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A shortage of suitable franchisees has long plagued the Australian franchise industry impacting franchisors’ capacity to grow their chains. This exploratory research identifies, defines and examines an unresearched category of franchisees that of internally recruited franchisees, who prior to their franchise recruitment were employees of the franchisor. This category has previously been ignored by the literature even though estimates of some chains place the proportion of internally recruited franchisees at over 40 per cent. Employing qualitative interviews with key franchisor decision makers this research begins to address this gap. This study investigates what factors drive franchisors to recruit franchisees from the ranks of their employees and how they perceive this impacts on the achievement of franchising’s four strategic imperatives of unit growth, system uniformity, local responsiveness and system-wide adaption. Seven drivers for the internal recruiting of franchisees were identified: company owned units, significant system hierarchy, larger unit scale, unit viability, system maturity, capital freedom and strong growth in unit numbers. A preliminary model of factors influencing the propensity of franchise systems to recruit franchisees internally is presented. This research provides the first contribution to the franchise literature on the internally recruited franchisee phenomenon. In a practical sense this study should influence the recruitment practices of franchisors.

Franchising has long been a method by which organizations seek to expand and facilitate local market development. However, franchising as a growth strategy can often be hampered by lack of suitable franchisees. To mitigate this shortage, some franchisors have engaged in recruiting franchisees internally from the ranks of their employees in addition to the traditional approach of recruiting franchisees externally. Predominantly franchisees are individuals rather than corporations and thus purchasing a franchise should most commonly be characterized as a consumer acquisition. To explore the relationship between subjective knowledge, perceived risk, and information search behaviors when purchasing a franchise qualitative interviews were conducted with franchisees from the restaurant industry. Half of these respondents were externally recruited having never worked for the franchisor and half were internally recruited having previously been employees of the franchisor. The external recruits expressed a strong desire to own their own business and engaged in extensive decision-making processes with significant information search when purchasing their franchises. Contrastingly, the internal recruits expressed a strong desire to be their own boss and engaged in limited, bordering on habitual decision-making processes with negligible information search when acquiring their franchises. The results reveal that differences in subjective knowledge and perceived risk appear to significantly impact the extent of information search between these two groups. A model of the relationship between subjective knowledge, perceived risk and information search in the purchasing of a franchise is developed that reconciles these findings. The findings also have practical implications for franchisors’ franchisee recruiting efforts which are integral to their capacity to develop local markets.

© 2020 The Authors. Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association Issue addressed: Vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by food insecurity, resulting in heightened risk of suboptimal dietary intake. Food insecure people appear to implement several coping strategies and dietary compromises to avoid hunger. Less explored in the literature is how these strategies impact consumption of food inside and outside of the home. Methods: An online survey was completed by adults (n = 1292) residing in one of five Australian states. The questionnaire comprised of the six-item US Household Food Security Survey Module, 12 socio-demographic variables and 32 questions related to elements of food literacy. Results: Food insecure respondents were more likely to frequent fast food vs (P =.002), takeaway (P < .001) and food courts (P < .001) than their food secure counterparts. Food secure respondents reported greater use of raw (P =.043) and fresh, pre-prepared produce (P =.002) when cooking, whereas food insecure respondents were more likely to prepare food using only frozen, pre-packaged products (P < .001). No significant differences were found between food security status and the enjoyment and social bonding derived from cooking. Conclusions: Food insecure respondents appeared to be accessing a poorer quality of food through greater consumption of takeaway and fast food. These dietary compromises are most likely related to perceived financial, time or cooking facility constraints and to a lesser extent food literacy skills. So what?: This study highlights some of the health and social inequities apparent within food insecure populations. Food insecure households should be supported to access healthy fresh food and in-home cooking practices. While a multi strategy approach is required, healthy food environment policy, particularly in disadvantaged areas, should be considered

