Differences among exporting firms based on their degree of internationalization

An overwhelming majority of the investigations of company export behavior have utilized data obtained from all types of firms in a sample. An alternative approach would involve disaggregating the sample into some meaningful groups and contrasting company characteristics across the subsamples of firms. This study attempts to delineate differences among exporting firms when firms are classified by their degree of internationalization. Three types of exporters are identified in light of the internationalization hypothesis: experimental exporters, active exporters, and committed exporters. These firms are then contrasted with each other with respect to measurable company characteristics, domestic market environment, nature of international business involvement, marketing policy aspects, and export market research practices. The analysis in the paper is based upon data gathered through personal interviews with the executives of 70 midwestern manufacturers. The study reveals significant differences among the three types of exporters and provides further insights into the export marketing behavior of firms.     

Retailing institutions in developing countries: Determinants of supermarket patronage in Istanbul,Turkey

The extent to which supermarkets can provide solutions to the shortcomings of a developing nation's food retailing system depends on their success in increasing store patronage. This study was designed to identify the determinants of supermarket patronage in Turkey. Consumers who primarily patronized supermarkets were compared with consumers who primarily patronized other food stores in terms of their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, grocery shopping habits and characteristics, and life-style orientations. Some differences between the two groups emerged with respect to their patronage motives, life-style orientations, and product purchase patterns.     

What's in a change in an industrial bond rating?

Bond quality rating changes (BQRC) for industrial bonds are analyzed using both univariate statistical methods and discriminant analysis to find significant variables and their relationship with the changes. The single most important explanatory variable is found to be the rate of return on assets (ROA), followed by the trend in the return on assets (ROATREND). The univariate analysis found six of the seven proposed explanatory variables significant beyond the 0.01 level. The two-group discriminant analysis model achieved a correct classification rate of over 77%. The paper shows how the results of the two-group discriminant analysis can be used for a three-way prediction (upgrade, downgrade, or no change of bond ratings). The results of this study show that models based on financial statement data can predict rating changes with good accuracy and therefore may be a useful tool for rating agencies, at least as an initial screening device.     

Product familiarity and information processing strategies: An exploratory investigation

A theoretical and empirical examination of the relationship between product class familiarity and usage of information processing strategies is presented. Four major dimensions of information processing strategies are identified and used to conceptualize the linkage between product class familiarity and usage of particular strategies. Research hypotheses are tested in an exploratory study using a laboratory choice situation. Implications of the study with respect to usage of specific strategies and for future research are discussed.     

Humor and cognitive responses to advertising stimuli: A trace consolidation approach

Despite the predictions of several attitude change theories, most empirical research suggests that humorous communications are no more persuasive than their serious counterparts. The present study adopted a trace consolidation theory approach and tested the hypothesis that humorous appeals are more persuasive than serious appeals when time for trace consolidation is allowed. The trace consolidation theory hypothesis was supported most directly by shifts in cognitive responses. On some measures, sex differences were also observed. Specifically, males were found to be more susceptible than females to the humorous persuasive appeal.     

Intergeneration differences in consumer behavior: Some evidence from a Developing Country

Investigation of consumer socialization processes provide insights into the learning of consumer skills and values. A study conducted in India reveal that children may be important sources of information and this role needs to be specifically fostered. Parents, especially mothers, may not be “rational” socializing agents. These findings contrast with those from socialization studies conducted in affluent societies such as the United States. These differences in socializing influences reflect to some degree differences in levels of economic development. However, they have implications for socialization research and policies in both types of economies.     

Comparative evaluation of empirical response functions in sales management decision making

Although the potential value of an empirical response function as a sales management decision-making tool is evident, the question of whether functions with different properties will provide comparable decision guidelines has not been investigated. One important property of these functions is their ability to explain variation in sales response relationships. The present study develops and comparatively evaluates two response functions that differ in explanatory power as expressed by their R² values. Each function is used to make sales forecasts and determine optimal call levels to the same set of randomly selected retail accounts, and the two functions provide different decision guidelines. This article discusses the implications of these results and future research directions.     

Competitive position effects and market share: An exploratory investigation

This paper investigates the relative competitive position of a firm with a view toward determining those marketing effort dimensions that significantly influence market share. The study differs from previously published reports in that it utilizes the Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy (PIMS) data base on relative marketing effort to identify key marketing effort variables for two broad classes of goods: consumer nondurables and capital goods. The framework for a competitive positive effects model is developed in terms of nine relative marketing effort dimensions expressed along categories roughly corresponding to competitive superiority, parity, or inferiority. Hypotheses for the two classes of goods, gleaned from the available marketing literature, were empirically tested with use of linear regression models. Though the sets of coefficients relating to the nine marketing decision variables significantly differed ac across industries, similar patterns were found in both groups with respect to the relative breadth of product line and relative product quality dimensions. The results also tended to (a) support the claim of Buzzel et al. [Product Quality, Strategic Planning Institute, Cambridge, 1978] that for product quality to matter, improvements relative to competition must be substantial, and (b) show that for certain effort dimensions striving for competitive superiority may not generate sizable increases in relative market share.     

