A communications model for marketing decisions

The purpose of this paper is to report the development of a communications model which could be helpful in making marketing decisions. The proposed model shows relationships between persuasibility, self-esteem, source credibility, and communication discrepancy. The importance of these variables is explained in the context of a general marketing situation. Because a major goal of marketing activities is to influence buyer attitudes, it is important to know how the buyer's self-esteem, the seller's credibility, and attitude discrepant communications may influence the effectiveness of persuasive efforts. Knowledge of these relationships can aid decision making on the part of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and other channel members. The proposed model can be used to optimize efforts in choosing target markets, selecting advertising media, selecting price levels, developing advertising formats, and in making a multitude of additional marketing decisions.     

Preliminary tests of a marketing communications model

Two experimental tests of a previously published marketing communications model are reported in this paper. Data from both experiments are interpreted as supporting basic relationships suggested in the model. Negative linear, inverted U-shaped, and positive linear self-esteem/persuasibility relationships appearing in the data are very similar to those suggested in the oroginal model. Similar relationships between communication discrepancy and persuasibility also appeared in the data as predicted. Even though the reported experiments are of a preliminary nature and are not intended to be conclusive, the resulting data are interpreted as substantiating the validity of the proposed model and as lending additional credibility to the model's use as a marketing decision tool.     

人际传播理论在景区营销中的应用研究

景区营销中最常使用的是各种大众媒体,但是对于成本低、效果好的人际传播渠道使用较少。人际传播学中的意见领袖理论、信息把关人理论和创新扩散理论都能在景区营销中发挥重要作用。对于景区营销来说,人际传播是不可忽视的一条信息渠道,潜在游客最多使用的和最信赖的就是这条信息渠道。     

Word-of-mouth communications in marketing: a meta-analytic review of the antecedents and moderators

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) activity has been studied as an outcome variable of other constructs such as satisfaction, less attention has been given to the antecedents and moderators of WOM when considering WOM as a central construct. Hence, we propose a model of WOM antecedents and moderators using a meta-analytic review. The results show that all antecedents have significant effects on WOM activity, with customer commitment showing the strongest effect. The following hypotheses are also supported: (1) WOM valence is a significant moderator, (2) cross-sectional studies show a stronger influence of satisfaction and loyalty on WOM activity than longitudinal studies, and (3) studies of WOM behavior show a weaker link between loyalty and WOM activity than studies of WOM intentions. In addition, we show that satisfaction has a stronger relationship with positive WOM than loyalty, whereas (dis)loyalty has a stronger relationship with negative WOM than does (dis)satisfaction. We discuss this finding based on the different natures of positive and negative WOM. This article is based on the first author’s dissertation.     

Factors affecting the use of information in the evaluation of marketing communications productivity

Most prior research on the use of marketing information has studied antecedents of the use of information in new product strategy decisions. This study investigates factors that are related to the use of marketing information in the evaluation of marketing communications productivity. The information used in this context originates from a wide range of internal and external sources. On the basis of organizational theories of information processing, the authors develop and test a conceptual framework explaining the use of information to evaluate marketing communications productivity. Collected survey data indicate that information quality, organization formalization, task complexity, market turbulence, rationality of decision style, and group involvement are all positively related to the use of information in assessing marketing communications productivity. Moderating relationships involving formalization, complexity, decision style, and the degree of group involvement are also found. Implications for managing market knowledge and future research in information use are discussed. George S. Low is an associate professor in the Marketing Department of the M. J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. His Ph.D. in marketing is from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He also received an M.B.A. from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and a B.A. in advertising from Brigham Young University. He spent 4 years as a media planner with MacLaren McCann Advertising (Canada). His research focuses on integrated marketing communications and brand management, and has been published in theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Advertising Research, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, and theJournal of Product and Brand Management, among others. He is the recipient of four research grants from the Marketing Science Institute. Jakki J. Mohr is an associate professor of marketing and the Ron and Judy Paige faculty fellow at the University of Montana. She received her B.B.A. from Boise State University, her M.S. in marketing from Colorado State University, and her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before beginning her academic career, she worked in Silicon Valley in the advertising area for both Hewlett Packard’s Personal Computer Group and Tele Video Systems. Her research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theStrategic Management Journal, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of High Technology Management Research, Marketing Management, andComputer Reseller News. She has recently authored a book,Marketing of High-Technology Products and Innovations. Her research interests lie primarily in the area of marketing of high-technology products and services.     

