Product information as a safety provision. Editorial preface

Abstract

In the literature as well as in standards, guides and laws, the concept of product information and related terms is not always clearly and consistently defined and used. An attempt is made to clarify the confusing terminology with regard to product information by building a conceptual framework. It is suggested that one overall concept, product information, be used to depict all types of information, texts and images, that may accompany or be associated with specific consumer products. Different types of product information may be distinguished by their function and their location. The effects of product information on product safety are difficult to assess and probably limited. Ways to measure effectiveness are discussed and it is concluded that objective criteria and test methods still need to be developed. Effectiveness studies are essential in order to improve future labelling initiatives.     

Making unique choices or being like others: How priming self‐concepts influences advertising effectiveness

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that priming independent and interdependent self‐concepts affects responses to advertisements. In Experiment 1, for a privately consumed product, the influence of product assortment size on ad effectiveness was moderated by the accessibility of these self‐concepts. Experiment 2 replicated this finding for a publicly consumed product and also examined an additional ad feature, consensus information. Ad effectiveness was enhanced by larger product assortment only when the independent self‐concept was primed and by the presence of consensus information only when the interdependent self‐concept was primed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

品牌跨界产品联合距离对联合产品评价及购买意愿的影响

近年来品牌跨界联合的案例不断推陈出新，在品牌跨界中的联合产品差异较大，这与过去品牌联合追求匹配性存在巨大反差。企业如何提高品牌跨界联合效果成为学术界与实践界的关注热点。文章聚焦品牌跨界情境，探究产品联合距离与概念组合解释策略对联合产品评价及购买意愿的影响机制。实验研究表明，与近距离的产品联合相比，远距离的产品联合会引起更低的联合产品评价和更低的消费者购买意愿；感知风险和感知创新在产品联合距离与消费者对联合产品评价和购买意愿影响中起到中介作用；关系链接和属性映射的解释策略在产品联合距离对联合产品评价与购买意愿的影响关系以及产品联合距离对感知风险与感知创新的影响关系中起到调节作用。     

The effects of price and message-sidedness on confidence in product and advertisement with personal involvement as a mediator variable

Attribution of confidence by consumers when the price of the product is known, has already been investigated in previous studies, as has been attribution of confidence from advertisements' sidedness. This study, based on a 2 × 3 × 2 (sidedness × price levels × type of product) factorial design, focuses in the interactive effects of price and message-sidedness, since consumers are rarely exposed to one single variable of the marketing strategy. A model is developped, which is articulated on the central concept of consumer involvement. It is found that under high involvement, high price enhances confidence in the product (but not in the advertisement), two-sided messages increase confidence in the advertisement (but not in the product). It is also shown that two-sided messages bring about higher-confidence in the product when price is at the medium level.     

Strategy for New Product Development

Abstract

This study evaluates the reasons why new products fail, and recommends a Strategy for New Product Development to avoid such failures. Using a sample of four products, the Ford Edsel, Coca-Cola's New Coke, the Sony Betamax, and the RCA Videodisc, where the introduction of a new product was unsuccessful, as research data, it is determined that the most common reasons for a products failure are poor planning, poor management, poor concept, poor execution, poor use of research, poor technology, and poor timing. A recommended strategy for successful new product development includes a sound concept, an environmental assessment, management and planning, technological feasibility, research, quality assurance, and customer feedback.     

浅析产品缺陷——兼与产品瑕疵比较

产品缺陷是《产品质量法》中一个重要的法律概念,其实质是产品缺乏合理的安全性。其引起的损害赔偿责任为民事侵权责任,以对产品之外的人身或财产有损害为构成要件。承担责任的方式为民事赔偿,主体是生产者,销售者只有在有过错的情况下才承担责任。产品缺陷与产品瑕疵是两个不同的法律概念,二者在判断标准、承担责任的性质、方式、构成要件及责任主体、索赔途径等方面均有本质区别。     

Diagnosing the supplementary services model: Empirical validation,advancement and implementation

Abstract

Since the publication of Levitt’s (1980) ‘total product concept’, there has been an increasing recognition that additional supplementary elements, beyond the core product, can have a profound impact on customer value. Lovelock’s (1995) supplementary services model further develops this concept by providing more specific guidelines regarding where to seek value enhancement. However, there is little empirical validation of his theoretical model across the services sector. Our paper addresses this gap in three ways. First, we assess the soundness of Lovelock’s model across different service businesses by adopting a form of interaction research. Second, drawing upon findings from this process, we then develop a revised model of supplementary services. Finally, we propose an implementation framework for our revised model of supplementary services.     

