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Purpose -This paper seeks to assess the strategic rationale and the effectiveness of government "demarketing" campaigns in the areas of smoking, binge drinking and private car usage. Design/methodology/approach -A survey of 257 young people in Northern Ireland was carried out, seeking their opinions on the effectiveness of current demarketing campaigns. Findings -Government demarketing initiatives are generally seen as ineffective, except for the banning of smoking in enclosed public places. Punishing disorderly behaviour caused by excess alcohol and making private driving more expensive are thought to achieve a certain degree of effectiveness. Practical implications -The UK Government has put considerable effort into demarketing campaigns of this kind, with limited success. The need to rethink strategy and implementation is particularly urgent with regard to drinking behaviour and its consequences, because the government appears to be sending out mixed messages through its communications and its actions. Although continued pressure on smokers appears to be bringing results, the effectiveness of individual initiatives is variable. Lessons may be transferable to other areas of demarketing specifically and social marketing in general. Originality/value -The paper reports the views of young people, who are the main targets of most campaigns of this nature, and are future smokers, drinkers and drivers if they have not established those behaviour patterns already.

PurposeTo compare three demarketing campaigns.Design/methodology/approachThis is a commentary piece which compares three campaigns those aiming to reduce smoking, excessive drinking and the use of the motorcars – undertaken by the United Kingdom government and considers the different approaches being used.FindingsThe article highlights areas where there appears to be a conflict between the particular demarketing campaign and other initiatives.Originality/valueOutlines some of the different approaches that can be employed by government when trying to demarket the use of products or commodities.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of a number of performance management techniques in the outsourcing process, in a business services context. Design/methodology/approach -Using a structured outsourcing framework, performance management techniques are applied in a financial services organisation over a three-year period. A case study approach is employed to undertake the research, which involved the research team engaging directly with the organisation throughout the outsourcing process. Findings -Applying performance management techniques in the outsourcing process is challenging in a number of areas including comparison difficulties, incomplete information and inadequate performance management systems. However, benchmarking and cost analysis are useful mechanisms for improving performance, and reducing costs via internal process redesign or outsourcing. Performance management techniques can be employed to remove inefficiencies from processes both prior to outsourcing and during the outsourcing relationship.Research limitations/implications -There are a number of limitations of the research approach including gaining full participation from the company, having access to all relevant company information and time constraints. Practical implications -The research findings highlight the implications of applying performance management techniques in a practical outsourcing setting. As well as identifying the challenges, the research highlights the value of integrating critical success factors, cost analysis, benchmarking and other performance management techniques into the outsourcing process. Originality/value -There are few studies in the literature of applying performance management techniques in the outsourcing process at an operation's level. The findings have identified the challenges and benefits of performance management techniques in the outsourcing process. The findings have highlighted the importance of operations management concepts such as performance management, operations strategy, business improvement and process re-design to services outsourcing, and the need for further research in this area by operations management scholars.