Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in all countries undergoing market transition. However, the Czech Republic stands apart, with its incredible entanglement of corruption, politics and business. Although corruption on the firm level in the Czech Republic is heavily criticized, the results of our in-depth interviews conducted with Czech SMEs showed that almost every firm has encountered some form of corruption and even used corruption to either increase sales, help negotiations, or increase production. Most of our respondents admitted that corruption was useful for day-to-day business. This article aims to obtain information about the state of corruption in enterprises in the Czech Republic and map the behaviour of entrepreneurs in companies. Our results offer ways to fight corruption: apart from highlighting the negative traits of corruption, emphasis should be made on determining to what extent corruption would be acceptable for firms and their clients. This could be useful for designing various state policies that might influence system change and market development in CEECs and both directly and indirectly influence the volume of corruption.

BACKGROUND: Heated tobacco products (HTP) are novel electronic devices that produce an aerosol by heating modified tobacco. In July 2017, Philip Morris launched a heated tobacco product, IQOS, on the Czech market. The release of IQOS was promoted by a massive marketing campaign using various marketing channels. AIM: This paper presents an analysis of the influencers’ posts promoting a heated tobacco product (HTP), IQOS, produced by Philip Morris, in the Czech Republic. METHODS: Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used to uncover the hidden power relationships in both textual and visual representations of IQOS in Instagram posts. We analysed the posts of 22 Czech influencers identified with the hashtags #IQOSambassador, #IQOSambasabor, #IQOSlounge, #IQOSveVarech, and #mujIQOS, together with associated pictures and videos on Instagram. RESULTS: The hashtag #iqosambassador was used internationally in 940 posts (as of May 16, 2019). Our findings show subtle forms of persuasion that associate the IQOS product with an aspirational, exclusive lifestyle, healthy living, and a relaxed atmosphere within a community of friends. Preliminary results also show that influencers promoted IQOS to any and all Instagram users (including children and non-smokers). Covert advertising was indicated indirectly by the use of hashtags (#notriskfree, #onlyforadults, and #iqosambassador), which might be evidence that the influencers were paid indirectly by a digital marketing or PR agency. CONCLUSIONS: Czech celebrities and influencers have been actively presenting IQOS in their posts and videos since 2018 on Instagram. They present IQOS as a gateway to an aspirational, healthy, attractive and celebrity lifestyle. The preliminary results are being published as a part of a larger interdisciplinary research project by Charles University, Prague.

No abstract

"This paper deals with “green fashion” in marketing. Young people are interested in eco production and are seeking “eco” brands, at least that's how they declare it. Fashion brands want to fulfil the wishes of their customers. But there is still one question: are companies´ promises and statements true or is it only marketing and greenwashing? We have tested their sustainability reports and statements here involves. The main goal of the paper is to evaluate whether the environmental discourse is having an effect on young consumers (young people from generation Z) and whether they behave ecologically or not. Additionally, we are interested in getting to know the customers’ attitudes towards “green fashion”. This study involves two analyses (both critical discourse analysis): (1) the environmental discourse of leading European fashion brands and (2) interviews with young consumers on their attitudes to, and buying behaviour of, fashion. Additionally, there also are implications for the fashion industry."

No abstract