Market-Oriented New Product Design of Functional Orange Juice Beverages: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The functional beverages category is considered one of the most significant drivers of new product development (NPD) in recent years. Fifteen in-depth interviews and three focus groups were held between February and March 2003 to identify the most important attributes influencing consumers' purchase decisions for orange juice, and to explore consumers' attitudes towards existing and new functional orange juice beverages. The results suggested that functional food and beverage manufacturers should place a greater emphasis on the base product when evaluating new product concepts. This study highlighted the key role of qualitative research in facilitating the integration of consumers with the concept stage of the NPD process.     

Pooled Marketing and Positioning

Pooled positioning is defined and suggested as a logical extension of product positioning and pooled marketing efforts. A number of examples are cited to show the relevancy of this concept to today's promotional manager.     

Revisiting attribute diagnosticity in the context of product typicality

This article investigates the categorization of an ambiguous product (i.e., one that may be categorized in multiple ways) by applying insights from recent psychological and artificial-intelligence research on concept representation. In particular, the article introduces a type of prototype representation (attribute-value structure) that utilizes the notion of attribute diagnosticity. Attribute diagnosticity is defined as an attribute's usefulness for distinguishing instances from noninstances of a category and proposed as a determinant of an ambiguous product's typicality as a member of a category. A new measure of attribute diagnosticity is also developed based on a linear combination of cue validity and category validity. Attribute diagnosticity is shown to influence the perceived typicality of an ambiguous product. Several suggestions are provided for future use of attribute diagnosticity in research on product categorization. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

商业模式基础理论不统一的表现及原因分析

商业模式提供了一条在不确定、快速变动和难以预期的市场环境中分析商业选择新途径,成为继产品、企业、产业、网络之后新的分析单元。本文通过商业模式的定义、要素、分类以及与战略的关系角度分析商业模式基础理论的不统一,并且通过文献研究深入探讨其不统一的深层次原因,希望能给商业模式研究提供一些有益的参考。     

Aura: Aesthetic Business Creativity

As markets all over the world are becoming more and more surplus-markets, competition is gradually taking new forms. At the same time as markets are overloaded with products and alienation is growing, companies that produce feelings that tries to give meaning not only on the level as a marketing concept, is growing. Introducing the concept aura in marketing, this article explores the process how values becomes tangible in the mind of the customer. Aura is defined as a cover that is related to the feeling-experiences of beauty, exclusiveness, unique and authenticity that a product, service or a brand creates. Aura-production describes the building-process how aura is produced and factors that influence the outcome of the aura.     

论农产品流通效率的分析框架

本文认为,流通效率是一个总括性、复合多维的概念。农产品流通效率是整个农产品流通过程中各种产出与投入的直接或间接比较,是农产品流通领域中每个环节主体和整体的效率总称。由立场指标、类型指标和具体指标构成的农产品流通效率评价指标体系确定了农产品流通效率分析框架的基础,在此基础上,本文探索性地构建了以农产品流通主体为中心,分别从农产品流通模式、流通结构、流通技术、流通网络布局和流通制度等角度对农产品流通效率进行较为全面综合分析的整体框架。     

Measures of international competitiveness: A critical survey∗ †

An examination of the extant literature on competitiveness reveals a wide variety of notions and extreme difficulties of measurement and application.

Single measures of competitiveness do not capture all the elements of the concept. Useful measures have to specify the level of analysis (national, industry, firm or product) and encompass competitive performance, its sustainability through the generation of competitive potential and the management of the competitive process. The interrelationship between these three key elements are also important in a dynamic context.

The effectiveness of management is essential to this analysis and the concept of industrial effectiveness at the management level enables a link to be established between the concept of competitiveness and an empirical investigation of decision making. A framework is derived which is of general use and specific measures are proposed to fill the “empty boxes” suggested.     

Exploring the Role of Product Development Capability for Transforming Marketing Intelligence into Firm Performance

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study examines the role of product development capability for transforming marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.

Methodology/Approach: The authors apply structural equation modeling to analyze survey data from 342 industrial manufacturing companies.

Findings: Results reveal that sales integration and holistic macroeconomic view are particularly important features of the marketing intelligence capability on industrial markets to gain additional insights in order to develop products successfully. Results also reveal that product development capability transforms the marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.

Research Implications: This study offers new insights on marketing theory by extending and concretizing the concept of market orientation to a broader concept of the marketing intelligence capability for industrial markets. Further, this research reveals that the product development capability serves as a mediator to business performance.

