Narrow Results

In this chapter we are looking critically at our capitalist market system, or at least at the models we might use to predict market behaviour and make market decisions, and wondering what happened to the main player — the consumer — in the system. Indeed, the consumer, in most models is marginalized or dehumanized if considered at all. A revisit to both the logic and the ideals of capitalism of Adam Smith and others is undertaken. Creatively reengineering the market system is the task addressed. This requires an understanding of what constitutes a creative process.

Two kinds of applications of game theory were outlined in [Aumann (2008)]. In one we get insight into an interactive situation and, in the other, game theory tells us what to do. Aumann calls the second kind of applications, game engineering. Organisational systems gurus, Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin explain how to outsmart bureaucracies in their celebrated work ‘Beating the System’ [Ackoff and Rovin (2005)]. What is common between game engineering and beating the system is creativity. We apply this understanding to games played in the market place. This leads us to consider thought experiments, social dialogues, and models that stipulate the rightful place for the consumers as main players.

The paper seeks the policies and strategies that Greek libraries apply in order to discover, communicate and attract potential users. Theoretically, every non-user is a potential user of a library and it is common sense that most of the people avoid visiting libraries. Being so, libraries undertake the responsibility to appeal to their clients. The paper:

Seeks the communicative methods that libraries apply in order to increase the users,

Examines the strategy for appealing new users or new group of people,

Seeks the state of the art of Greek libraries, their communication policy,

Describes the marketing research on the above theme, and

Proposes best practices.