The effects of mobile promotions on customer purchase dynamics

While mobile promotions have become increasingly popular in recent years, limited research has examined the effects of mobile promotions over time. This research investigates the effects of two popular types of promotional offers, price discount and non-price free sample coupons, on purchase behavior. To this end, we present a dynamic model of customer purchase behavior that incorporates time-varying effects of mobile coupons, enabling us to investigate both the short-term and longer-term effects of mobile promotions. Using transaction and mobile promotion data, we find that both price discount and free sample coupons increase customers' purchase likelihood and expenditures during the coupon redemption period. We also find that free sample coupons have an enduring effect that increases the purchase propensity beyond the promotion period, thereby contributing to incremental purchases over a longer period of time. We demonstrate how our approach can help marketers improve mobile couponing decisions by considering the dynamic effects of mobile promotions that manifest over time.     

CBS Promotion of Future Programming During the 2011 NCAA Tournament

The simple goal of television promotions is to increase viewership of future programming. The promotion of future programming during sports telecasts is valuable primarily because promotions can air during the game. The purpose of this paper is to provide a network perspective of its promotions strategy by identifying how often CBS promoted its future programming, which type of future programs CBS chose to promote (established or non-established), and how CBS implemented the prominent promotional techniques identified in the literature during its coverage of the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The findings show that 21% of total promotions were during the game, 42% of total promotions by CBS were for non-established programming, and genre compatibility was the most used technique with the Masters Golf Tournament being the most promoted future program.     

Communication and Promotion Decisions in Retailing: A Review and Directions for Future Research

Communication and promotion decisions are a fundamental part of retailer customer experience management strategy. In this review paper, we address two key questions from a retailer's perspective: (1) what have we learned from prior research about promotion, advertising, and other forms of communication and (2) what major issues should future research in this area address. In addressing these questions, we propose and follow a framework that captures the interrelationships among manufacturer and retailer communication and promotion decisions and retailer performance. We examine these questions under four major topics: determination and allocation of promotion budget, trade promotions, consumer promotions and communication and promotion through the new media. Our review offers several useful insights and identifies many fruitful topics and questions for future research.     

Consumer heterogeneity in the longer-term effects of price promotions

While a significant literature has emerged recently on the longer-term effects of price promotions, as inferred from persistence models, there is very little if any attention paid to whether such longer-term effects vary across different types of consumers. This paper takes a first step in that direction by exploring whether the adjustment, permanent, and total effects of price promotions, and the duration of the adjustment period, differ between consumers segmented based on their usage rates in a product category and their loyalty to a brand. We also investigate whether such consumer segmentation will improve the forecasting performance of persistence models at both product category and brand levels. Expectations are developed based on consumer behavior theory on various effects of price promotions, such as the post-deal trough, the mere purchase effect, the promotion usage effect, and responsiveness to competitor's reactions. Evidence from household-level supermarket scanner data on four product categories is provided. We find substantial differences between consumer segments and provide insights on how managers can increase the longer-term effectiveness of price promotions by targeting each consumer segment with a different promotion program. In addition, consumer segmentation is found to significantly improve the forecasting performance of the persistence model for two of the four product categories. For the other two product categories, consumer segmentation provides forecasting performance similar to that obtained from aggregate-level persistence models.     

Digital coupon promotion and platform selection in the presence of delivery effort

In recent years, physical retailers have started selling products to consumers through either third-party or self-operated online platforms. Doing so, they face demand which depends on digital coupon promotions, delivery effort by the platform (i.e., deliver products from retailers to consumers), and channel preference. In this paper, we develop a game-theoretic model to examine the interactions between the physical retailer's distribution channel choices and coupon promotions. In normal operation, retailers prefer to pay lower fees to the third-party platform, but we find, counterintuitively, that when carrying on a digital coupon promotion, the retailer can be better off paying a higher participation fee to the third-party platform. We also identify the conditions under which the retailer prefers the third-party platform over the self-operated platform with and without coupon promotions. Furthermore, we show that digital coupon promotions and delivery effort boost the retailer's profits by price discriminating among consumers with differing purchase utilities.     

Manufacturer and retailer perceptions of in‐store promotions in South Africa

The objective of this article was to investigate the perceptions of retailers and manufacturers with regard to in‐store promotions A literature review of in‐store promotions was undertaken in the context of channel conflict between manufacturers and retailers In this study, the perceptions of a sample of 133 manufacturers and 144 retailers in South Africa were measured Perceptions of these two groups were obtained about the promotional activities conducted, promotion objectives, price and non‐price promotions and the effectiveness and evaluation methods for promotions The results indicate that there are differences between the two groups, with the retailers being the dominant group Also there is a lack of sound measurement of in‐store promotion Implications for manufacturers are discussed     

Social shopping promotions from a social merchant's perspective

Taking advantage of Web 2.0's user-participation and social networking capabilities, social shopping intermediaries have emerged as a promising online liaison between merchants and consumers by offering group discount deals to price-sensitive customers and early technology adopters. Our study compares the two most popular types of social merchants—restaurants and healthcare services—in terms of seven key factors that influence a merchant's sales using a Groupon promotion. We find that these two types of social merchants show significantly different characteristics for successful promotions. Based on a new proposed lifetime value model for social shopping promotions, this study also discusses its applicability with an illustration of the model and presents guidelines for social merchants who want to achieve the maximum lifetime value from a social shopping promotion. Finally, we discuss implications of our study for social merchants and social shopping intermediaries.     

