Small Service Businesses: Advertising Attitudes and The Use of Digital and Social Media Marketing

Advertising is embraced by companies as a means of building awareness, sales, and customer loyalty. However, in recent years advertising has changed. Digital marketing and social media marketing have gained a greater prominence (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016 Lamberton, C., Stephen, A. T. (2016). A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and mobile marketing: Research evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an agenda for future inquiry. Journal of Marketing, 80(November), 146–172. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0415.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). While megabrands spend millions of dollars on advertising, small businesses often view advertising as an expense rather than a means of generating revenue. Small service business owners are often skeptical of the value of digital marketing and social media. This study examines various digital and social media channels that can be utilized to grow their business.     

The Influence of Innovative Organizational Culture on Marketing Strategy Formulation and Results

ABSTRACT

This article's objective is to analyze the influence innovative organizational culture has on marketing strategy formulation and results, and how this relationship affects organizational performance. The theoretical basis lies in Menon et al.'s (1999 Menon , A. , Bharadwaj , S. G. , Adidam , P. T. , and Edison , S. W. ( 1999 ). Antecedents and consequences of marketing strategy making: A model and a test . Journal of Marketing , 63 , 18 – 40 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) model. The methodology included a survey with medium to large Brazilian companies in different sectors. The final sample consisted of 153 questionnaires that were valid for analysis. Techniques for statistical analysis including singular and multivariate methods were used, from which the relationships between constructs were established by structural equation modeling. Results show a positive relationship between innovative organizational culture, the marketing strategy process, and organizational performance. However, innovative culture does not have a direct influence on performance.     

Extending the theory of metaphor in marketing: The case of the art gallery

Abstract

This study analyses the metaphor of spirituality in the non-profit art gallery, a metaphor overlooked in previous marketing research. Using content analysis and interviews in a single depth case study, this article illustrates how spirituality has been a staple in the non-profit art gallery over time. It was found that even though the non-profit art gallery acknowledges its use of spirituality, it has a paradoxical attitude to it. Therefore this article (a) traces the historical influences that led to the extension of metaphor in the art gallery and its relationship to marketing theory, and (b) draws on Hunt and Menon (1995 Hunt, S.D. and Menon, A. 1995. Metaphors and competitive advantage: Evaluating the use of metaphors in theories of competitive strategy. Journal of Business Research, 33(2): 81–90. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to identify deliberate and emergent strategies using metaphor in the non-profit cultural organisation.     

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

Abstract

In this paper, I outline a history of critical marketing studies. The argument put forward that marketing lacks any substantive critical edge is questioned. In surveying our history and finding extensive engagement with a variety of critical perspectives, I connect these with appropriate literature from non-marketing sources to flesh out an account of our critical marketing heritage. I devote considerable attention to the period 1940 to 1990, as this is the historical range of critical marketing literature that most scholars will be unfamiliar with, linking this through citation and discussion to more recently published work. In this way, this paper provides a guide to sources of literature that may have passed marketing scholars by because they violate our disciplinary demands for ‘recency’ (Baker, 2001 Baker, M.J. 2001. “Introduction”. In Marketing: Critical perspectives on business and management, Edited by: Baker, M.J. 1–25. London: Routledge.  [Google Scholar]). As I document, critical marketing studies examines a variety of areas that represent consumer culture theory's (CCT) ‘next frontier’ if we accept Arnould and Thompson's (2005 Arnould, E.J. and Thompson, C.J. 2005. Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(4): 868–882. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) diagnosis. In opposition to Arnould and Thompson's assertion, CCT's new frontier, this paper contends, is a frontier that has long been of interest to critical marketing scholars whose work might usefully be re-examined.     

Same But Different—Perceptions of Integrated Marketing Communication Among Marketing Communication Partners in Australia

This article examines whether two key partners in the marketing communication process, advertising and public relations’ practitioners, perceive Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) in the same way. It compares perceptions across a wide range of implementation, organizational, and strategic issues in IMC to test if perceptions have moved past Stage 1 of IMC development (Kitchen & Schultz, 1999 Low, G. 2000. Correlates of integrated marketing communications. Journal of Advertising Research, 40(3): 27–39. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Although both advertising and PR practitioners concur with each other and the literature on a wide range of perceptions of IMC, they still believe that advertising and public relations practitioners have dissimilar views about IMC. The PR practitioners position themselves as a separate breed of marketing communicator, requiring divergent skills from advertising practitioners and thinking differently about IMC.     

