologije odnosov med podjetjem in porabnikom in kako razumeti nove oblike vedenj porabnikov. S prispevkom želimo pokazati, da je za doseganje komunikacijskih in posledično prodajnih ciljev danes treba spremeniti promocijsko-prodajno razmišljanje ter se osredotočiti na zadovoljevanje širših informacijskih in družbenih potreb porabnika. Pri tem je pomembno »ujemanje« med informacijskimi potrebami porabnika in različnimi konteksti, povezanimi s tržno znamko (Yadav in Pavlou, 2013).
Eden od ciljev tega prispevka je tudi obogatiti slovensko marketinško literaturo o digitalnih vsebinah tržnih znamk in participaciji porabnikov. S podrobnim pregledom in sintezo relevantnih teoretskih izhodišč želimo predstaviti celosten pogled na to, kako so novi mediji preobrazili način uporabe digitalnih vsebin na strani tržnih znamk in na strani porabnikov. Del te preobrazbe je povečana participacija porabnikov. Naš prispevek je povezan z raziskovanjem razlogov za participacijo in ugotavljanjem, kateri tipi digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk jo bolj ali manj spodbujajo. To primerjamo s plačanim spletnim oglaševanjem, ki v novem medijskem okolju izgublja svojo učinkovitost. V empiričnem delu prispevka skušamo to dodatno osvetliti z odgovori na sledeči raziskovalni vprašanji:
RV1: Kako uspešni so lastni mediji pri generiranju obiska v primerjavi s plačanimi?
RV2: Kakšna je hierarhija konverzij participativ-nih vedenj in kako je povezana s tipom digitalne vsebine?
Prispevek je razdeljen na dva dela. V prvem delu skozi pregled relevantne literature obravnavamo pojme, ki so pomembni za naše raziskovanje in za oblikovanje raziskovalnih vprašanj, v drugem pa na vprašanja odgovarjamo ob pomoči podatkov, zbranih in analiziranih po metodologiji študije primera.
2. DIGITALNE VSEBINE TRŽNIH ZNAMK KOT DEL TRŽNEGA KOMUNICIRANJA
Izraz digitalne vsebine se pogosto uporablja v kontekstu, v katerem tradicionalni mediji, kot sta televizija in tisk, svoje vsebine (npr. TV oddaja ali tiskana izdaja časopisa) digitalizirajo in prilagodijo za internetno ciljno skupino. V našem prispevku se bomo posvetili izključno vsebini tržnih znamk. Pri razumevanju, kaj pomenijo digitalne vsebine tržnih znamk, bomo uporabili definicijo Vincenzinija (2011), ki najbolje opredeli želeno področje raziskovanja in pravi, da je digitalna vsebina vse, kar se lahko objavi na internetu. Znotraj tega lahko govorimo o različnih vsebinah; od člankov, slik, blogov, iger, e-knjig, aplikacij, infografik pa do tvitov in Facebook statusov, ki imajo izobraževalno ali zabavno komponento. Ker je Vincenzinijeva (2011) definicija za namen tega prispevka preširoka, bomo digitalne vsebine omejili zgolj na tiste, ki jih tržne znamke objavljajo na svojih lastnih kanalih (izvzeto je torej oglaševanje in plačane/neplačane objave v medijih).
Za pomoč pri izbiri ustreznih primerov v empiričnem delu prispevka smo se oprli tudi na dve definiciji vsebinskega marketinga, koncepta, ki ga je populariziral Joe Pulizzi (Pulizzi in Barrett, 2009) in je tesno povezan z digitalnimi vsebinami tržnih znamk. Pri tem smo sicer do izraza »vsebinski marketing« zavzeli nekoliko kritično stališče; upoštevali smo, da z digitalnimi vsebinami primarno dosegamo predvsem cilje, povezane z znamčenjem in doseganjem komunikacijskih učinkov, kar digitalne vsebine uvršča v tržno komuniciranje. Marketing namreč razumemo mnogo širše - kot koncept, ki govori o vzpostavljanju menjalnih odnosov s porabniki, ki ne poteka le na komunikacijski ravni, niti ni omejen le na platformo novih medijev.
»Vsebinski marketing ... je nova valuta, ki žene opolnomočene porabnike k soustvarjanju bla-
govne znamke. Gre za deljenje informacij, namesto promocije izdelkov. Dobra vsebina pomaga tržnikom, da dosežejo in vključijo porabnike v vseh stopnjah nakupnega procesa, pa naj bo ta vsebina uporaben video, infografika ali skrbno napisan blog. Gre za grajenje učinkovite vsebine blagovne znamke s pripovedovanjem zgodb.« (American Marketing Assocciation, 2013)
»Vsebinski marketing je marketinška tehnika za ustvarjanje in distribucijo relevantne in kakovostne vsebine z namenom, da privabimo, pridobimo in spodbudimo participacijo ciljne skupine, ki smo jo točno definirali ter jo dobro razumemo, s ključnim ciljem dobičkonosne reakcije porabnika. Vsebinski marketing je v svojem bistvu umetnost komuniciranja z obstoječimi in potencialnimi strankami brez elementa prodaje. Je marketing, ki ni moteč za porabnika.« (Content Marketing Institute, 2013)
Glavni razlog za vse večji pomen digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk je pojav nove veje svetovnega spleta, ki jo literatura opisuje z izrazi Splet 2.0, semantični splet ali družbena omrežja (Constanti-nides, 2008). V nadaljevanju bomo za opisovanje značilnosti Spleta 2.0 uporabili izraz novi mediji, ki poudarja predvsem njihov potencial za partici-pativna vedenja porabnikov v smislu ustvarjanja vsebin (Hennig-Thurau in drugi, 2010).
Hennig-Thurau in drugi (2010: 312) ugotavljajo, da »zaradi digitalnega značaja novih medijev tako rekoč ni marginalnih stroškov za produkcijo dodatnih kopij digitalnih vsebin, kar omogoča distribucijo na globalni ravni, pri čemer ni več potrebno posredništvo založnikov«. Vsakdo z internetno povezavo lahko dandanes napiše objavo na blogu, oceno izdelka, poroča o dogodkih ali deli vsebino o tržni znamki. Z vidika podjetij to pomeni, da pri distribuciji vsebin tako rekoč nimajo več ovir, zato postajajo vse bolj podobni založnikom, kar pomeni, da morajo sami skrbeti za to, da zagotavljajo vsebine, s katerimi zadovoljujejo želje porabnikov, bodisi po informacijah, zabavi ali druženju.
Ovire ustvarjanja vsebin so odpravljene tudi za porabnike, ki v novem medijskem okolju niso več pasivni prejemniki množičnih oglaševalskih sporočil (npr. van Doorn in drugi, 2010). Porabniki postajajo čedalje bolj individualistični in dobro informirani (Constantinides, 2008). Neprestano spremljajo aktivnosti tržnih znamk in ustvarjajo pogovore o njih, podjetja pa spodbujajo dialog z njimi. Učinek »paralelnih medijskih kanalov«, kot so blogi, forumi ipd., je, da so porabniki zaradi svoje večje informiranosti dobili pogajalsko moč in priložnost, da so slišani (Constantinides, 2008: 216).
Porabniki so tisti, ki nadzirajo interakcijo s tržno znamko in ne potrebujejo več tradicionalnega oglaševanja v svojem dinamičnem nakupnem procesu (Yadav in Pavlou, 2013). Raziskave so pokazale, da so porabniki v nakupnem procesu lahko izpostavljeni kar 75 digitalnim različicam: 5 virom informacij x 3 tipom medijev x 5 različnim napravam (Lieb in Owyang, 2012). Ustvarjalci vsebine se morajo za doseganje poslovnih in komunikacijskih ciljev zato z novimi poslovnimi modeli prilagoditi kompleksnemu in razpršenemu medijskemu okolju ter se soočiti z izzivom, da ne morejo več nadzorovati vseh virov informacij o svoji tržni znamki (Schneider, 2015).
3. SPLETNO OGLAŠEVANJE IN DIGITALNE VSEBINE
Klasično oglaševanje v zasičenem digitalnem prostoru je vse manj učinkovito. Kar »95 odstotkov oglaševalske vsebine porabniki ne opazijo, ker vsak mesec ustvarimo tolikšno količino vsebine, kot smo jo ustvarili v prvih 2.000 letih civilizirane družbe« (Sacks, 2013: 42). Oglaševanje razumemo v klasičnem pomenu besede - plačana oblika sporočanja s strani vira, ki je jasno identificiran (Golob, 2013).
Čeprav je oblik oglaševanja v novih medijih veliko, v nadaljevanju na kratko obravnavamo tri ključne: oglaševanje s pasicami in ključnimi besedami ter oglaševanje na družbenih omrežjih. Raziskave o učinkovitosti teh oblik oglaševanja kažejo različne rezultate. Avtorji ugotavljajo, da so lahko posamezne oblike relativno učinkovite in uspešne, kriterij presoje pa je povezan s cilji kampanje spletnega oglaševanja. Oglaševanje s pasicami je, kljub svojim omejitvam, med katerimi je ključna ta, da jih porabniki v večini primerov prezrejo ali se jim izognejo in z njimi ne moremo doseči trajnejšega priklica znamke (Chang-Ho-an in Cheon, 2004; Dreze in Hussherr, 2003), še vedno relativno pogosto uporabljeno orodje (Nielsen, 2013). Namenjeno je predvsem generiranju obiska spletnega mesta, zato ima relativno omejen doseg, kar zadeva uspešnost komuniciranja vsebin o znamkah. Kljub temu pa nekatere študije kažejo, da so pasice lahko učinkovite pri znamčenju oziroma doseganju zavedanja o tržni znamki pod pogojem, da so oglasi kontekstualni in je njihova vsebina tesno povezana z vsebino spletnega mesta. Povezava namreč aktivira semantično omrežje uporabnika in ta postane bolj dovzeten za oglasno sporočilo (Becker-Olsen, 2013; Hervet in drugi, 2011).
Pri plačanem oglaševanju v iskalnikih gre za oglase, plačane na klik, ki prenašajo sporočila
porabnikom, ki iščejo specifično vsebino (Turnbull in Bright, 2008). Študije ugotavljajo, da je ta oblika le omejeno učinkovita in pogosto ne upraviči vloženih oglaševalskih sredstev, čeprav izboljša verjetnost, da bo oglasno sporočilo videno in spletno mesto bolj obiskano. Ključne pomanjkljivosti te oblike oglaševanja so, da so obiski spletnih mest prek oglasov na klik manj kakovostni, uporabniki mesto praviloma hitro zapustijo, oglasi pa nimajo zadostne informacijske ali prepričevalne vrednosti, saj uporabniki nimajo preference do tega, kako so prišli do vsebine na spletnem mestu - ali prek organsko generirane-ga rezultata ali prek oglasa (Gonzales in drugi, 2013). Za ponudnike, ki so sicer že zelo prisotni v novih medijih, to pomeni, da so tovrstni oglasi neučinkoviti, saj bi bili pri iskanju povezanih ključnih besed tako ali tako prikazani med prvimi rezultati (Blake in drugi, 2012).
Nekoliko bolj učinkovito in uspešno naj bi bilo oglaševanje na družbenih omrežjih, še posebej na Facebooku, kjer se uspešnost ne odraža le v kratkoročno višjih stopnjah klikov, temveč na daljši rok tudi v povečani nakupni nameri. Kar 70 odstotkov kampanj tržnih znamk naj bi preseglo donosnost naložbe v oglaševanje na družbenih medijih za vsaj trikratno vrednost (Stampler, 2012).
Učinkovitost in uspešnost posamezne oblike spletnega oglaševanja sta torej odvisni predvsem od ciljev kampanje. Če je cilj zavedanje o tržni znamki in generiranje obiska, so oglasne pasice primerno orodje, medtem ko so pri doseganju participacije porabnikov lahko veliko bolj uspešne druge, alternativne oblike komuniciranja, ki pa po svoji definiciji ne sodijo več v sklop plačanih oblik komuniciranja s porabniki (Golob, 2013).
Digitalne vsebine, ki jih oglaševalci vključujejo v komuniciranje o tržnih znamkah onkraj oglaševanja v klasičnem pomenu besede, omogočajo doseganje porabnikov na drugačen način: vsebina postane del tega, kar porabniki želijo gledati in prebirati, o čemer želijo govoriti, namesto da bi bila pri konzumiranju vsebin v digitalnem okolju zaznana kot moteči dejavnik. Proces doseganja porabnikov tako postane organski in ne vsiljen; z ustreznim ravnovesjem med prisotnostjo znamke v digitalnem okolju in integriteto vsebine (Bowman, 2012).
Z vzponom novih medijev se meje med posameznimi elementi tržno-komunikacijskega spleta brišejo. Za razlago tega pojava lahko uporabimo koncept konvergence medijev, ki v svoji izvirni različici pomeni prepletanje ter stapljanje tradicionalnih medijev (televizija, tisk, radio) z novimi
digitalnimi mediji (Narang, 2012!). Lieb in Owyang (2012) konvergenco rriedijev aplicirata v digitalno okolje in pravita, da je za optimalno komuniciranje tržnih znamkv novem medijskem ekosistemu treba kombinirati rivai ali več kana lov plačnih, lastnih ali prisluženih medijev. Slika 1 pr/ kazuje prepletenost treh glavnih skupin medijev in hibridne oblike, ki nastajajo na njihovih presečiščih.
Slika 1: Konvergenca plačanih, lastnih in prisluženih medijev.
Vir: Lieb in Owyang (2012: 5)
Pri integraciji vsebin tržne znamke v vseh zgoraj opredeljenih tipih medijev je pomembno, da imajo te konsistentno zgodbo in celostno podobo. Delovati morajo enotno z namenom, da porabniku omogočijo točno tisto vsebino, ki si jo želi, kjer si jo želi in kadar si jo želi. Pri tem pa ni pomembno, kateri kanal, medij ali naprava je bila za doseganje tega cilja uporabljena (Lieb in Owyang, 2012), saj, kot pravi Kim (2013), se v novem medijskem okolju posamezni elementi komunikacijskega spleta konsolidirajo, prav z namenom, da bi tržne znamke povezali s porabniki.
4. SPLETNA PARTICIPACIJA PORABNIKOV
Participacija porabnikov (ang.: consumer/customer engagement) ima v današnjem dinamičnem in interaktivnem poslovnem okolju pomembno vlogo. Tudi v marketinški literaturi v zadnjih letih opažamo zanimanje za raziskovanje participacije porabnikov, njihove motivacije in vrednosti, ki jo prinaša za podjetja (Brodie in drugi, 2011). Koncept participacije porabnikov je še posebej pomemben v novih medijih in se tesno povezuje z digitalno vsebino tržnih znamk, katere namen je spodbujati participacijo, ki se ne odvija le v
nakupnih fazah, ko porabnik ocenjuje potencialne znamke, te mveč zlasti v fazah, ko je določeno znamko že kupil in se želi z njo še tesneje povezati prek interakcije z digitalnimi vsebinami znamke (Edelman, 2010).
Participacijo van Doorn in drugi (2010: 253) opredelijo kot »porabnikove manifestacije vedenj do tržne znamke ali podjetja onkraj nakupa, ki jih sprožijo določeni motivacijski dejavniki /.../ vključujejo pogovore, priporočila, pomoč drugim uporabnikom, pisanje blogov, oc ene izdelkov/ storitev ali celo participacijo v pravnih aktivnostih«. Porabniki so postali aktivni in se pojavljajo tudi v vlogi ustvarjalcev in distributerjev vsebine v omrežju drugih porabnikov (Hennig-Thurau in drugi, 2010).
V svojo razlago participacije porabnikov Vi-vek, Beatty in Morgan (v Brodie in drugi, 2011) vključijo še akterja iniciacije želenega dejanja in participacijo opredelijo kot intenzivnost posameznikove vpletenosti in povezave s ponudbami ter aktivnostmi organizacije, ki jo je spodbudil bodisi porabnik sam ali organizacija. V tem primeru so motivacijski dejavniki povezani s komunicirano vsebino tržne znamke, ki načrtovano ali nenačrtovano sproži participacijo. Ta opredelitev je pomembna za namen našega raziskovanja, ker predpostavlja, da je participacija odziv na komu-nicirano vse bino tržnih znamk. Pokazati želimo namreč, da je participacijo porabnikov moč doseči s skrbno zasnovanimi kampanjami, kjer so v ospredju kakovostna vsebina in mehanizmi, ki takšno vedenje omogočajo.
Participacijo porabnikov lahko razumemo tudi kot del ustvarjanja in poglabljanja odnosov z porabniki, pri čemer je cilj za podjetje doseganje boljših poslovnih rezultatov in znamčenje (Brodie in drugi, 2013). Kumar in drugi (2010) vrednost porabnikove participacije razdelajo v štiri komponente. Prva je življenjska vrednost kupca (njegovo nakupno vedenje), druga je vrednost priporočil (motivacija za priporočila novim porabnikom), tretja je vrednost vpliva (vpliv na druge porabnike, ki se odraža v pridobivanju/ohranjanju strank, deležu in vplivu pogovorov na prodajo), četrta pa je vrednost znanja porabnika (vrednost povratnih informacij).
Na participacijo in njeno vrednost pa moramo gledati tudi z vidika porabnika. Avtorji ugotavljajo, da so za porabnika pomembne predvsem tri skupine dejavnikov: dejavniki, povezani s tržno znamko (simbolni pomen znamke in identifikacija porabnika z znamko), družbeni dejavniki (podpora, ki jo porabniku pri nakupnih odločitvah nudijo spletne skupnosti in povezovanje z drugimi porabniki) in funkcionalni dejavniki, ki so poveza-
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ni s kakovostjo vsebine, lahko pa tudi s finančno vrednostjo, npr., v primeru programov zvestobe ali spletnih nagradnih iger (Kim in drugi, 2013; Van Doorn in drugi, 2013; Wirtz in drugi, 2013). Participacija je torej vedno povezana tudi z ustvarjanjem vrednosti za porabnika. Če vrednosti ne zaznajo, je to lahko razlog za neuspeh pri spodbujanju participacije. Digitalne kampanje, pri katerih porabnik ne zazna vrednosti, so namreč obsojene na pasivno sprejemanje vsebine (van Doorn in drugi, 2010). Pomembno je prepoznati in upoštevati dejavnike motivacije, ki ženejo porabnike k participaciji in odkriti, kateri izmed njih so najučinkovitejši za doseganje ciljev.
Van Doorn in drugi (2010) ugotavljajo, da je participacija lahko samoiniciativen izraz splošnega mnenja o aktivnostih tržne znamke v virtualnem ali fizičnem okolju, ki je lahko pozitivno ali negativno (npr. ocena izdelka, kritika nakupne izkušnje ipd.), ali pa je povezana z neposrednimi pozivi tržne znamke (ang., »call-to-action«). Participacija je tako lahko organska ali pa spodbujena s strani tržne znamke. Organsko participacijo oz. pogovore je bilo pred pojavom novih medijev zelo težko spremljati in nadzorovati, danes pa imajo pri tem tržne znamke večji vpliv, začenši z razvojem in uporabo spletnih platform, ki dajejo njihovim porabnikom možnost, da izrazijo svoja mnenja, ideje, pohvale in skrbi, neposredno podjetju ali pa v skupnosti uporabnikov (van Doorn in drugi, 2010). Poleg tega pa morajo biti tržne znamke aktivni udeleženci svojih spletnih skupnosti, tako da prisluhnejo uporabnikom in »participirajo v njihovi participaciji«, kot ugotavljajo Brodie in drugi (2013: 112).
Njihove vsebine morajo biti zaznane kot nekomercialne in objektivne ter uporabnike izobraževati, spodbujati deljenje in omogočati soustvarjanje vrednosti. Walpert Levyjeva (2013) je mnenja, da ima premišljena, uporabna in zanimiva vsebina tržnih znamk priložnost, da doda smisel vsakodnevnemu (porabniškemu) življenju ljudi, kar je z oglaševanjem mnogo težje doseči.
Nakazali smo na pomen usmerjenosti spletnih aktivnosti tržnih znamk k doseganju participacije, vendar pa se mnoga podjetja soočajo z vprašanjem, kako to ovrednotiti in izmeriti. Merjenje participacije je eden ključnih izzivov pri vrednotenju digitalnih kampanj in posledično se v literaturi pojavljajo različni modeli ter usmeritve, katere metrike uporabiti za vrednotenje participacije porabnikov. V nadaljevanju bomo podrobneje predstavili dva modela merjenja participacije (Li, 2011; Rotman Epps in drugi, 2009), ki ju bomo v empiričnem delu prispevka v prilagojeni obliki uporabili za vrednotenje participacije na primeru izbrane digitalne kampanje.
Prvi model, prikazan na Sliki 2, je piramida participacije v družbenih medijih (Li, 2011), ki hierarhično predstavlja pet ravni vedenja ljudi, glede na stopnjo angažiranosti. Na najnižji stopnji piramide je največji delež ljudi, ki participirajo prek prebiranja blogov, ogledovanja video posnetkov in slik, spremljanja statusov in komentarjev drugih ljudi. Naslednja stopnja je deljenje vsebine, pri čemer pa gre za več kot le klik na gumb, saj porabniki ne delijo zgolj vsebine, temveč tudi čustveni odziv, ki ga ta ustvarja (Walpert Levy, 2013). Soustvarjanju vrednosti tržne znamke se porabniki še bolj približajo s tem, ko svoje mnenje izrazijo v obliki komentarja na vsebino/izdelek. Zadnji dve stopnji piramide sodita v sklop visoke participacije porabnikov, saj ustvarjanje in objava vsebine, kot so lastni blogi, posnetki ali fotografije, od porabnikov zahteva precej truda in motivacije, ki ju preseže samo še upravljanje oz. moderiranje spletne skupnosti (primer privržencev tržne znamke).
Slika 2: Piramida participacije v družbenih medijih.
Sf
Ustvarjanje vsebino
Komentiranje vsebine
л ...................Ж
Deđjenje vsebine Spremljanje vsebine
Vir: Li (2011: 34)
Kot drugi model, ki Ido služil kot teoretska os nova za merjenje uspešnosti spletnih kampar^ pa smo izbrali štiristopenjski model merjenja participacije, lei vključuje nasled nje klju čne kom pon ente: vključenost, interakcija, intimnost in vplivanje (Rotman Epps in drugi, 2009). Model predvideva združevanje podatkov s spleta in zunaj njega ter kombinacijo kvalitativnih in kvantitativnih metod. Komponente participacije, metrike in predlagani načini merjenja so podrobneje prikazani v Sliki 3.
5. VLOGA DIGITALNIH VSEBIN PRI USPEŠNOSTI ZNAMKE: ŠTUDIJA PRIMERA
V tem delu prispevka prikazujemo poskus analize vloge digitalnih vsebin tržne znamke pri spodbujanju participacije porabnikov in ovrednotenja participacije. Za primer smo izbrali svetovno znano tržno znamko, ki je del izdelčnega portfelja podjetja, vodilnega na trgu medicinske in
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Ш1
Slika 3: Štiri komponente participacije porabnika.
