Export marketing,interfunctional interactions,and performance consequences

Firms with export operations have internal environments that are often geared toward serving the home market. As a result, export marketing and other business functions compete for resources, which thus increases the likelihood of conflict between them. Using survey responses from more than 700 exporting firms, the authors test a model of the antecedents and consequences of two important interaction variables: exporting’s interfunctional connectedness and conflict. The model explains 52 percent and 49 percent of variance in exporting connectedness and conflict, respectively. The authors identify the key drivers of successful interactions as follows: management commitment, organizational training and reward systems, relative functional identification, centralization, and export employee job satisfaction and commitment. The authors also demonstrate that connectedness is most critical for export success when export markets are in a state of turbulence, whereas conflict is most detrimental when the firm’s export environment is stable. John W. Cadogan (j.w.cadogan@lboro.ac.uk), Ph.D., is a professor of marketing in the Business School at Loughborough University, United Kingdom. His primary areas of research interest are international marketing, marketing strategy, and sales management. He has published on these issues in theJournal of International Business Studies, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, theInternational Marketing Review, theJournal of Marketing Management, theJournal of Strategic Marketing, and other academic journals. He received his degree from the University of Wales (United Kingdom). Sanna Sundqvist (sanna.sundqvist@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor in international marketing in the Department of Business Administration at the Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland). Her research interests deal with the international diffusion of innovations, market orientation (especially in an international context), and consumers’ adoption behavior. She has published in theJournal of Business Research, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, theCanadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, and theAustralasian Marketing Journal. She received her degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Risto T. Saiminen (risto.salminen@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor of industrial engineering and management, especially marketing, in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. His primary areas of research interest are customer relationships and networks in business marketing, pedagogy in industrial engineering and management, and international marketing. He has published on these issues in theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Management, theEuropean Journal of Engineering Education, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, and theAustralasian Marketing Journal. He received his degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Kaisu Puumalainen (kaisu.puumalainen@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor in technology research in the Department of Business Administration at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Her primary areas of research interest are innovation, international marketing, and small businesses. She has published on these issues in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, R&D Management, theCanadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, theJournal of International Entrepreneurship, theAustralasian Marketing Journal, and theInternational Journal of Production Economics. She received her degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland.     

The antecedents and consequences of customer-centric marketing

As we enter the twenty-first century, the marketing function remains concerned with serving customers and consumers effectively. The authors propose that just as the marketing function gradually shifted from mass marketing to segmented marketing in the twentieth century, it will increasingly move toward customer-centric marketing in the next century. In the practice of customer-centric marketing, the marketing function seeks to fulfill the needs and wants of each individual customer. The antecedents of customer-centric marketing are the increasing pressure on firms to improve marketing productivity, increasing market diversity in household and business markets, and technology applicability. On the basis of the shift toward customer-centric marketing, the authors expect increased importance of marketing as a “supply management” function, customer outsourcing, cocreation marketing, fixedcost marketing, and customer-centric organizations. This article highlights the implications of customer-centric marketing as well as the boundary conditions that will affect its adoption. Jagdish N. Sheth is the Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Gouizeta Business School at Emory University. He has published 26 books and more than 200 articles in marketing and other business disciplines. His book,The Theory of Buyer Behavior (with John A. Howard), is a classic in the field of consumer behavior and is one of the most cited works in marketing. His other books includeMarketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation (with David Gardner and Dennis Garrett) andConsumption Values and Market Choices: Theory and Applications (with Bruce Newman and Barbara Gross). Rajendra S. Sisodia is Trustee Professor of Marketing at Bentley College. Previously, he was an associate professor of marketing and director of executive programs at George Mason University and an assistant professor of marketing at Boston University. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from Columbia University. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such asHarvard Business Review, Journal of Business Strategy, Marketing Letters, andMarketing Management. He has also authored about two dozen cases, primarily on strategic and marketing issues in the telecommunications industry, as well as a number of telecommunications industry and company analyses. Arun Sharma is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Miami. He has published more than 30 articles in marketing and his interests are in the area of market and marketing evolution.     

Integrative processes in agricultural marketing channels

The study traces patterns of inter-organizational coordination in marketing channels and shows how changes in the relationship among organizations are associated with shifts in orientation and mode of interaction. The analysis is based on developments in agromarketing and food distribution organizations. The current crisis in food supplies and international concern with the availability of raw products should bring this neglected area into the forefront of marketing concern. The study is based on observations of current trends of inter-organizational integration in the U.S., U.K. and Israel. It points to the emergence of a new institutional form the authors call the Societal Marketing Board. The Societal Marketing Board (SMB) is a federated inter-organizational system, comprised of all sectors of an industry, established by legislation to promote the interests of that industry. The analysis concludes that the SMB has the potential: 1) to generate resources and ‘increase the pie’ for the benefit of all; 2) to broaden the oriengation of sectorial organization to reflect a wider range of social interests; 3) to achieve the above goals while curbing direct government intervention. It suggests that the operation of the Societal Marketing Board can contribute toward mitigating the tension from contradictory pressures for greater coordination in the complex marketing system on the one hand, and for economic freedom and market competition on the other.     