Contractually integrated systems for the marketing of industrial supplies

Increasingly competitive pressures during the past decade have caused both industrial buyers and suppliers to search for new economies and means for achieving greater profitability. Industrial wholesaler-distributors have responded with a variety of contractually based “systems” that are designed to simplify customers' purchase of supplies while ensuring distributor profits. The two main varieties of such Systems are popularly called “Blanket Orders” and ”Systems Contracts,” but the latter are more comprehensive extensions of the former. Specifically, Systems Contracts imply a total commitment by a distributor toward solving his customers' supplies problems. Such agreements typically involve a shifting of the supplies warehousing function back to the vendor, where items are then automatically reordered by plant-level users as opposed to purchasing agents. Rounding out the System is an extensive array of vendor-supplied services: 24-hour item delivery, computer-processed item usage reports, a control feature, and vendor consultation and problem solving. The Contract effectively links buyer and supplier together in a harmonious, profitable relationship.     

Satisfying customer expectations: The effect on conflict and repurchase intentions in industrial marketing channels

The article investigates how the marketer’s fulfillment of middleman expectations impacts upon conflict and repurchase intentions in industrial channels. The nature and key determinants of expectations in industrial buyer behavior are examined. Discrepancy theory is used to assess the (dis)confirmation of expectations process. A series of hypotheses are developed and tested in a large manufacturing and distribution network engaged in the marketing of fluid power products. Results suggest a direct causal effect of (dis) confirmed expectations on repurchase intentions and on conflict, and that the effect of expectations on repurchase intentions is not modified by the creation of conflict. Managerial implications are drawn.     

Risky shift: An empirical investigation and implications for industrial buying behavior and marketing management

This study attempts to determine whether the nature of the industrial buying process has an effect on the riskiness of its decisions. Research has shown that group discussion of alternatives has a tendency to shift initial risk preferences of individuals and groups. This social phenomenon, known as “risky shift,” has important implications for marketers since many decisions involve group consensus or social influence if decisions are made by a single individual. It was posited that the influence of others, mainfested by group discussion, will change the risk preference in both individual and group consensus decisions. An industrial supplier selection decision was presented to 92 marketing students in which five alternative sources of supply were described in reference to various performance criteria. The data clearly reflected statistically significant changes in risk preferences as a result of group discussion in both the individual before-individual after and individual before-group after type decision.     

Perceived environmental turbulence and its effect on selected entrepreneurship,marketing, and organizational characteristics in industrial firms

Entrepreneurship and marketing are approached as proactive corporate responses to an increasingly dynamic, threatening, and complex external environment. Both represent organizational orientations built around creativity, innovativeness, flexibility, and risk-taking. A conceptual model is proposed relating the levels of entrepreneurship, marketing activity, and marketing-related structure of a firm to the degree of perceived environmental turbulence confronting the firm. Results of a survey involving personal interviews with managers in 93 firms representing six industries are reported. Turbulence is found to have a significant causal impact on both the levels of entrepreneurship and the marketing orientation of the firm, but not on structural variables.     

