Exploring impulse buying in services: toward an integrative framework

Prior research on impulse buying focuses mostly on goods, ignoring its incidence in services despite growing evidence about the prevalence of impulsive behaviors across diverse consumption contexts. This paper introduces an integrative conceptual framework to study impulse buying in both goods and services by using perceived risk as a focal construct in the impulse buying process and reports findings from two empirical studies. The first study uses a mall-intercept survey to show that perceived risk is lower and likelihood of impulse buying is greater for services with higher tangible (vs. intangible) attributes and higher search (vs. experience and credence) properties. The second study uses a lab-experiment to show significant differences in the influence of three relevant consumer traits (consumer impulsiveness, optimum stimulation level, and self-monitoring) on the level of perceived risk and impulsiveness in purchase decisions for six different services with varying levels of attributes (tangible vs. intangible) and evaluation properties (search, experience, and credence). Overall, the two studies provide substantial evidence of the presence of impulse buying in services and useful insights for researchers and services marketers.     

旅游服务的无形性与有形展示

旅游服务的无形性与有形化是一对矛盾，如何使无形的服务尽可能得到有形展示，是服务营销管理的一项难题。通过对旅游服务内涵本质的揭示、旅游服务主客体的价值分析和旅游服务有形展示渠道的整合，以探究旅游服务无形性转化为有形证据的途径，从而进一步认识旅游服务的特殊规律性。     

管理咨询业的特性及营销策略

本文分析了管理咨询业的无形性、客户高度参与性、服务质量的不确定性、易逝性、知识性、为组织服务等特性。针对这些特性提出五大营销策略，主要内容有：（1）个性化品牌营销；（2）全员营销；（3）以知识为媒介的直接营销；（4）平衡需求；（5）依据服务体验模型，提升服务质量。     

Customer engagement: the construct,antecedents, and consequences

In this study, we highlight the need and develop a framework for customer engagement (CE) by reviewing the marketing literature and analyzing popular press articles. By understanding the evolution of customer management, we develop the theory of engagement, arguing that when a relationship is satisfying and has emotional connectedness, the partners become engaged in their concern for each other. As a result, the components of customer engagement include both the direct and the indirect contributions of CE. Based on the theoretical support, our proposed framework elaborates on the components of CE as well as the antecedents (satisfaction and emotion) and consequences (tangible and intangible outcomes) of CE. We also discuss how convenience, nature of the firm (B2B vs. B2C), type of industry (service vs. product), value of the brand (high vs. low), and level of involvement (high vs. low) moderate the link between satisfaction and direct contribution, and between emotions and indirect contribution of CE, respectively. Further, we show how customer engagement can be gained and how firm performance can be maximized by discussing relevant strategies.     

Strategies for tangibilizing retail services: An assessment

This study empirically evaluated the usefulness of tangible cues in the marketing of consumer services. It has been suggested that service marketers could benefit from attempts to market their products with the aid of tangible cues. The present investigation analyzed the effect of three such cues on consumers' perceptions regarding the likelihood that specific benefits would be forthcoming from specific service providers. The three cues investigated were a tangible representation, a provider-client interface, and a relation to a tangible object. Results indicated some variation between subjects exposed in perception of benefits received for a limited number of the benefits investigated.     

Modality and offering effects in sales presentations for a good versus a service

More businesses than ever are using telemarketing as a complement to or substitute for face-to-face selling. More businesses than ever are also selling services in lieu of selling goods. Yet, despite these trends, no empirical research has documented the relative effectiveness of telesales versus face-to-face presentations for selling goods versus services. The author begins to fill this void in the literature by presenting an initial investigation into the effects of modality (telesales vs. face-to-face presentation) and offering (a service vs. a good) on consumer recall, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. The findings reveal that recall is higher in a face-to-face presentation, attitudes and behavioral intentions are more positive following a telesales presentation for a service, and attitudes and behavioral intentions for a good are unaffected by the nature of the sales presentation. Implications of the findings for research, business practice, and future study are discussed. David M. Szymanski is the Al and Marion Withers Faculty Research Fellow and Director, Center for Retailing Studies, in the Lowry Mays College & Graduate School of Business, Texas A&M University. His research interests include applied meta-analysis, marketing strategy, personal selling, product innovation, and retailing strategy. Representative research has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, andJournal of Retailing.     

