This paper deals with the importance of print products in SME corporate communications. To this end, the interest of customers of a German tour operator belonging to the SME in printed travel literature is analyzed. For this purpose, two independent samples with n=1,500 each are examined. An influence of the characteristics age, gender, place of residence can be proven. In each case, the influence is of medium strength. Logistic regression is then used to try to explain better the consumption of printed travel literature. In addition, the economic importance of a customer, which was determined during a customer segmentation, is included. It becomes clear that the place of residence with age and customer segment are of particular importance. This shows that print cannot be dispensed with in corporate communications in certain target groups. It also becomes clear that optimal coordination of corporate communications can be developed into a competitive advantage for SMEs. Namely, when a target group that differs from the overall population is reached more efficiently than by national or international competitors.
Private mortgage lending business is an important business segment for retail banks. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the comparatively low risk. On the one hand, because many years of experience in this segment enable optimal risk management. On the other hand, the financed properties also provide optimum security. Due to the small size of this business segment, private construction financing was unattractive for major banks for a long time. On the other hand, this division was a core business for regional banks and savings banks. However, as a result of the banking crisis in 2007 and 2008 and the ECB’s ongoing low-interest policy, the private mortgage lending sector is now attractive to all market participants. This is reflected in fiercer competition. The importance of customer communication has therefore also increased in the advertising for new business. Since financial and personnel resources are limited, corporate communications are faced with the challenge of addressing potential customers as efficiently as possible. Communication science has already developed a number of concepts for optimal, integrated communication. These are based on average consumers. Against the background of possible regional deviations in media usage and consumer behaviour, this work explains that banks and savings banks with a regionally defined business area should set different priorities within the communications mix than supraregional providers. To this end, a field study was conducted in rural areas of the Nuremberg metropolitan region and analysed using a chi-square test. The study revealed the continuing importance of branches and personal advice, despite increasing digitalisation. At the same time, the necessity of closely networking stationary sales and online offers in rural areas becomes clear.
For a long time, companies in the financial sector and their management were measured exclusively in terms of business success. However, the public debate on issues such as equality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability has now also reached the financial sector. At the same time, brands are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their attitude. Financial service providers are increasingly meeting this demand. However, the distribution of financial and insurance products in Germany is largely carried out by commercially independent small and medium-sized distribution partners. This research project aims to identify the significance of the career building block 'ethical competence' for a career in financial services sales. Within the framework of a qualitative content analysis, 50 Germanlanguage university study programs in the field of "sales management" are examined. The consideration of ethical aspects in the curriculum is investigated. In a second step, a large-scale survey of sales managers will be conducted. This will determine the extent to which the study programs meet the expectations of practice regarding business ethics.
The topic of climate protection is steadily gaining importance in public discussion. This paper shows that CO2 emissions are also gaining significant influence on booking behaviour in tourism. At the same time, it can be demonstrated in the context of a large-scale survey that with a growing desire for CO2 neutrality, higher accommodation rates are also accepted. Large hotel chains already regularly have integrated sustainable thinking into their daily routine. SMEs currently have some catching up to do. While hotel groups are accused of greenwashing, SMEs can generate a competitive advantage through individual, traceable measures.
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