Resource-based theory in marketing

The use of resource-based theory (RBT) in marketing research has increased by more than 500% in the past decade, which suggests its importance as a framework for explaining and predicting competitive advantages and performance outcomes. This article provides a comprehensive review of RBT, including a contemporary definitional foundation for relevant terms and assumptions and a synthesis of empirical findings from marketing literature. This multidimensional analysis of RBT also evaluates extant marketing research according to four perspectives: the marketing domains that use RBT, the characteristics and uses of market-based resources that differentiate it from other research contexts, the extension of RBT to the “marketing exchange” as a unit of analysis, and the connection of RBT to related theories. This analysis also reveals some common pitfalls associated with prior research, offers tentative guidelines on how to improve the use of RBT in marketing, and suggests research directions to advance the theorization and empirical testing of RBT in the future.     

Unstructured data in marketing

The rise of unstructured data (UD), propelled by novel technologies, is reshaping markets and the management of marketing activities. Yet these increased data remain mostly untapped by many firms, suggesting the potential for further research developments. The integrative framework proposed in this study addresses the nature of UD and pursues theoretical richness and computational advancements by integrating insights from other disciplines. This article makes three main contributions to the literature by (1) offering a unifying definition and conceptualization of UD in marketing; (2) bridging disjoint literature with an organizing framework that synthesizes various subsets of UD relevant for marketing management through an integrative review; and (3) identifying substantive, computational, and theoretical gaps in extant literature and ways to leverage interdisciplinary knowledge to advance marketing research by applying UD analyses to underdeveloped areas.     

Social exchange in marketing

Exchange is a fundamental and universal aspect of human behavior. Economic exchange models have dealt with the buying and selling of material goods and services, while social exchange models have broadened their scope to include social and psychological aspects of interactions. In its present form, however, the social exchange model exhibits serious shortcomings for the marketing scholar and practitioner; it is largely atheoretical, unrealistic, narrow in applicability, and lacking in its depiction of important facets of man's behavior. In light of these criticisms, the notion of an exchange system is proposed and illustrated as an explanatory framework. Finally, it is suggested that marketing can be viewed as a component of the social system functioning as both a cause and consequence of social change.     

广告营销中的博弈

本文主要是将博弈的思想引入企业的广告营销策略中,试图给企业在进行广告竞争时提供一些建议.文章从四个部分展开论述,先概述了博弈和广告营销的含义,然后着重分析博弈理论在广告营销中的运用并辅以现实的案例进行解释,最后给企业提供一些解决广告策略运用中所出现的问题的建议,以期提高企业的广告效益和整体赢利水平.     

Societal marketing: A strategic view of the marketing mix in the 1970's

The marketing environment has experienced dramatic changes in the late 1960's and the 1970's. This article deals with the design of the marketing mix in the 1970's to meet the demand of its changing environment. It encompasses a conprehensive review of the marketing literature pertinent to the subject.     

Demarketing strategy in shortage marketing environment

Although demarketing is widely offered as a potentially effective strategic response to the environment of economic shortages, empirical assessment of its application in either domestic or global markets is lacking. This paper explores the relationship between the incidence of economic shortages and demarketing activity performance in six African countries. The study results suggest the existence of several forms of shortage marketing environments which reflect different approaches to demarketing. The paper concludes with observations on methods firms employ to adapt their marketing programs in an environment of scarcity within seller-dominated economies.     

Analysis of means in marketing research

Analysis of variance, often the method of choice in evaluating the outcomes of marketing tests, can be significantly enhanced in its decision-support value. For this purpose one may apply more recently developed supplementary approaches: (1) Evaluation of main effects and interactions with Decision-Line (DL) criteria; (2) graphic multi-comparative analysis contrasted against the DL's; and (3) estimation of net component of variance for factor and interaction effects. An illustrative case history serves to highlight the more comprehensive overview and better understanding of experiment outcomes thus achieved.     

对企业营销文化的思考

企业营销文化是企业文化的主要组成部分 ,是从企业文化的整体角度对企业营销行为的升华与规范 ,是贯穿于企业整个营销活动过程中的一系列文化理念、指导思想以及与营销理念相适应的规范制度等的总称。为此 ,我们必须重视企业的命名 ,商标的命名 ,并重视广告效应等。