Exploring Convenience Food Consumption Through a Structural Equation Model

In this study the model of convenience orientation suggested by Scholderer and Grunert (2005 Scholderer, J. and Grunert, K. G. 2005. Consumers, food and convenience: The long way from resource constraints to actual consumption patterns. Journal of Economic Psychology, 26: 105–128. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is applied in order to examine consumer behavior in the context of convenience food usage. The empirical results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics affect behavior both directly and indirectly through perceived time resources and convenience orientation toward meal preparation and clearing up. Findings seem to be important for all the bodies involved in the marketing of convenience food products because they describe the way various consumer characteristics interact, affecting the consumption of such products.     

A framework of Corporate Social Responsibility for advertising accountability: The case of Australian government advertising campaign

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a dominant theme guiding business practice. Governments have embraced this philosophy and legislated to encourage socially responsible business practice in its many forms. While governments' endorsement of CSR practice is expressed in policy, the successful integration into its own practice is not evidenced in the literature. Using a case research method, this paper analyses the nature of Australian government advertising processes, developing a modified framework founded on Wood's (1991 Wood, D. 1991. Corporate Social Performance revisited.. Academy of Management Review, 16(4): 691–718. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Corporate Social Performance model and Maignan and Ferrell's (2004 Maignan, I. and Ferrell, O. 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility and marketing: An integrative framework.. Academy of Marketing Science, 32: 1 [Google Scholar]) CSR principles. This research is important because it provides an application model for CSR practice and provides government with a decision‐making vehicle for CSR.     

On market forces and adjustments: acknowledging consumer creativity through the aesthetics of ‘debadging’

Abstract

This paper explores the social dynamics by means of which market forces are enacted at the level of everyday consumption. In particular, it draws on Holt's (2002 Holt, D.B. 2002. Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of Consumer Research, 29: 70–90. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) notion that as ‘unruly bricoleurs’, consumers kick-start processes of market adjustment and innovation through improvising ways to negotiate the demands of daily life. In this way, consumers can become active players in realising new possibilities for identity construction and empowerment that involve the creative re-appropriation of marketer-based meaning. To investigate those issues, we turn to a virtual community in the empirical setting of car customisation. Over an eight-month period, an internet-based methodology generated textual observations of online posting activity on five internet newsgroups attracting those interested in the particular pursuit of car modification. Participants used those web-forums to share information, passions, and enthusiasms. Analysis shows that grounded aesthetics function as vehicles for creativity and the reworking of dominant market logics (Vargo & Lusch, 2004 Vargo, S.L. and Lusch, R.F. 2004. Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68: 1–18. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We conclude that online discussion threads offer valuable access to the emergent interplay of discursive resources in circulation among virtual communities and that this has implications for the conduct of environmental scanning. The paper illustrates how the discursive resource-base is nurtured, sustained, and transformed through various interpellations, including performing claims to prestige and self-defining distinctions, as well as constructing narratives of personal history and social dynamics.     

Banking Consolidation in Nigeria, 2000–2010

The Nigerian banking consolidation process is examined using a dynamic panel for the period 2000–2010. The Arellano and Bond (1991 Arellano , M. , & Bond , S. ( 1991 ). Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations . The Review of Economic Studies , 58 , 277 – 297 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) dynamic general method of moment approach is adopted to estimate a cost function taking into account the possible endogeneity of the covariates. The main finding is that the Nigerian banking sector has benefited from the consolidation process, and specifically that foreign ownership, mergers and acquisitions, and bank size decrease costs. Directions for future research are also discussed.     