Institutionalization of ethics and its consequences: a survey of marketing professionals

Because of increasing ethical problems in business, organizations have tried to control these problems by institutionalizing ethics, such as by creating new ethics positions and formulating codes of ethics. In this study, the authors develop a scale for measuring the institutionalization of ethics in organizations and assess it for dimensionality, reliability and validity. Two separate studies are conducted, both using samples drawn from an American Marketing Association practitioner population. In Study 1, using a sample of 126 marketing practitioners, we performed exploratory factor analysis on 44 institutionalization items resulting in two separate dimensions of the institutionalization of ethics construct: implicit and explicit institutionalization. Using a national sample of 306 marketing practitioners in Study 2, we performed confirmatory factor analysis on these two dimensions and investigated the effects of these dimensions on perceived importance of ethics, job satisfaction, esprit de corps and organizational commitment. Implicit institutionalization had a significant direct affect on all four of these constructs. On the other hand, explicit institutionalization significantly influenced only the perceived importance of ethics.     

Success-producer and failure-preventer marketing skills: A social learning theory interpretation

This study examines organizations that emphasize differing types of marketing skills. It is based on a national survey of Health Maintenance Organizations. The organizations are first classified into groups based on their distinctive marketing skill configurations. Six groups were identified. Next, differences between these organization types are examined with respect to organization strategy, characteristics of the chief marketing executive, organizational environment, and performance. These results suggest that more successful organizations develop particular constellations of marketing skills. The results generally appear consistent with a social learning theory perspective on marketing skill development.     

Strategic marketing and marketing strategy: domain,definition, fundamental issues and foundational premises

This paper proposes a domain statement for strategic marketing as a field of study and delineates certain issues fundamental to the field. It also proposes a definition for marketing strategy, the focal organizational strategy construct of the field, and enumerates a number of foundational premises of marketing strategy. The domain of strategic marketing is viewed as encompassing the study of organizational, inter-organizational and environmental phenomena concerned with (1) the behavior of organizations in the marketplace in their interactions with consumers, customers, competitors and other external constituencies, in the context of creation, communication and delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with organizations, and (2) the general management responsibilities associated with the boundary spanning role of the marketing function in organizations. At the broadest level, marketing strategy can be defined as an organization’s integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial choices concerning products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation, communication and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with the organization and thereby enables the organization to achieve specific objectives. Chief among the issues that are fundamental to strategic marketing as a field of study are the questions of how the marketing strategy of a business is influenced by demand side factors and supply side factors.     

Product intelligence: its conceptualization,measurement and impact on consumer satisfaction

In the last decade, companies have developed a large number of intelligent products. Due to the use of information technology, these products operate somewhat autonomously, cooperate with other products, or adapt to changing circumstances. Based on a literature review and interviews with practitioners, the present article conceptualizes product intelligence and describes a procedure to measure the construct. The article also explores the link of product intelligence to consumer satisfaction through the innovation attributes of relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. The article considers practical and theoretical implications and identifies future research directions.

Brand personality appeal: conceptualization and empirical validation

A substantial literature stream indicates there are benefits to having a favorable brand personality, such as enhanced brand attitudes and purchase intentions and higher levels of consumer trust and loyalty. Contemporary advertisements and promotional activities by a host of firms demonstrate a managerial belief in the value of establishing a brand personality that mirrors that of branding scholars. Yet extant research has yet to fully evaluate the perceived appeal of brand personality to consumers. This issue is important to managers because it is precisely this level of appeal that influences target consumers’ purchase decisions and helps to sustain the endurance of a brand’s perceived personality between promotional cycles. This article conceptualizes, develops, and validates measures for assessing a consumer’s perception of brand personality appeal (BPA). Three dimensions of BPA (favorability, originality, clarity) emerge and are empirically demonstrated to directly and positively impact consumer purchase intentions.     

Key aspects of organizational buying: conceptualization and measurement

Much research has been devoted to organizational buying. Unfortunately, few studies focus on the development of specific measures of organizational buying behavior. And although many concepts in the literature are useful for describing and discussing buying behavior, they often cut across other buying activities and therefore may not be empirically distinct. This research applies a combination of literature- and field-based approaches to develop four distinct constructs that underlie the numerous activities in which buyers engage: procedural control, proactive focusing, use of analysis techniques, and search for information. Measurement scales for these constructs are created and then evaluated through a survey of purchasing professionals. The procedure resulted in a set of constructs and measures that may be applied to several complex areas of organizational buying research. She received her B.A. and M.B.A. from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the use of information in various decision contexts. She has published several articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business to Business Marketing, andHealth Marketing Quarterly. Her research has also appeared in the proceedings of several national conferences.     

