Antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling confidence and behavior: a dyadic analysis of salespeople and their customers

Personal selling is thought to be a very effective marketing vehicle. The notion of adaptive selling suggests that it should work better than any other means of communication because salespeople are able to develop a unique message for each customer. This research proposes a model of key antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling. In particular, we distinguish, measure, and model the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of adaptive selling, something that is encouraged but not thoroughly examined in the literature. Hypotheses are tested using data from 210 salesperson-customer dyads. The results indicate that a salesperson’s perception of the firm’s customer orientation has an effect on adaptive selling behavior through the salesperson’s adaptive selling confidence, role ambiguity, intrinsic motivation and customer-qualification skills. Adaptive selling behavior increases salesperson’s outcome performance, customers’ evaluations of satisfaction with the product and with the salesperson, which enhance customers’ anticipation of future interactions with the salesperson. The implications for management and theory are discussed.     

Organized Youth Sport and Parenting in Public and Private Spaces

This article examines the connection of organized youth sport to cultural beliefs, values and practices of contemporary parenting ideologies, specifically the idealization of intensive mothering and involved fathering. It explores how parenting ideologies are constructed by the discourses expressed by individuals in their everyday lives through their children's sport participation. Moreover, the analysis of the parental discourse illustrates how parenting goes beyond the home environment and becomes a public act that is observed by other parents, with these observations creating the basis of what is deemed to be a good parent. Emphasis is also placed on the gendered dimensions of meeting the expectations for being a good parent.     

Who Eats Seaweed? An Australian Perspective

Abstract

Current seaweed consumption and attitudes and preferences toward seaweed food products in a Western society are investigated to inform the seaweed industry regarding product development and marketing strategies. A national survey of 521 Australian consumers was conducted. About 75% of respondents had eaten seaweed; however, only 37% had consumed seaweed regularly over the past 12?months. Key drivers include health and nutritional benefits, taste, being natural, safe, and fresh. Critical barriers are lack of knowledge and familiarity, and the perception that seaweed is expensive. Females and younger, health-conscious consumers with higher household incomes and levels of education, who are more adventurous with food (neophilic), and who tend to snack and assign symbolic value to food are more likely to consume seaweed. Recommendations for the emerging seaweed industry in terms of target markets and relevant marketing strategies are presented and areas of further research proposed.     

Whiteness,ethnic minorities and advertising in travel brochures

Whiteness theory is used in this paper as an additional way to analyse ethnic minority portrayal in advertising, specifically, the extent to which images of ethnic minorities are dominated by whiteness in travel brochures. A sample of 37 brochures are examined from British tour operators. Culture-based differences in advertising are discussed with a specific focus on how advertising constructs the image of ethnic minorities of peoples of South Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Mixed Race as tourists, workers and local people. We consider the frequency of portrayals of the different racial groups, together with observations about gender, family and social contexts and interaction with whites. The findings show that the portrayal of non-white people is relatively rare and highly constrained.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Enterprise Restructuring in Central Europe

Foreign direct investment is at the forefront of economic policy decisions in Central Europe, as it is expected to accelerate enterprise restructuring and aid in the successful transition to a market economy. This paper contains a panel data study of the effects of FDI in 11 different manufacturing sectors within three Central European economies: Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. We find evidence that FDI has increased labour productivity levels in most manufacturing sectors. We are able to differentiate between sectors with a high elasticity of substitution between labour and capital and those that are inelastic. We have also presented evidence to support the theory that the impact on labour productivity is predominantly due to the intangible assets introduced by foreign firms, rather than simply the fixed capital investment associated with FDI.     

Gender Based Differences of Performance and Pay Among Agricultural Economics Faculty

In 1998, the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) began a tracking project to more closely examine and report on issues and trends in the agricultural economics profession. This study presents results on performance and pay among academics, focusing on differences across genders. Experience and refereed journal articles appear to have the greatest affect on salary differences. Discussion on several academic issues of debate, including nine- versus eleven-month appointments and workload expectations, is also presented.     

The Impact of Human Resource Practices and Compensation Design on Performance: An Analysis of Family-Owned SMEs

A sample of 168 family-owned fast growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was used to empirically examine the consequences of five human resource practices on sales growth performance. The results suggest that training and development, recruitment package, maintaining morale, use of performance appraisals, and competitive compensation were more important for high sales-growth performing firms than for low sales-growth performing firms. In addition, we examined the use of incentive compensation in the form of cash, noncash, and benefits and perks for four different levels of employees in family-owned SMEs. The findings suggest that high sales-growth performing firms used more cash incentive compensation at every level in the organization.     

Does Relationship Marketing Age Well?

Most managers agree that close co-operative relationships between business partners yield benefits to all parties. However, some question whether these benefits continue as the relationship ages. This article reports on a study designed to answer this question. The study suggests that, however long the relationship, building trust, commitment and the other components of Relationship Marketing (RM) continue to have a positive effect on the performance of business partners. However, it also shows that, over time, the positive effect diminishes. The authors suggest that managers need to recognize this, and to identify the true costs of building relationships so as to judge whether the diminishing returns justify the effort. Ultimately, managers need to vary their handling of each relationship because standardized RM practices are unlikely to be effective.