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This study examines the link between retail and modernity and bring as case study the Romanian perception of the future of the store. The research combines insights from secondary data consumer perception study with the potential applications of AI research. We explore convergences and divergences between AI-generated perspectives and actual consumer beliefs and expectations, focusing on technology integration, sustainability, and experiential retail. While both AI and the the consumer perception study highlight the importance of technology, the research reveals specific consumer concerns like affordability and cultural nuances that AI might not fully capture. The combined analysis offers valuable insights into Romanian consumer preferences and identifies potential future trends in the retail landscape. By acknowledging limitations like the scope of AI analysis and data source restrictions, we emphasize the need for further research integrating AI with diverse research methods for a comprehensive understanding of the future of retail in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, many companies have turned their attention from the traditional "features and benefits" to the activity of creating experiences for their customers. In this way, the emotional activation of the customer is attempted, in addition to the rational part of buying the product. As part of this work, we have carried out quantitative marketing research, to find out the opinions of Romanian consumers related to the wine consumption experience. The general objectives of the research are the following: identify consumption habits among Romanian wine consumers; identify how Romanian consumers prefer to enjoy their favourite wine; determine the preferences of Romanian consumers regarding the colour and type of preferred wine; determining the frequency of the purchase of wine by Romanian consumers and the place where they purchase their preferred types of wine. The research results can address to wine-producing companies from Romania, wine distributors, hotels, and restaurants, for the future development of activities in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the agricultural sector, of the organic production and of the agricultural labour market leads the authors to study their dynamics and characteristics with regard to Romania. Food safety is linked to the agricultural activity's robustness and its evolution, given that the primary sector is the one that defines economic growth. The paper studies the link between the economic growth and the organic agricultural production in Romania, including labour market's characteristics. The time period is 2010-2019, and the methodology is that of a cross-sectional study. The multiple regression model is used to analyse the relationship between Romania's economic growth and seven factors which characterize the agricultural sector. The results show that, between Romania's economic growth and the variables under study, there is a link that is maintained over time, and which is positive in some cases and negative in other cases. Agricultural technology decreases the role and contribution of salaried and non-salaried labour in agriculture to Romanian economic growth. Processing of agricultural products has the same effect on growth. Instead, the authors outline the important role of organic agriculture, of agricultural services and of livestock production in the Romanian economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main objectives of today’s marketing strategy is to create holistic experiences that approach multisensory techniques, a goal that was accomplished due to the appearance of experiential marketing strategy. Despite its advantages, in Romania, this relatively new concept is not yet very popular among companies or marketing agencies. Therefore, qualitative marketing research was conducted to identify experiential marketing activities, the technology used, and marketing effectiveness metrics applied by six marketing agencies. The results have shown that experiential marketing is becoming quintessential as a modern-day communication arsenal, amplifying the customer's direct contact with a brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution activity is a transfer of the product from producer to consumer so that a connection is made between a production as concentrated as possible and a volume as fragmented as possible. Distribution is defined as the set of "economic and other activities, through which material goods and services are oriented through the market to their destinations, as well as the processes of distribution and redistribution through which income is distributed to various activities." The distribution activity achieve the totality of the "economic and technical-organizational processes regarding the management and transmission of the flows of goods and services from producer to consumer, in conditions of high economic efficiency". The process of the product circuit is given by the distribution activity and by the set of relationships generated in the market sphere by the transfer of the product from producer to consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's consumers are looking for products, communication and marketing campaigns that delight the senses and generate intense emotions. As an overview, each sense can contribute to building a better, stronger and more sustainable brand, that's why more and more businesses shift their focus from traditional marketing to experiential marketing. The main question of this article is how important is multisensorial experiences for the in-store acquisition of mobile phones in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first part of the paper covers social economy issues from the perspective of the relationship with the market and the State. The second part looks at the international framework, by highlighting the main regulatory framework and the national models of social economy at international level. The third part analyses the institutional and legislative national (Romanian) framework based on the analysis of the social economy entities. In conclusions we analysed public policy options for development of social economy in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commercialization of Romanian football has gained momentum during the past decade, as local clubs increasingly focused their efforts on marketing. At the same time, Romanian customers access to Internet has improved. The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of Romanian football club websites from a customer (fan) relationship management perspective. The research sets to investigate the level of customer-orientation embedded in the design of club websites and the opportunities of establishing long-term relationships with fans these websites provide. Therefore, the literature review tries to bring into foreground the importance electronic solutions play for CRM, and their applicability to the sports environment. A content research based on secondary data and website evidence, which were later integrated in computations so as to obtain quantitative evidence, has been chosen as a research method. Results show that while clubs use their websites as informational platforms, several issues have to be addressed regarding the use of websites as bonding factors between clubs and fans. Areas such as website functionality and emotionality could be improved so as to draw more attention from the fans. The research also reveals that Romanian clubs have failed to implement business solutions to help fans buy online merchandise products, which would also increase the revenues of the football clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's consumers have built around themselves a protective shield against the hundreds of ads they are being bombarded with each day. In this sense, the companies have chosen to direct their focus towards unconventional advertising, particularly towards providing the consumer with a direct relationship with the product. Experiential marketing is the business philosophy which represents the basis for bringing the consumer together with the product; it is a method