Conceptualising market orientation in non-profit organisations: definition,performance, and preliminary construction of a scale

Abstract

This paper applies Narver and Slater's (1990 Narver, J. and Slater, S. 1990. The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing, 54(2): 20[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conceptualisation of market orientation to non-profit organisations. The study constructs a reliable and valid scale of the market orientation in non-profits in order to test the relationship between non-profits' market orientation and their performance outcomes in the context of a developing country. We surveyed 211 Indian non-profits and received 102 usable responses. We used principal axis factoring with oblique rotation to analyse the data. The scale was tested for its dimensionality, reliability, and various validities. The findings show a positive link between non-profits' market orientation and their performance in the context of a developing country. Market-oriented non-profits were found to be more effective in achieving their organisational mission, beneficiary satisfaction, and peer reputation than those that were less market oriented.     

Commentary: Relative Presence of Business-to-Business Research in Retailing Literature

Our objective in this article is to correct the record on the contribution of the Journal of Retailing to business-to-business (B2B) research in marketing. In particular, we refute the assertion of LaPlaca and Katrichis (2009 LaPlaca, P. J. and Katrichis, J. M. 2009. Relative presence of business-to-business research in the marketing literature. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing.,  [Google Scholar]) that the Journal of Retailing “does not regularly publish research concerning business-to-business marketing.” Our analysis of recently published (2002–2008) articles in the Journal of Retailing shows that less than 19% are devoted to B2C or C2C topics. Our comparison of the Journal of Retailing's relative emphasis on nine B2B content areas indicates parity with other marketing journals for some topics and a lesser emphasis for others. The key B2B topics of marketing strategy and channels of distribution appear relatively more frequently in the Journal of Retailing than they do in other marketing journals reviewed by LaPlaca and Katrichis (2009 LaPlaca, P. J. and Katrichis, J. M. 2009. Relative presence of business-to-business research in the marketing literature. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing.,  [Google Scholar]). Hence, any estimate of the contribution of B2B research to marketing knowledge that dismisses the impact of the Journal of Retailing contains a downward bias.     

Political Marketing Strategies in Africa: Expert Opinions of Recent Political Elections in Ghana

This study focuses on expert views of the importance of political marketing and electoral victory in African nations with an emphasis on Ghana. There is a particular focus in this article on understanding political marketing communication issues pertaining to the 2008 Ghanaian presidential elections. Following Peng and Hackley (2007 Peng , N. , & Hackley , C. ( 2007 ). Political marketing communications planning in the UK and Taiwan: Comparative insights from leading practitioners . Marketing Intelligence and Planning , 25 ( 5 ), 483 – 498 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), we used “elite interviews,” dyadic depth interviews with highly regarded marketing and communication practitioners who were also MBA students at Ghana's premier business school. We also employed Butter and Collins' (1994 Butler , P. , & Collins , N. ( 1994 ). Political marketing: Structure and process . European Journal of Marketing , 28 ( 1 ), 19 – 34 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) political marketing structure model in eliciting and analyzing the study findings. We found that all four of the themes discussed by Butler and Collins (1994) played a role in the defeat of the incumbent party—New Patriotic Party (NPP). Product factors was the key theme followed by organizational, process, and market factors, respectively. This paper is an important initial step in highlighting the significance of political marketing to the fortunes of political parties in Africa.     

The impact of perceived crowding on consumers' store patronage intentions: Role of optimal stimulation level and shopping motivation

Abstract

Past empirical studies leave open the question of whether perceived crowding has a positive or a negative effect on shopping outcomes (Eroglu, Machleit, & Barr, 2005 Eroglu, S.A., Machleit, K.A. and Barr, T.F. 2005. Perceived retail crowding and shopping satisfaction: the role of shopping values. Journal of Business Research, 58(8): 1146–1153. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hui & Bateson, 1991 Hui, M.K. and Bateson, J.E.G. 1991. Perceived control and the effects of crowding and consumer choice on the service experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(2): 174–184. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Based on the premise that shopping is a social phenomenon involving hedonic as well as utilitarian motivation, this study hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived crowding and consumers' store patronage intentions. Additionally, past research considers the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between perceived crowding and shopping outcomes. In this research, the authors argue that consumers' cognitive evaluations of the store and its merchandise also mediate the perceived crowding?patronage intention relationship. Survey results of actual shoppers (n?=?201) in a hypermarket in India demonstrate that there exists an optimal level of crowding that maximises consumers' store patronage intentions. The effect of perceived crowding on patronage intention is mediated by the emotional dimension of pleasure and store evaluation. Further, the effect of perceived crowding on emotions and evaluations appears to be moderated by consumers' optimal stimulation level. In particular, the inverted U-shaped relationship of perceived crowding with pleasure and merchandise evaluation is increasingly manifested with increases in optimal stimulation level. The results also reveal that the effect of pleasure on patronage intention is stronger for individuals who score high on hedonic motivation than for individuals who score low on hedonic motivation. The article provides potential research and managerial implications of the findings.     

