Résumé Au cours des dernières années, plusieurs chercheurs se sont intéressés à l’entrepreneuriat féminin, principalement en tentant de comparer la situation des femmes avec celle des hommes. On a essayé, entre autres, de les distinguer sur les plans des motivations, du style de gestion, de la performance de leurs entreprises, des besoins de formation, de l’accès au financement, de la conciliation travail-famille et de leur participation à des réseaux d’affaires. La présente recherche propose une synthèse de ces études et fait ressortir tant leurs limites que les perspectives qu’elles ouvrent. Les résultats indiquent que peu de différences significatives engendrant une situation favorable ou défavorable à l’entrepreneure peuvent être véritablement démontrées et qu’il s’avère plus approprié de jeter un regard différent sur la question, notamment en s’intéressant à la femme entrepreneure dans son unicité.

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Purpose – The present study aims to use the qualitative approach of soft laddering to gather insight into both risk perception and subsequent marketing strategies of medical tourism. Medical tourism has recently started to spark interest of marketing researchers and has been a frequently discussed topic by both journalists and physicians. Nevertheless, there are only few marketing studies offering in-depth research on the phenomenon of medical tourism. In the present article, we will concentrate on the central notion of risk inherent to any medical procedure and a fortiori to surgery in the so-called Third World countries. Because medical tourism is a product to be sold to costumers, the perceived risk needs to be dealt with on the marketing level. Design/methodology/approach – In the present study, the qualitative approach of soft laddering was used with 23 participants from France and 22 participants from Quebec to gather insight into both risk perception and subsequent marketing strategies of medical tourism. Findings – The results show significant differences in consumer behavior between the two nationalities involved. We will see how these differences are related to underlying values as well as different reasons and constraints to purchase. Practical implications – The results could help developed countries’ government to implement health policy. Originality/value – Qualitative research does not often use soft laddering, which was used in this paper. Moreover, this qualitative approach has some advantages as the number of chains, as well as the frequencies of selection and the diversity of elements quoted by consumers (kinds of risks, values and consequences of the choices made).

The quest for customer intelligence to create value in marketing has highlighted the significance of the research focus of this paper. Customer intelligence, which is defined as understandings or insights resulting from the application of analytic techniques, plays a significant role in the survival and prosperity of enterprises in the knowledge-based economy. In this light, the paper has developed a framework of customer intelligence to support marketing decisions through the lens of knowledge-based theory. The proposed framework aims at supporting enterprises to identify the right customer data for the right customer intelligence corresponding with the right marketing decisions. In this light, four types of customer intelligence are clarified including product-aware intelligence, customer DNA intelligence, customer experience intelligence, and customer value intelligence. The applications of customer intelligence are also elucidated with relevant marketing decisions to maximize value creation. To illustrate the framework, an example is presented. The importance and originality of this study are that it responds to changes in customer intelligence in the age of massive data and covers multifaced aspects of marketing decisions.

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