to which the individuals cannot remain indifferent, as it implies their involvement in the actual action. The purpose of this research has been identifying the perceptions of young Romanians on experiential marketing campaigns used abroad, and determining the degree to which these campaigns would influence their decisions to buy and if it would change their perception of the brand. The advantage of using this method is that it offers the consumer a long-lasting image and it creates a holistic experience which integrates sensory, affective, cognitive, behavioral and social experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of researchers have reported the positive benefits of creating and maintaining customer loyalty. This study tries to clarify the concept of loyalty and examines the influence of two relationship marketing concepts, namely overall customer satisfaction and customer trust on customer loyalty in the banking sector in Romania. Business customers in Romania were surveyed using a questionnaire administered via email. A total of 78 firms provided the date for the empirical study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in order to test the model fit and estimate the hypothesized relationships. The results of the empirical study show that overall customer satisfaction and customer trust are significantly related to both dimensions of loyalty, namely customer's behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. Our findings also reveal that overall customer satisfaction and customer trust are positively and strongly associated. This study reinforces the importance of customer loyalty as a source of sustainable competitive advantage that secures banks with a stable position in the banking sector over time. This paper also presents the limitations of this research, discusses the implication of this study and provides directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, the higher education system represents a means of developing the national and global economy by providing individual and collective benefits. Student loyalty is a critical measure in the success of higher education institutions that aim at retaining students until graduation and then attracting them back. As they fuel the knowledge economy, universities create a more educated labor market, providing employment and higher salaries. Having this major significance, it is vital to study the key determinants that persuade stakeholders to form long-term relationships with universities, revealing high loyalty. Aiming to stay competitive and survive the drastic, ongoing changes, successful universities thrive on building loyalty among all stakeholder groups, especially students. Despite the importance of the higher education institutions (HEIs), little research has been conducted on student loyalty. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to empirically examine the key factors influencing student loyalty by testing two models, namely perceived quality, brand associations, satisfaction, trust, and commitment, and to test the relationships among them. To analyze the data, a confirmatory factor analysis was applied where it explored the associations between items and constructs and, then, utilized a structural equation model (SEM) to investigate the relationships existing between constructs with the application of the STATA program. A structured questionnaire comprising of 66 questions was developed, using a five Likert scale. A total of 682 students from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies filled in the questionnaire. In both cases, the findings reveal that commitment has the most significant direct impact on loyalty. The other factors have an indirect effect, satisfaction having the most significant total effect, followed by trust and commitment. Therefore, universities must focus on improving service quality to develop positive brand associations, student satisfaction, trust, and commitment in developing student loyalty.

The aim of this paper is to conceptualize the new paradigm of relationship marketing from the value chain theory perspective. The paper is structured in two parts; the first part contains the components of the relationship marketing paradigm, but also the value chain structure, as a defining concept of relationship marketing. The value chain can be regarded as a cybernetic system in which both inputs and outputs are known or visible to the company. In the second part of this paper, the authors attempt to measure a psychological variable (satisfaction) and how it influences consumer behavior for fuel-related products, across the city of Sibiu, Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New, competitive market conditions, where companies need to fight for their survival, rendered evident that building and managing relationships with customers is vital. At the basis of every long term relationship lies the customer satisfaction. In the service area the construct of satisfaction is bound to the interaction with the service provider, conferring to the evaluation even greater importance. This paper offers an approach to the customer satisfaction evaluation in the banking services, with focus on a Romanian bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highligthens the current trends of the Romanian banking system, both marketing and businesswise. In addition to a short theoretical review of the tools at hand, such as CLV, CRM, ERM, brand loyalty, client satisfaction, client retention and relationship marketing, specific features of the banking system underline the current lack of applicable client oriented strategies. Relationship marketing, a tool of the new marketing era, seems no longer a strategic approach to have in view, but a necessary tool to be implemented as soon as possible. And the reason-why becomes more obvious than ever: people rely on personal interaction, long term relations built on trust and mutual benefits, communication and transparency, which are significant ingredients that make a difference in terms of which bank should I choose to work with. In other words, the banking market as we know it, changes from a rigid segment to one that heavily requires a "human face". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about a research regarding the implications of present economic crisis on a market created to cover various risks that could affect both individuals and companies. The main objective of the research was to establish the coordinates of the insurance market at the EU countries level in order to find solutions that insurance companies could use for avoiding the negative impact of the crisis and to re-launch the local insurance market. The outcomes of our research have shown a low development of Romanian insurance market, this one being among the lowest developed market in the European Union. Taking into consideration the psychological impact of the crashes recorded by the biggest worldwide insurers, the best solution for local companies is to use the tools of relationship marketing that could develop the confidence of customers in insurance services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brand awareness, as one of the fundamental dimensions of brand equity, is often considered to be a prerequisite of consumers' buying decision, as it represents the main factor for including a brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness can also influence consumers' perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with the brand and its characteristics. On the other hand, brand awareness can be depicted into at least two facets - unaided (brand recall) and aided (brand recognition) - each of the two facets having its more or less effective influence on buying decision and perceived risk assessment. This paper tries to reveal, on one hand, the importance of unaided brand awareness when it comes to consumers' buying decision and, on the other hand, the importance of aided brand awareness when assessing the perceived risk associated with the purchase. The analysis is conducted in a comparative manner, considering the case of durable versus non-durable products, and with focus on urban Romanian consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]