Supervising Unethical Sales Force Behavior: How Strong is the Tendency to Treat Top Sales Performers Leniently?

Findings from prior research show that there is a general tendency to discipline top sales performers more leniently than poor sales performers for engaging in identical forms of unethical selling behavior. In this study, the authors attempt to uncover moderating factors that could override this general tendency and bring about more equal discipline for top sales performers and poor sales performers. Surprisingly, none were found. A company policy stating that the behavior in question was unacceptable nor a repeated pattern of unethical behavior offset the general tendency to treat top sales performers more leniently than poor sales performers. In an attempt to dig deeper to find a significant moderating effect, two follow-up experiments were conducted. In the first follow-up experiment, a specific training program designed to communicate top management's desire to treat ethical matters equally based on the severity of the act had no effect on equalizing the discipline between top sales performers and poor sales performers. In the second follow-up experiment, a stronger company policy that specified a prescribed level of punishment also failed to equalize the discipline. A superior sales performance record appears to induce more lenient forms of discipline, despite the presence of other factors and managerial actions that are specifically instituted to produce more equal forms of discipline. The answer to the question posed in the article title is, "apparently very strong!"     

Competitive advertising within store flyers: A win–win strategy?

This study investigates the effect of competitive advertising within store flyers on both manufacturers and retailers. Prior research implies that competitive advertising may be detrimental for manufacturers and beneficial for retailers. Findings from an intersubject experiment that uses various familiar and unfamiliar competing brands confirm that store flyers’ competitive advertising improves consumers’ perceptions of the variety of the retailer’s assortment, which has a positive impact on intentions to visit the store and buy. However, increasing the number of competing brands does not harm manufacturers; rather, it enhances recognition of brands, especially for well-known brands. This article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for the design of store flyers.     

Back to the cave or playing away? Gender roles in home-from-home environments

Abstract: This paper theorizes the gender roles that are played out in the alternative spaces acquired by purchasers of second homes in foreign rural environments. These homes are often constructed by their owners (both men and women) as bolt-holes, simple places of escape from normal routines; the lived reality is that they become arenas in which men often play at cave-building or peasant-style farming, while women find a different context for creative home-making, shopping and socializing, and the caring ethic of being involved with children, grandchildren and visitors. Both genders are freed from the constraints of their normal working lives, but the ambivalent nature of the context which is both home and holiday is one in which work is present, in the form of do-it-yourself or doing the domestic, while at the same time it provides opportunity for forms of ludic behaviour. Drawing from a series of unstructured interviews, I examine the consumption practices of second home owners and analyse the ways in which informants reflect on their activities and identities. The home-and-yet-away context allows the experiences and meanings of home and away from home to be explored from both genders’ perspectives, leading to conclusions about the dynamics of gender relationships in situations that combine routine and novelty.     

Website Opens to Promote Farm Product Sales

To expand the second China AG Trade Fair to the web and promote agricultural product sales, a government-run website, www. catf.agri.gov.cn, opened. The website has stored the data of 2,010 farm product companies. Visitors can buy their products online and learn detailed information of the fair just through the click of the mouse.The website, sponsored by     

Used Car Sales Set to Accelerate in China

After mang years of boosting new car sales figures, China's motorists are increasingly wanting to up- grade,bolstering its fledgling used car sector. Second-hand car sales totaled 2.7 million in 2006,accord- ing to the Ministry of Commerce,less than half that of the new car sales.Compared with developed countries,where used car     

Volkswagen Sales in China Hit Record to 500,000 Units

Learning from Volkswagen China Investment Corporation,the sales volume of Volkswagen vehicles in China in43 per cent to more than 500,000 units in 2002.Now,China has become Volkswagen's second-biggest market next toGermany.     

Do Sexy Cover Models Increase Magazine Sales?

