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Contemporary Issues in Management and Marketing Research

Article in Business Perspectives and Research · January 2020

DOI: 10.1177/2278533719860036

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Demetris Vrontis Michael Christofi

University of Nicosia University of Gloucestershire
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Guest Editorial

Contemporary Issues in Business Perspectives and Research

8(1) 2–3, 2020
Management and Marketing © 2019 K.J. Somaiya Institute of Manage-
ment Studies and Research
Research Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/2278533719860036
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This special issue of the Business Perspectives and Research Journal is compiled by some of the best
papers presented at the EuroMed Academy of Business Conference 2018, which are further enhanced
with new material. All papers underwent a rigorous double peer review process and were continuously
amended by the reviewers’ comments.
To start with, the paper of Makrides, Vrontis and Christofi, titled “The Gold Rush of Digital
Marketing: Assessing Prospects of Building Brand Awareness Overseas,” focuses on advertising
through digital channels, known as Digital Marketing. In particular, the authors analyze several digital
platforms and practices that have proven to be effective and assesses digital media dynamics to examine
whether they can increase brand awareness on an international level. By employing a survey
methodology approach with 200 respondents as a final sample, their findings show that digital marketing
represents a huge potential for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), giving internationalization
a dominant digital attribute. Additionally, the findings reflect the noteworthy and rapid emergence of
different digital marketing techniques serving different market segments. Finally, the study discusses
the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and proposes several avenues for future
research.The next paper, by Pjero and Gjermëni, titled “Tourist’s satisfaction in terms of accommodation:
A case study in Vlore, Albania” explores tourist’s satisfaction on their accommodation during their stay
in Vlore (Albania) touristic structures, and if there are possible associations between different
characteristics related to this service and tourists. The authors base their decision to undertake this
study on the lack of studies on analyzing customer satisfaction in the industry of accommodation,
especially for Vlore. The authors employ “Netnography” for collecting the data from reviews in the
TripAdvisor website. Using descriptive and inferential statistics, their study concludes that even though
64.9 percent of the ratings are “very good” or “excellent,” regardless of the accommodation structure
chosen. Additionally, accommodation structures should have a clearly defined idea of what kind of
tourist they want to attract in a certain period of year, and to offer the level of quality they expect.
Furthermore, the authors argue that by understanding of tourist satisfaction evaluation is important in
implementing successful marketing campaigns.
In continuation, the paper by Schinzel examines the links between responsible leadership and
corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Luxembourg. Based on this, the author combines Hofstede’s
cross-cultural research with research on responsible leadership and CSR in Luxembourg to determine if
there are any particularities that apply in this country. The author applied a qualitative methodology
approach by conducting 64 semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that language is used as a
key identifier, affecting CSR outcomes, and points to high uncertainty avoidance levels in Luxembourg
as a possible reason for lack of change and innovation. Finally, the paper discusses various implications
of the findings.
 Guest Editorial 3

The study by Coetzee and Erasmus investigates whether the expectation for expanded disclosure on
audit committees has been adopted as a core part within the organizational culture. The evolution of audit
committee guidance in the King reports and prominent global reports were analyzed and compared to
legislation governing all sectors in South Africa. A document analysis in the form of a structured content
analysis was conducted to determine adherence to King guidance by South African organizations.
Optimal scaling was applied to determine dimensions of disclosure, with respect to audit committee best
practices. Finally, the level of adherence to legislation versus adherence to best practices is gauged
within each dimension. The findings of their study showed that organizations have generally increased
disclosure on audit committees’ composition and role. The study adds to the body of knowledge on
voluntary disclosure of audit committee best practices, to be considered by policymakers and management,
on what may strengthen the credibility and effectiveness of audit committee oversight as perceived by
the stakeholder. The findings also provide a foundation for further research within this area.
The last article, developed by Barros and Sarmento, focuses on corporate tax avoidance associated
with board meetings and attendance. The authors state that despite the large amount of research in
management and finance on the impact of boards in several firm decisions, there is very little research
that associates boards with tax avoidance. Thus, in their paper, they focus on firms listed on the London
Stock Exchange during the period 2002–2015 and analyze whether a higher frequency of board meetings
in the UK is associated with lower corporate tax liability. Their findings show that board meetings and
attendance rate exert opposite effects, although the frequency of meetings is associated with lowering the
tax liability. However, the association does not hold in a linear way. Tax-avoiding firms pay about 3
percent less effective tax rate, which is associated with average levels of meetings frequency, while those
in the upper tail of the effective tax rate distribution benefit from a combined decrease of about 5–6
percent in the effective tax rate. The results conclusively support the view that a more resilient and
focused control of board members mitigates opportunistic behavior and rent-seeking, thus enabling
managers to engage in tax avoidance strategies.
In conclusion, this special issue brings together an eclectic range of papers that provide new insights
for scholars in both management and marketing practice. We hope you find this guest edition interesting
and thought-provoking.

Demetris Vrontis
University of Nicosia, Nicosia
Cyprus
E-mail: vrontis.d@unic.ac.cy

Michael Christofi
University of Nicosia, Nicosia
Cyprus
E-mail: christofi.mi@unic.ac.cy

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