Practical Implications: This study’s systematic and tangible outline of the dimensions of marketing intelligence and its link to the product development capability helps firms to better understand how to capitalize on market orientation’s potential values.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This research (a) reveals the relevant dimensions of marketing intelligence on industrial markets and (b) shows how the product development capability tranforms marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.     

Push-based brand awareness: the role of product availability and in-store merchandising

This study introduces a new brand awareness conceptualization; ‘push-based brand awareness’ in the light of available retailing, distribution, and branding literature. Previously, push-based awareness merely defined brand/product availability. This study extends that definition by including available brand awareness created by in-store merchandising. While out-of-stock (OOS) literature extensively interprets product availability and consumers' responses to OOS brands, a brand's effect on consumer awareness remains unexamined. Because such brand awareness may be one of the major reasons behind frequently purchased product success, such consumer awareness deserves closer attention. This study introduces the push-based brand awareness concept with a proposed model including possible managerial implications.     

The Marketing Concept in an Academic Setting

ABSTRACT

During the past twenty years, marketers of the educational product have seen significant growth in the percentage of minority students enrolled at colleges and universities across the United States. Those minority consumers of the educational product bring vastly different cultural values, norms, and experiences to the marketing exchange. Such cultural differences present compelling concerns for marketers of the educational product. This paper presents the application of the marketing concept and the marketing lens as a philosophical and empirical approach to more accurately determine and subsequently satisfy the needs of the culturally diverse consumers of the educational product. Results of the study indicated that Asian/Pacific Islander and Anglo students differed in the selection and weighting of evaluative criteria for the quality of the educational institution. Further, the two consumer groups possessed distinct antecedents of satisfaction with that product.     

The effects of between‐partner congruity on consumer evaluation of co‐branded products

Branding studies, especially those focusing on brand extension, have often centered on establishing the relationship between consumer evaluation and the match between a product concept and the brand (concept congruity). This study introduces an additional type of congruity that arises in the evaluation of co‐branded products, the congruity between brand partners (between‐partner congruity). Between‐partner congruity has not previously been explicitly considered in the co‐branding literature, but is potentially an important influence on consumer perceptions of a brand partnership. Thus, this study represents an initial attempt to understand how the level of between‐partner congruity will affect consumer response to cobranded products. Several findings in the marketing literature have suggested that when respondents have the motivation to resolve incongruity, the relationship between congruity level and evaluation is nonmonotonic. In other words, moderately incongruent concepts are preferred to congruent or highly incongruent concepts to form an “inverted‐U” data function. Yet, when motivation to process is low, evaluation becomes less favorable in a linear fashion as incongruity increases. This study examines whether these findings can be extended to co‐branding. When concept congruity is controlled across brand pairs, the nonmonotonic relationship between between‐partner congruity level and product evaluation is observed when consumers are encouraged to elaborate on the rationale for the partnership (high involvement). However, when consumers attend to the global similarity of the partners (low involvement), product evaluation becomes less favorable as between‐partner incongruity increases. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Designing corporate brand experience in an online context: A qualitative insight

This study explores the dimensions and components of corporate brand experience in an Internet setting. Corporate brand experience (CBE), which is a source of a company's added value, could be an effective way to position a corporate brand in relation to the overall corporate marketing strategy. However, the concept of CBE has attracted very little attention from previous research, thereby our understanding of what the concept is and how to operationalize it is limited. Previous brand experience research is mainly focused on the conceptual understanding of brand experience itself, and/or the product brand level (rather than at corporation level). Understanding CBE is important because corporate brand equity (e.g. corporate image, brand loyalty) is dependent not only on how one is satisfied with the product (mostly addressed by functional/performance values of product), but also through the values of the corporation (corporate brand values). This study thus contributes theoretically to the corporate and online branding literature by proposing underlying new dimensions and components of CBE in an online environment. A series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with 32 online banking respondents informs the study. We identify five main themes and 26 sub-themes of corporate brand experience — corporate visual identity, functionality, emotional, lifestyle and corporate/self-identity. Financial service providers can address these dimensionalities during the process of brand positioning and when designing their corporate marketing in an online setting.     

农产品品牌保护策略探析

随着消费层次升级和健康理念的变化,消费者品牌意识不断增强,农产品品牌安全问题成为消费者关注的焦点。面对假冒伪劣品牌对农产品品牌市场的非竞争性冲击,农产品企业仅依靠常规性品牌管理策略已举步维艰,品牌保护策略是破解品牌侵权等难题的关键。本文从农产品品牌特征、内涵出发,解析农产品企业在品牌保护上的现状、困境和成因;从战略品牌管理、法律保护、战略联合保护网络和品牌管理策略等方面,提出了完善农产品品牌保护的思路和对策。