Abstract

In the competitive struggle to increase circulation, mainstream men's magazines (such as Details, Maxim, Esquire) are featuring sexually attractive people on their covers. This article reports the findings of a study designed to determine if the sexual response evoked by cover models is related to interest in the magazine and purchase intention. Findings suggest that sexual attractiveness of the cover model and sexual arousal were related to interest in the magazine, but not purchase intention. Although no gender differences emerged, those with a positive sexual response to the cover person were more interested in the magazine. These results suggest that sexy cover models may be most effective for attracting attention to, and interest in, the magazine at the newsstand, but that feature articles have greater impact on purchase decisions.     

China's Online Sales to Top RMB51 bin in 2007

China's online sales are estimated to hit RMB51 billion (US$6.38 billion) in 2007, up 63% on the previous year, according to a report by iResearch, an Internet research company. The report shows the registered number of online shoppers was 43.1 million in 2006     

Retail Sales Set to Hit RMB10 Trillion by 2010

China's retail sales will continue to grow at a fast rate over the next few years, thanks to the government's increasing emphasis on stimulating consumer demand.     

Marketing und Sales Performance Measurement — Das Beispiel Dell

Zusammenfassung  Die F?higkeit eines Unternehmens Leistungsnachweise von Marketing- und Verkaufsma?nahmen zu erbringen, wird bei Dell als Grundvoraussetzung für den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg angesehen. Die RAD („Retention Akquisition Development“)-Matrix ist ein Vorzeigebeispiel für ein Kennzahlencockpit, welches als Kontrollinstrument dient, mit dem Ziel, Zusammenh?nge zwischen Marktaktivit?ten und Marktleistung transparent zu machen. Zus?tzlich erm?glicht das Cockpit eine proaktive Steuerung zukünftiger Marketingma?nahmen über den gesamten Marketing-Mix hinweg. Dipl.-Betriebsw. Achim Freyer Sales Director bei Dell im Bereich Corporate Accounts für ?sterreich und die Schweiz Mag. Heike Kurzmann Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Marketing und Handel an der Universit?t St. Gallen     

Insider Trading 2.0? The Ethics of Information Sales

The sale of faster access to financial market data has recently generated public controversy. NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has referred to such fast data feeds as “Insider Trading 2.0”. For example, Thomson Reuters sold the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index to computerized trading firms 2 seconds before releasing its data to its other paying clients. This paper explores the ethical issues involved in the sale of such information. Is selling faster access ethically the same as traditional insider trading, which generally involves a breach of fiduciary duty or the use of misappropriated information? Such practices are extremely different from traditional insider trading as there is neither a breach of fiduciary duty nor misappropriation of inside information. The ethical issues are similar to other market segmentation and price discrimination issues, in which different prices are charged to different customers. The ability to price discriminate across segments can actually benefit large segments of the population who may receive lower prices because others, such as the high-speed traders, are paying more. The sale of faster access to information, especially by exchanges, raises additional ethical issues. There may be adverse effects on market quality that must be addressed. The moral distaste for the practice expressed by some stems from the seeming unfairness of a modern market structure that provides advantages to a small group of computerized traders.     

How do European trade promotion organisations manage their stakeholders?

Trade Promotion Organisations (TPOs) exert significant influence on the internationalisation potential of domestic firms and improving the indigenous country’s trade balance. However, TPOs’ strategies to uphold their impact as to the relationship vis-à-vis their stakeholders are largely unknown. This is an important gap in the literature considering that effective stakeholder management can enhance TPOs’ performance and the value they develop for three primary stakeholder groups, namely home country government, domestic firms and foreign trade offices. In this study, we employ the stakeholder theory and draw upon in-depth case studies of 14 European TPOs to address this gap. We advance six related propositions on how funding sourcing, services to domestic firms and functions of foreign trade offices can be effectively associated with TPOs’ relationship management towards these stakeholder groups. The contribution of the study lies on the application of stakeholder theory in trade promotion and the derivation of related sets of strategies.     