How Managers Handle Conflict in Supply Chain Collaborative Relationships in Ghana

To contribute to a broader understanding of how conflict impacts the emergence of collaborative relationships in the supply chain, the authors conduct a series of simulation games among supply chain collaborative teams in Ghana, West Africa. Results lend support to a theoretic proposition that managers' responses to conflict differ on the basis of their evaluative judgments about the favorability of processes and fairness of outcomes as predicted by the process and outcome discrepancy model (Kumar & Nti, 1998 Kumar , R. , & Nti , K. O. ( 1998 ). Differential learning and interaction in alliance dynamics: A process and outcome discrepancy model . Organizational Science , 9 , 356 – 367 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Further, results show that most collaborative relationships are prone to only a moderate level of conflict (contentious) as opposed to being highly conflict-prone (hostile) or conflict-free (harmonious), but the incidence of contentious and hostile relationships has a greater negative impact on collaboration decisions than the incidence of harmonious relationships. These findings demonstrate the importance of the process and outcome discrepancy model and the loss aversion tenet in prospect theory to supply chain collaboration research and strategy formulation.     

Local Content Policy in the Brazilian Oil and Gas Sectoral System of Innovation

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to discuss the development, goals, and format of local content public policy within the context of the Brazilian oil and gas sectoral system of innovation. The theoretical frame of reference for this article revolves around the concept of innovation systems, more specifically their sectoral focus as in Malerba (2002 Malerba , F. ( 2002 ). Sectoral systems of innovation and production . Research Policy , 31 , 247 – 264 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and 2004 Malerba , F. ( 2004 ). Sectoral systems of innovation: concepts, issues and analyses of six majors sectors in Europe . Cambridge , England : Cambridge University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Norwegian local content policy was considered as a reference. This article concludes that this policy has not yet come to a consensus, presents regulatory weaknesses, does not have well-defined roles, and has little potential to generate innovations.     

“Strategic Failure” in the Financial Sector: A Policy View

Analysis of the recent financial crisis has tended to focus upon “market” and corresponding “regulatory” failures. While this provides important insights, it may neglect deeper issues at the root of recent problems. In this paper, we take a broader perspective, drawing upon the stategic choice approach to the theory of the firm (Cowling and Sugden, 1998 Cowling, Keith and Sugden, Roger. 1998. The essence of the modern corporation: markets, strategic decision-making and the theory of the firm. The Manchester School, 66: 59–86. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], 1999 Cowling, Keith and Sugden, Roger. 1999. The wealth of localities, regions and nations: developing multinational economies. New Political Economy, 4: 361–378. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]). We present a governance-based analysis which emphasises the process of engaging interested “publics” in corporate decision-making processes. We illustrate our arguments with respect to three UK cases – Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, and HBOS banks – which each required major interventions by the UK Government and whose recent history reveals significant changes in ownership, governance and corporate strategy. We argue that the current period of reform for these former building societies represents an ideal opportunity to address serious concerns over governance within the financial sector, and we propose a revised mutual solution as one appropriate way forward.     

Convergence Rates to Output Growth in a Global World: The Roles of Openness and Government Size

In this article, we examine the effects of three openness measures on 54 industrial and emerging economies' output growth over the “globalization years” of 1986–2004. Controlling for standard determinants of the Solow growth model in panel data, we find positive effects of openness on real output growth. While we find support for higher convergence rates under the open economy, the convergence rates in this article for both samples are remarkably close to the 2% level documented in Mankiw et al. (1992) Mankiw, G., Romer, D. and Weil, D. 1992. A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107(2): 407–437. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. The inclusion of G/Y, however, reduces the speed of convergence more substantially in industrial economies.     