The effects of expertise,end goal,and product type on adoption of preference formation strategy

The global preference formation model identifies several preference formation strategies (i.e., own-based, other-based, or hybrid) that consumers use to select among alternative product offerings. This article examines how consumers’ expertise level (novice vs. expert), their end goals (satisficing vs. optimizing), and product type (search vs. experience product) collectively influence the preference formation strategy likely to be adopted. Results from an experiment indicate that the adoption of a given strategy is influenced by interactions between subjects’ expertise level and their end goals and the product type. Novice satisficers employed a higher proportion of own-based strategies than novice optimizers, but expert satisficers used a lower proportion of own-based strategies than expert optimizers. When compared to novices choosing a search product, novices selecting an experience product used a lower proportion of own-based and a higher proportion of other-based strategies. Similarly, when compared to experts choosing a search product, experts selecting an experienced product used a lower proportion of own-based strategies, but this was accompanied by a higher proportion of hybrid strategies. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Her current research interests include consumer choice processes, electronic decision aids, and measurement issues in marketing. His research interests include consumer information search, marketing communications, and measurement issues.     

顾客满意与市场营销

引导市场营销方向的是顾客消费需求 ,市场营销的产品和活动只有在适合需求、实现顾客满意的情况下 ,才能顺利实现其交换和价值。当前我国的市场营销偏离了顾客满意这个中心 ,存在着许多误区。本文着重讨论了顾客满意对企业理念、质量策略、价格策略、分销渠道、促销和服务等营销策略的重要性以及如何制订营销策略。     

病毒营销对品牌资产影响的实证分析

病毒营销将设计好的“病原体”撤向消费者,让“病毒”迅速地在他们之间扩散,以达到宣传造势的目的。品牌资产①是企业的一种宝贵的无形资产,其作用不言而喻,故研究病毒营销和品牌资产之间的关系是非常重要的。长文将病毒营销分离出三个因子,运用实证分析的方法研究这三个因子和品牌资产四个维度之间的关系,由此来审视病毒营销对企业品牌资产的影响作用。     

Consumer and provider expectations and experiences in evaluating professional service quality

Providers of professional services have recently awakened to consumer challenges, competition and the realities of marketing. Looking at the expectations and experiences of providers and consumers can provide special insight into the services evaluation process and perceived service quality. By evaluating both professionals’ and consumers’ perspectives, differences in perceptions can be identified and characterized. Inconsistencies in perceptions between two parties to an exchange may result in dissatisfaction, while positive consistencies in these assessments aid in building on-going relationships.     

Are conservative approaches to new product selling a blessing in disguise?

A new product’s success in the marketplace largely depends on salesforce actions. Many B2B salespeople display conservatism when confronted with new products in their portfolio, such that they maximize their efforts to sell existing products before engaging in efforts to sell the new product. So far, it is unclear whether this conservative selling behavior (CSB) is harmful to new product selling performance, and how this behavior can be managed. Building on perceived risk processing theory, and employing multi-level structural equation modeling on a multi-source dataset, the authors empirically substantiate that salespeople’s CSB makes their effort to sell new products more effective. Remarkably, such effort is then valued less by sales managers. The authors also find that CSB is a result of a risk assessment and evaluation process, in which internal marketing efforts (i.e., providing salespeople with information on the new product) determine the weight of perceived performance risk (i.e., new product radicalness), social risk (i.e., managerial new product orientation), and financial risk (i.e., long-term rewards). Managers looking to control the levels of CSB in their salesforce should carefully align their information support activities with the perceived risk dimensions of the new product selling situation.     