Vir: Rotman Epps in drugi (20053: 6)
dermatološke kozmetike. Strategija njihovega spletnega komuniciranja temelji na uravnoteženju informacij o izdelkih z dermatološkimi vsebinami in izkoriščanju potenciala novih medijev za neposredno komuniciranje s porabniki.
Ciljna skupina obravnavanega spletnega portala so mladi, stari od 16 do 24 let, s problematično kožo. To so mladi, ki sodijo v t. i. generacijo Z, oz. so pripadniki iGeneracije, ki jo je možno uspešno in učinkovito nagovarjati predvsem prek novih medijev. Zahtevajo, da so informacije prilagojene njim, »on-demand«, bolj kot avtoritetam zaupajo nasvetu prijateljev in tujcev ter informacije o tržnih znamkah pred nakupom najpogosteje iščejo prek družbenih medijev (Schneider, 2015).
Izbrana tržna znamka se je z izbiro digitalne strategije, ki temelji predvsem na vsebini, želela uveljaviti kot pomemben in kredibilen vir informacij o problematiki nepravilnosti na koži in s ciljno skupino vzpostaviti bolj oseben, dolgoročen odnos. Odgovor na to je bila spletna rešitev z uporabniško izkušnjo in vsebinami, ki so v celoti prilagojene ciljni skupini. Za večjo podporo pri odločanju v nakupnem procesu so bile vključene vsebine ustvarjene s strani strokovne javnosti dermatologov in izkušnje drugih porabnikov v funkciji družbene podpore. Za ohranjanje obstoječih porabnikov in spodbujanje ponovnega obiska/nakupa je bil oblikovan tudi program zvestobe. Participacija v programu je potekala na različnih ravneh, in sicer v obliki oddaje izkušnje, povabil prijateljev, reševanja ankete ali vpisa promocijskih kod z izdelkov. Ponovni obisk in sodelovanje v programu je tržna znamka spod-
bujala tudi prek avtomatizacije, na način, da so člane z e-obvestili opominjali na ključne mejnike v programu in jih pozivali k participaciji.
5.1. METODOLOGIJA
Naš empirični del temelji na študiji primera, ki nam je kot okvir za raziskovanje omogočila zadosten vpogled v dinamiko in kontekst vprašanj, povezanih z digitalnimi vsebinami in participacijo porabnikov. Pri tem smo analizirali procese z deskriptivnim pristopom, ki je eden od načinov analize v evalvacijskem raziskovanju. Izhodišča, ki smo jih oblikovali s pregledom literature, smo želeli preveriti tako, da smo v podatkih iskali indikativne vzorce, ki bi nam pomagali oblikovati odgovore na zastavljena raziskovalna vprašanja (Yin, 2003).
V študiji primera smo izbrali eno enoto oz. primer analize, in sicer kampanjo z digitalnimi vsebinami tržnih znamk. Ker smo v analizi primerjali vse vsebine oz. medije, ki so bili uporabljeni v kampanji, gre za holistično analizo primera (Yin, 2003). V okviru analize smo uporabili dve po-denoti, ki predstavljata dva trga: slovenskega in hrvaškega. Uporabili smo ju za primerjavo in doseganje večje veljavnosti. V diskusiji je sicer v ospredju slovenski trg, medtem ko hrvaški služi za primerjavo.
Podatke smo zbrali iz več različnih virov. Uporabili smo podatke iz: Google Analytics, Fa-cebook Insights, baze podatkov uporabnikov tržne znamke in sistema za pošiljanje e-poštnih sporočil. Podatke smo analizirali kvantitativno na deskriptivni ravni.
Tabela 1: Umestitev proučevanih komunikacijskih aktivnosti podjetja v lastne, plačane in hibridne medije.
Komunikacija v lastnih medijih	Hibridna komunikacija v lastnih in plačanih medijih	Komunikacija v plačanih medijih
Spletno mesto: ■	vsebine ■	uporabniška izkušnja ■	program zvestobe ■	igre	Facebook sponzorirane objave	Oglasne pasice na spletnih portalih
Neplačane objave podjetja na družbenih omrežjih		Kontekstualno oglaševanje
E-poštni marketing		Oglaševanje s ključnimi besedami
5.2. ANALIZA PODATKOV
Na prvo raziskovalno vprašanje, ali so digitalne vsebine, ki pridobivajo doseg prek organskih iskanj, družbenih omrežij in e-sporočil, uspešnejše od spletnega oglaševanja, smo poskusili odgovoriti na podlagi statistik o obisku strani in vrednotenju kakovosti obiskovalcev, ki v stik z vsebino pridejo prek spletnih oglasov in drugih kanalov. Pri tem smo razločevali med uspešnostjo posameznih oblik oglaševanja, kot so pasice na portalih, kontekstualno oglaševanje, Facebook oglaševanje in Google oglaševanje s ključnimi besedami, kjer je to bilo mogoče. Tabela 1 prikazuje umestitev proučevanih komunikacijskih aktivnosti v lastne, plačane in hibridne medije. Prisluženi mediji so pri tem sklopu izvzeti, saj se osredoto-čamo na vsebino, ustvarjeno na strani podjetja.
Za odgovore na drugo raziskovalno vprašanje smo se opirali na predhodno predstavljene teoretske modele. Kot osnovo za analizo smo na podlagi dveh modelov participacije, (Li, 2011; Rotman Epps in drugi, 2009) zasnovali prilagojen model. Gre za piramidni model, ki hierarhično prikazuje stopnje participacije (glej Sliko 4). Predvideva, da je umestitev posameznega vedenja na določeno stopnjo odvisna od specifične vsebine/ dražljaja tržne znamke.
Tabela 2: Kriteriji za ovrednotenje stopnje spremljanja participacije porabnikov.
Stopnja spremljanja	Kriterij
Pasivno spremljanje vsebine	Porabnik je izrazil določeno mero interesa do vsebine. Njegova motivacija za spremljanje je ali hedonistična (zabava) ali funkcionalna (informiranje).
Interakcija z vsebino	Porabnik je z določenim dejanjem izrazil svoj odnos do vsebine tržne znamke, podporo ali željo po nadaljnjem odnosu. Motivacija je lahko zelo različna, vse od identifikacije s tržno znamko, zadovoljevanja utilitarnih potreb, hedonističnih potreb do finančnih prednosti.
Priporočilo vsebine	Porabnik je odnos do vsebine izrazil s priporočilom drugim uporabnikom. Motivacija je podobna kot pri prejšnji ravni, le da je tu še bolj izrazita družbena funkcija kot tudi skladnost vrednot tržne znamke z vrednotami porabnika.
Kreativno ustvarjanje vsebine	Porabnik se je odzval na poziv za soustvarjanje vrednosti tržne znamke, pri čemer je identifikacija s tržno znamko visoka in participacija zahteva določeno mero vloženega truda.
Slika 4: Štiristopenjski model participacije porabnikov tržne znamke.
Posamezna participativna vedenja porabnikov, ki so baili v interakciji z vsebino izbranih digitalnih kampanjtržne znamke, smo poskusili smiselno umestiti v zgornji model. Model predpostavlja, da vedenja na vrhu piramide, ki se običajno odražajo v soustvarjanju porabnikov, za podjetje prinašajo višjo vrednost, saj dopolnjujejo in potrjujejo komu-nicirane vsebine ter s tem vplivajo na pridobivanje novih in ohranjanje obstoječih porabnikov. Kriteriji za umestitev različnih participativnih vedenj porabnikov tržne znamke so predstavljeni v Tabeli 2.
Slika 5: Uporabljene metrike - pasivno sprejemanje vsebin1.
A
Kreativno ustvarjanje vsebina
i	Priporočilo vsebine
A	Interakcija z vsebino
Л	Pasivno spremljanje
Л	vsebine ^
metrika	slo	hr
SI га г i/obisk	2,7	3,1
Čas trajanja obiska	2:31	2:59
Stopnja zapustitve strani	55,35%	51,85%
CTR (e-pošta)	13,39%	17,42%
CTR (pasice in druž,omrežja)	0,03%	0,04%
CTR sponzorirane objave FB	0,8%	0.6%
CTR (Google oglasi)	5,86%	5,41 %
Vir: Google Analytics; E-glasnik; interna gradiva tržne znamke (2013b>)
Podatkiv nadaljevanju bodo predstavljeni v obliki stopnje konverzij, ki smo jo izračunali kot razmerje med številom participativnih vedenj in dosegom v času pozivad Stopnje konverzij so bile zaradi primerljivosti podatkov vedno računane na podlagi časovnega obdobja, ko je bilo participacijo možno izvest i oziroma je b il poziv porabniku dostopen. Za spletni [portal je tez ad datuma lansiranja do časa analize, [diri posebnih kampanjah pa v času trajanja teh. Stopinje konverzij tako predstavljajo kviterij uspešnosti posameanih vsebin z vidika motivacije in percepcije prednosti participacije za porabnika. Višje stopnje konverzij pomenijo, da je bilo komuniciranje učinkovitejše in doseg ciljne skupine boljši.
5.3. REZULTATI ANALIZE KAMPANJE
V nadaljevanju so predstavljeni rezultati analize podatkov, s katerimi bomo poskušali odgovoriti na zastavljeni raziskovalni vprašanji. Rezultati so prikazani skozi stopnje, ki jih predpostavlja model za vrednotenje participacije porabnikov.
5.3.1. PRVA STOPNJA: PASIVNO SPREMLJANJE VSEBIN
Eden izmed ciljev obravnavanega spletnega portala je izobraževanje ciljne skupine in posredno večja kredibilnost izdelkov tržne znamke, kar je brez kvalitativnih metod sicer težko izmeriti. Kljub temu pa lahko kakovost obiskov poskusimo oceniti z metrikami, prikazanimi na Sliki 5.
Podatki o obisku spletne strani so iz časovnega
obdobja 1. 4. 2012-30. 6. 2013.
Povprečni CTR e-pošte je izračunan kot št. vseh klikov na
objekte/št. vseh dostavljenih sporočil.
CTR kontekstualnih oglasov in Facebook oglasov je
združen, ker ni dostopnih ločenih podatkov.
CTR sponzorirane objave je izračunan kot št. klikov na
povezavo na spletno stran/doseg.
CTR Google oglasov je izračunan kot št. klikov na
oglase s povezavo na spletno stran/št. prikazov.
Na pzvi stopnji, tj. na stopaji pasivnega spremljanja vsebin, ločimo med različnimi kazalniki, ki merijo uspešnost lastnih, plačanih in hnbridnüm medijev. Umestili smo jihv dva sklopa, pri čemer prvi odraža uspešnost vseh skupin medijev na ravni spletne strani in njene vse bine, drzgi pa odraža uspešnost »zunanje« komunikacije (npr. oglasa ali e-pošte).
5.3.1.1.	KAZALNIKI SPLETNE STRANI
Na ravni spletne strani merimo uspešnost z naslednjimi kazalniki: št. strani/obisk, čas trajanja obiska in stopinja zapustitve strani. Ti kazalniki nam povedo, kakšen potencial ima vsebina strani, da pritegne uporabnike k nadaljnjemu pregledovanju, na kar vplivajo dejavniki, kot so: razmerje med pričakovano in dejansko vrednostjo vsebine spletne strani, privlačnost dizajna, dobra uporabniška izkušnja (preprosta in jasna navigacija po strani, jasno izpostavljeni pozivi) idr. Obenem pa so uporabljeni za vrednotenje uspešnosti virov obiska (Google Analytics) prek plačanih medijev (spletno oglaševanje) v primerjavi z lastnimi mediji (e-pošta, vsebina spletnega mesta, družbena omrežja). Kar zadeva oglase, so bili najuspešnejši pri generiranju obiska Google tekstovni oglasi (Slovenija: 19,9 % in Hrvaška 24,6 % vseh obiskov) in Facebook oglasi (Slovenija: 19,4 % in Hrvaška: 12,2 % vseh obiskov). Plačane oblike komuniciranja so skupaj generirale precejšen del vseh obiskov (43 % v Sloveniji in 37 % na Hrvaškem).
5.3.1.2.	ZUNANJI KOMUNIKACIJSKI KAZALNIKI
Drugi sklop metrik na prvi stopnji modela so stopnje klikov (CTR), ki vrednotijo uspešnost posameznih komunikacijskih kanalov pri vzbujanju zanimanja (ko uporabnik želi izvedeti več in klikne na povezavo/oglas). Kot vidimo na Sliki 5, so najvišje stopnje klikov pri e-pošti, saj gre tu za skupino prejemnikov, ki so s tržno znamko že vzpostavili odnos in izkazali zanimanje za nadaljnjo interakcijo. Sledijo Google tekstovni oglasi,
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Slika 6: Uporabljene metrike - interakcija z vsebino2.
▲
Kreativno ustvarjanje	
vsebine	
A	Priporočilo vsebine
A	Interakcija z vsebino
M	Pasivno spremljanje
Л	vsebine ^
METRIKA	SLO	HR
Rešene ankete	1,46%	3,42%
Igranje spletne igre	16.95%	24,26%
VSečkanje na Facebooku	0,1%	0,3%
Komentiranje na Facebooku	0,034%	0,034%
Registracija v program zvestobe	5,5%	7,02%
Vpis promo kode	0,87%	1,20%
Povprečno št. vpisanih kod	2,07	2,14
Vir: Google Analytics; Facebook Insights, interna gradiva tržne znamke (2013b)
kjer gre prav tako za ciljano oglaševanjeglede na ključne besede, ki jih uporabnik išče. Pričakovano so najnižje stop nje kHkov pri s pletnih pasi-cah in družbenih omrežjih, o- doseganje žele nega števila klikov treba ogiase prikazovati množičnemu občinstvu. Nekoliko boljši so rezultati pri sponzoriranih zgodbah na Fapelaooka , kjerne -ae za klasičen oglas, temveč za hibaid med lastno in plačano vsebino (Lieb in Owyang, 20122). Kot že omenjeno, je pomeml-en predvsem prep let med lastnimi in plačanimi mediji - spletno oglaševanje je uspešno do Oe mero, da generira obisk spletne strani, ta pa mora izpolniti oglaševalsko obljubo z relevantno vsebino in vzdrževati nadaljnje odnose z obiskovalci spletne stani.2
5.3.2m DRUGASTOPNJA: INTERAKCIJA Z VSEBINO
Rezultate analize participacije na ravni interakcije z vsebinOj kjeo gre izključno za merjenje uspešnosti lastnih mecjijevl lahOo hiierarhično razvrstimo glede na stopnjo konverzije in ovrednotimo, katere vsebine so povezane z najvišjimi interakcijami.
Na Sliki 6 vidimo, da je bila najvišja stopnja konverzije pri igranju spletne igre, kjer so igrali ro najvišjimi rezultati osvojili nagrado v obliki izdel-
2 Konverzija izračunana kot št. rešenih anket/obisk stran i (3. 7. 2012 -21. 5. 2013). Konverzija izračunana kot št. igralcev/obisk strani (5. 11.-19. 11. 2012).
Konverzija izračunana kot št. všečkov objav/doseg objav s povezavo na spletno stran (1. 1. 2013-30. 6. 2013).
Konverzija izračunana kot št. komentarjev objav/ doseg objav s povezavo na spletno stran (1. 1. 2013- 30. 6. 2013).
Konverzija izračunana kot št. registracij/obisk strani (1. 4. 2012-30. 6. 2013). Konverzija izračunana kot št. uporabnikov, ki so vpisali vsaj eno kodo/obisk strani (1. 4. 2012-30. 6. 2013).
Povprečno št. kod je izračunano kot št. vpisanih kod/št. ljudi, ki so vpisali vsaj eno kodo (1. 4. 201230. 6. 2013).
kov tržne znamkek Skoraj 17" odstotkov uporabnikov v Sloveniji in 24 odstotkov na Hrvaškem, ki so obiskal- stran v čoer ^-o, je v igri tudi sodelovalo. Motivi za sodelovanj e so bili hedonistični (zabava) in utilitaoisrični (finančna korist), igra pa je od porabnika zahtevala malo vloženega truda, tako da je bila z vidika porabnika zaznana vre-dnosi participacije visoka. Z vidika podjetja pa je bil cilj pridobivanje kontaktov ter deljenje rezultatov igre prek doužbenega omrežja Facebook, kar je povečalo vrednost v t. i. prisluženih medijih. Facebook je bil zato v povprečju vir za več kot 24 odstotkov vseh ogledov strani s spletno igro.
Naslednja interakcija z vsebino, kjer je bila stopnja konverzije relativno visoka, je registracija v program zvestobe (5,5 % stopnja v Sloveniji in 7,02 ae na Hrvaškem). Ta vidik participacije je pomemben zavzpooiavitev odnosa s porabnikom, 0i se prek nadaljnjih korakov do nagrade samo še pogiablja. Največjo vrednost pa predstavljajo orebni podatki porabnika, kar podjetju omogoča nadaljnjo (vseživljenjsko) interakcijo z njim, vse do trenutka, ko ta ne prekine participacije v ob.iki odjave oz. izbrisa iz baze. V Sloveniji je vse siopnje participacije opravilo 3,9 odstotka vseh registrirani h uporabnikov, na Hrvaškem pa odstotek več. Koliko izmed vpisanih uporabnikov je zaključ.io posamezno fazo participacije v programu zvestobe, je prikazano na Sliki 7.
5.3.3. TRETJA STOPNJA: PRIPOROČILO VSEBINE
Na tej stopnji smo merili stopnje konverzij oddanih izkušenj, povabil prijateljev v program zvestobe in število deljenih objav na Facebooku. Pri tovrstni participaciji je pomembna vrednost priporočil novim porabnikom in vrednost vplivanja na nakupne odločitve obstoječih/novih porabnikov (Kumar in drugi, 2010). Kot vidimo na Sliki 8, je največ uporabnikov sodelovalo s povabilom prijatelja v program zvestobe, pri čemer so prek e-pošte povabili v povprečju sedem prijateljev.
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Slika 7: Participacija registriranih uporabnikov v programu zvestobe. SLOVENIJA	HRVAŠKA
POVABILO PRIJATELJA: 27,8%
REŠENA ANKETA: 38,0%
REŠENA ANKETA: 21,0%
POVABILO PRIJATELJA: 24,2%
VPIS PROMO KODE: 15,8%
VPIS PROMO KODE: 17,1%
ODDANA IZKUŠNJA: 5,8%
ODDANA IZKUŠNJA: 5,1%
ZBRANIH 10 TOČK: 3,9% Vir: Interno gradivo tržne znamke (2013b) Slika8: Uporabljene metrike - priporočilo vsebine3
ZBRANIH 10 TOČK: 4,9%
▲
Kreativno ustvarjanje vsebine
Priporočilo vsebine
Interakcija z vsebino
Pasivno spremljanje vsebine
METRIKA	SLO	HR
Oddana izkušnja	0,32%	0,36%
Povabilo prijatelja	1.53%	1,70%
Povprečno št povabil	5,9	
Deljenje na Facebooku	0,1%	0,3%
Vir: Google Analytics; Facebook Insights; Baza uporabnikov tržne znamke (2013)
P ri ana l i z i sto p nje konverz ije d e lj enja na družbenem omrežju Facebook so krni l i odstotki prič a kovano nizki, saj deljenje že predpostavlja relativno močno identifikacijo s t-žno znam ko in z vsebino objave. Deljenje je pogosto f funkciji izražanja vrednot ali izkazovanja simbolne vrednosti, kar
3 Konverzija izračunana kot št. oddanih izkušenj/ obisk strani (1. 4. 2012-30. 6. 2013). Konverzija izračunana kot št. ljudi, ki je povabilo prijatelja/obisk strani (1. 4. 2012-30.6. 2013). Povrrečno št. povabil je izračunano kot št. povabil/št. ljudi, ki so povabili prijatelja (1. 4. 2012-30. 6. 2013). Konrerzija izračunana kot šU.deljenih objav/doseg objnv s povezavo na spletni strani (1. 1. 2013-30. 6. 2013).
je v primeru naše tržne znamke še posebej težko doseči, saj se ciljna skupina, ki imajo večje težave s kožo, pogosto počuti stigmatizirana.
5.3.4. ČETRTA STOPNJA: KREATIVNO USTVARJANJE VSEBIN E
IN a zadnji stopnji gre za soustvarjanje s porabnikom - tržna znamka komunicira prek različnih digitalnih kanalov z namenom ustvarjanja tesnejših odnosov s svojimi najbolj lojalnimi porabniki, hkrati na jik želi izkoristiti knot preoašalce priporočil novim porabnikom. Onalizirali smo dve parti-cipativni vedenji, prikazani v Sliki 9, pri čemer bi
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Slika 9: Uporabljene metrike - kreativno ustvarjanje vsebine1.
Vir: Google Analytics; interna gradiva tržne znamke (2013b).
lahko oddajo videoposnetka z izkušnjo uporabnika umestili tudi na prejšnjo stopnjo, vendar smo jo zakadi specifi Ine poim era (družbena stigmp)in potrebnkga vložka zp kakovostno opravljen izziv, umestili na najvišjo stopnjo.4
V času trajanja nagradnega izziva je svojo smešno/neprijetno prigodo povezano z nepravilnostmi rici koži poslalo 6,77 odstotka vseh obiskovalcev strani v Sloveniji in 3,54 odstotka na Hrvaškem. Stopnje konverzije so bile za najvišjo stopnjo participacije, kjer porabniki delijo zgodbe iz svojega zasebnega življenja, precej visoke, vendar jih lahko delno pojasnimo tudi n močno spodbodoza osvojitev nagrade. Vrednost za podjetje pri tovrstni participaciji je ustvarjanje pozitivnih asociacij o tržni zaamkii
Nateeaj oddaje video aosnetkov z oseb/imi izkušnjami porabnikov/ je bil iniciran prek e-poštne-ga sporočila, poslanega (nesegmentirani) bazi uporabnikov. Elektronsko sporo čilo jih je pozivalo, naj posnamejo eideo o svoji zgodbi s tržno znamko in o njenem vplivu na njihovo živ|enje. Stapnja konverzije je bila izjemno nizka, saj je v obeh državah nastal samo en posnetek, ki pa s kvalitativnega vidika oa tržnoznamko ni bi1 zanemarljiv. Šio je namreč za vsebinski presežek pričakovanj natečaja v obliki prispevka porabnice, Ir1 je ustrarila emocionalno videoreportažo, kako ji je tržna znamka v zadnjih petih letih izboljšala življenje in povrnila samozavest. Posnetek ambasadorke tržne znamke je bil po zaključku natečaja opremljen s podnapisi za deljenje na mednarodni ravni in je bil v regiji uporabljen kot osrednji element za promocijo izdelkov tržne znamke ter pridobivanje podobnih uporabniško-generiranih vsebin.
