http://hdl.handle.net/1893/82 This community contains the ePrints and eTheses produced by Marketing and Retail staff and students. Sat, 03 Oct 2026 18:35:51 GMT 2026-10-03T18:35:51Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38326 Title: Debate: The fiscal and political tensions of sustaining a devolved public sector workforce Author(s): Montgomery, Tom Abstract: Introduction One aspect of devolution in the UK, often overlooked, is the power to create and sustain a workforce that delivers public services. In Scotland, this task is infused with an added layer of political importance. While much has been discussed, debated and critiqued around a ‘Scottish approach’ to policy-making (Cairney et al., Citation2016; Sinclair, Citation2024), the focus is often on wider debates around fiscal responsibility and tax-raising powers (McIntyre et al., Citation2023) rather than those more everyday implications of workforce planning. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, it is entirely possible that the future of the devolved public sector workforce may move centre stage. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38326 2026-08-04T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38321 Title: A value-chain perspective of artificial intelligence in public services Author(s): Löfgren, Karl; Webster, C William R Abstract: The advent of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), popularized through ChatGPT and other similar platforms, has in recent years become a focal point for governments’ ambitions to enhance the quality of public services and policy. Whilst governments have been using technological systems and platform for decades, such as big data analytics and automated decision-making, recent developments in generative AI, and its perceived capability of simulating human thought, is accompanied by both opportunity and risk. AI is not only significant for the future delivery public services, it also constitutes a challenge to how we define and prioritize public value. This article uses a ‘value-chain approach’ to explore and summarize the immediate experiences of the use of AI in public service contexts, and highlights some of the hurdles and challenges associated with the adoption of this technology. While value-chain approaches are traditionally associated with identifying sequences in a (commercial) production (manufacturing) process - as an analytical tool to realize desired outcomes - recent literature has successfully applied this approach to public service contexts, including in relation to digital service delivery and public policymaking. This article provides an opportunity to reflect on some of the promises and pitfalls associated with this technology, as well as presenting some elements for better diagnostic tools used for forecasting and evaluating digital platforms and systems utilizing generative AI in a more systematic manner. This includes value issues associated with data quality, intellectual property, surveillance, privacy, and transparency. The article also highlights issues around trade-offs between different values, and in doing so, argues that assessing the interlinked relationship between values and digital services are key to understanding the future nature of public service delivery. Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38321 2026-07-22T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38248 Title: Killing brands with kindness: Consumer-driven online value destruction Author(s): Refaie, Noha; Anker, Thomas; Finch, John Abstract: Purpose: This paper investigates consumers’ cognitive, emotional and behavioural engagements in online value destruction, following negative experiences with brands. Prior research has examined value destruction as a customer-firm relationship, whereas this study looks at the phenomenon through the lens of consumer-to-consumer relationships. Shifting the focus from a service-dominant to a consumer-dominant paradigm reveals several new aspects of value destruction involving consumer care and wellbeing Design/Methodology/Approach: This research adopts a mixed-methods research design, triangulating qualitative and quantitative methods. Study 1 uses netnography to examine consumers’ online value-destroying behaviour and explores key themes in depth through 18 semi-structured interviews with consumers who have engaged in online value destruction. The results are derived through coding and thematic analysis. Study 2 is a confirmatory survey with 503 participants, which is analysed through structural equation modelling. Findings: The findings reveal consumers’ motivation to engage in value destruction, the different types of and responses to consumer-driven value destruction and, finally, the consequences of engaging in value destruction. Findings were synthesised into a conceptual model of online consumer-driven value destruction, comprising three main phases: drivers, engagement and outcomes. Originality/Value: This paper makes an empirical and theoretical contribution to value destruction literature by examining the phenomenon from a consumer-to-consumer perspective and conceptualising it within the consumer-dominant paradigm. Specifically, it offers insights into consumer engagement dimensions (cognitive, emotional and behavioural) before, during and after online value destruction engagement. A key contribution is proposing a positive kindness element within the online value destruction process that is built on consumer collegiality and concern for others’ wellbeing. Practical implications: This paper proposes managerial implications and recommendations for mitigating online value destruction. Using the insights offered on the nature of online value destruction, managers can anticipate problems and adopt pre-emptive, handling and damage-control strategies. Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38248 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38247 Title: From old to new: re-thinking and reconstructing ageing consumers Author(s): Wilson-Nash, Carolyn; Schneider-Kamp, Anna; Franco, Paolo Abstract: First paragarph: “Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been” – David Bowie (Hicklin, Citation2016) Ageing is too often narrated from a deficit perspective, where a problem of decline and dependency invites managerial fixes and narrow segmentation. This JMM special issue encourages marketing scholars to reconsider how our field frames ageing consumers – conceptually, empirically, and managerially – and to question the taken-for-granted connection between old age and the constant requirement to ‘solve a problem’ or ‘fulfil a lack’. This reconsideration continues an emerging stream of marketing and consumer research that begins to capture the heterogeneity, creativity, and agency of later life, from identity reinvention in retirement (Schau et al., Citation2009) to the diverse ways ageing consumers shape and are shaped by markets (Barnhart & Peñaloza, Citation2013). This extant research is not only about representation but also about how markets include or exclude ageing consumers’ choices, dignity, and participation (Rosenthal et al., Citation2021). Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/38247 2026-05-18T00:00:00Z