A shortage of suitable franchisees has long plagued the Australian franchise industry impacting franchisors’ capacity to grow their chains. This exploratory research identifies, defines and examines an unresearched category of franchisees that of internally recruited franchisees, who prior to their franchise recruitment were employees of the franchisor. This category has previously been ignored by the literature even though estimates of some chains place the proportion of internally recruited franchisees at over 40 per cent. Employing qualitative interviews with key franchisor decision makers this research begins to address this gap. This study investigates what factors drive franchisors to recruit franchisees from the ranks of their employees and how they perceive this impacts on the achievement of franchising’s four strategic imperatives of unit growth, system uniformity, local responsiveness and system-wide adaption. Seven drivers for the internal recruiting of franchisees were identified: company owned units, significant system hierarchy, larger unit scale, unit viability, system maturity, capital freedom and strong growth in unit numbers. A preliminary model of factors influencing the propensity of franchise systems to recruit franchisees internally is presented. This research provides the first contribution to the franchise literature on the internally recruited franchisee phenomenon. In a practical sense this study should influence the recruitment practices of franchisors.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has supported the recommendations set out in the 2019 Health Star Rating System Five Year Review Report. Specifically, the forum supported, in principle, Recommendation 9, to mandate the Health Star Rating if clear uptake targets were not achieved while the system is voluntary. Given that mandatory labelling is being considered, it is important to investigate how much consumers value the Health Star Rating in order to understand potential consumer uptake and inform industry. The aim of this study was to assess consumers’ valuation of the Health Star Rating system by analysing their willingness to pay for a packaged food product with the Health Star Rating label, utilising a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation approach. The results indicate that almost two-thirds of Australian household grocery shoppers were willing to pay more for a product with the Health Star Rating, on average up to an additional 3.7% of the price of the product. However, public health nutrition benefits associated with consumers’ willingness to pay more for products with the Health Star Rating is currently limited by the lack of guarantee of the systems’ accuracy. Given consumer support, a well validated and comprehensive Health Star Rating labelling system can potentially improve health outcomes, cost effectiveness and reduce environmental impacts.

Dietary compromises related to food insecurity profoundly undermine health and constitute a serious public health issue, even in developed nations. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of food labelling and product attributes on the purchasing choices of food-insecure households in Australia. An online survey containing 19 food choice and 28 purchasing behaviours questions was completed by 1056 adults responsible for household grocery shopping. The short form of the US Household Food Security Survey Module was used as the food security indicator. Multinomial logistic regression modelling was employed to analyse the survey data. Respondents were classified as having either high-marginal (63.4%, n = 670), low (19.8%, n = 209) or very low (16.8%, n = 177) food security. Respondents with low or very low food security status were less likely to self-report understanding the information on the back of packaging (p < 0.001), find information on food labels useful (p = 0.002) or be influenced by product nutrition information (p = 0.002). Convenience (p < 0.001), organic (p = 0.027) and supermarket-branded products (p < 0.001) were more likely to be rated as important by food-insecure respondents when compared to their food-secure counterparts. When asked to rate “how healthy” their diet was, high–marginal FS respondents were twice as likely describe their diet as healthy than very low FS respondents (p = 0.001).

Food insecurity is considered a “wicked” problem due to the highly complex and at times undefined casual factors. Although many stakeholders are working to address the problem, a possible divergence exists between their views on food insecurity and those of the people who are actually experiencing the problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference between the opinions of those “at risk” and stakeholders. A total of seven focus groups (two stakeholder groups n = 10, five “at-risk” groups n = 34) and three interviews (stakeholders n = 3) were conducted to ascertain perceptions. Thematic analysis generated 329 (209 “at-risk” and 120 stakeholder) coded statements related to food insecurity drivers. Respondents were in agreement for the majority of factors, and limited income was considered the primary driver of food insecurity. However, there were notable deviations in the perceived importance of certain drivers, particularly around the price of food and the lack of food literacy. Differences in the perception of causes of food insecurity may in part be attributed to the varied role each group plays in working towards the resolution of the problem, either at the household or system level.

Rituals and their associated behaviour have long been used to define the cultural identity of a community throughout history. This paper explores the importance of ritual with a focus on the practice of Feng Shui. It introduces this traditional belief, explores its impact on contemporary business practices and discusses the importance of this lingering tradition in ascribing individual identity and business behaviour. The paper presents preliminary findings from a qualitative study into the use of Feng Shui in the retail setting and discusses the core elements of this ritualistic behavior. Results from interviews across four different Asian countries provide insights into the lingering impact of this lost tradition and the importance it plays in the creation of value for the business proprietors who practice it.