4 Stopnja konverzije izračunana kot št. poslanih zgodb/obisk strani (15. 9. 2012-5. 11. 2013)
6. DISKUSIJA IN SKLEP
V diskusiji rezultatov povremamo ključne ugotovitve študije primera, odgovarjamo na zastavljeni raziskovajni vprašanji in se dotaknem o omejitev razivkovanja. Prvo raziskovalno vprašnrje, ki smo si ga zastavili, se je glasilo:
RV1: Kako uspešni so lastni mediji pri generiranju obiskav primerjavi s plačanimi?
Kateri tipi medijev (plačani, lastni, prisluženi) ustvarijo največ obiska na spletni strani, je pomemben podatek, saj je obisk posredno povezan s participacijo. Glede na opredeljnre stopnje konverzije je namreč možno s povečanjem obiska sorazmerno povečati tudi število participativ-nih vedenj.
Na podlagi rrzultatov lahko k/lenemo, da prek plačanih medijev ogiaševalci lahko na zanesljiv in nadzorovan način zagotovijo veliko število prikazov svojih oglasov, kar vpliva predvsem na komunikacijske cilje, povezane s splošnim znam-čenjem| Ko govorimo o cilju generiranja obiska, pa so razliine oblike spletnega oglaševanja bolj ali manj učinkovite, pri čemer je ključni kriterij stopnja Irlikov. Rezultati študije primera so pokazali, da so bile pri oglaševanju s pasicami stopnje klikov v povprečju nižje od drugih virov, prav tako tudi kakovost obiska (krajši čas na strani, višja stopnja odhodov s strani). Oglaševanje prek družbenih omrežij in plačanih oglasov v Googlu sta v primerjavi z drugimi oblikami spletnega oglaševanja najmanj »invazivni« obliki in sta skladni z nevsiljivimi ter nemotečimi oblikami oglaševanja, kot je denimo vedenjsko oglaševanje (Čampa in Kropivnik, 2012; Golob, 2013). Izbira teh dveh oblik oglaševanja se je v preučevanem primeru izkazala kot dobra podpora kampanji v smislu aktiviranja participacije. Omejitev študije je v tem, da nimamo podatkov o tem, kateri viri
prometa so najbolj vplivali na konverzijo posameznega participativnega vedenja.
Konvergenca medijev predpostavlja optimalne rezultate le ob integraciji vseh treh osnovnih tipov medijev, kamor spadajo tudi lastni mediji. V našem primeru tu govorimo predvsem o razvoju spletne platforme, ki omogoča raznovrstna participativna vedenja in služi kot ciljna stran oglaševanja. Kar zadeva vložek v razvoj vsebin obravnavane tržne znamke, lahko na podlagi vpogleda, ki smo ga imeli v proračun rečemo, da je bila kampanja v splošnem učinkovita; še posebej, če upoštevamo podatke o organskih in neposrednih obiskih z vpisom URL povezave, ki so predstavljali precejšen del celotnega obiska strani. Na podlagi tega lahko sklepamo, da je bila dosežena optimizacija za iskalnike prek kakovostnih in relevantnih vsebin, ki so po zadnjih SEO smernicah ključni dejavnik, ki vpliva na pozicioniranje strani v iskalniku. Še največji vpliv pa so imeli na širjenje vsebine drugi lastni promocijski kanali (družbena omrežja in e--pošta), ki prav tako ustvarjajo velik delež obiska brez visokih denarnih vložkov.
Za popolno konvergenco pa moramo upoštevati tudi prislužene medije, ki so bili v našem primeru ovrednoteni s številom všečkov, komentarjev in deljenih vsebin ter v recenzijah na blogih ali forumih. V primeru obravnavane spletne strani je bil učinek prisluženih medijev zanemarljiv, saj so bile stopnje konverzije na Facebooku izredno nizke, za razliko od Hrvaške pa v Sloveniji ni bilo nobenih napotitev na spletno mesto iz blogov ali forumov. Za boljši izkoristek potenciala družbenih medijev je smiselna podpora prek sponzoriranja objav. Te so neke vrste hibrid med plačanimi in lastnimi mediji in so se pri analizirani kampanji izkazale za zelo učinkovite, saj za relativno nizek finančni
vložek omogočijo večji doseg (med obstoječimi sledilci in novimi uporabniki), ta pa posledično poveča število komentarjev, všečkov in deljenj.
Drugo vprašanje, ki smo si ga zastavili, se je glasilo:
RV2: Kakšna je hierarhija konverzij participativ-nih vedenj in kako je povezana s tipom digitalne vsebine?
Rezultati v Sliki 10 prikazujejo vpliv digitalnih vsebin na participacijo in predstavljajo povprečne vrednosti v obeh državah. Slika prikazuje, katera participativna vedenja je najlažje/najtežje doseči.
Vsebina, namenjena zabavi ciljne skupine, ki ima hkrati še družbeni/tekmovalni element, dosega najvišje stopnje konverzije. Ker hkrati ponuja tudi možnost osvojitve nagrade, je to ena najučinkovitejših oblik pridobivanja novih uporabnikov in animacije obstoječih. Vendar pa so spodbude s (finančnimi) nagradami lahko na dolgi rok neučinkovite. Porabniki v tem primeru lahko sodelujejo zgolj zaradi nagrade, pri čemer se odnos s tržno znamko pogosto na tej točki začne in konča. Zelo uspešen kanal promocije vsebine je tudi e-pošta, ki cilja uporabnike, ki že imajo vzpostavljen odnos s tržno znamko. Rezultati so pokazali, da uporabniki, ki kliknejo na povezavo v e-pošti in pridejo na stran, predstavljajo največji potencial za participacijo. Naslednji sklop konverzij, z vidika učinkovitosti, je povezan s programom zvestobe, ki je v našem primeru porabniku in podjetju omogočal neposredne finančne koristi (nagrada za porabnika in prodaja izdelkov s promocijskimi kodami za podjetje). Na koncu pa je, predvsem z vidika ugotovitev avtorjev o tem, kako se na spletu vede iGeneracija (Schneider, 2015), treba omeniti še pomen spodbujanja kreativnega ustvarjanja
Slika 10: Hierarhija participativnih vedenj.
HR SLO
Video izkušnja Komentiranje objave na Facebooku Deljenje objave na Facebooku Všečkanje objave na Facebooku Izkušnja s fotografijo Zbiranje promo kod z izdelkov Povabilo prijatelja Vprašalnik Tekstovna izkušnja Program zvestobe Odprta e-pošta Klik na povezvo v e-pošti Zabavne aktivnosti (gre)
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porabnikov, ki ima velik potencial za utrjevanje vrednot in komunikacijskih sporočil tržne znamke, prek njih pa pomen vpliva na nakupne odločitve drugih porabnikov. Digitalne kampanje, ki spodbujajo tovrstno ustvarjanje, omogočajo identifikacijo najbolj lojalnih porabnikov, ki imajo največji potencial, da postanejo zagovorniki/ambasadorji tržne znamke. Vsebine, ustvarjene s strani porabnikov, lahko znamka izkoristi za utrjevanje in širjenje lastnih komunikacijskih sporočil, predvsem na družabnih omrežjih, kjer je potencial za doseganje prijateljev sledilcev znamke največji.
Če povzamemo našo razpravo, smo v teoretskem delu govorili o pomenu digitalnih vsebin tržnih znamk v tržnem komuniciranju, to pa podkrepili še z analizo podatkov digitalne kampanje v študiji primera. Tako ugotovitve avtorjev v literaturi kot ugotovitve naše študije podpirajo tezo, da se podjetja usmerjajo k bolj inovativnim načinom komuniciranja, da bi pridobila in ohranila porabnike, pri čemer spletno oglaševanje ni več primarno orodje komuniciranja. V skladu s smernicami spletnega marketinga, ki govorijo o optimizaciji za iskalnike, prisotnosti na družabnih omrežjih in spodbujanju participacije porabnikov, se tržne znamke selijo k produkciji digitalnih vsebin, ki so prilagojene za ciljno skupino.
Obravnavna študija je samo eden izmed številnih primerov tovrstnih praks in omogoča delni vpogled v to, katere vsebine so najuspešnejše pri doseganju participacije porabnikov in na katerih stopnjah. Študija primera s hierarhičnimi modeli za merjenje participacije je povezala participativna vedenja z njihovimi sprožilci - digitalnimi vsebinami.
Čeprav ugotovitev študije primera zaradi specifičnih značilnosti tržne znamke in ciljne skupine ne moremo posploševati, so lahko ugotovitve izhodišče za nadaljnje raziskovanje te povezave, vsaj deloma pa tudi za oblikovanje strategij digitalnega komuniciranja drugih znamk. Analizirani primer namreč dovolj dobro empirično potrjuje usmeritve iz literature o tem, kako je treba nagovarjati iGeneracijo, da je digitalna kampanja tržne znamke uspešna in učinkovita (Schneider, 2015). Hkrati lahko izračunane konverzije služijo tudi kot opora pri izbiri digitalnih vsebin, ki so najprimernejše za zastavljeni komunikacijski cilj in želeno participacijo.
Študija primera je sicer pokazala, da digitalne vsebine v praksi dobivajo vedno večji pomen, vendar pa same po sebi niso zadostne. V skladu s teorijo o konvergenci medijev (Lieb in Owyang, 2012), smo tudi na primeru obravnavanega primera videli, da je za uspeh še zmeraj ključna kombinacija plačanih, lastnih in prisluženih medijev.
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AKADEMIJA
VPLIV BARVE EMBALAŽE ČOKOLADE NA ZAZNAVANJE OKUSA IN TEKSTURE ČOKOLADE
Miran Grah, mag. ekon. in posl. ved doktorski študent Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta Univerza v Mariboru mirai.grah@studeit.um.si
Maja Rožman, mag. ekon. in posl. ved doktorska študentka Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta Univerza v Mariboru maja.rozman@student.um.si
dr. Damijan Mumel
redni profesor Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta Univerza v Mariboru damijan.mumel@um.si
Izvirni znanstveni članek Original Scientific Paper
Povzetek: V prispevku obravnavamo vpliv barve (rdeča, modra in vijoličasta) embalaže na zaznavanje okusa (sladko, grenko) in teksture (trda, mehka, topljiva, netopljiva) čokolade. Prikazani so rezultati ugotavljanja asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada, rezultati analize vsebine razgovora s fokusno skupino in rezultati eksperimenta, izvedenega na vzorcu 188 oseb. Ugotavljamo, da barva embalaže vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
Obstaja statistično značilna razlika v zaznavanju okusa čokolade na dimenziji sladka-grenka med rdečo in vijoličasto embalažo, medtem ko se zaznavanje okusa čokolade v rdeči in modri embalaži ter vijoličasti in modri embalaži statistično značilno ne razlikuje.
Prav tako se je pokazala razlika v zaznavanju topljivosti čokolade. Statistično značilne razlike v zaznavanju topljivosti čokolade obstaja med čokolado v rdeči in vijoličasti embalaži ter čokolado v rdeči in modri embalaži, medtem ko se zaznavanje topljivosti čokolade v vijoličasti in modri embalaži ne razlikuje.
Vpliv barve embalaže čokolade na zaznavanje čokolade se je najbolj izrazito pokazal na dimenziji trda-mehka, kjer so bile ugotovljene statistično pomembne razlike v zaznavanju trdosti/meh-kosti čokolade pri vseh treh barvah embalaže čokolade.
Ključne besede: čokolada, barva embalaže, zaznavanje okusa, zaznavanje teksture
THE IMPACT OF COLOUR OF CHOCOLATE PACKING ON THE PERCEPTION OF TASTE AND TEXTURE OF CHOCOLATE
Abstract: This article examines the impact of packaging colour (red, blue, violet) on the perception of taste (sweet-bitter) and textures (hard-soft, soluble-insoluble) of chocolate. Presented
are the results of the associations of key stimulus chocolate, the results of the content analysis of interviews with a focus group and results of the experiment carried out on a sample of 188 persons. We have concluded that colours of the packaging affect the perception of taste and texture of chocolate.
Statistically significant differences exist in the perception of taste of chocolate on the dimension sweet-bitter between red and violet colour of packaging. Between perception of taste of chocolate in red and blue packaging and violet and blue packaging there are no statistically significant differences.
There is also a difference in the perception of solubility of chocolate. Statistically significant differences in perception of solubility of chocolate exist between red and violet colours of packaging of chocolate and red and blue colours of packaging of chocolate. There is no statistically significant difference in perception of solubility of chocolate in violet and blue packaging.
The most intensive influence appeared in the third dimension of chocolate perception labeled as hard-soft. In this case statistically significant differences were found in the perception of chocolate between all three colours of chocolate packaging.
Keywords: chocolate, colour of package, taste perception, texture perception
1. UVOD
Zaznavanje je proces sprejemanja podatkov iz okolja in iz notranjosti človekovega organizma. Pomeni vez med tem, kar se dogaja zunaj in znotraj posameznika, in omogoča pravočasno odzivanje na spremembe v zunanjosti in notranjosti organizma.
V marketingu, posebej na področju raziskovanja vedenja porabnikov, pomeni razumevanje procesa zaznavanja, enega od ključnih elementov za razumevanje odzivanja posameznika na dražljaje iz okolja. Posebej pomembni so tisti, ki jih z marketinškimi aktivnostmi lahko nadzorujemo. Osnovni element, ki sodi v to področje je izdelek in embalaža izdelka, ki v strogem pomenu besede ni sestavina izdelka, je pa z njim v najtesnejši povezavi, saj si težko predstavljamo izdelek brez embalaže v kakršnikoli obliki.
Embalažo izdelkov zaznavamo z več čutili. Lahko jo vidimo, tipamo, vonjamo, okušamo in slišimo. Vidimo iz katerega materiala je embalaža, kakšne barve, velikosti in oblike je. Tipanje embalaže nam omogoča zaznavanje oblike, velikosti, teže, teksture in temperature embalaže (in izdelka). Čeprav embalaže ne vonjamo pogosto in je praviloma brez vonja in okusa, pa je lahko prav vonj ali okus embalaže tisti dejavnik, ki nas odvrne od uporabe izdelka (na primer umazan kozarec). Avditivni (slušni) elementi embalaže so pogosto prezrti, čeprav ima marsikatera embalaža specifičen zvok. Lesen sod, na primer, ima povsem drug zvok kakor kovinski ali kot ga ima plastenka v primerjavi s steklenico.
Prav zaradi pomembnosti embalaže v procesu izbire in odločanja o nakupu izdelka, je embalaža pogosto predmet raziskovanja.
Embalaža je sestavni del marketinških aktivnosti, ima pa na drugi strani tudi pomembno funkcijo v distribuciji izdelkov. Embalaža ima ključno vlogo pri odločanju o nakupu izdelkov, saj pritegne pozornost, je nosilec informacij o izdelku in element blagovne znamke (Abrams, 2010; Baker, 2007; Hill, 2005; McDaniel in Baker, 1977). S tem, kako vpliva embalaža na vedenje porabnikov, so se ukvarjali številni avtorji (Ampuero in Vila, 2006; Ares in Deliza, 2010; Becker in soavtorji, 2011; Benedetto in Gianluca, 2006; McNeal in Ji, 2003; Rundh, 2005, 2009). Ugotavljajo, da opravlja embalaža pomembno vlogo v marketingu, saj spodbuja k nakupu ali odvrača od nakupa izdelka, zlasti v razmerah, ko se kupec odloča med različnimi znamkami istega tipa izdelka. Na porabnikovo odločitev o nakupu izdelka pomembno vplivata vizualna podoba in struktura embalaže.
Zaznavanje in doživljanje barv je pomembno, saj barve vplivajo na vzdušje, ter posledično na počutje ljudi. Barva, kot grafični element embalaže, ima pomembno vlogo v procesu snovanja in oblikovanja izdelka, saj embalaža prispeva k izboljšanju prepoznavnosti izdelka in vpliva na zaznavanje okusa (Crozier, 1999). Barva izdelka in embalaže je zato močno komunikacijsko orodje, saj lahko sporoča lastnosti izdelka.
Literature, ki bi podrobneje obravnavala barvo embalaže in zaznavanje okusa čokolade, ni veliko. Literatura s tega področja se nanaša predvsem na ugotavljanje vpliva barve na zaznavanje okusa (Shimp, 2007) ali predsodke glede okusa na podlagi barve izdelka (Koch in Koch, 2003. Gollety in Guichard (2011) sta raziskovali priljubljenost barv pri izbiri embalaže čokolade pri otrocih. Ugotovili sta, da so najbolj priljubljene barve embalaže modra, rdeča in vijoličasta, najmanj priljubljene pa črna, rjava in zelena. Proučevali sta tudi vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje štirih različnih vrst čokolade (temna, mlečna, lešnikova in bela) pri otrocih, starih od šest do osem let. Za temno čokolado je več kot polovica otrok izbrala kot najprimernejšo črno barvo, za belo čokolado je skoraj polovica otrok izbrala kot najprimernejšo belo barvo embalaže, za mlečno čokolado je bila kot najustreznejša barva izbrana morda barva embalaže in za lešniko-vo čokolado rjava barva embalaže.
Čeprav se število raziskav s področja zaznavanja okusa veča, je raziskav s področja zaznavanja okusa in teksture čokolade še vedno malo. Glede na pomanjkanje raziskanosti omenjenega področja, je namen raziskave, ki jo predstavljamo v prispevku, proučiti vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade. Skladno s tem smo oblikovali tri specifične cilje: ugotoviti strukturo asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada, s tehniko fokusne skupine pridobiti poglobljen vpogled v razumevanje odnosa do čokolade in eksperimentalno preveriti, ali barva papirja, v katerega je zavita (identična) čokolada, vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
V prispevku najprej predstavimo izhodišče raziskave, v nadaljevanju ključne pojme, način izvedbe raziskave in rezultate. V sklepu umestimo rezultate raziskave v kontekst že izvedenih raziskav ter podajamo priporočila za uporabo v praksi.
2. TEORETIČNI OKVIR
2.1. ZAZNAVANJE
Zaznavanje je najpogosteje opredeljeno kot proces, s katerim posameznik izbira, organizira in interpretira dražljaje v razumljivo in koherentno
sliko sveta (Schiffman in Kanuk v Mumel, 1999). Podobno razmišlja tudi Solomon (2004), ki pravi, da je zaznavanje proces, v katerem se občutki selekcionirajo, organizirajo in interpretirajo.
Sullivan in Adock (2002/2006) v zvezi z zaznavanjem dražljajev trdita, da praviloma vsak dražljaj ustvari prek čutil takšno zaznavo, ki si jo posameznik želi oziroma potrebuje, da zadovolji svoje potrebe. Vsakdanje zaznavanje realnosti izhaja iz tako imenovanega konceptualnega znanja. To pomeni, da je odvisno od predhodnih znanj, torej informacij, ki jih nosimo v možganih.
Povedano drugače, naše zaznave niso objektivni odraz okolja, temveč subjektivna projekcija okolja. Nedvomno je torej zaznavanje psihološka funkcija, ki s čutili, ki odražajo stanje in spremembe v okolju, omogoča našemu organizmu sprejemanje in subjektivno predelavo informacij.
2.2. ZAZNAVANJE OKUSA
V literaturi zasledimo malo opredelitev zaznavanja okusa. Različni avtorji obravnavajo zaznavanje okusa z različnih vidikov, posledično pa splošno sprejete opredelitve zaznavanja okusa še ni.
Glavni organ za zaznavanje okusa je jezik, vendar k zaznavanju okusa prispevata tudi vonj in vid. Na jeziku so številne brbončice, v katerih so okuševalne čutnice. Z osuševalnimi čutnicami zaznavamo: sladko, grenko, kislo, slano in uma-mi (Sijtsema in soavtorji, 2012).
Pomembno vlogo pri splošnem zaznavanju in sprejemanju živil in prehrambnih izdelkov imajo senzorične lastnosti izdelkov (Imram, 1999a; Imram, 1999b). Razen omenjenih dejavnikov je pomemben (objektivni) videz izdelka in (subjektivna) vizualna zaznava. Imram (1999a) omenja, da je okus skoraj vedno povezan z vizualno zaznavo, saj je prvi stik z živilskimi izdelki praviloma vizualni in vpliva na poznejšo pripravljenost, da posameznik izdelek sprejme ali zavrne.
Ndom in soavtorji (2001, 168) menijo, da se večina ljudi že v zgodnjem otroštvu nauči in navadi specifičnih kombinacij barv in okusov. Tako naučene asociacije določajo naša pričakovanja tega, kakšen okus naj bi imelo določeno živilo. Barve živil tako prispevajo k senzorični sprejemljivosti živil in posledično k nakupu (Poštuvan, 2004: 30).
Wright in soavtorji (2000) navajajo, da se preference okusa največkrat ugotavljajo prek podatkov o prodaji, z anketami na terenu in raziskavami motivacije. Okus je pomemben, saj se veže na izkušnje in spomine iz našega otroštva, na naše
želje in na kulturo, iz katere izhajamo. Zato posamezniki iz različnih okolij interpretirajo in vrednotijo zaznave identičnih okusov različno.
2.3. ZAZNAVANJE TEKSTURE
Teksturo tekočih in poltrdih živil zaznavamo skozi dve neodvisni dimenziji, to sta občutek v ustih in gostost (de Wijk in soavtorji v Pivk in soavtorji, 2006). Pri občutku v ustih gre za zaznavo živila na ustnih površinah, pri gostosti pa za celosten občutek živila v ustih. Občutek v ustih opisujemo kot raskavost ali gladkost in ga zaznavamo predvsem ob rahlem dotikanju ustne površine. Gostost živila v ustih zaznavamo kot viskoznost celostne strukture živila.
Pivk in soavtorji (2006) navajajo, da teksturo ovrednotimo v času manipulacije grižljaja v ustih, in sicer od prvega ugriza, med grizenjem, požira-njem in še po požiranju. Med uživanjem živila je to izpostavljeno številnim procesom. Prežvečeno je na manjše kose, izpostavljeno močnemu pretoku sline, segreto ali ohlajeno na telesno temperaturo. Skladno s tem Rundh (2009) ugotavlja, da je tekstura dejavnik, ki se skozi čas spreminja.
3. EMBALAŽA
Embalaža je prvi element, ki ga kupec vidi, ko se odloča za nakup, in zadnji element pred uporabo izdelka (Ampuero in Vila, 2006).
McNeal in Ji (2003) poudarjata vlogo vizualne (informiranje in prepričevanje odjemalcev, tako na prodajnem mestu kot na mestu porabe) in taktilne (zaznavanje oblike, teže, teksture, temperature) komunikacijske funkcije embalaže. Opozarjata, da gre pri oblikovanju embalaže za iskanje uravnoteženosti praktičnosti, všečnosti, cenovne in okoljske učinkovitosti embalaže. Barva embalaže poudari edinstvenost, zanimiva in privlačna embalaža izstopa in pritegne pozornost kupca.
