Outcomes of advertiser–agency relationships

The form and the role of cooperation within advertising relationships is the focus of this research. The theory posits that trust, commitment and cooperation are the core of the relationship and that the agency’s performance and the advertiser’s willingness-to-paymore for the agency’s services are the outcomes. Cooperation is defined and tested as a higher-order construct with three facets: shared problem solving, information exchange and flexibility. Competing theories are presented: the shared-influence model and the sole-mediator model. The contrast between the models focuses on whether the influence of trust and commitment is: (1) entirely mediated through cooperation; (2) shared with cooperation; or (3) bypasses cooperation altogether. The results indicate that although cooperation has a strong influence on agency performance, both trust and commitment have direct and indirect (mediated through cooperation) influences on performance. This supports the shared-influence model. The results also indicate that cooperation can successfully be measured as a higher-order construct.     

Investigating agency–client relationships in the Polish advertising industry

This paper explores selection and retention factors as perceived among agencies and clients operating in the Polish advertising industry. Initially, a broad review of advertising and marketing literature is presented in the context of those variables perceived to be important for (a) selecting/evaluating ad agencies, and (b) maintaining client loyalty and client retention. Two ad agencies and two advertisers in Poland were approached in order to explore and evaluate the variables in more depth, and as a result 15 key variables emerged that became the focus for the study. A questionnaire was designed and a postal survey was later administered to advertisers and agencies with the intentions of obtaining the views of both parties. Emerging findings of the study indicate that clients tend to focus on sales pitch and factors relating to past performance in recruiting an agency. Results also reveal that there was a close consensus among agencies and their clients concerning the relative importance of retention factors such as quality of service and customer care attributes.     

Service relationships and the customer disengagement – engagement conundrum

Abstract

Emergent research on customer engagement has focused on enhancing engagement within service relationships. Less attention has been given to how and why customers disengage from their relationships, and the potential interplay between engagement and disengagement has not yet been explored within the marketing literature. This study presents the findings from a qualitative exploration of the concept of customer disengagement, its initiating triggers, nature and the process by which it unfolds within functional/utilitarian (F/U) and participative/co-creative services (P/C). Rather than being mutually exclusive, it finds that engagement and disengagement are highly connected and that prior levels of engagement significantly influenced customers’ subsequent propensities to disengage. Specifically, customers’ propensity towards disengagement was higher within services considered F/U in nature and lower within services of a more P/C nature. In addition, the extent to which customers disengaged from their relationship was strongly determined by their prior levels of engagement with weak engagement for F/U services and strong engagement for P/C services. Relationships in the F/U category were subsequently transactional and volatile when compared to relationships within the P/C category that were comparatively emotionally bonded and enduring.     

Small Italian wine producers’ internationalization: The role of network relationships in the emergence of late starters

This paper aims to examine how network relationships influenced the internationalization of small Italian wine producers characterized as late starters. It is based on four cases. It shows that foreign tourists helped these firms to expand internationally: they identified business opportunities, suggested firms to contact importers, contacted importers themselves to get access to the same wine in their home country or provided foreign market knowledge. Thus, small wine producers should pay more attention to attracting tourists and creating network relationship with them. Several other network relationships ? for instance, with friends and relatives, Italian expatriates and other business partners ? also advanced the case firms’ internationalization. Moreover, they were affected by lack of time and resources, language barriers and other factors. Thus, all these aspects also need managers’ attention. Furthermore, they should take a more strategic approach towards internationalization and understand that not all internationalization attempts succeed or result in continuous orders.     

Finding good relationships – intended and realized relational governance of international fine wine exchanges

Changes in relational governance have mainly been documented in the form of relationship building, developments and repairs related to tensions, or break-ups of otherwise strong relationships. In this paper, we take a closer look at the relational governance of long-distance international exchanges between producers and importers of fine wine. We contribute by providing evidence for several novel relational governance changes, and we document portfolio effects on governance choices. Fine wine producers and importers intend on relational governance for most of their international exchanges, but they may end up being terminated, relegated to market governance, or settle as incomplete relationships.     

Consumers’ relationships with brands and brand communities – The multifaceted roles of identification and satisfaction

This study integrates consumer-brand identification and customer satisfaction as core relationship drivers to study their interrelationships as well as the effects on customer loyalty and word-of-mouth communication. Considering multiple interacting targets of identification in brand communities, the empirical study unfolds the multifaceted, context-specific relevance of identification and satisfaction: While the effect of identification on brand loyalty is mediated by customer satisfaction, satisfaction has no significant effect on community loyalty. Moreover, brand communities are particularly useful for gaining new customers, whereas no increase in brand loyalty could be found. Managers are generally advised to specify constructs of interest related to different relevant targets of identification.     

Retailers' management of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their supplier relationships – does practice follow best practice?

The aim of this study is to further explore (a) the extent to which retailers deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) best practices to ensure social and environmental sustainability in international supplier relationships and (b) the association between firm characteristics and the retailers' CSR activities in the supply chain. As a first step, the study identifies eight best practices based on earlier research and the authors' qualitative studies of IKEA. As a second step, a survey of Swedish retailers was conducted. The results of the study suggest that a significant amount of the actors in the Swedish retail sector do not follow the majority of best practice as outlined and discussed in this study. Furthermore, it is found that sector belonging has a considerable impact on the extent that a retailer follows best practice, while firm size and internationalization experience also have a significant, albeit limited, impact on retailer behavior.     

The relationships between types of network organization and adoption of management mechanisms: an empirical study of knowledge transactions of MNC’s subsidiaries in Taiwan

This paper examines the relationships of various types of network organizations and the adoption of management mechanisms through the application of network theory. We found that strong relationships exist as described within the four hypotheses by empirically evaluating case studies of MNC subsidiaries in Taiwan. Based on “the knowledge transaction density” observed between an MNC’s enterprise group and local firms, the subsidiaries can be classified into three categories of network organization, namely: (1) Self-sufficient, (2) Production- based, and (3) Operation-centered subsidiaries. The literature review suggests that there are four types of mechanisms that MNC headquarters use to control their foreign subsidiaries. These mechanisms are bureaucratic, personnel, performance and cultural controls. This research reports three major findings. Firstly, for Operation-centered subsidiaries, headquarters prefer to adopt two or more management mechanisms simultaneously. Secondly, for Production-based subsidiaries, headquarters prefer to adopt bureaucratic management mechanisms. Finally, for Self-sufficient subsidiaries, headquarters prefer to adopt performance and cultural management mechanisms.