In this special edition of The Marketing Lab, I have a quick chat with Associate Professor Josh Newton about his research into how the mere presence of Christmas decorations lead people to soften their evaluations of a personally experienced service failure encounter.

Josh and his colleagues' research was published in the Journal of Service Research in 2018. The abstract is noted below.

Thanks for listening to The Marketing Lab (at Deakin) in 2021, and we look forward to talking to you again in 2022.
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The Marketing Lab (at Deakin) is recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and traditional custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.
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Newton, J., Wong, J. and Casidy, R., 2018. Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly to Soften Evaluations of Service Failure. Journal of Service Research, 21(4), pp.389-404.

Abstract
Symbols associated with seasonal religious festivals are periodically displayed by service providers, but do these symbols serve more than just a decorative function? Findings from seven experiments suggest they do. In the presence of such symbols, individuals soften their evaluations of a personally experienced service failure encounter. This effect emerges through the activation of forgiveness but only among those with a religious upbringing and only when the encounter involves service failure (rather than neutral service). The softening of service evaluations in the presence of such symbols is reversed, however, when service failure is observed (rather than directed at the self) and when the recipient of that failure is perceived to be vulnerable. Contextual exposure to symbols associated with seasonal religious festivals therefore presents a double-edged sword for managers; depending upon the service failure recipient, these symbols can harden or soften evaluations of the service failure encounter.

In our final episode for 2021, our guest is Uppma Virdi, Deakin Alumni, Head Spice Dealer, Founder and CEO of Chai Walli, a female-centric, female owned small Australian business who are passionate about cultural preservation through the art of chai. 

We discussed authenticity, why being successful is about more than size, money and growth, and how to final convince your parents that you are successful. 

In 2022, we will be releasing each episode of The Marketing Lab on the first Friday of the month, from February. We all hope you have an opportunity to take a break over the summer/winter, and look forward to bringing you more marketing, culture and business insights in the new year. 
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The Marketing Lab is recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Whether you use it to stay connected or as part of your marketing strategy, social media is integral for communication. But what happens when everything goes horribly wrong, like it did for Justine Sacco when sent her one-hundred-and-seventy twitter followers the following tweet: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”  By the time she landed in Africa, Twitter users around the world had blasted Justine’s tweet as racist, callous and uncaring. Critics demanded that she be fired from her job and some even called for her death. 

In this episode of The Marketing Lab at Deakin, I talk to Jeff Rottman and Gini Weber, two of my colleagues in the marketing department at Deakin University about their research into public condemnation, or what they have neatly called, "moral peacocking". On the way, we explore virtue signalling, morals violations and subjective sensitivities. 
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The Marketing Lab is recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.