Embalaža mora biti vizualno privlačna in oblikovana tako, da pritegne pozornost kupca. Ta je namreč tisti, ki bo odločil, ali bo izdelek romal v nakupovalno košaro ali bo ostal na polici. Pogled na embalažo mora vzbuditi prijetne, pozitivne zaznave in kupca hkrati spodbuditi k nakupu (Snoj, 1981: 20). Embalaža ne vpliva samo na nenačrtovan nakup izdelka, temveč mora prispevati tudi k njegovemu ponovnemu nakupu, torej mora na kupca vplivati tako, da ostane znamki zvest (Snoj, 1981: 67).
Embalaža lahko oblikuje širok spekter psiholoških dražljajev, ki delujejo na kupca prek njegovih čutov, zlasti vida in dotika (Rodin, 1977: 131). Zato ima embalaža močan komunikacijski poten-
cial. Brassington in Pettitt (1997: 280) navajata, da je embalaža pomemben medij komuniciranja. Komunikacijska funkcija je pomembna, saj mora embalaža pritegniti in zadržati pozornost kupca in ga hkrati s tem povezati z izdelkom.
3.1. BARVA EMBALAŽE
Barve nas spremljajo na vsakem koraku, do njih pa imamo razvit osebni odnos. Vsakdo ima svojo najljubšo barvo, na njih se čustveno odzivamo in jim pripisujemo različne pomene (Goldstein, 1999: 142). Favre (1969: 27-36) in Singh (2006) navajata, da je barva najpomembnejši element embalaže. Naši čuti so najbolj dovzetni za njene učinke in v nas sproščajo različne odzive. Barva embalaže omogoča lažje prepoznavanje embalaže.
Grossman in Wisenblit (1999) navajata, da imajo številni posamezniki svoje najljubše barve, kar je v veliki meri posledica asociativnih zvez s specifičnimi dražljaji iz okolja. Vendar najljubša barva v večini primerov ne razloži izbire izdelkov različnih barv. Spoznanje, da so barvne preference oblikovane prek asociativnega učenja, je pomembno predvsem za tiste, ki določajo barve izdelkov in uporabljajo barve v različnih oblikah marketin-škega komuniciranja. Zato je pomembno, da ne upoštevajo zgolj barvnih preferenc posameznika, ampak pozornost namenijo porabnikovim asociacijam na barve, saj je to osnova za razumevanje posameznikovega odnosa do specifične barve v povezavi z določenim izdelkom. Porabniki imajo oblikovane različne najljubše barve za različne izdelke. V nekaterih primerih pozitivna izkušnja z določeno barvo vodi do naklonjenosti tej barvi.
Barve so ena najbolj očitnih značilnosti človekovega okolja. Pri človeku pogosto ustvarjajo globoke estetske in čustvene odzive. Barva je za mnoge posameznike prevladujoč element vizualnega sveta. Barve privlačijo pozornost in pogosto spodbudijo naše zaznavanje, poudarijo okolje, apelirajo na naš čut za estetiko, in kar je najbolj pomembno, so vir informacij (Schiffman, 1996: 112; Goldstein, 1999: 142).
Barve so navzoče povsod in so vir informacij. Ljudje oblikujejo mnenje o drugih osebah oziroma se odločijo za določen izdelek v prvih 90 sekundah interakcije z njimi. Pri izdelkih 62 do 90 odstotkov te odločitve temelji na barvah. Zato smotrna uporaba barve lahko pripomore ne le k razlikovanju izdelka od konkurenčnih izdelkov, ampak vpliva tudi na počutje in občutke, pozitivno in negativno, ter posredno vpliva na odnos porabnikov do določenega izdelka (Singh, 2006).
V procesu marketinga pogosto uporabljamo vizualne elemente embalaže v komunikacijske name-
ne, za informiranje in prepričevanje kupcev, tako na mestu prodaje kot tudi na mestu (u)porabe (McNeal in Ji, 2003). Barva embalaže daje odjemalcu negativno ali pozitivno sporočilo o izdelku.
Brommer in soavtorji (2011) v empirični raziskavi ugotavljajo, da odnos do vizualnih elementov embalaže neposredno vpliva na zaznavanje kakovosti prehrambnih izdelkov, zato morajo biti tako proizvajalci kot tudi predelovalna industrija pozorni pri izbiri barve embalaže in oblikovanju embalaže.
Assael (1998) in Mubeen (2006) barvo embalaže izdelkov opredeljujeta kot marketinške dražljaje, ki pomenijo komunikacijo ali fizični dražljaj, ustvarjen z namenom vplivanja na uporabnika.
Po Snoju (1981: 216-220) barve embalaže opravljajo naslednje funkcije: pritegnejo pozornost; olajšajo prepoznavanje izdelkov na mestu nakupa; vplivajo na memoriranje izdelka in vzbujajo asociacije v zvezi z njim; povečujejo berljivost napisov na embalaži; ustvarjajo optične iluzije; nakazujejo vsebino embalaže in označujejo individualne izdelke v skupinah izdelkov.
Boone in Kurtz (1995: 418) navajata, kako doseči, da bi naš izdelek pritegnil pozornost. Ker je vse več nakupov naglih, so nam pri tem v veliko pomoč barva, oblika, velikost in grafika embalaže, s katerimi lahko dosežemo, da se bo naš izdelek razlikoval od konkurenčnih. Smiselno je izbrati take barve, ki pritegnejo pozornost kupca in spodbudijo k nakupu izdelka.
Barve največkrat povezujemo z določenimi občutki, barve pa vzbujajo tudi druge asociacije. Vendar moramo biti pri uporabi barv previdni in pozorni na kulturnospecifični pomen barv, saj se ta močno razlikuje med posameznimi kulturami (Czinkota in Ronkainen, 1996: 398).
Čustveni odziv, ki ga povzročijo barve embalaže, vpliva na posameznikovo zaznavo izdelka. Che-skin (v Grossman in Wisenblit, 1999) je testiral tri barve embalaže za identičen pralni prašek. Kot najbolj primerna je bila izbrana modra barva, ker spominja na čistočo; rumene barve niso dojemali kot čiste; za rdečo pa so respondenti navajali, da lahko celo poškoduje oblačila. Preference za določene barve so naučene ali pridobljene na podlagi preteklih izkušenj s to kategorijo izdelkov ali izdelki podobnih kategorij (Grossman in Wisenblit, 1999: 83).
Barva embalaže je bistven del korporacijskih in marketinških komunikacij. Vzbuja razpoloženje in čustva ter vpliva na zaznavanje porabnikov in njihovo odzivanje. Podjetjem pomaga pri ustvar-
janju in vzdrževanju njihovih korporativnih identitet ter diferenciaciji izdelkov in blagovnih znamk od konkurence (Mubeen, 2006: 15-22).
3.2. MATERIAL EMBALAŽE
Nove tehnologije in novi materiali za embalira-nje izdelkov omogočajo nove možnosti uporabe embalaže v marketinškem komuniciranju.
Silayoi in Speece (2007) opozarjata na to, da mora embalaža kljub tehnološkim omejitvam popolnoma zadovoljiti porabnikove kriterije glede primernosti njene uporabe. V prehrambni industriji porabljajo veliko časa, napora in sredstev za razvoj tehnološko čim bolj kakovostne embalaže. Vendar pa so vsi njihovi napori brezkoristni, če embalaža z vidika kupca ni primerna za izdelek.
Glede na to, da smo v izvedenem eksperimentu uporabljali kot embalažo čokolade papir, v prispevku namenjamo tudi v teoretičnem delu papirni embalaži večjo pozornost kot drugim materialom embalaže.
Papirna embalaža je najstarejša oblika t. i. fleksibilne embalaže. Osnovni embalažni papir se razlikuje glede na sestavo, gramaturo in specifične fizikalne, kemijske in mikrobiološke lastnosti. Največja prednost papirne embalaže je v tem, da je poceni, omogoča strojno pakiranje in je ekološka oziroma biološko razgradljiva (Raheem, 2012). Vendar je papirna embalaža občutljiva na vlago, ne ščiti pred atmosferskimi vplivi in glodavci. Zato je pomembno izbrati za embalažo živil papir takšne kakovosti, da ne prenaša svojih sestavin na živila in ne prepušča drugih snovi iz okolja v takih količinah, ki bi lahko ogrozile zdravje uporabnikov.
Izhajajoč iz problema, zapisanega v uvodu in pregleda literature, smo oblikovali naslednje raziskovalno vprašanje, ki združuje elemente zaznavanja, embalaže in specifičnega izdelka: »Ali barva embalaže vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade?«
4. EMPIRIČNA RAZISKAVA
Znanstvene literature na področju analize vpliva barve embalaže na zaznavanje izdelkov je relativno malo, še manj je je na ožjem področju analize vpliva barve embalaže na zaznavanje okusa prehrambnih izdelkov nasploh, posebej pa za čokolado. Zaradi pomanjkanja predhodnih raziskav smo izbrali kombinacijo kvalitativnega in kvantitativnega raziskovalnega pristopa, pri čemer so bili rezultati kvalitativnega dela raziskave eden od pomembnih virov podatkov za
ЕШ
AKADEMIJA
načrtovanje eksperimenta v kvalitativnem delu raziskave. V okviru kvalitativnega dela raziskave smo izvedli ugotavljanje asociacij na ključno besedo čokolada in pogovor s fokusno skupino na temo čokolade, v kvantitativnem delu raziskave pa smo kot metodo uporabili eksperiment, v katerem smo ugotavljali vpliv barve embalaže na percepcijo okusa in teksture čokolade.
4.1. UGOTAVLJANJE ASOCIACIJ NA KLJUČNI DRAŽLJAJ ČOKOLADA
V	prvem delu raziskave smo ugotavljali asociacije na ključni dražljaj čokolada. Uporabili smo priložnostni vzorec 48 študentov Ekonomsko-poslov-ne fakultete v Mariboru. Vsak respondent je na ključni dražljaj čokolada povedal prvo asociacijo.
V	Tabeli 1 prikazujemo pogostost asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada.
Tabela 1: Pogostost asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada.
			Število
		Asociacije	asociacij (odgovorov)
	Znamka	Gorenjka	8
		Milka	3
	Vrsta	Lešnikova	3
Kategorije asociacij	čokolade	Mlečna	2
		Riževa	1
(odgovo-		Temna	1
rov)		Sadna	1
	Lastnost	Sladka	11
	čokolade (okus, tekstura)	Grenka	3
		Topljiva	6
		Trda	5
		Mehka	4
		SKUPAJ	48
Uporaba tehnike asociiranja je pokazala, da se na ključni dražljaj čokolada pojavijo predvsem asociacije na okus (sladka, grenka), teksturo (topljiva, trda, mehka) in na blagovno znamko (Gorenjka, Milka).
4.2. FOKUSNA SKUPINA
V naslednjem koraku smo izvedli sestanek fo-kusne skupine. Namen je bil pridobiti podroben vpogled v odnos članov fokusne skupine do čokolade. Specifični cilj izvedbe fokusne skupine pa je bil pridobiti osnovo za izbor barve embalaže čokolade v okviru izvedbe eksperimenta.
V fokusni skupini je sodelovalo šest oseb obeh spolov, in sicer ena študentka in en študent Ekonomsko poslovne fakultete (stara 24 in 26 let), dve zaposleni osebi ženskega spola (stari 43 in 47 let) ter ena upokojenka in en upokojenec (stara 62 in 65 let). Vsi udeleženci fokusne skupine so ljubitelji čokolade.
Na podlagi raziskave asociacij na ključno besedo čokolada smo oblikovali štiri vsebinske sklope za diskusijo v fokusni skupini, ki so tudi osnova predstavitve rezultatov:
■	vrsta čokolade,
■	blagovna znamka čokolade,
■	okusi čokolade in
■	tekstura čokolade.
Glede vrste čokolade, ki jo radi jedo, so člani fokusne skupine omenjali predvsem lešniko-vo čokolado. Na vprašanje, po kateri blagovni znamki čokolade najraje posegajo, so vsi povedali, da po čokoladi Gorenjka, ker ima v Sloveniji bogato in dolgo tradicijo. Člani fokusne skupine so menili, da je najbolj prepoznaven in zaželen izdelek, ki ga ponuja blagovna znamka Gorenjka, čokolada s celimi lešniki. Prav tako so menili, da lešnikova čokolada blagovne znamke Gorenjka vsebuje več lešnikov kot katerakoli druga čokolada konkurence. V pogovoru o značilnostih čokolade so omenjali, da je čokolada sladka, topljiva in mehka. Pokazala pa se je razlika glede okusa. Ženske, sodelujoče v fokusni skupini, so menile, da je najboljšega okusa mlečna čokolada, ki so ji dodani drobljeni lešniki v kombinaciji z lešnikovo kremo. Moška pa sta menila, da je boljša mlečna čokolada, ki so ji dodani celi lešniki.
Zanimalo nas je tudi, ali je barva embalaže pomembna, ko kupujejo čokolado. Diskusija med udeleženci je pokazala, da je barva embalaže pomemben element, ni pa edino merilo privlačnosti embalaže, saj so poudarjali tudi pomembnost oblike embalaže, pisave na embalaži in raznih ilustracij. V pogovoru o barvi embalaže smo jih vprašali tudi, katere barve embalaže so primerne za čokolado. Omenjali so rdečo, vijoličasto in modro barvo embalaže, ker je rdeča barva embalaže prepoznavna po blagovni znamki Gorenjka, vijoličasta barva embalaže po blagovni znamki Milka, modra pa izstopa in je hkrati primerna za embalažo čokolade.
4.3. INSTRUMENT ZA OCENJEVANJE OKUSA IN TEKSTURE ČOKOLADE
Da bi lahko v eksperimentu izmerili percepcijo okusa in teksture čokolade, smo oblikovali kratek vprašalnik. Podlaga za izbor dimenzij za ocenjevanje okusa in teksture čokolade je bila izvedena
raziskava asociacij na ključno besedo čokolada in analiza vsebine pogovora članov fokusne skupine. Na tej osnovi smo oblikovali eno dimenzijo zaznavanja okusa čokolade: sladka-grenka in dve dimenziji zaznavanja teksture čokolade: mehka--trda in topljiva-netopljiva. Za ocenjevanje okusa in teksture čokolade smo oblikovali semantični diferencial, sestavljen iz treh 7-stopenjskih bipolarnih ocenjevalnih lestvic.
Z metodo fokusne skupine smo pridobili uporabne informacije za izbor barve embalaže. Izbrali smo tri barve embalaže: rdečo, vijoličasto in modro. Material, iz katerega je bila izdelana papirna embalaža čokolade, je 90-gramski obojestransko obarvan papir.
Kot dodatno potrditev izbora barve embalaže v opravljeni raziskavi smo upoštevali raziskavo Gollety in Guichard (2011), v kateri avtorici kot najljubšo barvo pri izbiri tembalaže čokolade navajata modro, rdečo in vijoličasto barvo.
4.4. OBLIKOVANJE HIPOTEZ
Iskanje raziskav in znanstvenih člankov, ki bi obravnavali vpliv embalaže na zaznavanje okusa prehrambnih izdelkov, pokaže skromen nabor. Literatura s tega področja obravnava ugotavta-nje vpliva oblike embalaže na zaznavanje okusa sladic (Ares in Deliz, 2010) in jog urta (Becker in soavtorji, 2201 "i) ter ugotavljanje vpliva velikosti embalaže na zaznavaeje okusa vina (Benedetto in Gianluca, 22006). Rezultati teh raziskav iaže-jo, da ima oblika embalaže pomemben vplive na zaznavanje okusa sladic in jogurta. Benedetto in Gianluca (2006) ugotavljata, da velikost embalaže pomembno vpliva na zaznavanje okusa vinai. Prav tako Brommer in soavtorji (2011) ugotavljajo, da odnos do vizualnih elementov embalaže neposredno vpliva na zaznavanje kakovosti prehravtonih izdelkov Vendar v pregledu literature ne zasledimo raziskav, ki lei analizirale vpllv barve embalaže čokolade na percepcijo okusa in teksture čokolade pri odraslih osebah.
Glede na to, da obstajajo jasni dokazi, da embalaža vpliva na percepcijo okusa prehrambnih
izdelkov, in glede na to, da je barva eden od bistvenih elementov embalaže, lahko sklepamo, da barva embalaže vpliva na zaznavanje prehrambnih izdelkov. Če apliciramo sklepanje na konkretno raven, lahko špekuliramo, da barva embalaže čokolade vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
Na podlagi pregleda literature, ugotovljenih asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada in ugotovitev analize razprave fokusne skupine smo oblikovali tri hipoteze, ki smo jih eksperimentalno preverili:
H1: Zaznavanje okusa čokolade za dimenzijo sladka-grenka se med čokolado v treh barvah embalaže razlikuje.
H2: Zaznavanje teksture čokolade za dimenzijo trda-mehka se med čokolado v treh barvah embalaže razlikuje.
H3: Zaznavanje teksture čokolade za dimenzijo -opljiva-netopljiva se reiek čokolado v treh barvah embalaee razliUuje.
Konceptualni model raziskave prikazujemo v Sliki 1.
4.5. EKSPERIMENT
Za preverjanje hipotez smo izvedli eksperiment v polju. Preverjpli rmo, ali obstajajo razlike v zaznavaaju okusa in tekstvre identične čokolade, zavite v papir treh različnih barv. Neodvisna sprem evljivka je b ila barva emb alaže - papirja, v katerega so b ili zaviti koščki čokolade, odvisna spremenljivka pa je bila zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
Vsaki poskusni osebi smo ponudili tri ploščice identične čokolade. Vsaka ploščica je bila zavita v papir različne barve (rdel, vijoličast, moder), kar prikazuje slika 2. Poskusne osebe smo prosili, da vsak košček čokolade (zavit v tri različne barve papirne embalaže) ocenijo na treh dimenzijah. Po vsakem pokušanju čokolade so poskusne osebe usta splaknile z vodo. Preizkušanci niso vedeli, katero vrsto čokolade okušajo, niti niso vedeli, da vsakič pokušajo identično čokolado.
Slika 1: Konceptualni model raziskave.
Slika 2: Čokolada, zavita v embalažo treh različnih barv.
Da bi izničili sistematičen vpliv vrstnega reda barv embalaže čokolade, smo poskusnim osebam čokolado razvrstili po sistemu latinskega kvadrata. Latins ki kvadrati so sestavljeni iz n2 celic matrike nxn in števili 1,2,... n, tako da vsaka številka nastopi natanko enkrat v vsaki vrsticiin v vsakem stolpcu. Vtabeli 2 prikazujemo uporabo latinskega kvadrata za izveden eksperiment.
4.5.1.	VZOREC
Podatke smo zbirali junija 2015. Uporabili smo priložnostni vzorec 188 oseb. Podatke smo zbirali v štirih prodajnih centrih: v Murski Soboti, Mariboru, na Ptuju in v Ljubljani. V vsakem prodajnem centru je v eksperimentu sodelovalo 47 oseb.
4.5.2.	REZULTATI
Podatke smo obdelali s programom SPSS. Opisna statistika je prikazana v tabeli 3. Za preverjanje hipotez (vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje okusa in teksture iste čokolade) smo uporabili enosmerno analizo variance (ANOVA) s post-hoc analizo.
Za merjenje zaznavanja okusa in tekstuze čoZola-de smo uporabili 7-stopenjski semantični diferencial (1-sladka do 7-grenka, 1-trda do 7-meh-ka, 1-topljiva do 7-netopljiva).
Na dimenziji okusa čokolade sladka-grenka je kot najbolj sladka bila zaznana čokolada v vijoličasti embalaži, sledi ji čokolada v modri embalaži in kot najmanj sladka čokolada v rdeči embalaži. Vse tri so bile zaznane kot sladke (manj kot srednja vrednost 4).
Na dimenziji teksture trda-mehka je kot najbolj mehka bila zaznana čokolada v rdeči embalaži, kot manj mehka čokolada v vijoličasti embalaži. Čokolada v modri embalaži je bila zaznana kot rahlo trda (manj kakor srednja vrednost 4).
Na dimenziji okusa topljiva-netopljiva sta bili čokoladi v vijoličasti in modri embalaži zaznani kot enako topljivi, čokolada v rdeči embalaži pa je bila zaznana kot manj topljiva kot prejšnji, vse tri pa so bile zaznane kot dobro topljive (povprečja pod vrednostjo 2).
Najvišja stopnja strinjanja med ocenjevalci je bila na dimenziji topljiva-netopljiva, največja variabilnost rezultatov na dimenziji trda-mehka.
V aadaljevanju prilazujemo rezultate preverjanja hipotez. VTabeliJ so prikazani rezultati enosmerne analize variance za tri dimenzije zaznavanja okusa čokolade, glede na tri barve embalaže, v katere je bila zavita čokolala. Preverjamo, ali obstajajo razlike med zaznavanjem okusa in teksture čokolade glede na barvo embalaže, v kbtero je Zila zaviEa čokolada.
Preverjanje prve hipoteze - H1: Zaznavanje okusa čokolade za dimenzijo sladka-grenka se med čokolado v treh barvah embalaže razlikuje.
Iz tabele 4 razberemo, da je izračunana stopnja značilnosti0,001 < 0,05, kar pomeni,da lahko z 99,9-odstotno zanesljivostjo sklepamo,da so razlike med povprečnimi vrednostmi ocen okusa čokolade statistično značilne. Zato sprejmemo prvo hipotezo, da se zaznavanje okusa čokolade na dimenziji okusa sladka-grenka med tremi barvami embalaže razlikuje.
Preverjanje druge hipoteze- H2: Zaznavanje teksture čokolade za dimenzijo trda-mehka se med čokolado v treh barvah embalaže razlikuje.
Iz tabele 4 razberemo, da je izračunana stopnja značilnosti 0,000 < 0,05, kar pomeni, da lahko
Tabela 2: Uporaba metode latinskih kvadratov v izvedenem eksperimentu .
		VRSTNI RED PREIZKUŠANJA BARV		
	1	RDEČA	VIJOLIČASTA	MODRA
PREIZKUŠANCI	2	VIJOLIČASTA	MODRA	RDEČA
	3	MODRA	RDEČA	VIJOLIČASTA
Tabela 3: Opisna statistika treh dimenzij zaznavanja čokolade glede na tri barve embalaže čokolade.