Issue addressed: Currently, two food sufficiency questions are utilised as a proxy measure of national food security status in Australia. These questions do not capture all dimensions of food security and have been attributed to underreporting of the problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate food security using the short form of the US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) within an Australian context; and explore the relationship between food security status and multiple socio-demographic variables. Methods: Two online surveys were completed by 2334 Australian participants from November 2014 to February 2015. Surveys contained the short form of the HFSSM and twelve socio-demographic questions. Cross-tabulations chi-square tests and amultinomial logistic regression model were employed to analyse the survey data. Results: Food security status of the respondents was classified accordingly: High or Marginal (74%, n = 1495), Low (20%, n = 460) or Very Low (16%, n = 379). Significant independent predictors of food security were age (P < .001), marital status (P = .005), household income (P < .001) and education (P < .001). Conclusion: Findings suggest food insecurity is an important issue across Australia and that certain groups, regardless of income, are particularly vulnerable. Implications for health promotion: Government policy and health promotion interventions that specifically target "at risk" groups may assist to more effectively address the problem. Additionally, the use of a multi-item measure is worth considering as a national indicator of food security in Australia.

People's attachment to their environment is surprising and powerful. This book investigates the influence people’s attachment to their environment has on a number of everyday consumption behaviours and related choices in a regional town in the southern wheat-belt area of Western Australia. It provides further understanding relating to the motivations underlying a set of economic and social decisions made by town and farm residents that, in turn affect the life and sustainability of their town. It is one of only a few research studies to examine together the dynamics between place and community attachment. Place has traditionally been researched by recreationalists, geographers and environmental psychologists in studying consumer choice of leisure, sporting locations and holidays. This work positions place as a significant facit in everyday consumption activities, providing valuable insights for regional town planners, managers and business proprietors in how to communicate with their markets.

In an internationally competitive market a company’s brand is its most valuable asset; increasing and retaining loyal customers is key to long-term success. Forging binding relationships between consumers and their brand is therefore of critical importance to organisations. Online Brand Communities (OBCs) effectively facilitate such relationships and provide companies with reliable marketing intelligence to gain competitive advantage. Furthermore, it is this brand focus that differentiates OBCs from generic online communities. This study investigates both individual and community level attributes that influence members’ participative behaviour and sense of belonging (SOB) in OBCs, as these factors are considered critical for retaining members and sustaining the community. We used a mixed methods approach, and incorporated several theoretical concepts into one structural model. Findings from this new research have extended existing theory related to online consumer behaviour, providing valuable implications for marketers with regard to understanding interactive user behaviour specifically in an OBC environment.

Pictures provide a richness to the data set that compliments the textual findings of interviews, observation or other methods of data capture. However, on the negative side, pictures as signs are icons which are themselves prone to deception. False signs occur when the inter-relationship between language and extra linguistic signs deceive others and oneself. Visual representations tend to be more invasive, are arduous for participants to conduct and may tend to skew findings when the content provided by participants is determined by photo choice. Within the context of reliability and validity this paper explores the pitfalls of using visual representation alone and proposes guidelines for using visual representation in the research process, particularly as a source of validation or triangulation.

Pictures have been used as part of the research process for centuries across a range of disciplines. The aim of this paper is to discuss the reliability and validity of using visual representations in the research process. In this context, visual images include video film, photographs, hand drawn pictures, and graphic representations. Through an analysis of the researchers’ experience with different visual mediums across six separate studies, the advantages and disadvantages of this form of data capture are debated

Reports the findings from a study examining how overseas students adapt to their new country of residence. Looks at the place attachment process of migrant students studying in Australia and Singapore. Focuses the analysis on adaptation to the physical and social environments. Discusses attachments to objects and provides suggestions as to how universities can assist in the adjustment process.

The Australian coastline is a popular destination for tourism, leisure and recreational activities. Marinas are an important avenue for Australian society’s relationship with coastal and marine environments and are significant revenue generating infrastructures. The sustainability of marinas has been recently questioned, along with the need to understand and replicate successful Marina’s such as Hillarys Boat Harbour in Western Australia. A photographic competition was utilised to generate respondent produced stimuli (photographs along with 25 word captions) to elicit perceptions of Hillarys Boat Harbour in Western Australia, from the perspective of visitors, businesses and penholders. The photographic competition provided material that generated a rich source of data as people articulated their emotive associations with Hillarys. Through the use of photographs and captions, themes emerged that clearly illustrated Hillarys as more than a just a facility but a local to create memories and social experiences shaping Hillarys as a unique place and brand.

