Abstract:In this work we focused on summarizing the principles of green marketing and the concepts related to it. The aim of this contribution was to prove the relationship between the implementation of green marketing principles and sustainable competitive company position on the market. In order to prove the relationship between the implementation of green marketing principles and the competitive market position of companies, we used a multiple regression method to reveal the relationship, despite many variables. This was preceded by a factor analysis that helped us to select the main factors of influence. In order to meet this goal, we have drawn from the surveys conducted by PwC (Bratislava, Slovakia), the Automobile Industry Association and the Slovak Automobile Institute to identify key factors and future expected development in the auto industry supplier segment and our marketing research, conducted from December 2015 to February 2016. Based on the results of marketing surveys, research responses and the study of available resources, we concluded that there is no comprehensive green marketing implementation model linking environmental consumer behavior with a link to the company's marketing strategy. The contribution could help the Automotive Industry Union to present requirements to the government and help create incentives for the alternative vehicle market, and our findings could be incorporated into the creation of companies' strategy.

Online marketing communication covers a wide area and thus promotes an extensive reach of advertising to a broad audience. Hotels can achieve certain goals through online communication, mainly an increase of hotel awareness; an improvement of their image; and an increase in the level of customer satisfaction and trust, or brand loyalty. Measurement of the effectiveness of communication tools in the online environment is still a challenge, whether in the academic world or in the business world, mainly due to the complexity of this process. The main objective of this paper is to propose a methodology for implementing an indicator suitable for the evaluation of the effectiveness of online communication activities in the Slovak hotel industry. It uses analysis of the current usage of online marketing communication activities from the perspective of hotel service providers. The methodology should be applicable to support decision-making and actively support the sustainable development of hotels. In order to achieve the objective of the paper, the authors conducted a marketing survey focused on online marketing communication by Slovakian hotels to determine their use and to map the current state or methods of evaluating their effectiveness. Results of the research suggest that hotels in Slovakia perceive evaluating marketing communications online as being important, regardless of the size, length of operation, budget, and class of the hotel. They prefer financial metrics because they are a de facto manifestation of the traditional approach towards investment evaluation. The results also showed that return on investment is the most common metric for evaluating the investments of online communication activities, and that respondents expressed the highest level of confidence in this metric as well. In line with the results, we have proposed return on investment (ROI) as the most appropriate metric applicable in evaluation of the effectiveness of online communication tools.

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With growing competition, loyal customers have become the key to the company’s success. Brand loyalty has been a central structure for marketing for almost a century, yet this research topic is still modern and up to date. The aim of this contribution is to answer the research question of whether there are different segments of customers based on demographic and psychographic aspects that would differ in the level of brand loyalty in the company. In other words, do certain groups of company’s customers (according to demographic or psychographic segmentation) have a higher degree of loyalty to the company’s brand? To answer the research question, we have identified hypotheses expressing the existence of a statistical dependence between individual segmentation variable and the level of brand loyalty. Based on statistical testing of established hypotheses, we have confirmed the existence of certain company’s segments that have a higher degree of loyalty.

The aim of this article is to define the theoretical basis of brand value from the viewpoint of domestic (Slovak) and foreign authors and its impact on sales. This includes a regression and correlation analyses focused on investigate the dependence between the brand value and sales in automotive industry. The basic sources of research were secondary data obtained from worldwide surveys in the form of rankings published by Forbes magazine, annual reports of companies and published professional publications. General scientific methods were applied for the processing of the data, as well as mathematical-statistical methods to evaluate the data collated from the results of regression and correlation analyses and test the linear independence. The results of analyses show that the brand value and sales are linearly dependent, specifically it is medium-strong direct linear dependence. Therefore, the brand value has a direct effect on sales volume.

The purpose of the contribution is to measure and evaluate the efficiency of communication tools on the principle of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in Slovak hotels. The first part of this contribution describes the importance of tourism in the conditions of the Slovak Republic and the theoretical and conceptual definition of the data envelopment analysis method, whose main objective is the evaluation of the effectiveness of decision-making units. The communication tools used in the communication between the Slovak hotels and their guests are used for the needs of the decision making units. Data on input and output variables were obtained from the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic, the Union of Hotels and Restaurants of the Slovak Republic, and a marketing survey of the completed questionnaire forms. The second part of the contribution evaluates the effectiveness of the communication forms in question on the principle of the DEA method of input-oriented models in order to minimize expenses related to the realization of marketing communication in the hotel industry. Appropriate efficiency calculations for the communication tools in question were performed using the DEA Excel Solver, a simple application that uses the internal excellence solver to solve optimization tasks. Depending on the application of the DEA methods, effective and inefficient communication tools were identified, followed by a process leading to the optimization of the communication portfolio in the hotel industry.

Nowadays, when marketing and branding change, companies are trying to find new ways to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing activities as they impact on current and future business results. The main objective of the contribution is to evaluate the effectiveness of decision making unit (DMU) production units in the form of selected Slovak brands through the non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. The sample size consists of 10 Slovak brands (Slovenská sporiteľňa, VÚB banka, Tatra banka, ESET, Slovnaft, Matador, Rajec, Sygic, Sedita and Zlatý bažant). Through DEA, we have gained a portfolio of effective and portfolio of ineffective brands operating in Slovakia. Depending on the choice of the DEA model, effective brands included Slovenská sporiteľňa, Sygic, Zlatý Bažant, Rajec and Sedita. Other brands were classified as ineffective. The result for ineffective brands is the creation of archetypal characters that we propose in Results section. The part of Results section is the focus of the businesses of the brands in question on the use of social media, to a larger extent, create a social media voice so that the personality of the brand is reflected in contributions in social media communicating on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. In contribution, deduction, induction, analysis and marketing research methods were used.