A Measure for Companies' Customer Portfolio Management

Purpose/Contribution: Customer portfolio management (CPM) is one of the key areas of customer-relationship and network management in business markets. However, there is scant research about the implementation of this concept in business. This article contributes to this conceptually rich but empirically nascent field of CPM research by (1) conceptualizing customer portfolio management, (2) forming a measure for it, (3) validating the suggested measure, and (4) suggesting implications for future research and management.

Methodology: A CPM construct is proposed based on the synthesizing of the theory and the findings from a qualitative field study of companies' management practices. The suggested construct is formative and consists of the following four dimensions: analysis efforts, analysis design, responsiveness efforts, and responsiveness design. Hence, this conceptualization takes into account both the strength and style of companies' CPM practices. The measure is validated following Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer's (2001) Diamantopoulos, A. and Winklhofer, H. 2001. Index construction with formative indicators: An alternative to scale development. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2): 269–277. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] guidelines for developing formative measures. Together with the content validity established in the conceptual phase of the research, the results from a cross-industry survey of 212 companies give support to the construct validity of the suggested CPM measure. Partial least squares modeling is applied in validating the measure.

Implications: This study gives an extensive, up-to-date review of customer portfolio management and provides measures for future research on companies' CPM practices and performance. Further, the theory and the field study highlighted several central topics that should be addressed in future CPM studies. The resulting managerial implications derive from the discussion on the key aspects of developing CPM practices in business.     

The coherence of inconsistencies: Attitude–behaviour gaps and new consumption communities

Abstract

Despite the growing success of well-marketed environmentally friendly products, there remains a gap between consumers' positive attitudes towards green issues and products, and their inconsistent and often conflicting consumption behaviour. Indeed, this is a challenge for social marketers seeking to advance the sustainability agenda. Therefore, this study problematises what has been conceptualised as attitude–behaviour gaps (Boulstridge & Carrigan, 2000 Boulstridge, E. and Carrigan, M. 2000. Do consumers really care about corporate responsibility? Highlighting the consumer attitude–behaviour gap. Journal of Communication Management, 4(4): 355–368. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), and explores how groups of consumers have re-construed such practices and their meanings through the formation of New Consumption Communities (Szmigin, Carrigan, & Bekin, 2007 Szmigin, I., Carrigan, M. and Bekin, C. 2007. “New consumption communities and the re-enabling of 21st century consumers”. In Consumer tribes, Edited by: Cova, B., Kozinets, R.V. and Shankar, A. 296–311. Oxford: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.  [Google Scholar]). Multi-sited ethnographic findings illustrate the social processes through which ethical and green forms of consumption are established and normalised. Findings also stress the importance of normative and habitual reframing through ‘ethical spaces’ (Barnett, Clarke et al., 2005 Barnett, C., Cafaro, P. and Newholm, T. 2005. “Philosophy and ethical consumption”. In The ethical consumer, Edited by: Harrison, R., Newholm, T. and Shaw, D. 11–24. London: Sage. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) in establishing and maintaining increased consistency in participants' consumption meanings, behaviours, and goals. Thus we re-frame attitude–behaviour gaps as coherent inconsistencies, which allows for a move away from solely trying to explain and change individual consumer behaviour, to identifying how suitable upstream and downstream (Verplanken & Wood, 2006 Verplanken, B. and Wood, W. 2006. Interventions to break and create consumer habits. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 25(1): 90–103. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) approaches and policies can be used to facilitate more sustainable forms of consumption.     

Trade and trade policy with differentiated products: A Chamberlinian – Ricardian model. A comment

Abstract

This paper shows that the results of Venables (1987 Venables, A. 1987. Trade and trade policy with differentiated products: a Chamberlinian – Ricardian model. The Economic Journal, 97: 700–717. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) depend critically on the assumption that there are no fixed costs of trade. The introduction of fixed costs of exporting, while making the model more consistent with the empirical evidence, leads to the opposite conclusion that technological progress in one country cannot harm the welfare of its trading partner. However, the results can be obtained in a richer setting with heterogeneous firms.