Opisna statistika
Dimenzije okusa in teksture čokolade	Barve embalaže	N	Povprečje	Std. odklon
Sladka-grenka	Rdeča	188	2,1	1,12
	Vijoličasta	188	2,6	1,24
	Modra	188	2,3	1,18
Trda-mehka	Rdeča	188	4,5	1,64
	Vijoličasta	188	3,7	1,43
	Modra	188	2,8	1,48
Topljiva-netopljiva	Rdeča	188	1,9	1,09
	Vijoličasta	188	1,6	0,73
	Modra	188	1,6	0,79
Tabela 4: Enosmerna analiza variance (ANOVA) za ugotavljanje pomembnosti razlik med ocenami zaznavanja okusa in teksture čokolade, zavite v tri različne barve embalaže.
		Vsota kvadratov	Stopnje prostosti	F	Stat. znač.
Sladka-grenka	Med skupinami	21,11	2	7,59	,001
	Znotraj skupin	779,85	561		
	Skupaj	800,96	563		
Trda-mehka	Med skupinami	277,47	2	60,36	,000
	Znotraj skupin	1289,53	561		
	Skupaj	1567,00	563		
Topljiva-	Med skupinami	11,25	2	7,23	,001
netopljiva	Znotraj skupin	436,69	561		
	Skupaj	447,93	563		
z 99,9-odstotno zanesljivostjo sklepamo, da so razlike med povprečnimi vrednostmi ocen teksture čokolade na dimenziji trda-mehka statistično značilne. Zato sprejmemo drugo hipotezo, da se zaznavanje teksture čokolade na dimenziji trda--mehka med tremi barvami embalaže razlikuje.
Preverjanje tretje hipoteze - H3: Zaznavanje teksture čokolade za dimenzijo topljiva-netopljiva se med čokolado v treh barvah embalaže razlikuje.
Prav tako iz tabele 4 razberemo, da je izračunana stopnja značilnosti 0,001 < 0,05, kar pomeni, da lahko z 99,9-odstotno zanesljivostjo sklepamo, da so razlike med povprečnimi vrednostmi ocen teksture čokolade na dimenziji topljiva-netoplji-va statistično značilne. Zato sprejmemo tretjo hipotezo, da se zaznavanje teksture čokolade na dimenziji topljiva-netopljiva med tremi barvami embalaže razlikuje.
Da bi preverili, katere povprečne vrednosti ocen posameznih dimenzij zaznavanja čokolade se med seboj statistično pomembno razlikujejo, smo naredili post hoc analizo, s katero smo primerjali povprečne vrednosti posameznih dimenzij v parih. Rezultati post hoc analize so prikazani v tabeli 5.
Rezultati post hoc analize kažejo, da obstaja na dimenziji okusa sladka-grenka statistično značilna razlika med rdečo in vijoličasto embalažo (p = 0,000), medtem ko se zaznavanje okusa čokolade v rdeči in modri embalaži (p = 0,173) ter vijoličasti in modri embalaži (p = 0,091) značilno ne razlikuje.
Statistično značilne razlike obstajajo med vsemi tremi povprečnimi vrednostmi zaznavanja teksture čokolade na dimenziji trda-mehka. Na drugi dimenziji teksture čokolade topljiva-netopljiva ugotovimo, da statistično značilne razlike v zazna-
Tabela 5: Post hoc analiza (Tukeyev test) za ugotavljanje pomembnosti razlik med ocenami zaznavanja okusa in teksture čokolade v treh različnih barvah embalaže.
Dimenzija okusa in	(I) barva	(J) barva	Razlika	Std.	Statistična
teksture čokolade	embalaže	embalaže	povprečij (I-J)	napaka	značilnost
Sladka-grenka	Rdeča	Vijoličasta	-,473	,122	,000
	Rdeča	Modra	-,218	,122	,173
	Vijoličasta	Modra	,255	,122	,091
Trda/ mehka	Rdeča	Vijoličasta	,856	,156	,000
	Rdeča	Modra	1,718	,156	,000
	Vijoličasta	Modra	,862	,156	,000
Topljiva/ ne topljiva	Rdeča	Vijoličasta	,255	,091	,014
	Rdeča	Modra	,330	,091	,001
	Vijoličasta	Modra	,074	,091	,692
vanju teksture čokolade obstaja med čokolado v rdeči in vijoličasti embalaži (p = 0,014) ter čokolado v rdeči in modri embalaži (p = 0,001), medtem ko se percepcija teksture čokolade v vijoličasti in modri embalaži ne razlikuje (p = 0,692).
5. SKLEP
V	prispevku podajamo poročilo o izvedeni empirični raziskavi zaznavanja okusa in teksture čokolade, v kateri smo proučevali vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade na vzorcu 188 oseb v štirih krajih v Sloveniji. Raziskavo smo izvedli v treh korakih. V prvem in drugem koraku smo uporabili kvalitativni pristop, v tretjem koraku pa kvantitativni pristop z metodo eksperimenta.
Problematika, ki jo obravnavamo v prispevku, je pomembna s teoretičnega in aplikativnega vidika. Skozi pregled literature je opaziti, da je raziskav, ki bi empirično preverjale vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje okusa prehrambnih izdelkov relativno malo. V skladu s tem je razumljivo, da je malo tudi tovrstnih raziskav, specifično izvedenih za čokolado. Zato ima ta raziskava teoretično in aplikativno vrednost.
V	prvem koraku empiričnega raziskovanja smo ugotavljali strukturo asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada. Dobljene odgovore je bilo smiselno razdeliti v tri vsebinsko koherentne skupine. Prva je vsebovala asociacije na blagovno znamko čokolade, druga skupina asociacij je zajemala vrsto čokolade, tretja skupina asociacij pa je zajemala lastnosti čokolade. Dobljene rezultate smo uporabili v nadaljevanju raziskave, pri oblikovanju osnov za diskusijo v fokusni skupini. Ne glede na osnovni namen izvedbe prvega dela raziskave, pa je smiselno omeniti vsaj dvoje. Najprej so to kategorije asociacij, ki dajejo vpogled
v to, kaj imajo predstavniki skupine, ki so dajali
asociacije, shranjeno v dolgotrajnem osebnem spominu. Drug vidik, ki ga je potrebno poudariti, pa je število asociacij v vsaki kategoriji. Največ je bilo asociacij v kategoriji lastnosti čokolade, manj v kategoriji blagovne znamke in vrste čokolade. Asociacija z najvišjo frekvenco je bila sladka, kar kaže na pomembnost te značilnosti čokolade. Zanimivo je, da so respondenti razen sladkosti navajali sorazmerno veliko drugih asociacij glede lastnosti čokolade. To lahko kaže na pomembnost tudi drugih lastnosti čokolade, na primer topljivosti in čvrstosti (trda-mehka).
V	drugem koraku raziskave smo izvedli razgovor s člani fokusne skupine. Analiza vsebine je pokazala rezultate, podobne tistim pri ugotavljanju asociacij. Skozi pogovor smo pridobili poglobljen vpogled v razumevanje odnosa do čokolade. Vsekakor zanimiva je ugotovitev, da je bila ženskam v fokusni skupini bolj všeč mlečna čokolada z dodanimi drobljenimi lešniki, moškemu delu pa mlečna čokolada s celimi lešniki. To bi lahko kazalo na drugačen način uživanja čokolade pri ženskah in moških. Izhajajoč iz tega, predvidevamo, da moški čokolado raje grizejo (celi lešniki), ženskam pa element grizenja čokolade ni tako pomemben. Vsekakor je to zgolj špekulacija, ki bi jo bilo treba empirično preveriti.
V	tretjem koraku raziskave smo eksperimentalno ugotavljali, kaj se zgodi, če poskusnim osebam damo v presojo identično (mlečno) čokolado, ki pa je zavita v papirno embalažo različnih barv, in jih prosimo, da ocenijo okus in teksturo čokolade. Predpostavka, iz katere smo izhajali, je bila, če se pojavijo statistično pomembne razlike med povprečnimi ocenami, lahko sklepamo, da je razlika v oceni nastala kot posledica različne embalaže, saj so bile druge komponente identične.
V	primeru ugotovljenih razlik bi to pomenilo, da barva embalaže pomembno vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
V eksperimentu smo na vzorcu 188 oseb ugotovili, da obstaja pomembna razlika v percepciji čokolade na dimenziji sladka-grenka med rdečo in vijoličasto embalažo. Čokolada v rdeči embalaži je bila zaznana kot bolj sladka od čokolade v vijoličasti embalaži. Prav tako se je pokazala pomembna razlika v zaznavanju topljivosti čokolade. Čokolada v vijoličasti barvi je bila zaznana kot bolj topljiva kakor čokolada v rdeči embalaži. Največje razlike so se pokazale pri dimenziji trda-mehka. Čokolada v rdeči barvi se je pokazala kot pomembno bolj mehka kakor čokolada v vijoličasti barvi, ta pa pomembno bolj mehka kakor čokolada v modri barvi.
Postavljanje rezultatov izvedene raziskave v kontekst drugih raziskav je seveda omejeno z dejstvom, da je empiričnih raziskav na obravnavanem področju malo. Lahko pa izvedeno raziskavo umestimo v skupino raziskav, ki empirično potrjujejo vpliv embalaže na zaznavanje izdelkov, posebej v kategoriji prehrambnih izdelkov.
Podobno kot ugotavljata Ares in Deliz (2010), da embalaža vpliva na zaznavanje okusa sladic, kot ugotavljajo Becker in soavtorji (2011), da embalaža vpliva na percepcijo jogurta, kot ugotavljata Benedetto in Gianluca (2006), da vpliva velikost embalaže na zaznavanje okusa vina, tudi v naši raziskavi potrjujemo vpliv embalaže na zaznavanje prehrambnega izdelka, v našem primeru čokolade. Ugotavljamo, da je barva embalaže pomemben element embalaže in da pomembno vpliva na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade.
Glede na skromno število raziskav, ki bi empirično preverjale vpliv barve embalaže na zaznavanje prehrambnih izdelkov, še posebej čokolade kot specifičnega izdelka, pomenijo dobljeni rezultati prispevek k razumevanju odnosa med štirimi koncepti: barvo, embalažo, izdelkom in zaznavanjem.
Za managerje je pomembno predvsem zavedanje tega, kako velik vpliv imajo barve v zaznavanju izdelkov in embalaže izdelkov. Tako kot morajo biti pozorni na to, katere barve izdelkov in embalaže izdelkov so kupcem všeč, morajo biti pozorni tudi na to, katere barve kupcem niso všeč.
Naslednji vidik, ki ima potencialno uporabno vrednost je profil posamezne barve embalaže glede na povprečne ocene posameznih dimenzij percepcije čokolade. Največ razlik se je pojavilo med percepcijo čokolade v rdeči in vijoličasti embalaži. Rdeča barva ima veliko simboličnih pomenov. V kontekstu embalaže čokolade je verjetno smiselno uporabiti simboliko, vezano na prehrano. V naravi sta zrelo sadje (jagode, češnje) in zelenjava (paradižnik, redkvica) pogosto rdeče barve in sladki, kar bi lahko pojasnilo del razlik v omenjenih profilih.
Vsekakor lahko iz rezultatov oblikujemo nekaj priporočil za uporabo v praksi. Najprej opozarjamo na zavedanje pomembnosti embalaže čokolade, saj percepcija čokolade ni samo posledica čokolade, temveč gre za interakcijo med barvo embalaže in lastnostmi čokolade.
Če pogledamo na ugotovite z vidika uporabnosti v praksi, potem lahko sklepamo, da je možno z uporabo različnih barv embalaže čokolade vplivati na zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade. Če želimo doseči ustrezen odziv pri kupcih in porabnikih čokolade, je treba v procesu razvoja novega izdelka najti pravo kombinacijo značilnosti čokolade in barvne kombinacije embalaže. Ugotovitve naše raziskave kažejo na to, da je možno z uporabo rdeče barve embalaže vplivati na zvišanje občutka sladkosti čokolade in z uporabo vijolične barve vplivati na občutek topljivosti čokolade. Kot najbolj izrazita možnost uporabe se je pokazala uporaba barve embalaže pri dimenziji trdosti-mehkosti čokolade. Čokolada v modri embalaži je bila namreč zaznana kot izrazito bolj trda kakor čokolada v rdeči embalaži. V eksperimentu smo uporabili samo en odtenek treh izbranih barv. Predvidevamo lahko, da različni odtenki različno močno vplivajo na zaznavanje okusa. Preverili bi na primer lahko, kakšna je razlika percepcije čokolade v temnordeči in svetlordeči embalaži.
Torej je izbira barve embalaže čokolade še kako pomembna. Smiselno je empirično preverjanje osnutkov embalaže čokolade, saj je tako možno oblikovati ustrezno kombinacijo obeh ključnih elementov.
Omejitev eksperimentalnega dela raziskave je v tipu in velikosti vzorca, ki ne omogoča posploševanja na celotno populacijo. V osnovi to tudi ni bil namen izvedene raziskave, zato je bil izbran kot ustrezen priložnostni vzorec, ki pojasnjuje odnose med neodvisno spremenljivko (barva embalaže čokolade) in odvisnimi spremenljivkami (dimenzije zaznavanje okusa in teksture čokolade).
Vsekakor je omejitev te raziskave v zbiranju zgolj prve asociacije. Da bi pridobili globlji vpogled v semantično strukturo asociacij na ključni dražljaj čokolada, bi bilo smiselno beležiti vsaj prve tri asociacije. Ker pa je bil osnovni namen uporabe ugotavljanja asociacij v našem primeru drug, smo ugotavljali zgolj prvo asociacijo.
Obravnavana problematika nudi obilo možnosti raziskovanja tudi v prihodnje. Zato avtorji upamo, da bo izvedena raziskava izzvala poglobljeno raziskovanje tudi v slovenskem akademskem in širšem okolju.
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Assist. Urban Šebjan, Ph.D. student Faculty of Economics and Business University of Maribor urban.sebjan@um.si
Domen Merc, M.Sc. student Faculty of Economics and Business University of Maribor domen.merc@student.um.si
Denis Rogan, M.Sc. student Faculty of Economics and Business University of Maribor denis.rogan@student.um.si
Izvirni znanstveni članek Original Scientific Paper
THE IMPACT OF FAIR INSURANCE SERVICES ON THE QUALITY AND STRENGTH OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUSTOMERS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES
Abstract: Due to increasing competition in the insurance market and the complexity of insurance services, the perceived fairness of insurance services and the implications of the relationship between users and insurance companies are coming more and more under scrutiny. This study finds that perceived fairness of insurance services positively and significantly impacts on the strength and quality of the relationship between the users of insurance services and the insurance company. At the same time, we find that the strength of this relationship has a positive and significant impact on its quality. The findings are important for insurance companies, which must, despite the complexity of insurance services, provide insurance services to users that are understandable and unambiguous while at the same time ensuring social and financial security.
Keywords: insurance services, relationship, fair services, structural equation modelling (SEM), conceptual model
VPLIV POŠTENIH ZAVAROVALNIH STORITEV NA KAKOVOST IN MOČ ODNOSA MED UPORABNIKI IN ZAVAROVALNICAMI
Povzetek: Zaradi vse večje konkurence na zavarovalniškem trgu in kompleksnosti zavarovalnih storitev je v ospredju vprašanje o zaznani poštenosti zavarovalnih storitev in posledicah v odnosu med uporabnikom in zavarovalnico. Ker živimo v času, ko se družba ukvarja z vprašanji »krize« etičnosti, družbene odgovornosti in moralnih vrednot v gospodarstvu, smo se v študiji osredotočili na proučevanje poštene zavarovalne storitve, katere področje postaja vedno bolj aktualno. Glavni namen prispevka je identificirati pošteno zavarovalno storitev v povezavi z odnosom med zavarovalnico in uporabnikov. Osredotočili smo se na vprašanje, kako zaznana poštena zavarovalna storitev vpliva na moč in kakovost
odnosa med zavarovalnico in uporabniki njenih storitev. V zavarovalništvu je malo raziskanega o poštenih zavarovalnih storitvah, zato je bil cilj študije proučiti, kako uporabniki zaznavajo poštenost zavarovalnih storitev, kako lahko zaznana poštena storitev prispeva k moči odnosa in kakovosti odnosa med zavarovalnico in uporabnikom ter proučiti vpliv moči odnosa na kakovost odnosa med zavarovalnico in uporabnikom. V prispevku predstavimo konceptualni model, s katerim smo ob pomoči modeliranja s strukturnimi enačbami ugotovili, da zaznana poštena zavarovalna storitev pozitivno in značilno vpliva na moč odnosa in kakovost odnosa med uporabnikom zavarovalnih storitev in zavarovalnico. Ugotovili smo, da moč odnosa pozitivno in značilno vpliva na kakovost odnosa med uporabnikom zavarovalnih storitev in zavarovalnico. Rezultati raziskave nakazujejo, da ima zaznana poštena zavarovalna storitev močan vpliv na kakovost odnosa v primerjavi z zaznano močjo odnosa med uporabnikom in zavarovalnico. To pomeni, da se kakovost odnosa bolj odraža v trenutni situaciji in v storitvah, ki jih uporabniki uporabljajo stalno. Moč odnosa pa se odraža skozi daljše časovno obdobje, kar pomeni, da stranka nima vedno dovolj jasno izoblikovanega mnenja o moči odnosa z zavarovalnico, zaznano moč odnosa pa lahko dodatno ovira pogosta zamenjava zavarovalnic ali kratkoročni odnosi med uporabnikom in zavarovalnico. Če primerjamo zavarovalne storitve z bančnimi, lahko prav tako ugotovimo, da uporabniki nimajo tako pogostih stikov z zavarovalnico kot na primer z bančnimi ustanovami, saj se zavarovanja običajno sklepajo za daljši čas, običajno za eno leto (ali tudi več let), ko je treba vnovič obnoviti zavarovanje po preteku jamčenja za zavarovalno tveganje. Naj poudarimo, da se pri proučevanju poštenih storitev pojavlja različno izrazoslovje (npr. poštenost, pravičnost itd.), kar nakazuje tudi znanstveni pregled raziskovalcev, ki proučujejo odnos med uporabnikom in organizacijo in vedenje uporabnika storitev (npr. zadovoljstva, nakupne namere, zaupanja itd.). Zato so v prihodnje potrebne dodatne razprave o jasni opredelitvi poštene storitve in o izboljšanju merjenja moči odnosa med zavarovalnico in stranko. Ugotovitve so pomembne za zavarovalnice, ki morajo kljub kompleksnosti zavarovalnih storitev uporabnikom nuditi zavarovalne storitve, ki bodo za uporabnike razumljive ter jim bodo nudile pošteno socialno in finačno varnost. Le na ta način bodo zavarovalnice lahko vplivale na kakovost odnosa in moč odnos ter zadržale svoje obstoječe stranke.
Ključne besede: zavarovalne storitve, odnos, poštena storitev, modeliranje s strukturnimi enačbami, konceptualni model
1. INTRODUCTION
The insurance sector has a special influence on economic development all over the world. Despite the important role of insurance in society, it is possible to detect saturation in the Slovenian insurance market, reflected in increasing competition among companies: "Increasing illiquidity, numerous corporate bankruptcies and rising unemployment have led to lower demand for several years. Insurance is a service that consumers forgo relatively quickly. Initially, this was only seen in the life insurance sector. Last year, however, that trend was more evident in the nonlife insurance sector. Total premiums collected by insurance companies were down 3.7% in the year 2014 on the previous year" (SIA, 2014: 9).
Although the Slovenian insurance market has shrunk due to the financial crisis, we can still perceive a power sales orientation of insurance companies. However, power sales-driver orientation of insurance can also create negative behavioural effects, which may be reflected in the asymmetry of information, fraud and exploitation conditions of insurance.
Since we live in a time when companies have to deal with ethical dilemmas, social responsibility and moral values within the economy, our study focuses on the fairness of insurance services. Despite the many different insurance services, what all of them have in common is that they are intangible (Edvardsson et al., 2005; Armstrong & Kotler, 2011). Seiders and Berry (1998) found that fairness is especially important for service firms because their products are intangible and difficult to evaluate, forcing consumers to rely on trust. Users find many financial services complex and difficult to understand, including insurance services (e.g., insurance conditions, insurance coverage, additional conditions). This raises doubts about the fairness of insurance services, thus demanding an examination of the relationship between users and insurance companies.
In this study the central research question is about how the perceived fairness of insurance services affects the quality and strength of the relationship between customers and insurance companies. In the area of financial services, most work has been done on the honesty of banking services (Chen et al., 2012; Worthington & Devlin, 2013); less research has been carried out on the fairness of services in the insurance sector. Although some researchers have associated fairness of insurance with the behaviour of customers (satisfaction, trust, behavioural intention, emotions) and the dimensions of a service (value) through various sales channels (Zhu & Chen, 2012; Chen et al.,
2012; Chen & Chou, 2012; Namkung & Jang, 2010; Virvilaite et al., 2015), few results have been published on the links between a fair insurance service and the relationship between the service users and the insurance company.
Our study focused on two key research objectives: to determine how perceived fairness of service affects the quality and strength of the user-company relationship, and to investigate the connection between the quality and the power of this relationship. In the remainder of the present paper, we will set out some theoretical foundations for service fairness and the strength and quality of the usercompany relationship. We will then continue with the empirical examination of the conceptual model and present the results of empirical research in which we explore the relationships between the constructs of a conceptual model. At the end of the article we present the findings and provide suggestions for future research.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Fairness is defined in opposition to unfairness, a lived phenomenon in all situations (Hegge, 2012). For customers, fairness is the absence of unfairness. Because customers generally expect fair treatment, their reactions to unfairness can be pronounced (Seiders & Berry, 1998). Carr writes: "Service fairness or justice is a multidimensional construct based on equity theory" (2007); it is also a multidimensional concept depending on different dimensions (e.g., distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational fairness, price fairness) (Namkung et al., 2009; Kyootai et al., 2011; Ting, 2013; Devlin et al., 2014). The concept of fairness is rooted in the theory of justice, which is in turn adapted from equity theory, suggesting that over-rewarded and under-rewarded relationship outcomes cause distress, which people strive to reduce (Adams, 1965). Individuals seek a fair input/output balance and become satisfied whenever they feel their inputs are fairly rewarded. Perception of unfairness can lead to distress and dissatisfaction. In contrast, perception of fairness results in positive emotions and satisfaction (Patterson et al., 1997; Szymanski & Henard, 2001). It might seem at first sight that the concepts of justice and fairness are the same, and that there is no reason to distinguish them or to say that one is more essential than the other. According to Rawls (1958) this impression is false: he considers justice only as an institutional virtue. Justice is not to be confused with an all-inclusive vision of a good society; it is only one part of any such conception.
Service consumers want services performed correctly at the first time of asking and in a timely manner (Vargo & Lusch, 2004; Carr, 2007). Perceived service fairness is an important influence on service quality assessment from the customer perspective. As a major aspect of any service facility, customers expect fair treatment. If customers are involved in service operations, fairness significantly influences the perceived service quality and becomes crucial for customer satisfaction. Consequently, quantifying fairness in order to evaluate the degree of perceived fairness should be an integral part of service quality assessment (Sandmann, 2013).