服务性企业内部营销的再诠释——基于柔性管理思想的视角

本文透过柔性管理思想的视角,提出基于内在精神和优良价值观为核心的柔性管理,给现代服务业提出新的内部营销战略思维,为上海现代服务业提升营销观念、树立优质服务观、抓住世博会契机、实现与上海世博会的良性互动提供一些启示。     

享乐和实用情景下消费者对产品差异化的偏好——属性可比性和解释水平的调节作用

提升属性的比较优势或开发独特属性是产品差异化的两种方案,企业需要针对不同的消费情景做出合理的选择。研究证明在实用消费情景下,消费者会更加关注产品的可比属性,倾向选择具有比较优势的产品;而在享乐消费情景下,消费者会提高对不可比属性的关注度,增加选择具有独特优势的产品。解释水平和消费情景交互影响消费者对产品差异的偏好：当解释水平与消费情景匹配时,上述效应被加强,反之则被削弱,信息加工流畅性起到中介作用。     

Re-examining salesperson goal orientations: Personality influencers, customer orientation, and work satisfaction

Several scholars have noted the importance of relationship marketing and the critical role that salesperson knowledge plays in the formation of buyer-seller relationships. However, research on salesperson learning motivations has been relatively scarce compared with research on firm-level learning orientations. One promising stream of research in this area is salesperson goal orientation. Drawing from previous work in control theory, the authors extend previous research in this area by proposing relationships between personality influencers, goal orientations, customer/selling orientation, and overall work satisfaction. Their hypotheses are tested using data obtained from a sample of 190 real estate agents. The results provide support for their hypothesized model. Specifically, learning orientation is shown to positively influence customer orientation, while performance orientation is shown to positively influence selling orientation. Eric G. Harris (eharris@lklnd.usf.edu Ph.D., Oklahoma State University) is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of South Florida. His current research interests include goal orientation, customer orientation, and personality models applied to consumer and employee behavior. He has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology & Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Marketing, theJournal of Business & Psychology, Services Marketing Quarterly, theJournal of Services Marketing, and theJournal of Marketing Management. John C. Mowen (jcmmkt@okstate.edu) Ph.D., Arizona State University) is Regents Professor and holds the Noble Chair of Marketing Strategy at Oklahoma State University. He has published articles in numerous leading journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, Decisions Sciences, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, and theJournal of Consumer Psychology. He is a past president of the Society for Consumer Psychology. His teaching and consulting interests focus on consumer behavior and motivating the workforce. His research focuses on the factors that motivate and influence the decisions of consumers and employees. Tom J. Brown (tom.brown@okstate.edu; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is Ardmore Professor of Business Administration and an associate professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals, including theJournal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His current research interests include causes and effects of corporate reputation and the customer orientation of service workers. He is cofounder of the Corporate Identity/Associations Research Group. Teaching interests include marketing research, services marketing, and corporate communications. He is coauthor (with Gilbert A. Churchill Jr.) ofBasic Marketing Research (5th ed.). Consulting interests include marketing research, corporate reputation, and the customer orientation of service workers.     

Customer relationship dynamics: Service quality and customer loyalty in the context of varying levels of customer expertise and switching costs

As customer-organization relationships deepen, consumers increase their expertise in the firm’s product line and industry and develop increased switching costs. This study investigates the effects of customer investment expertise and perceived switching costs on the relationships between technical and functional service quality and customer loyalty. Technical service quality is hypothesized to be a more important determinant of customer loyalty than functional service quality as expertise increases. Both technical and functional service quality are hypothesized to have a reduced relationship with customer loyalty as perceived switching costs increase. Three-way interactions between the main effects of service quality, customer expertise, and perceived switching costs yield additional insight into the change in relative importance of technical and functional service quality in customers’ decision to be loyal. Six of eight hypotheses receive support. Implications are discussed for customer relationship management over the relationship life cycle. Simon J. Bell (s.bell@jims.cam.ac.uk; Ph.D., University of Melbourne) is a university lecturer in marketing at the Judge Institute of Management, the business school of the University of Cambridge. His research has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andMarketing Theory, among others. His.areas of research interest include organizational learning, sales force management and internal marketing, services and relationship marketing, and corporate social responsibility. Seigyoung Auh (sauh@brocku.ca; Ph.D., University of Michigan) is an assistant professor of marketing at Brock University, Ontario, Canada. His research has been published in theJournal of Economic Psychology, theJournal of Business to Business Marketing, theJournal of Services Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and others. His research interests are in application of a resource-based view to marketing strategy, top management team diversity and marketing strategy, customer orientation (customer satisfaction) and loyalty, interface between marketing and entrepreneurship, and services and relationship marketing. Karen Smalley (B.Comm. Hons, University of Melbourne) is an honors graduate in marketing at the University of Melbourne.     