Perceived buyer satisfaction and selling pressure versus pricing policy: A comparative study of retailers in ten developing countries

Observation of retail practices in ten developing countries in Asia, Africa, and South America explored the relationship between perceived buyer satisfaction and selling pressure as they relate to pricing policy. The study found that price bargaining appears more prevalent in Asia than in South America, and buyer satisfaction was lower for retailers that bargain than for retailers using a fixed-price policy. Selling pressure was higher among retailers that bargain than retailers using a one-price-for-all policy. There were, however, several interesting intercountry differences.     

Heavy,medium, light shoppers and nonshoppers of a used merchandise outlet

An unsettling economic future coupled with changes in social values indicate that preowned merchandise buying will become increasingly evident. Consumers face the prospects of inflation, unemployment, and shortages, while social values are shifting away from disregard of resource usage by the disposable society. Buying preowned merchandise is a solution to coping with the environmental changes. Although institutions selling used merchandise, like other retailers, require factual information to design effective marketing strategies, this remains a neglected retailing phenomenon.The purpose of this study was to gain insights concerning several aspects of preowned merchandise buying using Goodwill Industries as a case in point. Data were collected to provide demographic profiles of heavy, medium, and light shoppers and nonshoppers, the information sources effective in inculcating awareness, basic patronage motives of heavy, medium, and light shoppers, and various buying behavior patterns of the four groups. The latter included shopping at Goodwill versus other institutions selling used merchandise, future shopping plans at Goodwill, overall attitude toward used merchandise, and the types of preowned merchandise they would be willing to purchase.Telephone interviews were made with a randomly selected sample of household representatives living in a midwestern standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) with a population of 85,000. The 336 respondents (97.5% of the sample) who were aware of Goodwill formed the initial data base from which 320 usable questionnaires were obtained. A composite shopping volume index was used to differentiate light, medium, and heavy shoppers as well as nonshoppers.Results from the study show that some differences exist between the groups in terms of demographics, information sources, and patronage motives as well as part and anticipated shopping behavior. Several implications are suggested for Goodwill in particular and similar organizations in general.     

Using self-congruity and ideal congruity to predict purchase motivation

This study tested the hypothesis that the effects of self-congruity and ideal congruity on purchase motivation are additive. Self-esteem and self-consistency theories were used to explain this relationship. The results of this study demonstrate support for this relationship. Research implications based on the theoretical model proposed in this study are also discussed.     

The linking pin role in organizational buying centers

The buying center concept has been widely accepted in the organizational buying behavior literature. Nevertheless, the application of the concept in empirical investigations has been limited in scope. Most research has examined either the composition of the buying center or the influence processes operating within it. The intraorganizational dynamics (among members of the buying center) and the interorganizational dynamics (between buying center members and outside organizations) have been ignored in buying center research. Common to these two sets of relationships is the presence of a “linking pin” or “boundary role” person.The purposes of this paper are twofold. The first is to suggest the concept of the “linking pin” role in a buying center and to highlight the conceptual importance of this role in furthering the understanding and prediction of organizational buying processes and outcomes. Explication of this role should also lead to an enriched conceptualization of the relationships between the buying and selling organizations. The second objective is to report on the results of some initial empirical investigations into the role of a designated linking pin in hospital buying centers. These results offer preliminary evidence of the value of the linking pin concept.     

The influence of national versus generic branding on taste perceptions

The results of an experimental study that investigated the taste perception of generic versus national brands are presented. Using a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design, we found that brand (national versus generic) significantly influenced the taste of the product. Additional variables were tested but were determined not significant. The implications of these findings are discussed as well as a general review of the generic branding innovation.     

Price structure as a marketing variable: An experimental investigation

This study examines the relative impact on preferences of price level and price-structure variables. A pair of four-factor experimental designs were developed to investigate the preferences of students for automobile price structures and recent homebuyers for various price arrangements in buying a house. The findings indicate that, for a majority of the subjects, the structural variables of down payment, interest rate, and monthly payment are more important than price level in determining overall preferences.     

The evolution of strategic marketing

This article examines the evolution of the concept of strategic marketing. Strategic marketing does not replace traditional marketing management. Rather it adds new dimensions to the field of marketing, enhancing its role in the determination of corporate strategy.     

Governmental environment and nongovernmental behavior: Corporate responsiveness to formal integration of the European community

Although it has been argued that the governmental environment has an important influence on corporate activities, limited systematic and empirical research has been undertaken to study this relationship. This is especially true for regional integration efforts where it is widely assumed that enterprises (and particularly transnational ones) quickly take advantage of new regional opportunities created by government policies. This article examines therefore the question of whether or not integration (more specifically, the European community) affects the behavior of corporate elite members in the Federal Republic of Germany and their enterprises-important nongovernmental actors within the integrating area. First, a theoretical framework is introduced that analytically and phenomenally distinguishes formal governmental and behavioral aspects of integration. Subsequent analysis suggests, among other things, that the strategies of enterprises do not necessarily follow (respond to) governmental integration. The impact of governmental integration on the attitudes and behavior of nongovernmental actors appears to be limited, selective, and uneven in character.