Fairness perceptions play an important role in customer behaviour. Many researchers have studied service fairness from different perspectives (price fairness, fair processes and procedures, outcome fairness, interactional fairness and fair treatment by staff). The most common conclusion has been that only price fairness and interactional fairness are significantly associated with behavioural intention, while two dimensions - distributive justice (fair outcomes) and interactional justice (fair treatment by staff) - have the largest effects on customer loyalty and relationship quality (Clark & Yancey, 2009; Namkung & Cheong, 2010; Kwortnik & Han, 2011). Some studies have found that consumer perceptions of interactional fairness, price fairness and information fairness affect behavioural/loyalty intentions through engendering satisfaction (Namkung & Jang, 2009; Wang & Mattila, 2011; Matute-Valle-jo et al., 2011; Zhu & Chen, 2012): "Fair service not only has a significant impact on customer satisfaction, but also plays a role equivalent to service quality in determining customers' trust and perceived value, which in turn lead to customer satisfaction" (Chen et al., 2012: 399). Service fairness is an antecedent of consumption emotions (positive and negative) that in turn influence customers' satisfaction and behavioural intentions (Su & Hsu, 2013). Xia et al. (2010) also investigated promotion fairness and price fairness. They found that perceived price-promotion fairness had a significant effect on perceived price fairness. Perceived price fairness in service industries can be viewed as a threshold factor in order to maintain satisfied and loyal customers (Martfn-Consuegra et al., 2007). Lee et al. (2011) suggested that overall fairness is critical for the enhancement of positive customer attitudes.
Interactional fairness is of the greatest importance for customers. Service companies should therefore manage interactions with customers effectively at every point of contact. All customers should be equally treated because preferential
treatment of certain customers can destroy the relationship. If service providers are successful in providing a fair service, they are also more likely to be considered high-quality service providers. Although there is a direct effect of service fairness on customer loyalty, customer loyalty is mainly affected by relationship quality. As customers stay with the same provider for longer periods, trust and commitment increase, and these customers are therefore more likely to stay with the same provider and to refer the provider to others (Giovanis et al., 2013).
Peppers and Rogers (2004) indicate that fairness of services (especially procedural fairness) has a strong effect on development of trust and commitment, and contributes to the development of an effective long-term relationship. Because customer relationships are characterized by social distance, customers must depend on organizations employed to act on their behalf (Culnan & Armstrong, 1999). Nguyen and Mutum (2012) argue that it is important to develop processes and procedures which the other party in the relationship judges to be fair, in order to sustain the relationship. Furthermore, such processes and procedures can partially or fully mediate the respective relationships of service fairness and service quality to customer loyalty. Service fairness is a means of retaining customers, which organizations can achieve by keeping promises in the provision of services, reflecting the quality of the relationship between the insurance company and the users. Thus, service fairness influences loyalty indirectly by strengthening the supplier-customer relationship quality, which has been proven to be a better predictor of customer attitude and behaviour (Vrontis et al., 2013). Research shows that the perception of relationship fairness also enhances relationship quality (Kumar et al., 1995). Clark and Yancey (2009) found that that distributive, procedural, and interactional justice all positively impact customers' transaction-specific post-recovery satisfaction with the service organization, and ultimately the quality of the customer-firm relationship.
Relationship quality is broadly regarded as a concept that is related to customers' satisfaction with the service provider (Dorsch et al., 1998; Yi-Shun et al., 2011), their trust in the service provider and their commitment to continue the customer-firm relationship (Dorsch et al., 1998; Hewett et al., 2002; Kumar et al., 1995; Yi-Shun, 2011). Generally, relationship quality describes the overall depth and climate of a relationship (Bove & Johnson, 1999; Amy & Amrik, 2006). Wong and Sohal (2006) found out in their research that relationship strength is positively
correlated with relationship quality in the retail sector. Banyte et al. (2014) also found that patients' satisfaction as well as trust had a strong influence on the relationship strength with and loyalty to a clinic's doctors. Appendix A provides an overview of research in the field of service fairness in relation to user behaviour.
Figure 1 depicts a relationship-strength model based on the results in the literature. The major constructs in the model are insurance-service fairness, relationship strength and relationship quality; the three hypothesized paths depict the interrelationships between these constructs:
Hypothesis 1. Perceived service fairness is positively related to relationship strength.
Hypothesis 2. Perceived service fairness is positively related to relationship quality.
Hypothesis 3. Relationship strength is positively related to relationship quality.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE
The data were collected through an online questionnaire from 9 December 2014 to 23 February 2015. The target population comprised random users who were legally able to buy insurance services in Slovenia, aged 18 years and older. Statistical units included in the sample were selected at random, so that all units had the same opportunity to be selected in the sample. In the online questionnaire anyone who had insurance coverage and was in a business relationship with an insurance company could participate. All returned online questionnaires were correctly _ completed. For testing of the hypotheses, data were collected based on a random sample of 200 customers of insurance services in Slovenia. In terms of demographics: 45.0% were male (n = 90) and 55.0% female (n = 110).
To ensure content validity, the measures for our constructs were adapted from the extant literature to suit the context of service fairness and the relationship between customer and organization. Insurance-service fairness was measured using items adapted from Devlin et al. (2014), Nam-kung and Cheong (2010) and Chen et al. (2012). Items for relationship strength were adapted from Ozkan-Tektas (2014). Relationship quality was measured by adapting items from Ndubisi (2007).
Finally, the preliminary questionnaires were pre-tested on six insurance-service customers to check their understanding of statements. The suggestions made were considered in the
questionnaire's final version, which consisted of 21 items. The respondents were requested to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed by checking the appropriate response to each questionnaire item. All items were measured on a seven-point Likert scale as follows: 1 = not agree at all, 4 = neutral, and 7 = absolutely agree. The questionnaire also included four questions gathering demographics of the sample population: age, gender, education and income.
Table 1 summarizes the demographic information on the sample. The largest group of respondents were between 18 and 25 years old (38.0%), followed by those between 26 and 35 years old (26.0%) and 46 and 55 years old (14.0%), and those who were 56 years and over (13.0%). The smallest group of respondents was between 36 and 45 years old (9.0%). The largest group had a college-level education or above (58.0%), followed by those who were educated up to secondary school (33.0%) and vocational school (7.0%).
The smallest group of respondents were educated up to grade school (2.0%). The largest group of respondents had a monthly income of between 701 and 1100 EUR (33.0%), followed by those who had a monthly income of between 301 and 700 EUR (22.0%) and below 300 EUR (20.0%).
4. RESULTS
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and WarpPLS softwares were used to analyse the reliability and validity of the data and to conduct PLS path modelling (PLS-SEM) (Hair et al., 2014).
Factor analysis was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we performed principal component analysis (PCA). PCA was also used to
establish a scale dimensionality by checking the factorial structure of items (indicators). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistics (KMO) were calculated and the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (BTS) carried out. The KMO represents the ratio of the squared correlation between variables to the squared partial correlation between variables, varying between 0 and 1. The KMO value has to be greater than 0.5 to be acceptable (Field, 2011: 647). BTS is a test of the assumption of sphericity. This test examines whether a variance-covariance matrix is proportional to an identity matrix. Therefore, it effectively tests whether the diagonal elements of the variance-covariance matrix are equal, and that the off-diagonal elements are approximately zero (Field, 2011: 781-782). The independence of the factors and simpler factor structure were obtained with principal component analysis and the varimax method. PCA showed that the service fairness (KM0=0.881, BTS=1193.99, p < 0.001) is composed of two factors. The construct 'Service fairness' is composed of the factor 'honesty of employee' (SF1) and the factor 'honesty components of insurance services' (SF2). The first factor explains 39.0% of the variance, the second factor 34.1%. In total 73.1% of the variance is explained. Relationship quality (KM0=0.856, BTS=385.879, p < 0.001) and relationship strength (KM0=0.500, BTS=33.511, p < 0.001) are composed of a single factor. The construct 'Relationship quality' explains 86.8% of the variance, while the construct 'Relationship strength' explains 77.2% of the variance. To improve the reliability of measurement of the construct 'Relationship strength' we had to discard three variables.
In the second phase we conducted the confirmatory factory analysis (CFA), which was used to ascertain the efficiency of the measurement mo-
Figure 1: Conceptual model with hypotheses
Table 1: Sample characteristics
Variables		fi	fi (%)
Gender	Male	90	45.0
	Female	110	55.0
Monthly income	Below 300 EUR	40	20.0
	301 to 700 EUR	44	22.0
	701 to 1,100 EUR	66	33.0
	1,101 to 1,400 EUR	32	16.0
	1,401 EUR and over	18	9.0
Education level	Grade school	4	2.0
	Vocational school	14	7.0
	Secondary school	66	33.0
	College and over	116	58.0
Age (year old)	18 to 25	76	38.0
	26 to 35	52	26.0
	36 to 45	18	9.0
	46 to 55	28	14.0
	56 and over	26	13.0
Source: Authors.
dels, and SEM was used to test the conceptual framework and assumptions. The properties of the measurement model are detailed in Table 2.
The reading of Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach, 1951) and the composite reliability for all the variables are greater than 0.50, in relation to the expected factors, showing higher reliability among the indicators. The p AVE values for this model exceeded 0.5 for the reflective constructs (Hair et al., 2010; Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Bagozzi & Yi, 1988), thus indicating convergent validity for all constructs. Composite reliabilities pcCR for the three reflectively measured constructs ranged from 0.871 to 0.962, exceeding the minimum requirement of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2010; Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). Since all the pcCR values were higher than the pcAVE values, there was convergent validity for all studied constructs. The internal consistency of the items in relation to the single trait within the instrumental was tested using Cronbach's a, ranging from 0.705 to 0.948. Cohen (1988) explains variation R2 for the endogenous latent variables, where 0.26, 0.13 and 0.02 represent strong, medium or low impact, respectively.
The examination of the endogenous constructs' predictive power shows that 'Relationship quality', which is the primary outcome measure of the model, has a substantial R2 value of 0.615. Based on the variance explained by the model for a particular endogenous variable (R2), we examined the predictability value of the structural model (Cohen, 1988; Stone, 1974). The prediction of 'Relation-
ship strength' was comparably weak (R2 = 0.272). Since collinearity was possible between latent variables, variance inflation factors (VIFs) were used to detect it, with the rule that this value should be less than 3.3 in every dimension or latent variable (Cenfetelli & Bassellier, 2009; Petter et al., 2007). All VIFs were less than 3.3. Q2 coefficients are also known as Stone-Geisser Q-squared coefficients, named after their principal original proponents (Geisser, 1974; Stone, 1974). Acceptable predictive validity in connection with an endogenous latent variable is suggested by a Q-squared coefficient greater than zero (Kock, 2013). From Table 3 it is evident that all values of the latent-variable Q2 coefficient are greater than zero.
The results of the discriminant validity are shown in Table 4. Discriminant validity was checked by comparing the shared variances between factors with the square root of pcAVE for each construct. The inter-construct correlations are all positive and significant. The findings shown in Table 4 suggest discriminant validity, since all diagonal elements are greater than the non-diagonal elements in the corresponding rows and columns.
We also examined the fit of the data to the research model by analysing the coefficient of goo-dness-of-fit (GoF) (Tenenhaus et al., 2005). Tenen-haus et al. (2005) defined the GoF as the square root of the product between what they refer to as the average communality index and the average R-squared (ARS). GoF is defined as small (0.35), medium (0.50) and large (0.61) (Wetzels et al.,
Table 2: Confirmatory factor analysis results
Model path	Factor loadinga	Variance explained	Meanb	SD
Service fairness (SF)"		73.0%		
SF1 ^ Service fairness	0.938		5.22	1.127
SF2 ^ Service fairness	0.948		5.28	1.030
Relationship strength (RS)		77.2%		
RS1 ^ Relationship strength	0.879		4.72	1.449
RS2 ^ Relationship strength	0.879		5.09	1.236
Relationship quality (RQ)		86.8%		
RQ1 ^ Relationship quality	0.949		5.55	1.193
RQ2 ^ Relationship quality	0.940		5.23	1.320
RQ3 ^ Relationship quality	0.967		5.15	1.293
RQ4 ^ Relationship quality	0.866		5.32	1.312
Notes: a All factor loadings are significant at 0.001. ь Measured on a seven-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree, Standard deviation (SD). "two-level factor.
Source: Authors.
2009). The model in this study had a GoF value of 0.611; this indicates that the model fit was good. WarpPLS provided us with additional criteria for verifying data consistency within the research model. Thus assessing the model's fit with the data, it is recommended that the p-values for all the average path coefficients (APC = 0.472), average adjusted R-squared (AARS=0.436) and the average R-squared (ARS = 0.444) all be lower than 0.001. Average values of the variance inflation factor (AVIF = 1.290) and average full colli-nearity VIF (AFVIF = 2.050) were lower than 5.0. Values of Sympson's paradox ratio (SPR = 1.000) and R-squared contribution ratio (RSCR = 1.000) achieve the ideal value, which was proposed as 1.000. The data contribute statistical suppression ratio (SSR = 1.000) and nonlinear causality bivariate direction ratio (NLBCDR = 1.000), both indicators exceeding the suggested value of 0.7 (Schepers et al., 2005; Kock, 2013).
In Figure 2 we present the relationships between individual constructs. The results fully supported the hypotheses on the effect of service fairness
Table 3: Indicators of Quality of Research Model
on relationship quality (H1, y1 = 0.603, p < 0.001). In relation to the first hypothesis it was confirmed that the higher the perceived fairness of insurance services, the higher the perceived quality of the relationship that users are experiencing with the insurance company. As expected, insurance-service fairness had a positive effect on relationship strength, supporting H2 (y2 = 0.522, p < 0.001). The positive and statistically significant relationship between service fairness and relationship strength indicated that the higher the perceived fairness of insurance services, the more users will perceive a strong relationship with the insurer. Finally, relationship strength also had a positive and significant effect on the relationship quality (H3; ß3 = 0.291, p < 0.01); thus, hypothesis H3 is supported. This means that the more users perceive strength in the relationship, the more perceive quality. We found that all the relationships between the constructs in the proposed model are positive and statistically significant.
Impact assessment /2 (effect size) was used to assess the impact of latent variables in a struc-
Constructs	Cronbach a	pcCR	pcAVE	R2	Q2	VIF
1. SF	0.875	0.941	0.889	(-)	(-)	2.233
2. RS	0.705	0.871	0.772	0.272	0.282	1.452
3. RQ	0.948	0.962	0.865	0.615	0.619	2.465
Notes: Service fairness (SF), relationship strength (RS), relationship quality (RQ). Source: Authors.
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AKADEMIJA
Table 4: Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Matrix of all Variables
Constructs	Mean	SD	I	2	3
1. SF	5.25	1.008	0.943*		
2. RS	4.91	1.180	0.4076	0.8079"	
3. RQ	5.31	1.193	0.7383	0.548	0.930*
Notes: All correlations are significant at 0.01. "Square roots of average variancesextracted (AVEs) shown on diacjonal. Source: Authors.
tural model (Cohen, 1988). The strongest effect was that of the independent variable 'Service fairness' on the dependent variable 'Relationship quality' (Z2 = 0.447). The impact of the independent variable 'Relationship strength' on the dependent variable 'Relationship quality' was low (Z2 = 0.168). The relationship between constructs for the proposed model is reported in Table 5.
5. DISCUSSION OF IMPLICATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
In this study we investigated the fairness of insurance services and its impact on relationships quality and relationship strength. We emphasize that there is not currently a lot of relevant literature available on fairness or fair relations in the insurance industry, and so this study makes an important contribution to the field. Examining the fairness of insurance services is essential in this day and age, because insurance companies are trying to attract new and maintain existing customers with new offers, which are therefore becoming increasingly complex and difficult to understand. Lack of transparency can result, which can cast doubt on customers' perception of the credibility of an insurance company and the fairness of its services, as it may lose transparency in its complexity. Insurance companies create a relationship with their customers through the process of implementation of services. In this study we established that insurance services characterized by fairness have a positive impact on relationship quality and relationship strength,
IF igure 2: Co nceptual model with results
Y2 = 0.522***
INSURANCE SERVICE FAIRNESS (SF)
Yi = 0.603
RELATI STRENC R2=	ONSHIP TH (RS) 1272
	ß3 = 0.291**
RELATIONSHIP QUALITY (RQ) R2= 0.615	
Notes: GoF=0.611, APC=0.472 (p < 0.001), ARS=0.444 (p < 0.001), AARS=0.436 (p < 0.001), AVIF=1.290, AF-VIF=2.050, SPR=1.000, RSCR=1.000, SSR=1.000, NLBCDR=1.000, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01. Source: Authors.
which confirms the findings of other researche rs (Kumar et al., 1995; Clark & Yancey, 2009) who have; focused on relationship quality, but not on relationship strength. Establishing the existence of links between fairness of insurance services and relationship stsength is an important scientific contribution. "The more customers and consum -ers perceive fairness in an insurance service, the more positively they perceive the quality of the relationship. At the sametime, the greater the perception of fairness in i nsurance services, the more strongly customers perceive the linke with the insurance company, and so insurance companies reduce the likelihood that customers will choose to change insurance company and insur-
Table 5: Standardized Path Coefficients for Proposed Model
Hypothesized path	Hypothesis	Expected sign	Path coefficient	Z2	S.E.	Results
Y1 (SF ^ RQ)	H1	+	0.603"""	0.447	0.086	Supported
V2 (SF ^ RS)	H2	+	0.522"""	0.272	0.088	Supported
ß3 (RS ^ RQ)	H3	+	0.291""	0.168	0.093	Supported
Notes: ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01; Z2 effect size; S.E. standard error; Service fairness (SF), Relationship strength (RS), Relationship quality (RQ).
Source: Authors.
ance service. Therefore, we agree with Maicas Lopez et al. (2006) that those customers who maintain a long-lasting relationship with the organization (length), use the service more (depth), and invest in complementary services (breadth) will be less predisposed to switch. The strength of a customer-contact employee relationship will affect the volume to which the customer says positive things about the organization and recommends it to other people (Wong & Sohal, 2006).
It is up to insurance companies to present comprehensive services to customers, including through offer simulations. The biggest problem in the insurance industry is still represented by three factors: insurance premium, insurance coverage and evaluation of the damage event. This is because the damage assessment is based on the insurance coverage for which the customer paid the insurance premium. In the event of damage/ accidents and consequent damage assessment/ casualty, insurance companies can rely on additional clauses included in the insurance contract, but users often do not know about these because they are often not informed, or are informed inadequately. Taking into account the additional clauses in the contract when assessing claims in cases/incidents, customers often do not receive the level of damage compensation they expect. In these cases users perceive a value of insurance claim that is higher than the actual value that the insurance company pays; customers therefore become dissatisfied and suspicious, and start to question the fairness of the insurance company's services. Additional to these factors, discounts are also important, but they are not the same for all insured persons; discounts may be added to policies at insurance-company employees' discretion (up to a certain mandate), and they alone decide the level for particular customers. In this way the insurance company may lose its reputation and consequently suffer loss of confidence among existing customers or even loss of users, who must then be replaced. In today's highly competitive environment, loss of customers is very costly, so the managers and employees of insurance companies have to continually focus on trust and the fulfilment of given commitments (Shemwell & Cronin, 1995), since these not only affect the quality, but also the strength of the relationship with users.
In the context of the conceptual model, we found that the quality of the relationship significantly influenced the strength of the relationship between customers and the insurance company, which is consistent with previous findings in the literature (Wong & Sohal, 2006). The conceptual model plays a central role in the correlation of fairness
and relationship quality, noticeably less so in the correlation between relationship strength and relationship quality. This is because customers are mainly focused on the perception of the benefits/ costs of the insurance service, which are subsequently reflected in the relationship between the customer and the insurance company.
In the theoretical review of the field, we also found some inconsistencies in the interpretation of relationship quality and relationship strength. Although many researchers define the relationship strength as the dimension governed by the level of trust and (effective) commitment towards the individual service provider (Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Shemwell & Cronin, 1995; Bove & Johnson, 1999; Buttle, 2009), Vazquez-Casielles et al. (2010) represent the relationship quality in the same terms. If we consider our findings and the conclusions of Wong and Sohal (2006), we can perceive that a continuous quality of the relationship with the insurance company deepens this relationship, whereby this relationship is also strengthened. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the quality and strength (depth) of the relationship.
In evaluating our research we must point out its limitations. The results of the survey relate only to the users of insurance services, and therefore cannot be generalized for the entire population. The sample included only a limited number of insurance-service customers, so the sample will need to be increased in the future. Since the sample included only Slovenian customers of insurance services, the conceptual model could also be tested on a sample of foreign users, especially in those countries where insurance services are highly developed. We could also include in the conceptual model some of the demographic variables of insurance-service customers, such as age, education, personal income, and location of residence (e.g., city, suburbia, rural). This study was based on existing research on the fairness of insurance services; further research could check the fairness of services in other fields, such as education, health care and telecommunications. The conceptual model was based on only three constructs; it would be reasonable to extend it to include relationship economic value, relationship value outcomes, customer switching behaviour, and relationship satisfaction.
The field investigated here is complex and demanding, as it concerns a comprehensive social problem, which is not unique to the insurance sector in Slovenia but relates to the entire global social system. Insurance and other financial institutions must devote themselves to the deve-
lopment of honest services, which will be reflected and perceived in fair premiums, discounts, offers, advertising, etc. Insurance companies should strictly and continuously measure customers' perception of the fairness of the service in different areas and different sales channels, especially in contact with customers. At the same time, it is necessary to define the key dimensions of a fair insurance service, which must relate to so-called external processes, where the customer is in contact with staff, as well as so-called internal processes. The dimensions of a perceived 'fair insurance service' can be usefully included and integrated by insurance companies in the processes of customer relationship management (CRM).
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ЕШ
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Appendix A: Review of literature on components of service fairness
SF ^ SQ
SF ^ S
SF ^ PV
SF ^ T
SF ^ BI
SF ^ LI
IF ^ LI
IF ^ S
OF^ S
OF^T
OF^PV
n.s.
PF^OF
IF^OF
DF^OF
DF^LI
DF^T
PF^T
*/n.s.
INF^T
*/n.s.
DF^S
PF^S
n.s.
INF^S
n.s.
INF^SQ
PF^SQ
DF^SQ
IN^S
IF^S
CF^RI
CF^TI
DF^BI
PF^BI
n.s.
INF^BI
n.s.
PF^PE
n.s.
PF^NE
OCF^PE
OCF^NE
n.s.
INF^PE
INFINE
n.s.
OCF^BI
n.s.
Notes: n.s. - not significant at 0.05, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001, service fairness (SF), service quality (SQ), perceived value (PV), trust (T), satisfaction (S), loyalty intention (LI), overall fairness (OF), distributive fairness (DF), procedural fairness (PF), informational fairness (IF), interactional fairness (INF), interpersonal fairness (IN), corporate fairness (CF), relational interaction (RI), transactional interaction, behavioural intention (BI), positive emotion (PE), negative emotion (NE), outcome fairness (OCF).