Hidden price promotions: Could retailer price promotions backfire?

Hidden-price promotions, a type of uncertain price promotion in which the final price is not revealed when consumers first encounter the product, have been recently adopted by retailers. However, current research suggests that hidden-price promotions have the potential to backfire and result in reduced consumer purchase intention. Across seven studies, we reveal that hidden-price promotions can be effective but risk increasing discount expectations, as consumers expect a large discount. Only when the discount level meets or exceeds inflated expectations does the excitement built by the promotion positively impact purchase intention. For cognitive purchases, even without providing a high discount, hidden-price promotions are as effective as traditional ones. This research provides guidelines for retailers that want to employ hidden-price promotions.     

Do vendors benefit from promotions in a multi-vendor loyalty program?

The growing trend of networking in recent years has led to an increase in number of loyalty program partnerships, most notably multi-vendor loyalty programs (MVLP). In an MVLP (as in other types of LPs), cardholders frequently receive promotional mailings intended to increase sales at the participating vendors. This study examines individual vendor and joint (multiple vendors) promotions on the sales performance of five main vendors within an MVLP. Findings of the study indicate low responsiveness of cardholders to LP-induced promotions. The responsiveness may be improved if multiple communication channels are used jointly to present an individual-vendor promotion. Moreover, this is one of the first empirical studies to investigate potential networking benefits of coalitions in an MVLP. Empirical evidence of coalition benefits of promotions is lacking, because we find neither stronger effects for joint-relative to individual promotions nor significant spillover effects of promotions across vendors (i.e., cross-vendor effects). The current study offers potential explanations for these findings.     

Does manufacturer advertising suppress or stimulate retail price promotions? Analytical model and empirical analysis

Does manufacturer advertising for a brand stimulate or suppress retail price promotions? This study addresses this controversial issue. The authors develop an analytical model that shows that the relationship between manufacturer advertising and retail price promotion depends on the role of advertising. If advertising differentiates brands and suppresses consumer response to retail promotion, then the relationship is negative. But, if advertising is informative enough to increase consumer response to retail promotions, then the relationship is positive. A follow-up empirical analysis shows a strong positive relationship between category advertising expenditure and size of retail price discount, and between advertising and discount frequency. The finding supports the informative role of advertising in the context of retail price promotions. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Evaluating the impact of VAT-free promotion: the role of loyalty program membership and category characteristics

This study examines the impact of value-added tax (VAT)–free promotions on sales performance. VAT-free promotions are a recently adopted form of price promotions where consumers are exempted from paying the VAT amount across almost all products in the assortment during a limited number of days. They are typically organized once per year and surrounded by a large amount of media attention from the involved retailer. To test the effects of this promotion on store and category sales, and investigate the differences between loyalty program (LP) members and non-LP members, the authors use scanner data from a Dutch durable goods retailer across a range of categories. The results show that VAT-free promotions positively impact store performance. Moreover, the findings indicate that more non-LP members are attracted to the store and that they increase the amount they spend in the store. While LP members also spend more in the store, this increase in shopping basket size does not compensate for the significant drop in the number of LP members that visit the store, leading to an overall decrease in sales coming from LP members during VAT-free days. We furthermore find that the positive effect of VAT-free promotions for non-LP members (rather than LP members) generalizes across all investigated categories. Our results provide key insights for retailers and direct marketers with regard to the effectiveness of VAT-free promotions in order to strategically segment the customer base.

     

The impact of brand personality and sales promotions on brand equity

This research assesses the relative impact of a long-term brand management instrument (brand personality) and a short-term marketing mix instrument (sales promotions) on brand equity formation. The authors measure consumer perceptions of promotional intensity and brand personality and model their impact on brand equity. They find a positive impact of brand personality and a negative impact of sales promotion intensity on brand equity at the aggregate level. In line with research that identifies varying consumer responses to promotional deals, this study posits that the relative impact of the two elements varies across consumer groups. Three homogeneous consumer groups differ according to the relative impact of brand personality and consumer promotions on brand equity, following an application of a finite mixture partial least squares procedure.     

