This study is an early attempt to deal with the issue of the long-term performance of smartphones in the Thai market by focusing on the construct of the repeat purchase of these products. The adult users of smartphones are interviewed. The results from the multiple regression analysis reveal that brand reputation, aesthetic value or the beauty of the design, and economic value or fair price, are positively correlated with the repurchase of smartphones, whereas learning about new technologies such as smartphones is negatively correlated with smartphone repurchase.

Board of directors is one of the most essential elements of a corporation. Board members function as representatives of shareholders to monitor the management’s performance. Therefore, the board of directors is directly concerned with corporate governance development. However, it is generally found that the roles and responsibilities of board of directors are often ignored. The Asian financial crisis that first started in Thailand in 1997 triggered the interest in the structure and roles of the board of directors as an attempt to improve corporate governance. As a result, several measures have been set up to strengthen the functions of the board after incidences of corporate disasters resulting from the failure of monitoring systems of the board. This includes both regulatory and voluntary measures to improve corporate governance through board of directors. Recommendations for future development of board of directors are also discussed

One of the roles marketing contributes to the society is to improve the consumer well-being through the acquisition and possession of economic goods. This study attempts to investigate this role when subjective well-being or life satisfaction is considered in the difficult time of economic recession. From the part-whole perspective, life satisfaction can be broken down into satisfaction with thirteen domains of life. The multiple regression is run in order to determine the relationship between the satisfaction with these thirteen domains of life as well as household income and overall life satisfaction. The results suggest that consumer well-being in terms of satisfaction with material possession has a positive impact on life satisfaction along with satisfaction with work, self, family, personal health and the objective indicator of economic well-being which is household income.

Marketers try to find ways to respond to the needs of their target customers through most modern communications technologies. As the means to communicate with customers change, marketers find it most convenient and cost effective to make direct contact with customers. This study explores the advanced media for marketers to make a two-way communication to interact in real time with their customers. Instantaneous marketing has revolutionized marketing communication. The exploitation of customer databases and the necessity to acquire more customer information have led the marketers to explore the ways to connect with customers more rapidly to bring differentiation to their products or services. Moreover, customers provide flow of information about various aspects of companys operations back to the company. Some companies still find it hard to cope with this enormous amount information in the fastest way possible. This study explores various communication technologies which help instantaneous marketing to come up with a model to explain the phenomenon. Implications for marketers will be provided to make us understand how we can make use of this information in practice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Integrated marketing communications is now experiencing one of the most interesting developments as most media for communicating with the target audience are gradually evolving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The revenues of the traditional mass media with wide coverage such as over-the-air broadcast television and newspaper are dropping as advertising revenues for these mass media do not provide promising results as expected by the marketers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The target audience of these mass media is drifting away to more segmented media such as cable and satellite television, special magazines and the Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>New communication technologies have broadened opportunities for the Internet and mobile phones to grow significantly during the past decades and have been utilized for marketing communication purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This study intends to explore the characteristics of the traditional mass media, the Internet and mobile phones to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their channel characteristics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then, using the Schramm&rsquo;s Communication process model, we will analyze and compare the significant elements of communication process of the three types of media. The comparison will provide a better picture of the related factors in communication which can help us design the integrated marketing communication programs more effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Finally, the implications for brand building and customer relations will be provided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>It is expected the study will provide an insight for marketers to understand what is evolving in the media world and to prepare them to respond to those changes.</span></span></p>