Consumer motivation: A developmental self concept approach

Self theory is reviewed and then operationalized as three modes of the self concept—“actual,” “expected,” and “ideal.” Results support hypotheses concerning agreement across subjects for self concept modes within personality and products and services categories, individual consistency among self concept modes, and developmental directionality over time.     

Extending the service-dominant logic: from customer centricity to balanced centricity

This is a contribution to the reorientation of marketing. It aligns the service-dominant logic with other developments in marketing and management. It claims that the marketing concept and customer-centricity are too limited as a foundation for marketing and have not—and cannot—but partially be implemented in practice. It urges marketing scholars and educators to accept the complexity of marketing and develop and teach a network-based stakeholder approach—balanced centricity—epitomized by the concept of many-to-many marketing.     

The influence of the amount and type of information on individuals’ perception of legal services

The study examines the impact of different amounts and types of infomation on individuals’ perception of attorneys. Utilizing the concept of perceived risk, an experiment was conducted to test various communication strategies. The results, in part, confirm the “word-of-mouth is best” strategy adhered to by many attorneys. The study also sheds light on the impact of legal service advertising on indivduals.     

An assessment of ‘political congeniality’ factor in international business transactions

In this paper the concept of ‘political congeniality’ is concenved broader in scope than the conventional ‘political risk’ factor in international business. The impact of ‘political congeniality’ factor on overseas importers’ evaluations of the U.S. exporters' business practices was empirically evaluated. For this purpose, a comparison was made between the Spanish and Greek importers' perceptions, experiences and evaluations of the U.S. exporters' business practices. Research findings indicated some significant different between the two groups of importers, but the basic hypothesis of the study was supported only to a limited extent.     

Marketing as production: The development of a concept

The conventional view of marketing as somehow adding to the work of manufacturing is rooted in the concept of production as the creation of material attributes. A view of marketing as an integral part of a productive process generating “bundles of utilities” has a long history in economic analysis. This approach offers several advantages for marketing thought.     

Market-focused sustainability: market orientation plus!

The concept of sustainability is increasingly being addressed theoretically by scholars and practically by managers and policymakers. With this growing focus on sustainability efforts, marketing is in a unique position to elevate its focus from managing relationships with customers to strategically managing a broader set of marketplace issues. Overall, an organization achieves market-based sustainability to the extent that it strategically aligns itself with the market-oriented product needs and wants of customers and the interests of multiple stakeholders concerned about social responsibility issues involving economic, environmental, and social dimensions. To set the stage for marketing’s inquiry into sustainability efforts, I briefly review the concept of sustainability, compare it with corporate social responsibility, bring in stakeholders, argue for the notion of “market orientation plus,” and consider the possibility that the notion of what sustainability encompasses is converging in the marketing literature.     

Leisure and consumer behavior

The topic of consumer's leisure-time behavior is receiving increasing attention by marketers as Americans' leisure-related spending rapidly approaches the $200 billion level. This paper first examines the concept of “leisure” and then reviews various measurement issues. It concludes with several marketing implications and suggested issues needing further research.     

Why “service”?

“Service-dominant logic” appears to have found resonance in the marketing community since its introduction as the evolving, “new dominant logic” in the Journal of Marketing (Vargo and Lusch 2004a, Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17 (January)). But, on occasion, so has the question of whether the concept “service” captures the essence of the new logic. This article addresses the role of “service” as the heart of value-creation, exchange, markets, and marketing, as well as its considerable implications for research, practice, societal well-being, and public policy. The purposes are both to clarify the issues and to foster the continuing dialog around the service-dominant logic for marketing, as well as for other disciplines.     

Consumer life styles and market segmentation

Consumer behaviorists faced with the task of segmenting markets increasingly turn to the study of consumer life styles. The life style concept and its role in predicting consumer decisions are analyzed here. One methodology known as AIO or life style research has proven especially useful in identifying heavy users of specific product categories. Three representative AIO portraits—for beer, eye make-up, and bank credit cards—are outlined. An evaluation of life styles as a systems concept suggests bright prospects for presenting research findings to clients, formulating creative strategies, positioning products and services and selecting media. C. W. Post Center, L.I.U. Doubleday Advertising Co.     