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DETECTING CONSUMERS WITH LOW FAMILIARITY IN COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN RESEARCH
Vesna Kuralt
University of Ljubljana kuralt.vesna@gmail.com
Dr. Anja Mohorko
Oxford University Press anja.mohorko@oup.com
Dr. Mihael Kline
University of Ljubljana mihael.kline@fdv.uni-lj.si
Izvirni znanstveni članek Original Scientific Paper
Abstract: This research aims to detect the attitudes of consumers who are not familiar with the country of origin by studying the image of an unfamiliar country of origin. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies of country-of-origin effect in the context of low familiarity. In order to detect such consumers, we have added the 'I don't know' option to the Likert scale. This has enabled us to divide the respondents into two groups according to their familiarity with the target country, which is an unfamiliar country of origin. Since this pre-assumes a considerable lack of consumer knowledge, we based our model on their emotions. For this reason, we referred to consumer affinity research when building the model of unfamiliar country of origin effect. An indirect impact of consumer affinity on their willingness to buy was fully mediated by perceived risk in both groups of consumers with high and low familiarity. Hence, we encourage researchers to include perceived risk in their study design.
Keywords: familiarity, unfamiliar country of origin, perceived risk, consumer affinity, consumer knowledge, I don't know
ZAZNAVANJE POTROŠNIKOV S ŠIBKIM POZNAVANJEM DRŽAVE IZVORA
Povzetek: Ogromno študij na področju marketinga za kvantitativno metodo merjenja stališč uporablja Likertovo lestvico, vendar takšna metoda iz vzorca anketirancev izloči tiste, ki imajo omejeno znanje o objektu. Ti na postavljena vprašanja niso sposobni odgovarjati ali pa se ne čutijo dovolj kompetentne za takšne sodbe. Z namenom vključitve teh anketirancev smo Li-kertovi lestvici dodali možnost odgovora ne vem. Tako jim omogočamo sodelovanje v anketi kljub šibkemu poznavanju nekaterih izmed preučevanih latentnih spremenljivk. Navedeno metodo merjenja smo uporabili na primeru študije države
izvora in tako poskušali zaznati stališča anketirancev z omejenim znanjem o državi izvora.
Poznavanje je eden od glavnih moderatorjev učinka držav izvora, zato je izbira takšnega konteksta študije smiselna. Praviloma so študije izvedene na primerih zelo prepoznavnih držav izvora, a bi to onemogočalo doseganje osnovnega cilja te študije. Prav zato smo na podlagi postopka prepoznavanja utemeljili tako imenovano neuveljavljeno državo izvora. Ta se od dobro prepoznavne oziroma uveljavljene države izvora razlikuje v količini predznanja anketirancev in njihovih izkušenj z njo. Pri tem je treba poudariti, da neuveljavljena država ni nujno slabo prepoznavna med vsemi skupinami deležnikov. Nekateri izmed njih imajo morda številne izkušnje z njihovimi produkti, medtem ko drugi njenih tržnih znamk sicer ne poznajo, toda so dobro seznanjeni z drugimi vidiki države in zato nimajo težav pri tvorjenju eksplicitnih stališč do neuveljavljene podobe države.
Neuveljavljeno državo izvora torej nekateri deležniki dobro poznajo, drugi pa slabše. Tako tudi neuveljavljeno državo izvora ločimo od neznane države, ki je izbranim skupinam deležnikom popolnoma nepoznana in zato do nje ne morejo oblikovati stališča. Če za razlago teh skupin uporabimo postopek prepoznavanja, izbrane skupine deležnikov v primeru visoke stopnje poznavanja v postopku oblikovanja stališča enostavno prikličejo informacije iz spomina, medtem ko je ta v primeru nizke stopnje poznavanja omejen ali celo nemogoč, čeprav je objekt preučevanja anketirancem razmeroma poznan. V kontekstu naše študije tako ti niso zelo dobro seznanjeni s podobo države izvora oziroma lastnostmi njenih produktov, toda imajo nekaj asociacij na njeno splošno podobo. Ti deležniki se zaradi omejenega znanja pri oblikovanju stališča pogosto zanašajo tudi na čustva kot informacije. Zaradi omejenih informacij nekaterih deležnikov raziskovalni model neuveljavljene države izvora tako osnujemo s čustvenimi vezmi do države.
Naklonjenost do države je eden od novejših kon-struktov na področju preučevanja držav izvora. Pred kratkim so nekateri avtorji definirali različne razsežnosti kognitivne naklonjenosti do države, ki pogojujejo čustveno oziroma afektivno oblikovano stališče naklonjenosti do države. Raziskave kognitivne naklonjenosti v nasprotju z afektiv-no zasnovano študijo naklonjenosti do države ugotavljajo njen posreden vpliv na pripravljenost k nakupu. Vzrok različnih rezultatov posameznih študij je verjetno metoda raziskovanja, saj so anketiranci v primeru ugotovljenega neposrednega vpliva naklonjenosti do države na intenco nakupa
posamično izbrali državo, do katere čutijo največjo naklonjenost. Rezultati omenjene študije kažejo, da v primeru velike naklonjenosti do države ta na pripravljenost k nakupu vpliva neposredno ali pa jo mediira njihova zaznava tveganja.
Zaradi konteksta raziskave neuveljavljene države izvora je vključitev konstrukta zaznave tveganja zelo smiselna. Anketiranci s šibkejšim eksplicitnim znanjem bi se namreč lahko na podlagi svoje zaznave tveganja odločali o nakupu produkta iz neuveljavljene države izvora. Prav zato v model naše študije poleg hipotez v skladu z literaturo o naklonjenosti do države vključimo tudi to hipotezo. V okviru naše študije smo torej preverili neposredni in posredni vpliv naklonjenosti do države na težnjo po nakupu v kontekstu neuveljavljene države izvora.
Ob pomoči odgovorov ne vem smo anketirance razvrstili v skupini visoke in nizke stopnje poznavanja podobe države izvora. Za obe skupini smo testirali vse hipoteze z regresijo in modeliranjem strukturnih enačb. Rezultati pokažejo različna modela učinka (neuveljavljene) države izvora za deležnike z visoko in nizko stopnjo poznavanja, saj je zaradi pomanjkljivega znanja o podobi države izvora ta celoten konstrukt izpuščen iz modela anketirancev z nizko stopnjo poznavanja. V naši študiji tako prikažemo možnosti raziskovanja izbranih skupin deležnikov z omejenim predznanjem in izkušnjami, in sicer na podlagi omogočanja odgovora ne vem. Seveda moramo pri vključevanju takšnih anketirancev preveriti, ali se njihov proces oblikovanja stališč razlikuje od drugih. Ne nazadnje pa rezultati naše študije ponujajo svež pogled na raziskovanje držav izvora in vnovič potrdijo izjemen pomen čustev pri ocenjevanju podobe države izvora.
Ključne besede: prepoznavnost, neuveljavljena država izvora, zaznava tveganja, naklonjenost potrošnikov, znanje potrošnikov, ne vem
1. INTRODUCTION
The country-of-origin or product-country image effect is one of the most researched fields in international marketing. This is probably due to the value of understanding consumer reactions to products for managers of international brands. However, some doubts have recently been raised about the relevance of these studies because of the unrealistic conditions under which they are conducted (Usunier, 2006; Samiee, 2011). This criticism is based on conscious or explicit use of the country-of-origin cue, while implicit attitudes are still largely neglected in country--of-origin research, even though some studies already demonstrated the automatic influence of product-country images in consumer evaluations (Liu & Johnson, 2005; Herz & Diamantopou-los, 2013). This can also occur unintentionally. Hence, even consumers with low familiarity are influenced by the country-of-origin cue, whether they are aware of it or not.
The second major criticism of country-of-origin research is also closely related to consumer knowledge. In a highly globalized world, it is increasingly difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of a brand and even harder to assess the origin of a product, which leads to low awareness of brand origin recognition accuracy among consumers (Samiee et al., 2005). This should not be surprising, even though it is supposed to be vital for the country-of-origin effect. It is true that brand recognition—or rather consumer knowledge—seems to be key in this discussion, since knowing the brand origin has a diagnostic role in purchase situations (Samiee, 2011). At any rate, due to excessive information in the modern age, consumer learning is thus more often incidental than intentional and misinformation is highly possible, if not intended. In any case, correct or false, consumers' knowledge affects their evaluations, as long as they are confident in it (Magnusson et al., 2011).
Nevertheless, the focus of country-of-origin research is changing. In the last decade, the interest in studying effects is growing. Research is slowly moving away from traditional country-of-origin studies, while the number of studies on consumer ideologies is increasing. Instead of dealing with cognitive information processing, the focus is on socio-psychological processes stemming from individual mindset and consumer social context (Dmitrovic & Vida, 2010). In this case, the issue of taking the country-of-origin cue into consideration is irrelevant, since the study is interested in how this information is incorporated into their evaluation when perceived as diagnostic.
Everyone agrees that knowledge and, consequently, recognition does play an important role in the evaluation of the country of origin, but its source can be either cognitive or affective information. As mentioned above, the latter are only recently the focus of research, although the primacy of affect over cognition has long been recognized (Zajonc, 1984). Due to the probable lack of cognitions in the case of low familiarity, our research model is based on affects as the source of information for country-of-origin evaluation. Since it would be hard to find a target country that is unfamiliar and induces negative emotions, we have decided to test another poorly researched construct from country-of-origin research in our model. That is consumer affinity, where some mixed results have recently been found in the literature (Oberecker & Diamantopo-ulos, 2011; Nes et al., 2014). Hence, our study will address two gaps in the literature. Most of all, we aim to demonstrate the country-of-origin effect when consumer knowledge is limited. Secondly, we will retest the established hypotheses of consumer affinity research.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Stereotypes and categorization cognitions were viewed as the main source of country-of-origin effect for a long time, even though some differences in product-country image evaluation between novices and experts were brought to attention (Maheswaran, 1994). This also shows different levels of explicit knowledge and familiarity among consumers. Interestingly, almost as a rule, only familiar brands and countries of origin are used as examples in studies. This certainly enables researchers to investigate specific effects in consumer perception, such as consumer animosity, since each highly familiar product-country image is quite distinct. Of course, this is rather unavoidable and many studies of this type are quite specific in their results. All the same, new avenues of country-of-origin research promise fresh insight into the same subject with a closer look into implicit and affective attitude.
2.1. UNFAMILIAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
This study aims to detect consumers with low familiarity in country-of-origin research. Therefore, we are introducing a new concept called 'unfamiliar country of origin', which has lower familiarity among consumers, but it is not unfamiliar to all of them. A totally unfamiliar country is unknown to the consumers, i.e. they are not aware of it. It would thus be impossible to measure their attitude to an unknown country of origin, be-
cause they have none. Awareness enables them to form perceptions of quality, country-of-origin associations, and even loyalty toward a country (Pappu & Quester, 2010). According to the theory of country equity, awareness is the precondition of country-of-origin effect, on which other facets are built. Although the authors define awareness in a strictly explicit manner as a "consumer's ability to recognize or recall that the country is a producer of a certain product category", we understand awareness in its original implicit way, where retrieval of information from memory is not necessary. Hence, an unfamiliar country of origin is a country that consumers are aware of, even though their explicit knowledge of the product-country image is low or nonexistent.
Compared to unknown countries, it is not impossible to measure the attitude to an unfamiliar country of origin, since each consumer has their own experience and prior knowledge, which adds to their general perceptions of particular countries. If we continue to explain this in terms of the country equity theory, these are associations of the unfamiliar country of origin. The bare minimum would be some general macro image associations related only to country image, which can be attributed to product-country image or micro image, as Pappu and Quester (2010) call it. Instead of a halo effect of a simple or even vague country image (Kleppe et al., 2002), some might have product knowledge. This enables them to use the summary construct to form their product-country image (Han, 1989). These long established effects from the literature are the same in the case of unfamiliar countries. Its images only vary in form from conscious explicit attitude to unconscious implicit attitude, and we would like to uncover the possibility of researching the latter.
The difference between explicit and implicit attitude is in the process of recognition, since recollection or retrieval is a consciously controlled process and mere familiarity is an unconscious process produced by perceptual fluency (Jacoby et al., 1993). Therefore, in the case of high familiarity with the object, consumers are expected to be able to retrieve some relevant information from memory; whereas objects with low familiarity will feel familiar, while any recollection will be difficult. However, these distinctions are not always clear-cut, as we cannot simply link explicit memory to cognitive attitude and implicit memory to affective attitude, because some cognitions are automatic (e.g. stereotypes) and affects can be stored in memory as information. Note that our study focuses on measuring explicit attitudes and familiarity, although we acknowledge that
fluency of implicit memory is its underlying process (Wagner & Gabrieli, 1998).
We have already mentioned country-of-origin studies presenting the automatic stereotype effect, which is evident in the cognitive and affective dimensions of attitude (Herz & Diamanto-poulos, 2013). In order to detect such an unconscious process, one can look at its results with implicit measures, such as an implicit association test (Martin et al., 2011), or explicit measures, such as the Likert scale. Knowledgeable consumers will have no problem forming explicit attitudes and will use the most accessible associations from their memory in their judgment, whereas consumers with limited knowledge have fewer association nodes in their memory, which is why these have a higher chance of being activated (Czellar & Luna, 2010). For this reason, each personal experience or contact with an unfamiliar country of origin can have a great impact, and frequency makes associations more accessible and easier to recollect from memory.
Considering some consumers might have no explicit knowledge of a product-country image, our study focuses on consumer affinity as the basis of an unfamiliar country of origin. This is due to the possible lack of cognitions in consumers who can resort to affect as information in their evaluations (Clore et al. 2001). While both cognitions and emotions can occur without awareness, affective responses in particular can occur without cognitive encoding and in total absence of recognition memory (Zajonc, 1984). Hence, affects in particular can be formed automatically and unconsciously, which makes assessing an emotional connection to any country possible regardless of the level of familiarity.
Academics agree that there is a severe lack of studies on affective attitude in the field of country-of-origin research (Roth & Diamanto-poulos, 2009; Maheswaran et al., 2013), even though an affective image has a stronger impact on the intention to buy (Wang et al., 2012; Li et al., 2014). So far, negative affects toward foreign countries have received considerable attention in the literature (e.g. ethnocentrism, animosity), unlike favorable attitudes, which have largely been neglected. This further encourages us to study favorable facets of an unfamiliar country of origin. Therefore, we refer to the only scale using positive emotions toward a country available in the literature. That is the consumer affinity scale, which is based on feelings of sympathy and attachment to a country (Oberecker & Diamanto-poulos, 2011).
2.2. CONSUMER AFFINITY
Oberecker, Riefler, and Diamantopoulos (2008) were the first to conceptualize consumer affinity as being expressed by "a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy" and by stronger emotions, such as feelings of "cohesiveness and identification" or "attraction". However, the first definition of consumer affinity in the area of country-of-ori-gin research was provided by Jaffe and Nebenzahl (2006). They define it as a favorable and primarily affectively based attitude toward a focal foreign country, which might affect consumer behavior toward products and brands from the affinity country.
When Oberecker et al. (2008) conceptualize consumer affinity, they distinguish idiosyncratic from normative affinities. Idiosyncratic affinities occur at individual level only, while normative affinities depend on cultural influences and occur at the national level. Idiosyncratic consumer affinity is the source of affinity toward an unfamiliar country of origin, whereas normative consumer affinity is more typical of a familiar country of origin, since it is based on knowledge shared with others via mass media or social networks. Moreover, they base their micro and macro drivers of consumer affinity accordingly.
As Nes et al. (2014) explain, their macro drivers seem to express what respondents like about the affinity target and the micro drivers seem to express how they developed this affinity. The latter are based on direct personal experience with the affinity country and/or its citizens, such as personal contacts, travel, and stays abroad. In contrast, macro driver factors are information on country characteristics, which may also be gained indirectly through media, books, or school education, such as lifestyle, scenery, culture, politics, and economics (Oberecker et al. 2008). These factors overlap to a greater or lesser extent with recently developed cognitive consumer affinity dimensions: Wongtada et al. (2012) propose education affinity, business affinity, and people affinity as latent dimensions of consumer affinity; Nes et al. (2014) suggest general affinity, culture/ landscape, music/entertainment, people, and politics dimensions; Bernard and Zarrouk-Karoui (2014) identify personal experience, beauty of nature, and culture as drivers of consumer affinity.
On the other hand, Oberecker and Diamantopoulos (2011) develop a higher-order construct with affectively based sympathy and attachment. Their scale measures affective consumer affinity, while other authors focus on cognitive consumer affinity (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014; Bernard & Zarrouk-Karoui, 2014). At any rate,
the results consistently show that the cognitive factors of consumer affinity are the drivers of the more general items proposed for affective consumer affinity (Oberecker et al., 2008; Nes et al., 2014; Bernard & Zarrouk-Karoui, 2014). This enables us to simultaneously retest results of both cognitive indirect impact and affective direct impact of consumer affinity on the willingness to buy.
Note that respondents were free to choose their affinity country in the study developing the affective scale of consumer affinity, while other studies had assigned a target country in their survey (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014). This has probably resulted in strong emotions by respondents (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011) and might directly impact their intention to buy. Where strong emotions are present, consumers do not particularly care about the product-country image, since their decision is swayed by the strength of their emotions. This is probably why no effect on product-country image was hypothesized in their study. This is where the discrepancy in the literature comes from. Very strong consumer affinity suggests its direct impact on the willingness to buy, whereas weaker levels of affinity take an indirect path in decision-making, mediated by either perceived risk (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011) or product-country image (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014; Bernard & Zarrouk-Karoui, 2014).
This distinction can partly arise from the level of product knowledge at the heart of the issue of the unfamiliar country of origin. Some consumers have sufficient product knowledge and thus have no problems forming a product-country image. Those who lack such knowledge can rely on country image associations, also known as the halo effect. Note here that cognitive country image is fully mediated by the product-country image (Li et al., 2014), while the affective country image can directly affect behavior, most commonly measured by the willingness to buy (Wang et al., 2012). Naturally, consumers with limited product knowledge cannot use their nonexistent product-country image in their evaluations. This is why their strong affinity either impacts their willingness to buy directly or they consider the perceived risk in such purchase decisions (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011).
3. RESEARCH MODEL
Most of the decisions for selecting a particular affinity country were based on respondents' personal attachment to the chosen country due to their vacation experience, family lineage etc.
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This indicates the possibilities of analyzing consumer affinity in the case of an unfamiliar country of origin, since some consumers have a strong emotional bond to unfamiliar countries of origin and, consequently, even product knowledge, despite their generally perceived unfamiliarity in the international market. Since our study will include consumers with both high and low familiarity, we will test both the direct and indirect impact of consumer affinity on the willingness to buy in accordance with results from previous research. Hence, hypotheses 1-3 are formed according to the assumption of direct impact of consumer affinity on the intention to buy (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011), and hypotheses 4 and 5 are formed according to results from the literature on cognitive consumer affinity (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014). In addition, we have posed another hypothesis in accordance with the context oflow familiarity. The more unfamil iar the country of origin is, the more uncertain the results of the purchase are. Therefore, H6 suggests the mediation or consumers' perceived risk, because the willingness to buy is determined by the level of uncertainty thaf consumers feel due to low familiarity.
The contribution of Oberecker and Diamantopoulos (2011) is the m ost valuable for our study, not only because we base our model on their affective scale of consumer sffinity,but also due to the implementation of perceived riso in the model. Perceived risk, according to them, fully mediates the imcactof cons umer affinity/ on t he willingness to buy. The authors incorporate this construct into their study on the assumption that this is how consumers reduce tCeir oncertginty about the purchase oaa product, by preferring familiar options to unfamiliar ones in risky consumptioa situations (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 22011 ). It is tru e that con sumers with no or poor explicit knowledge will use heuristics, since other information is not available to them, and prior research has shown that extrinsic cues,
such as the price or country of origin, can act as risk-relieving information (Aqueveque, 2006).
Hence, in the case of low familiarity, consumers might even simply assess the perceived risk instead of evaluating the product-country image, when information on the latter is unavailable to them. For this reason, we predict an alternative path to indirect impact of consumer affinity, when consumers have scarce data on the product-country image or lack confidence in it. Consumers with low familiarity are unable to evaluate the product-country image and do not have strong affinity toward an unfamiliar country of origin. This is why they rely on their evaluation of the level of risk in their decision on buying products from an unfamiliar country of origin. Thus° we predict that consumer affin ity will affect the perceived risk and the iatter will impact the willingness to buy.
Hypothesis 1: The higher the affinity consumers have, the lower the risk they perceive.
Hypothesis 2: The higher the risk consumers perceive, h less willing they are to buy.
As noted above, the mixed results in the literature are probably caused by research design, where respondents either chose rheif own affinity country or are assigned a target country in the survey. The direct impact in the rare of an unfamiliar country of ori gin is not im possible, b ut is highly unlikely due to the lack of experience and prior knowledge of most consumers. Regardless, we will retest it, even ii it seems onlikely that the respondents would have such strong feelings toward an unfamiliar country of origin that is assigned to them in the survey. At ant rate, this would certainly be possible if we looked for a sample with ctrong positive feelings toward a target corntry oc let them choose their own affinity country (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011). It is also aossible that a memorable experience would generate strong feelings of sympathy and/
Figure1: Proposedresearchmodel
or attachment, which would be recollected at the time of the evaluation using affect as information (Clore et al., 2001) in the absence of product knowledge.
Hypothesis 3: The higher the affinity consumers have, the more willing they are to buy.
More recent research focuses on developing scales for cognitive consumer affinity and has consistently demonstrated an indirect impact of consumer affinity mediated by the product-country image (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014). This is probably due to research design with a target affinity country, which measures the image of a particular country of origin. Thus, the strength of consumers' emotional bond to this target country varies. The same will be the case in our study. For this reason, we expect the impact of consumer affinity on the product-country image (Wongtada et al., 2012; Nes et al., 2014) and the impact of the product-country image on the willingness to buy, which has long been established in the literature (Verlegh and Steen-kamp, 1999; Maheswaran et al., 2013). Under the condition that consumers have the required product knowledge for such retrieval from memory or they are at least sufficiently familiar with the target country in order to form evaluations by halo effect (Han, 1989).
Hypothesis 4: The higher the affinity consumers have, the better the product-country image they hold.
Hypothesis 5: The better the product-country image consumers hold, the more willing they are to buy.