Foreign market entry mode choice of service firms: A contingency perspective

Research on how service firms choose their initial mode of operation in foreign markets appears to have led to two contradictory conclusions. Findings from one group of studies suggest that factors determining entry mode choice by manufacturing firms are generalizable to service firms. Findings from another group of studies contradict that view. The authors reconcile the two views by means of a classification scheme that allows some services to be grouped with manufactured goods in terms of entry mode choice. A conceptual model of factors affecting the entry mode choice of service firms is proposed, research propositions are developed, and managerial implications and future research directions are discussed. Ikechi Ekeledo is a doctoral candidate in marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests include international marketing, services marketing, and strategic market planning. K. Sivakumar (Ph.D., Syracuse University, 1992) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests include pricing, international marketing, and innovation management. His research has been published or is forthcoming inBarron’s, International Marketing Review, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Theory & Practice, theJournal of Product Innovation Management, theJournal of Social Behavior & Personality, Marketing Letters, Marketing Science Institute’s Working Paper Series, and Pricing Strategy & Practice: An International Journal, and summarized as Editors’ Briefings inHarvard Business Review. He has won several awards for research and is on the editorial boards of four scholarly journals.     

基于模糊理论的纳税服务评价方法研究

纳税服务评价是纳税服务体系的重要组成部分。文章介绍了纳税服务评价指标体系和模糊结合评判理论步骤。研究了纳税服务评价的多层次模糊综合评判方法,并从权数的确定、合成运算的选择评判指标的处理等方面,分析了应用模糊综合评判注意的问题。以两位税务机关工作人员的纳税服务为例,利用模糊综合评判方法对他们的纳税服务进行了综合评价,评价结果合理。     

Consumer perceptions of product variants positioned on atypical attributes

How do consumers perceive new product variants that are positioned on atypical attributes? The authors investigate the joint effects of three factors? brand familiarity, retail shelf display, and consumer goal orientation. The study focuses on snack foods positioned on the atypical attribute of low fat. There are three main findings. First, although high (vs. low) brand familiarity causes relatively unfavorable perceptions on the positioning attribute, it also creates sufficiently favorable perceptions on another determinant attribute, product taste, resulting in a net positive effect for brand equity on purchase likelihood. Second, goal-based versus taxonomic shelf display (i.e., placement with health foods vs. regular snack foods) results in relatively negative perceptions on the positioning attribute, yet more favorable buying intentions. Finally, more (vs. less) health-oriented consumers rate such product variants less favorably on fat content but more favorably on product taste; the former segment is also more likely to buy such product variants.     

The impact of services versus goods on consumers’ assessment of perceived risk and variability

With the development of service marketing concepts comes the need to test theory against consumer behavior. This study examines differences in perceived risk and variability between services and goods. In a controlled experiment whereby product stimuli were objectively placed along a goods-services continuum, data from consumers was collected focusing on six types of perceived risk and product variability. The findings of the study provide evidence that services evoke heightened risk and product variability perceptions.     

Influences on consumer use of word-of-mouth recommendation sources

This article reports the development and testing of a theoretical model of the initial stages of recommendation-based decision making by consumers. Although consumers use a variety of recommendation sources, they have different motivations for the use of different sources. The model focuses on the factors that influence the likelihood of consumers using strong-tie sources (e.g., friends and family) and weak-tie sources (e.g., acquaintances or strangers) or recommendations. The factors used in the model are the prior knowledge level of the consumer about the product being considered, the perceived decision task difficulty level, and the type of evaluative cues sought by the consumer. Hypotheses are tested using data collected in an extensive field study with consumers. Two paths or routes of influence on the use of recommendation sources are proposed and confirmed in the study. His work has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of Marketing Research. His research interests center on consumer decision making and marketing education. He has published previously in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Strategic Change, The International Executive, andMarketing Education Review. His research interests include research methodology, quantitative methods, and competitive intelligence. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His publications have appeared in numerous journals. His books includeConsumer Behavior (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986) andMarketing Management (Simon & Schuster).