Marketing’s contribution to the strategy dialogue revisited

Conclusions The purpose of this commentary is to offer a different perspective on marketing’s contributions to the strategy dialogue and strategic management from that provided by Day. In this regard, the comment intends to supplement and complement his valuable insights. In closing, it is instructive to consider what is meant by strategy and consider the thoughts of Andrews (1983): It is part of the comprehensive concept of strategy that leaders of a company must be dedicated to the durable core of a company’s character ... while encouraging innovations that will bring about or respond to the changes taking place in its surroundings (p. 9). Another look at the very concept of strategy might provide marketing and strategic management scholars with the foundation upon which to build a substantive dialogue.     

An examination of the effects of perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension product on brand extension attitudes

This paper examines the relationship between extension difficulty, defined as the perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension product, and attitudes toward brand extensions. Although extant literature has hitherto modeled this relationship as a simple monotonic relationship, a study by Bottomley and Holden (Journal of Marketing Research, 38(4):494–500, 2001) has questioned its empirical generalizability. We suggest that the relationship between extension difficulty and extension attitudes may be far more complex than a simple linear relationship. Based on theoretical evidence drawn from the concept of evaluation difficulty, we suggest that the relationship between extension difficulty and extension attitudes is best modeled as a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship. Further, we explore the specific role of perceived transferability as a moderator of this curvilinear relationship. Empirical tests conducted using two studies provide support for both the theoretical mechanism and the proposed hypotheses. Entry into “easy” or “extremely difficult” extension categories carries its own penalties while entry into “moderately difficult” categories appears to garner high consumer attitudes for brand extensions.     

Extending the concept of shopping: An investigation of browsing activity

In many previous studies of consumer behavior, shopping has been equated with buying. This research examines the concept of browsing—the examination of a retailer’s merchandise without a current intent to buy. Results indicate that for the product classes of clothing and personal computers, browsing is related to perceptions of relevant dimensions of the retail environment. In addition, heavy browsers are more involved with the product, are more knowledgeable, and are more likely to be opinion leaders than are other consumers. Suggestions for future research are also noted.     

Black ethnicity and innovative communication

Behavioral scientists have noted an increasing emphasis on ethnicity and ethnically defined identities among diverse social groups. The relationships between ethnicity and a concept central to the innovation diffusion paradigm—innovative communication—are empirically investigated within the Black American subculture. Tests of seven hypotheses derived from prior research on black-white consumption patterns reveal significant differences in the correlates of this diffusion construct which appear to be attributable to both ethnic and socioeconomic influences.     

The role of rationalization in consumer decision processes: A revisionist approach to consumer behavior

Consumer behavior theory, as it has largely evolved from economics with its rigid adherence to marginal utility theory, suggests that consumers are highly rational and that they basically strive to maximize utility or satisfaction by the careful rationing of resources. In this paper, the typical assumptions in consumer decision process models are reviewed and analyzed, the empirical evidence supporting the models of the rational consumer is challenged, the concept of rationalization is developed and the existential support for the concept is examined, the role and significance of alternative ego state on consumer decision processes are explained and finally, the rudiments of a revisionist approach to consumer behavior are advanced. An earlier draft of this paper entitled “Consumer Decision Processes: The Role and Influence of Rationalization” was presented at the annual meeting of The American Psychological Association Division 23 in 1977. The author was assisted in the preparation and development of this earlier draft by Dr. Chem Narayana. This assistance is herewith acknowledged.     

