Klaipėdos universitetas

The research andanalysis of strengths and weaknesses of national innovation system is extremelyimportant to successful and efficient innovation support policymaking.Innovation support policies should take into consideration all specifies ofnational innovation system in the country, not being one-size-fits-all. Untilnow, little analysis on the Latvian innovation system was made. The paper aimsto show Latvian innovative performance and to propose factors forwell-functioning innovation system of Latvia. This research gives apossibility to researchers and policy-makers to investigate the mismatchbetween policies and problems and identify policy gaps.

This article reflects the impact of regulatory decisions of the Republic of Latvia on the food retail sector and sustainable product supply provided by food retail chains, as well as on operational trends. Attention has been drawn to the law of the Republic of Latvia on the key characteristics of foodstuffs and sales on the market. The research covers development of classification of the main instruments characterizing the products subject to the national regulation, as well as development of a scheme of the impact of the Latvian authorities on the operation of food retail chains. To implement the goal and tasks of the research, the authors have applied quantitative and qualitative research methods of economics, i.e., comparison, grouping, graphical, assessment and analytical methods. The research is based on the results of the previous research conducted by the authors so far, the law of the Republic of Latvia, scientific works published by other scientists, general and special literature and periodicals. The authors have summarized the findings and conducted comparative analysis of the regulatory decisions of the Republic of Latvia as well as presented a market survey within the research.

The research aims to update the corporate marketing role in promoting sustainability. The study is based on the assessment of today’s economic, ecological, and social responsibility issues, as well as public issues associated with the development of sustainability. The following scientific research methods have been applied in the research: analytical, comparing, graphical, statistical and surveillance methods. The authors have studied sustainability issues, i.e., economic, environmental and social, in the world and particularly in Latvia, as well as their impact on public welfare. In research, there was chosen and analysed the Latvian food retail industry, which makes a significant contribution to the economy of the trade sector. Companies, which take on social responsibility, should focus in their activities on the education of consumers. Using marketing communications, they can educate their consumers about ecological characteristics of products and their environmental impact on the public health, i.e., composition of products, acquisition, storage, use and disposal possibilities, also putting great emphasis on the Latvian products. Thus, companies can support the domestic market and promote sustainable development of the Latvian economy in general.

Social entrepreneurship is becoming more and more popular as there is a growing share of people who would like to contribute for social enterprises and are ready to become customers of the social enterprises and in this way participate in reduction of poverty in the country and support entrepreneurship development. For social enterprise marketing communications to be effective, an understanding is necessary not only of the information channels which are most effective but also of the preferences customers hold regarding the information channels that they would like to receive information from. Purpose of research: to investigate the preferences for different information channels among customers of Latvian social enterprises. Research methods: scientific publications analysis, analysis of previous conducted research results, social enterprise customers’ survey conducted by Kristīne Casno. Results of research have indicated that regular customers of social enterprises prefer such information channels as social networks, followed by television and radio.