This paper discusses the usage behaviour of brides-to-be in terms of bridal magazines and websites. Four hundred and forty six brides-to-be were questioned on their usage and attitudes toward print (magazines) and online (websites) when gathering their wedding planning information. Results indicated that respondents in this liminal state of moving from single to married status were clearly focused on investigating wedding products and services and extensively use both forms of media. Differences were evident in respondents’ usage of each medium dependent on wedding budgets, the particular wedding planning stages and the perceived comprehensiveness/ease of use of each medium. As a result it is extremely important for bridal magazines to have a website counterpart or extension, to increase their level of brand loyalty. These findings extend contemporary research into magazine consumption and introduce the uniqueness of the bridal media market. Implications for the bridal magazine industry are discussed.

Limited research on the growing area of product placement in Australia prompted the current research examining the attitudes of West Australian viewers’ towards the use of product placement in film . Previous research identified three fact or s that determine viewer attitudes toward product placement: influence/attention, ethical and regulatory concerns and the effect of realism of the placed product. Attitudes toward product placement may vary depending on what the product/service is being placed and how attitude s toward the product placement can be due to movie genre. This research found a strong positive attitude towards product placement in film, with the most appropriate products/services to be placed in a film being clothing/shoes/fashion, healthy products and automobiles with the least being cigarettes, guns and gambling. The sample of West Australian students was decidedly more positive toward product placement than respective samples from USA and South Korea, some comparisons are discussed.

Visitors who exhibit place attachment often demonstrate greater concern regarding how a place is managed. However, the extent to which the dimensions of attachment are related to management preferences has not been sufficiently investigated. Place attachment of visitors to coastal campsites along the southern Ningaloo coastline of northwestern Australia and its relation with management preferences were examined via an onsite survey. The relation was investigated using a suite of routines in the non-parametric multivariate statistics package PRIMER v6, providing the first example of the use of these types of statistical approaches in place research. Place attachment was measured using the dimensions of Place Identity, Place Dependence, and Everybody's Happy (a new, affective-based dimension). Within each dimension, significantly different groups of visitors were identified based on differences in their responses to the place attachment survey items. This was achieved using hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis in conjunction with a Similarity Profile (SIMPROF) test. Subsequent analysis using the BVSTEP procedure showed that the pattern of differences among visitors in their responses to place attachment items produced significant though weak correlations with their level of support for various management actions. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of the results for future research on place and associated preferences for management actions.

Although there have been numerous studies of the meanings ascribed to terrestrial places, their applicability or otherwise to coastal and marine places has received limited attention. Through the process of photo-elicitation, the meanings ascribed to a remote coastal camping environment are examined, with the coastline of Ningaloo Marine Park in north-western Australia the focus for this study. Thirty participants were provided with digital cameras and the ascribed place meanings were explored when their photographs were discussed in subsequent in-depth interviews. Key meanings related to the physical environment providing opportunities for escape, participating in multiple marine-based activities, bonding with family and like-minded people, and offering a rewarding experience that makes everybody happy. This emergent meaning of 'everybody's happy' progresses the understanding of the affective elements of place, especially those realised by families and groups of friends. The paper traces important implications of this meaning, and provides a paradoxical perspective on isolation evident from the interviews, for managing coast-based recreation.

This paper describes the evolution of an innovative inter–disciplinary approach to teaching and learning in a University Faculty of Business. Further, it reviews the implementation of a series of unique, integrated and authentic assessments involving units based in the marketing, urban planning and business communication disciplines. The project has used the production of Revitalization Plans for the University‘s campuses as the basis for integrating student teaching and learning. It has championed an approach which moves away from the traditional ‗silo‘ methods of academic assessment to integrated, contextualised learning which develops both generic and discipline-specific skills such as client/consultation roles, business communications and knowledge in marketing, urban planning, and management. The paper concludes by reflecting on the issues involved with the introduction of the inter-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning with the University.

This article reports the results of an examination of the Selling Orientation-Customer Orientation scale to determine if the number of items could be reduced while still maintaining the scale's dimensionality and consistency. Analysis of a new Australian data set was undertaken using data from 250 salespeople, 157 of their managers and 276 of their customers in a range of business to business markets. The findings provide evidence that salespeople's customer orientation, as defined by Saxe and Weitz (1982), can be measured with little information loss by ten items, rather than the twenty-four items originally suggested. This significant reduction in length may contribute to a more reliable and valid scale by reducing response fatigue and acquiescence bias, as well as making it possible to include the construct in larger studies with other multiple item scales. Further research is suggested to test the revised scale across a number of industries and consumer groups, to verify its generalizability.