Store brand and national brand promotion attitudes antecedents

Retailers compete against national manufacturers by launching store brands. National manufactures regularly use brand promotions to fight store brands back. The purpose of this article is to find out whether attitudes toward national brand promotions and store brands have similar or different conceptual antecedents. The study presents and tests a model of the effects of shoppers´ characteristics (price and non-price-related) on attitudes toward store brand and national brand promotions. The results support that constructs relating to price impact both store brand attitude and national brand promotion attitude, but the strength of some of these relationships differ. Other shopper characteristics like brand loyalty and store loyalty, have similar negative and positive effects, respectively. These slight differences suggest that promotions of national brands might be a good tool for fighting back store brands, but manufacturers need to design and target these promotions carefully in order to avoid head-to-head competition.     

The Impact of Price-Based and New Product Promotions on Fast Food Restaurant Sales and Stock Prices

A key tool used in demand or revenue management marketing strategies is the application of pricing tactics based on anticipated demand to enhance both customer utility and maximize firm performance (Wirtz et al., 2003). In the restaurant segment, particularly in quick-service restaurants (QSR), organizations focus on two main promotion formats to attract customers: price-based promotions and new product promotions. The purpose of this article is to explore how the number of price-based promotions and new product promotions influence firm sales growth or decline and change in stock prices. Results suggest that new product promotions can have a significant and positive effect on same store sales, whereas price-based promotions tend to results in lower same-store sales changes and changes in stock price. As an additional control for these results, the study controls for economic and seasonal conditions effects.     

Mind the gap: line managers as effective or non‐effective talent spotters

Due to the centrality of line managers’ role in the talent identification process, this qualitative study aims to determine what effective and non‐effective talent spotters do differently from one another in relation with an ‘ideal’ talent identification model offered by the literature. A double‐blind design was applied to the sample designated by the Corporate Talent Management Director of a Latin American multinational firm. 20 senior and middle managers, some effective and some others non‐effective, who work in different countries, participated in the study. Findings show that effective talent spotters perform three key stages of the talent identification model and they do it extremely well: differentiation of potential from performance, matching process and design of developmental challenges. The clear differentiation of potential from performance constitutes the crucial stage since a fuzzy differentiation taints the following stages. Not only is it necessary to perform these key stages but they should be executed in line with the principles of the talent management literature. Recommendations for practice, including specific guidelines for Talent Managers are proposed.     

The barriers to effective global talent management: The example of corporate élites in MNEs

This paper focuses on talent management failure by multinational enterprises (MNEs). It examines barriers to corporate advancement of talents located in subsidiaries and more specifically on promotion of talent already employed by the MNE to be part of the upper echelon management team at its centre. Drawing on agency and bounded rationality theories, we discuss the underlying causes of talent management failure in MNEs. At the subsidiary level, we draw on agency theory to delineate self-serving mechanisms displayed by subsidiary managers that might hinder effective talent management systems throughout the MNE. At the headquarter level, we use bounded rationality to explain how decision-making processes, and information top management teams use to make decisions about talent management results in overlooking talents at subsidiary level.     

Researching the Opportunities and Challenges for Women in Supply Chain

In this editorial, we call attention to the underresearched issue of women in logistics and supply chain management. Despite growing interest in the field and the much recognized gap in talent, women remain underrepresented in the field—and particularly in the senior ranks. We explore some of the reasons offered in existing literature for this deficiency. While progress is noted, much work remains to be carried out. Rigorous research can be instrumental in illuminating the path forward. Possible avenues for research, including an array of research questions, are presented in this call for action.     

From Fatwallet to eBay: An investigation of online deal-forums and sales promotions

Sales promotions are an important part of retail advertising strategy. Traditionally, research on sales promotions has generally assumed that the buyers are end consumers who do not engage in reselling, in large part due to high transaction costs. However, the recent Internet related technologies have dramatically lowered the cost of transferring goods between consumers, leading to relative ease of reselling activity amongst individual consumers. Little is known about the impact of this phenomenon on retailer's sales promotion strategy. In this research we investigate the reselling activity in online auctions for products that active deal seekers can obtain at deeply discounted prices from retailers. We further investigate the role of deal-forums in the resale process. Data is collected from an online deal-forum (http://www.fatwallet.com/) and eBay to test various reselling-related hypotheses. The results show that there is a significant abnormal increase in the number of newly posted auctions of a product after the deal information of this product is posted on deal-forum website. We also find that there is a significant price incentive for individuals to resell. The implications for sales promotion research and practice are discussed.     

基于CSR在供应链和网络中的应用研究

在供应链和网络管理过程中需要CSR(企业社会责任)整合,需要企业的内部和外部管理的共同努力。在整个企业中,上到高层管理人员,下到生产区的人员,都在生产作业过程中实行这一措施。在供应链和网络中我们通过先进的质量管理理念来实现CSR整合,这在供应链企业外部管理中也有非常重要的作用。在本文中我们借助模型讨论CSR整合中的能力分析和监控,将它的作用由静态模型转化为动态模型,并分析合作的循环发展,以及在供应链和网络中的信任系数。