Sales of Flat Screen TV to Double in 2007,Driven by Olympics

Sales of flat screen TV in China are predicted to double from 3.8 million in 2006 to 7.5 million sets in 2007. according to research by CCID Consulting."About 53.3% of the respondents who plan to buy flat panel TV said they just want to watch programs of the Olympic Games."said Tian Xiaona,a senior analyst with CCID Consulting.     

Do Mystery Shoppers Really Predict Customer Satisfaction and Sales Performance?

Mystery shopping (MS) is a widely used tool to monitor the quality of service and personal selling. In consultative retail settings, assessments of mystery shoppers are supposed to capture the most relevant aspects of salespeople’s service and sales behavior. Given the important conclusions drawn by managers from MS results, the standard assumption seems to be that assessments of mystery shoppers are strongly related to customer satisfaction and sales performance. However, surprisingly scant empirical evidence supports this assumption. We test the relationship between MS assessments and customer evaluations and sales performance with large-scale data from three service retail chains. Surprisingly, we do not find a substantial correlation. The results show that mystery shoppers are not good proxies for real customers. While MS assessments are not related to sales, our findings confirm the established correlation between customer satisfaction measurements and sales results.     

Will they return? Getting private label consumers to come back: Price,promotion, and new product effects

Using a hazard model specification with two years of consumer panel data, this study simultaneously quantifies the effects of price gaps, non-monetary promotions, and new products on consumer switching from private labels back to manufacturer brands. The research focuses on the switching phenomena, rather than choice, such that time is a relevant variable. According to the results, non-monetary promotions and new products are more effective for recovering consumers than price gap reductions. These findings underscore the importance of understanding how consumers perceive the value of manufacturer brands.     

Applying transaction utility theory to sales promotion – the impact of culture on consumer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is known to have a positive impact on market share and satisfaction levels may be moderated by factors such as price sensitivity and perceived value. Transaction utility theory tells us that consumers make overall cognitive judgements about a price-based promotion after the experience, driving their intention to repeat the process in the future. Studies do show a link between unexpected product promotions and increased cognitive processing of satisfaction and pleasure, and other studies highlight the relationship between consumption satisfaction and culture. However, few studies consider links between culture and acquisition and transaction utility. This study examines the impact of culture on satisfaction and pleasure with, and resultant preference for, price-based sales promotion in two culturally dissimilar consumer markets, New Zealand and China. The study finds that, while transaction utility theory is supported in the collectivist market of China, it is not in the individualist market of New Zealand, suggesting a need for further investigation cross-culturally.     

Are they playing by the same rules? A consumer gifting classification of marital dyads

This article sets out a research program that examines the dynamics of gifting behavior of long-term committed dyadic relationships—married couples. Our research considers the findings of a study in which the reported gifting behavior of couples reveals two gifting rulebooks; the first rulebook consisting of a set of symbolic communication rules, and a second rulebook consisting of economic exchange rules. Most importantly, we develop a consumer gifting classification of marital dyads. Finally suggestions are offered for future research and implications are drawn for marketing strategy.     

Developing business of trade promotion in an all-round way to establish modern international service system

In 2004, CCP1T received more than 2600 guests of governments, international or ganizations, chambers of commerce and enterprises from 74 countries and areas, 40 percent more than preceding year, went through invitation formalities for 279 foreign tion, Germany Berlin Industry and Commerce Association etc.     

Managerial failure in mid-Victorian Britain?: Corporate expansion during a promotion boom

This article examines the mid-1840s expansion of the British railway network, which was associated with a large deterioration in shareholder value. Using a counterfactual approach and new data on railway competition, we argue that the expansion of the railway companies, and their subsequent decline in financial performance, was not due to managerial failure. Rather, the promotion of new routes by established railways and mergers with other companies was part of a managerial strategy to maintain incumbent positions, and may have been preferable to not expanding whilst their competitors did.