Deakin Business School
Faculty of Business and Law
In these pages, you will find important news items relating to the Deakin Business School, its postgraduate courses and its staff that have occurred in the last six months. All past stories of importance can be found in the News Archive
A landmark report, undertaken by Deakin Business School researchers and commissoned by the Victorian Government and Consumer Action Law Centre has exposed the different psychological manipulations used by banks and other lenders to persuade people to take up offers for higher credit card limits.
Dr Paul Harrison, and Marta Massi, examined actual, unsolicited letters sent to customers by banks, store card providers and other lenders encouraging the customer to take up a pre-approved offer to increase the limit on their existing credit card.
Dr Harrison, Senior Lecturer in marketing at the Deakin Business School, and principal researcher of this report, said that the report confirmed what was already known that banks and credit providers are using psychological manipulations to persuade, encourage, or convince customers to take up a credit card limit increase, often against their better interests.
"Companies have to maximise their profits, so its hardly surprising that banks and credit providers use all the tools available to them to increase the likelihood that current customers will take on more credit, Dr Harrison said.
"We found that lenders frame their letters in various ways to make it more likely customers will not really engage at any appropriate level when receiving the letters, and simply accept the limit increase. In effect, it is the simplicity of the letters that is the most danger to vulnerable consumers.
"For example, because the consumer already has a relationship with the bank, the letters make it easy for the customer to trust experts in this case experts who consumers assume have already determined they can afford a limit increase.
"They also indicate that the customer has been chosen to receive a limited offer, and make sure the customer feels like they already own the limit increase, triggering well-known psychological factors such as scarcity, loss-aversion, and the endowment effect.
The research has been reported on widely in the media, with Dr Harrison appearing on television, radio and in print media throughout Australia, and in the UK and US.
For a copy of the report, go to http://consumeraction.org.au/publications/policy-reports.php
Dr Jane Menzies, Dr Mona Chung and Professor Stuart Orr are pleased to present their report on how Australian businesses make their decisions when they internationalise to China. The report is a summary of the findings of a research project that was conducted in 2007. The researchers investigated 40 Australian companies who have businesses in China, by conducting interviews with key respondents. They examined entry modes, and how various elements of the environment impacted on the entry modes chosen. Motivations for going to China and planning processes used for these ventures were also explored. One key finding of the report was that businesses often failed to adequately plan their overseas business ventures, and were instead taken over by clients, associates, contacts or suppliers to China. The report was officially launched by Ms Green Yang, a Senior Export Advisor at AUSTRADE, at a function held at the RACV Club on the 28 July 2008, and hosted by the Deakin Business School.
To read the report online (free): Doing Business in China [1.62MB]
To order a hard copy (Price $29.95 Incl GST), please contact:
Karlie Matthews
Phone: 03 9244 5536
The Deakin Business School (DBS) held the first of its 'Boardroom Lunches' on Tuesday 22 April in the Central Precinct at the Melbourne Campus at Burwood. The presenter, Professor Ali Dastmalchian, Dean of the Faculty of Business at the University of Victoria, Canada talked about his research in a presentation entitled, 'Is your Organization Ready for Change? Lessons from a Canadian Study'.
The second Boardroom Lunch was held on Thursday 22 May at DeakinPrime's Boardroom in the city. Associate Professor Heath McDonald delivered a presentation on 'Managing Membership and Subscription schemes: Lessons from research with the AFL'.
The DBS Boardroom Lunch series, new in 2008, provides an opportunity to showcase the work of Deakin researchers in a way that is accessible to practitioners.
Three other Boardroom lunches are scheduled to be held at DeakinPrime this year.
For more information please contact the School on 1800 624 316 or email postgrad-enquiries@deakin.edu.au