Perceived risk serves as an additional variable to measure outcomes in consumer research and is part of the conceptualization of consumer affinity (Oberecker et al., 2008), but it is not part of the recent analyses of consumer affinity or country-of-origin research. In the case of the latter, there are a few exceptions (see Aqueveque, 2006; Michaelins et al., 2008). We would like to shed some light on this overlooked construct, which could play an important role in unfamiliar country of origin research. Due to the high probability of limited experience and product knowledge, perceived risk should be an important predictor of the willingness to buy. For this reason, we are adding the sixth hypothesis to our retest of the mixed results in the area of consumer affinity.
Hypothesis 6: The better the product-country image consumers hold, the lower the risk they perceive.
4. METHOD
This research design is not a standard one, but it aims to consider all levels of consumer knowledge in order to obtain the highest quality data that can be collected by a survey. Its design is acknowledging that an unfamiliar country of origin might demand a different approach due to a lack of explicit knowledge and confidence in it. We understand that the Likert scale is designed to measure explicit attitudes, namely highly conscious and controllable memory processes. As we attempted to detect the consumers with low familiarity in addition to consumers with high familiarity, we adapted the Likert scale, adding the 'I don't know' option, in order to understand where explicit consumer knowledge is insufficient in the case of low familiarity. At the same time, we changed the typical odd-numbered scale to an even-numbered six-point Likert scale,1 which enables us to detect even the slightest tendencies to negative or positive valence in attitude. This even-numbered scale with the added 'I don't know' option is valid, since the middle neutral option is interchangeable with the added 'I don't know' (Dolnicar & Grün, 2013). Actually, this type of scale has already been tested in the context of low familiarity of brands, because these are very well known among some consumers and quite unfamiliar to others, which is also the case with the unfamiliar country of origin.
To collect quality data, we have acknowledged the problem of low familiarity for some respondents. The 'I don't know' option also points to items that did not affect their evaluation and determines which items are relevant in the case of an unfamiliar country of origin. At the same time, we can control the respondents' level of product knowledge as well as their confidence of evaluating perceived risk and willingness to buy. The distinction between subjective and objective knowledge is well established in the literature (Schaefer, 1997). Despite this, the 'I don't know' option was not added to all items. Consumer affinity was measured by a six-point scale only because it is affectively based and the evaluation is thus possible, even if data is very scarce. If such judgment is too difficult to form, we must assume that the target country is an unknown country of origin to this particular respondent. In contrast, we only aim to detect respondents with high and low familiarity with the target country.
We used Slovenia as an example of a young and certainly unfamiliar country of origin. Moreover, low familiarity with Slovenia was established in previous research (see Kline & Berginc, 2003;
1 Strongly disagree, disagree, partly disagree, partly agree, agree, and strongly agree.
Brezovec, 2012). Besides, the country selection also enabled researchers to gather a simple sample incorporating respondents of various backgrounds and with different levels of knowledge. Even though the sample is convenient, it is sufficient for this initial demonstration of country--of-origin effect in the context of low familiarity.
4.1. MEASURES
All items used in our survey were adopted from previous research. Our research model is based on affective consumer affinity and its scales, which measure of feelings of sympathy and attachment (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011). The construct of consumer affinity can be measured on a cognitive or an affective scale. We adopted the affective approach, because consumers with limited knowledge might struggle to respond to several cognitive dimensions or drivers, which were found to affect consumer affinity due to lack of information. In addition to the consumer affinity scale, we also adopted the perceived risk scale used in the aforementioned study. However, we did not use their positively formed scale for the willingness to buy in our study. In order to check if perceived risk is truly a distinct construct, we adopted a negatively formed scale for the willingness to buy from the study of Wongtada and her colleagues (2012), who simultaneously researched consumer affinity and animosity. We eliminated one item, though, because it refers to a particular product purchase ("I would never buy an American car").
The product-country image has many variations of scales in the literature, since it is measured in almost every study in the field of country-of-origin research. Ever since country equity was conceptualized and its scales of the macro and micro image were developed, they have been widely used in research (Nes et al., 2011). Pappu and Quester (2010) themselves used previously established scales. From them, we adopted an extended scale for the micro image, along with five items from Nagashima (1977) and one item from Aaker (1991). The content of the items was altered from "Televisions made in country Y are..." to "Products made in Slovenia are." Since this is the first study using an unfamiliar country of origin as the target country, we retested items for technical advancement and high status of products, which could produce different results to those obtained by Pappu and Quester (2010). In order to leverage this suggestion of products holding a high status despite coming from an unfamiliar country, we introduced a final, sixth item by Aaker (1991): "Products made in Slovenia are usually good value for money."
4.2. SAMPLE
We conducted a web survey among 362 foreign respondents, but 86 of these questionnaires were not filled out completely. Therefore, we could use only 276 for our analysis. The gathered sample consists mainly of young adults (aged 29 on average) from EU-15 who are well educated, with 32% holding a university degree and 49% a master's degree. This is not surprising, since people from higher socioeconomic classes appear to be more familiar with both domestic and foreign brands (Maheswaran et al., 2013). However, some respondents come from other countries: 29 from the new EU members, such as Hungary, Poland, and Romania; 31 from Balkan countries; 19 from Asia; 13 from North America; 10 from Latin America; 9 from Ukraine and Russia; 4 from Africa; 1 from New Zealand and 1 from Australia. The sample consists of 51% female and 49% male respondents. We acknowledge our convenience sample cannot be projected to any population, but it serves the aims of our study.
Besides, this kind of sample represents an additional challenge to the model, since the coun-try-of-origin effect is typically stronger among older and less educated people (Bhaskaran & Sukumaran, 2007), although it is still evident in the generation Y (Zdravkovic, 2013). Above all, a highly educated sample will ensure better quality data, since educated respondents do not tend to hide their lack of knowledge (Lietz, 2010). As expected, the most problematic construct was the product-country image, since many felt unable to evaluate product attributes without any previous experience or prior knowledge. Hence, we use it as a proxy in order to create groups of respondents with high and low familiarity, because consumers with low familiarity will not be able to form an explicit attitude toward the product-country image, or will not even be able to use the halo effect and infer the attitude from their general country image.
In the sample, there were 95 respondents who responded to all product-country image items. They are representing consumers with high familiarity. The rest represent consumers with low familiarity, with 110 respondents choosing the 'I don't know' option for all six items, demonstrating their complete lack of knowledge. This division into two groups was confirmed by a set of control questions verifying that respondents in the high familiarity group indeed have more contacts with the target country (e.g. friends, visits) and better product knowledge.
5. RESULTS
First, the reliability of the variables was tested. Four constructs were assumed and shown highly reliable: consumer affinity (a = 0.869), product-country image (a = 0.915), perceived risk (a = 0.903), and willingness to buy (a = 0.829). In our research model, we included all hypotheses previously confirmed by other researchers. Certainly, we did not expect all to be significant in our model, since they were never used in such a combination before. Therefore, we analyzed the data with multiple regressions; firstly, in order to establish which hypotheses were significant. We created factors from items (using the method of maximum likelihood) according to the four constructs described above in order to conduct the
regressions. As mentioned above, we divided the respondents according to their explicit knowledge into groups of consumers with high familiarity and low familiarity. This distinction proved to be valid, since the results of multiple regressions demonstrated some issues in analyzing the product-country image because of too many missing values caused by the 'I don't know' option. Hence, we had to eliminate this construct in the analysis for consumers with low familiarity. The results showed an indirect path of consumer affinity impact for both groups, but it is one that has not been suggested in the literature.
For consumers with high familiarity, we conducted the first multiple regression with willingness to buy as the dependent variable (R2 = 0.
Table 1: Estimates of standardized regression weights for variables included in the original model
	high familiarity	low familiarity
PCI ß CA	-.518	/
PR ß PCI	.429	/
WTB ß PR	.837	.630
PR ß CA	/	-.472
Q1a: I have a feeling of sympathy toward this country.	.640	.474
Q1b: I feel a pleasant feeling toward this country.	.795	.693
Q1c: This country inspires me.	.856	.708
Q1d: I feel attached to this country.	.815	.813
Q1e: I love this country.	.744	.799
Q1f: I like Slovenia.	.837	.686
Q1g: I'm captivated by this country.	.793	.788
Q2a: Products made in Slovenia are usually good value for money.	.662	/
Q2b: Products made in Slovenia are high status.	.653	/
Q2c: Products made in Slovenia are innovative.	.787	/
Q2d: Products made in Slovenia are dependable.	.880	/
Q2e: Products made in Slovenia are technically advanced.	.924	/
Q2f: Products made in Slovenia have quality workmanship.	.868	/
Q3a: Getting products from Slovenia is risky.	.837	.825
Q3b: Buying products from Slovenia can have uncertain outcomes.	.891	.880
Q3c: Getting products from Slovenia can lead to bad results.	.927	.837
Q4a: I would feel guilty if I bought a Slovenian product.	.772	.795
Q4b: I do not like the idea of owning Slovenian products.	-.009	-.052
Q4c: Whenever possible, I avoid buying Slovenian products.	.744	.822
Q4d: Whenever available, I would prefer to buy products made in Slovenia.	.871	.761
CA = consumer affinity (Q1), PCI = product-country image (Q2), PR = perceived risk (Q3), WTB = willingness to buy (Q4)
ЕШ
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157, F (3.84) = 5.228, p < 0.05) and discovered that only perceived risk has a significant impact on it (p < 0.01). This is contrary to the standard country-of-origin effect, where the product-country image determines the willingness to buy. Here, the product-country image actually has a weaker impact on the intention to buy than consumer affinity. Again, this shows the importance of affects in evaluations, since they can impact the willingness to buy directly without the mediation of the product-country image (Li et al., 2014). Hence, H2 is confirmed for respondents with high familiarity, while H3 and H5 are rejected. Next, we were interested in the perceived risk as a dependent variable in a multiple regression. The results (R2 = 0.225, F (2.87) = 12.625, p < 0.001) support full mediation of perceived risk in the impact of the product-country image (p < 0.001) on the intention to buy. Therefore, H6 is confirmed, while H1 is rejected for consumers with high familiarity. In the end, we tested the only remaining hypothesis, H4, which was also confirmed (R2 = 0 .223, F (1.91) = 26.183,p < 0.001).
We applied similar regressio ns analyses to the group of consumers with low familiarity, although we had to sk.p the construct of the product-country image. Hence, our first multiple regression tested thewiltngness to buy as a dependent variablet (R2 = 0.18)3, F (2.56) = 6.278 , p < 0.05) and again revealed the significance of the mediation of perceived risk (p < 0.05). Thus, hypothesis 2 is supported fon all consumers regardless of their level of familiarity. On the other hand, the direct impact of consumer affinity on the willingness to buy. (H3) is rejected in both cases, which is to be expected when the target
country is an unfamiliar country of origin. As we eliminated the product-country image from the analysis of respondents with low familiarity, the hypotheses 4-6 were not tested, so we cannot reject or confirm them. At any rate, we were able to test the impact of consumer affinity on perceived risk. The regression results (R2 = 0.194, F ( 1.78) = 18.828, p < 0.001) demonstrated a strong support for H1 in the case of consumers with low familiarity, even though the same hypothesis was rejected in the high familiarity context.
Moreover, we analyzed the path diagram using the structural equation modelling program AMOS. The proposed research model was run according to the results of the regression analysis. Indeed, the model was not applicable satisfactorily to either of the groups. This is why we followed the rule that indicator variables should have standardized regression weights of 0.75 or higher on the latent variable they represent. At the same time, we decided to include at least three items per construct. All variables and their respective weights can be found in Table 1. The model fit was still weak. Therefore, we eliminated items below 0.8 on the constructs oli consumer affinity and pfoduct-countny imag=, which bott still had mofe tha= theer items. Afterwards, then model did fit (x2 (62) = 70.136, p = 0.224; INFI = 0.919, C Fl = 0^90, TLI = 0. 9852 RIM SEA = 0.037) in the case of res ponUents with high familiarity. However, it is much weaker in the case of respondents with low familiarity (x2(25) = 39.331, p = 0.034; INFI = 0.934. CFI = 0.974, TLl = 0.953, RM-SEA = 0.056), probably due to the explicit measure of their attitude.
Figure 2: Model for- consumers with high familiarity
Figure 3: Model for consumers with low familiarity 6. CONC LUSION
By defining) and operationalizing the unfarrniliar country olf origin, our study broadens the field of country-of-origin research by extending the pool of target countries fro m fam iliar countries wit h well-known images to less familiar countries of origin. This is possible because every cou ntry has its image, even though it might not have had an intenUionhl onset. Consumern have ar attitude towards any country (Kotler & Gertner, 2002) that they are aware of, although only a few oe them are well-known. Consequently, many consumers have an unfamiliar country-of-origin image, which is why this study is valuable. In our attempt to demonstrate ehe c ou ntry-of-origm effect among consumers with low familiarity, we propose to renew the Likert scale by simply adding the 'I don't know' option for such purposes. This enables researches to div ide respondents into separate groups according to theirlevel of Snowledge. At the same t)me, they are able to control their confidence in knowledge on any latent variable.
Moreover, our study once again confirms the importance of affects in attitudes and contributes to the knowledge of consumer affinity,1 Our results indicate that indirect im pacts of consumer affinity are expected in the case of low levels of familiarity or an unfamiliar country of origin. This is consistent with the literature. Consumer knowledge or familiarity with the product-country image is a moderator of the halo effect (Maheswaran et al., 2013). Hence, a direct effect is observed when consumers are familiar with the country of origin, whereas indirect effects mark lower familiarity with the country of origin. For example, Chinese consumers who are relatively less familiar with Norway inferred that products made in Norway are of high quality based on their macro image of Norway as a Western country (Kleppe et al., 2002).
Due to limited knowledge, consumers use simple heuristics and rely on their evaluation of perceived risk when deciding to purchase products fro m an unfamiliar country of origin. One exam-p!e of heuristic judgement is attribute substitution, which is used to replace a nlifficult question (What is the product-country image?) with an easier one (How risky is it to buy products from t°is country?). AUtribufe sub station commonly occurs when we lack information on a question and have access to the knowledge required to answer a similar question (Kahneman & Frederick, 2002). T°is is why idiosyncratic affinities are vital in building a positive image of any unfamiliar country, because personal contacty and experience increase the confidence of consumers in their own evaluations (Urbonavicius et al., 2011).
Therefore, a product can be bought due to its familiarity, because what we know is what we like, and we ase certain that products from particular countries are of better quality (Chang, 2004). This is why average products from a familiar country of origin are evaluated better than products from an untamiliar country of origin , because familiarity inireases htereotyping (Smifh et al. 2006). Stereotype effect is beneficial for countries with posrtive stereotypes, while those with a negative image are advised to conceal the origin of their products in order to avoid potentially unfavorable associations. However, a country image is not static and can be built using product quality (Sun & Paswan, 2011). Hence, unfamiliar countries should not conceal the country-of-origin information on its products. Besides, familiarity breeds liking, since familiarity and positive emotions are interrelated (Garcia-Marques et al., 2010).
In a study measuring how a brand image affects the country image, participants evaluated the country of origin more positively when they had
some knowledge of the origin of the brand. In this case, the newly acquired brand knowledge biased their evaluation of the country-of-origin image. The study found that for small, less familiar countries, information about the well-known brand led to more positive beliefs about the country's innovation and overall image (White, 2012). This is a clear demonstration of the importance of any (favorable) information for the product-country image, as well as the general country image. At the same time, it shows consumers' doubts in the quality of products from an unfamiliar country of origin, when no information is provided to the consumer, thus creating uncertainty.
7. LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
The greatest weakness of this study in the small convenience sample, which does not allow for the generalization of our results. Hence, our model should be tested on other samples and for other countries. In addition, our study only addresses products in general, which is sufficient for a preliminary study of the unfamiliar country of origin effect, but it may have partly influenced our results. Consumers might have different products in mind and many of them could be thinking of hedonic products because of the affective nature of consumer affinity. Future research should, therefore, compare hedonic and utility products in order to determine how consumer affinity affects each of these or any other product category.
The results of our study suggest that the constructs of consumer affinity and perceived risk should not be disregarded in country-of-origin research, since they are key variables in (unfamiliar) country-of-origin research, mainly because they can impact consumer evaluation, even in the case of low familiarity (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011). On the other hand, recent literature reviews focus on country equity (Bayraktar, 2013) or nation equity (Maheswaran et al., 2013) and factors such as consumer animosity, ethnocentrism, or other normative influences. However, they do not even mention consumer affinity, although there is a trend of investigating affectively based constructs and consumer ideologies in country-of-origin research (Dmitrovic & Vida, 2010).
Last but not least, future research should improve the design of the unfamiliar country of origin study and delve deeper into perceived risk and its sources. This area of research is a fresh insight into the field, since it focuses on studying
several neglected avenues in country-of-origin research, such as implicit attitudes (Herz & Diamantopoulos, 2013) and emotions (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011). Besides, understanding how to build the feeling of consumer affinity and reduce perceived risk would be very beneficial for practitioners and academics alike.
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NAVODILA ZA PRIPRAVO PRISPEVKOV ZA REVIJO AKADEMIJA MM
Kratek opis revije: Akademija MM je slovenska znanstvena revija s področja trženja, pri kateri so prispevki ločeni na strokovne in znanstvene in so lahko napisani v slovenskem ali angleškem jeziku. Prispevki se morajo nanašati oz. biti vsebinsko povezani s področjem Slovenije ali zajemati teme, ki so zanimive za njene bralce.
Obseg prispevkov: od 4.000 do 8.000 besed (vključno s povzetkom, ključnimi besedami, literaturo, tabelami in grafi).
Jezik: Prispevki so lahko napisani v slovenskem ali angleškem jeziku. Za članke, napisane v slovenskem jeziku, je treba poleg slovenskega povzetka in ključnih besed v slovenščini pripraviti tudi naslov, povzetek in ključne besede v angleškem jeziku. Angleški članki morajo vsebovati razširjeni povzetek, ki bo v primeru objave preveden v slovenski jezik. V obeh primerih se od avtorjev zahteva ustrezna jezikovna raven. V slovenskih člankih je zaželena raba ustreznega slovenskega strokovnega izrazja.
Oblika članka: Poslani prispevki morajo biti ustrezno oblikovno urejeni. Besedilo naj bo oblikovano na papirju formata A4, pisava naj bo Times New Roman velikosti 12 pik, vsi robovi naj bodo široki 2,5 cm, razmak med vrsticami pa 1,5. Tabele in grafi naj se nahajajo med tekstom.
Prva stran naj vključuje naslov članka ter ime in priimek, naziv, institucijo in elektronski naslov avtorja oz. avtorjev. Druga stran naj vključuje naslov, povzetek (od 150 do 200 besed) in ključne besede (4-6) v slovenskem jeziku. V nadaljevanju naj bodo naslov, povzetek in ključne besede predstavljene tudi v angleškem jeziku. V primeru angleških člankov naj druga stran vključuje naslov, razširjeni povzetek (od 600 do 700 besed) in ključne besede (4-6) v angleškem jeziku. Avtor(ji) naj tudi predlaga(jo) uvrstitev članka med znanstvene oziroma strokovne. Tretja stran vključuje naslov in besedilo članka. Naslovi poglavij in podpoglavij naj bodo ustrezno oštevilčeni (1., 2., 2.1 itn.). Seznam literature naj bo na koncu članka.
Navajanje literature med tekstom in na koncu prispevka: Med tekstom se navede priimek avtorja oz. avtorjev, letnica izida dela in po potrebi številka strani, npr. (Gartner, 1993). Vsaki bibliografski navedbi med tekstom naj ustreza navedba dela v seznamu literature na koncu prispevka. V
AKADEMIJA MM: GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
A Brief Description of the Journal: Akademija MM is a Slovenian scientific journal for the field of marketing. The articles in the journal are classified either as professional or scientific and can be in Slovene or in English. They should be related to Slovenia or deal with content which is of interest to Slovene readers.
Length of Manuscripts: 4000 to 8000 words (including the abstract, keywords, bibliography, tables and charts).
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Manuscript Style: Manuscripts should be formatted for A4-sized paper. The font should be Times New Roman, size 12, all page borders should be set to 2.5 centimetres and line spacing to 1.5. Tables and charts should be included in the text.
Page one should contain the following information: author's name and surname, author's affiliation and author's e-mail address. Page two should include the title, abstract (150 to 200 words) and keywords (4-6) in Slovene. These should be followed by the title, abstract and keywords in English. If the manuscript is in English, the second page should include the title, an extensive abstract (600 to 700 words) and keywords (4-6) in English. The author(s) should suggest whether the manuscript is to be included in the scientific or the professional section of the journal. Page three should include the title and the text of the article. The headings and the subheadings should be clearly numbered (1, 2, 2.1, etc.). The bibliography should be listed at the end of the manuscript.
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V nadaljevanju so podani osnovni primeri navajanja v skladu s standardi APA.
Članki v revijah
Gartner, W.C., & Bachri, T. (1994). Tour operators' role in the tourism distribution system: An Indonesian case study. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 6(2), 161-179.
Knjiga
Aaker, D., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand leadeship. New York: The Free Press.
Poglavje v knjigi
Gartner, W.C. (1993). Image formation process. In M. Uysal, & D.R. Fesenmaier (Eds.), Communication and Channel Systems in Tourism Marketing (pp. 191-215). New York: The Haworth Press.
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bibliography entry at the end of the manuscript. The bibliography should not include works that are not cited in the manuscript.
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Journal Articles
Gartner, W.C., & Bachri, T. (1994). Tour operators' role in the tourism distribution system: An Indonesian case study. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 6(2), 161-179.
Books
Aaker, D., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand leadeship. New York: The Free Press.
Chapters in Books
Gartner, W.C. (1993). Image formation process. In M. Uysal, & D.R. Fesenmaier (Eds.), Communication and Channel Systems in Tourism Marketing (pp. 191-215). New York: The Haworth Press.
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VABILO K ODDAJI PRISPEVKOV ZA AKADEMIJO MM
CALL FOR PAPERS, AKADEMIJA MM
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Vabimo vas, da sooblikujete vsebino revije in nam posredujete članke, ki obravnavajo aktualna vprašanja in prispevajo k razvoju teoretičnega in empiričnega trženjskega znanja v slovenskem prostoru. Članki so lahko znanstveni ali strokovni, napisani v slovenskem ali angleškem jeziku.
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Uredniški odbor Akademije MM
The journal Akademija MM is the only Slovenian indexed scientific publication in the field of marketing; it is indexed in EconLit, ProQuest and in EBSCO. The journal is currently considered for being included in the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature SCOPUS.
The editorial board invites you to submit quality papers that will help strengthen marketing theory and practice in Slovenia. We especially encourage an interdisciplinary debate and empirical research that is based on different methods, qualitative and quantitative. We welcome contributions from different marketing perspectives. They can be in Slovene or English.
Every submitted article will be reviewed with regard to their potential contribution to the field it discusses. The minimum criteria for publication are as follows:
■	Focus on a relevant broad-marketing question;
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■	Based on relevant literature;
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Papers should be submitted by email to amm@dmslo.si.
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