Expanding our understanding of marketing in society

The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science was started 40 years ago, at a time when “marketing in society” issues were capturing much attention from marketing scholars. Since that time both the field and this journal have grown and matured, but the marketing in society area has become somewhat removed from the dominant perspectives of marketing scholarship. This paper provides an historical perspective on these developments and offers an examination of the fundamental role of societal interests in our field. Six basic topics are explored: (1) the hundred years of history of marketing thought development, as reflected in the “4 Eras” of marketing thought; (2) the ebbs and flows of attention to marketing in society topics during these 4 Eras; (3) two illustrations of difficulties brought about by this area’s move to sideline status in the field; (4) our concept of the “aggregate marketing system” as a basis for appreciating the centrality of this research area for the field of marketing; (5) the nature of marketing in society research today; and (6) a discussion of several research challenges and opportunities for the future.     

A decision model for evaluating job alternatives

This study attempts to build a decision model to evaluate job alternatives for doctoral students. The decision model is based on the Von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function as well as the measurable value function. In the case of uncertainty, the utility function can order only preferences. In the case of certainty, the measurable value function can order both preferences as well as preference differences. The utility function is tested for the presence of the strength of preference concept using the theorem of “Substitution of Equal Exchange”. A methodology has also been proposed to obtain responses to the utility function and then transforming that function to a measurable value function. The importance of the concept of ordering preference differences and incorporating risk measure is revealed by the superiority of the measurable value function over the utility function in terms of predictive validity.     

Establishing human brands: determinants of placement success for first faculty positions in marketing

Based on primary data spanning 5 years, we examine factors that influence the entry-level placement of marketing doctoral candidates at U.S. universities and colleges. Contributing to the emerging research on human brands, we identify marketing doctoral candidates’ intrinsic and extrinsic brand cues that influence their number of AMA interviews, campus visit offers, and starting base salary. The strongest brand cue is the research productivity of candidates’ doctoral degree-granting departments. A related cue that also predicts initial salary is the candidates’ advisors’ research record. Further, when beginning the job search, doctoral students who have a top research publication, who have a dissertation proposal defended with data, and who have attended the AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium receive a substantial entry salary premium. Based on branding frameworks and theories of academic rewards, this study adds to the emerging knowledge on both the concept of human brands as well as the growing literature on issues relating to marketing academia.     

Involvement: Its measurement for retail store research

Several marketing scholars have noted the importance of the concept of involvement with respect to marketing strategy. Various definitions of involvement have been offered. These definitions have resulted in two major measures: the importance measure (importance attached to the attributes of the object under consideration in a choice process) and the “matrix approach”. This paper addresses the reliability and validity of these two measures. The author acknowledges the financial assistance of the Board for Research and Creativity, Bradley University.     

Service,value networks and learning

Both supply chain management (SCM) and marketing in general have been moving from models and purposes narrowly focused on goods to more general models and purposes associated with partnerships, value networks, service provision, and value creation. Some of this movement has been captured in what has become known as service–dominant (S–D) logic. This article applies S–D logic to thinking about SCM in terms of service provision, in which goods are seen as service distribution or provisioning mechanisms, explores and elaborates on the concept of a value network, and develops a model of the firm as an essential service provisioning agent in a complex and adaptive value network. Research and managerial opportunities are also explored.     

Path dependence: a foundational concept for historical social science

This introduction to the concept of path dependence, its pertinence for the development of historical social science, and its application in economic analysis and economic history, proceeds from intuitive general ideas about history and historicity in narratives. It provides precise definitions of what is meant by describing a dynamical process as being “historical.” Deterministic and stochastic formalizations of such dynamical systems are distinguished. The characterization of stochastic path dependent processes as “non-ergodic” is explained in non-mathematical language by reference to concepts in probability theory, and a variety of representations of such processes in formal models is surveyed (including the Polya urn-process, certain kinds of Markov chain models, branching processes, and reversible spin systems) to show that while all display path dependence, their properties in other respects are quite different. The diverse set of structural, micro-level conditions that can give rise to path dependence is examined, and a further distinction is drawn between the property of path dependence and the existence of so-called “QWERTY-effects”—characterized by decentralized competitive market failures and consequent “lock-in” to Pareto-inefficient equilibria. Concluding sections consider the implications of the existence of non-ergodic dynamics for the methods of economic policy analysis, and the nature of the guidance that can be obtained in regard to public policy affecting endogenous technological change and institutional evolution.