The ad creativity cube: conceptualization and initial validation

Advertising creativity is conceptualized as a function of three dimensions—novelty, meaningfulness, and connectedness. Novelty and meaningfulness involve infocentric aspects, while connectedness incorporates the perspective of the audience. The relationship among these dimensions and ad effectiveness, and the linkage of ad creativity level to persuasion is then posited. Two experiments were conducted among 201 undergraduates. The first tested novelty and meaningfulness; while the second tested connectedness and meaningfulness. The results affirm the proposed conceptual framework. Relative to non-novel and meaningful ads, novel and meaningful ads generated higher ad recall, more favorable ad attitudes, and more upbeat feelings. Novel and non-meaningful ads elicited higher recall, more favorable attitudes toward non-claim elements (Aad-nc), and negative feelings, and less favorable ad attutides toward claim elements (Aad-c) than non-novel and non-meaningful ads. Relative to ads that did not connect with the audience, connected ads elicited higher ad recall, more favorable Aad-c under meaningful ads, lower Aad-c under non-meaningful ads, and higher levels of Aad-nc and warm feelings under both meaningful and non-meaningful ads. The authors Swee Hoon Ang, Yih Hwai Lee and Siew Meng Leong are listed alphabetically as each contributed equally to this paper.     

The customer value proposition: evolution,development, and application in marketing

The customer value proposition (CVP) has a critical role in communicating how a company aims to provide value to customers. Managers and scholars increasingly use CVP terminology, yet the concept remains poorly understood and implemented; relatively little research on this topic has been published, considering the vast breadth of investigations of the value concept. In response, this article offers a comprehensive review of fragmented CVP literature, highlighting the lack of a strong theoretical foundation; distinguishes CVPs from related concepts; proposes a conceptual model of the CVP that includes antecedents, consequences, and moderators, together with several research propositions; illustrates the application of the CVP concept to four contrasting companies; and advances a compelling agenda for research.     

“自下而上”与“自上而下”策略在功能语法中的耦合

在语言处理的过程中,有两种对立的策略:“自下而上”与“自上而下”。鉴于各有利弊,人们试图将它们结合起来。功能语法中的文类理论以及三元功能分析模式为这种结合提供了语法分析的手段,在一定程度上磨合了哲学层面的“图式”与词汇、语法的关联。这有利于从理论讨论深入到具体方法和技术的开发,以期在信息处理和语言教学等领域得到运用。     

Customer engagement: the construct,antecedents, and consequences

In this study, we highlight the need and develop a framework for customer engagement (CE) by reviewing the marketing literature and analyzing popular press articles. By understanding the evolution of customer management, we develop the theory of engagement, arguing that when a relationship is satisfying and has emotional connectedness, the partners become engaged in their concern for each other. As a result, the components of customer engagement include both the direct and the indirect contributions of CE. Based on the theoretical support, our proposed framework elaborates on the components of CE as well as the antecedents (satisfaction and emotion) and consequences (tangible and intangible outcomes) of CE. We also discuss how convenience, nature of the firm (B2B vs. B2C), type of industry (service vs. product), value of the brand (high vs. low), and level of involvement (high vs. low) moderate the link between satisfaction and direct contribution, and between emotions and indirect contribution of CE, respectively. Further, we show how customer engagement can be gained and how firm performance can be maximized by discussing relevant strategies.     

Transparent pricing: theory,tests, and implications for marketing practice

In today’s retail markets, products display opaque pricing, i.e., a single number that provides no information about the allocation of the retail proceeds among agents who bring the product to market. We study transparent pricing, which is an alternative strategy in which allocation information is revealed. We differentiate transparent pricing from related marketing practices such as social marketing, cause-related marketing, and pay-what-you-want. Using controlled experiments in multiple product categories with diverse sampling frames, we find that transparent prices systematically alter consumer utility functions and stated choice behavior. Our results support explanations drawn from both neoclassical and behavioral economic theory, including inequity aversion, procedural justice, and altruism. Classical theory predicts that price transparency should have little effect on consumer behavior. However, results from behavioral economics suggest that consumers may relax “self-interest” in the face of transparent prices, leading to counter-intuitive preferences. For example, in one set of studies we observe a significant proportion of consumers selecting the more expensive of two replicates of the same product. In another study, a subset of motorists willingly pays higher gasoline taxes for the same gallon of gas, increasing the overall price per gallon. We explain this behavior via parameterized utility functions that contain both self-interested and other-interested components moderated by characteristics of the decision-maker and characteristics of the choice context.     

Research as innovation: Rewards,perils, and guideposts for research and reviews in marketing

Conclusion Market-based insights are obviously important to corporate strategy practice. Academic researchers who bring market-based insights to corporate strategy research will provide new perspectives on problems that have so far been co-opted by researchers in other fields. They will also face the perils and rewards of innovation. Innovation adoption is uncertain and subject to resistance and skepticism from gatekeepers. Innovation development requires patience, creativity, and persistence. As researchers, if we can overcome the perils of innovation, then our rewards can be large. As a field, if we can bring forth new ideas for corporate thinking and action, then our influence will be large. Perhaps the days of wringing of hands, shaking of heads, and gnashing of teeth will then be no more.     

Historical research in marketing: Retrospect and prospect

The history of historical research in marketing is reviewed as background to an examination of the state of the art. We focus on the major current contributors to historical research in marketing, their recent works, and opinions about future prospects for this field.