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.     

The role of brand personality in charitable giving: An assessment and validation

Marketing concepts such as corporate identity, image, and branding are important strategies for nonprofit organizations. In particular, brand personality has been advocated by practitioners but has not been empirically investigated in the nonprofit context. According to social exchange theory and trust, the authors argue that nonprofit stakeholders perceive nonprofit organizations at an abstract level because of the organizations’ intangibility and social ideals. This study develops and refines a parsimonious measure of brand personality specifically for the nonprofit context. The authors conduct a series of six multimethod studies of nonprofit stakeholders to validate the role of brand personality in nonprofit organizations. The results yield four dimensions of brand personality for nonprofits: integrity, nurturance, sophistication, and ruggedness. Thus, current and potential donors ascribe personality traits to nonprofit organizations and differentiate between nonprofits on the basis of the organizations’ personality. Finally, nonprofit brand personality may influence potential donors’ likelihood to contribute. Beverly T. Venable (venable_beverly@colstate.edu; Ph.D., University of Mississippi) is an assistant professor of marketing at Columbus State University. Her research interests are in nonprofit marketing, branding, and ethics. She has published in theJournal of Business Ethics and several national and international proceedings. Gregory M. Rose (rosegm@u.washington.edu; Ph.D., University of Oregon) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Washington, Tacoma. His research interests include consumer socialization and cross-cultural consumer behavior. He has published articles in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Advertising, and theJournal of Consumer Psychology, as well as other journals and proceedings. Victoria D. Bush (vbush@bus.olemiss.edu; Ph.D., University of Memphis) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. Her research interests include cultural diversity in buyer-seller relationships, advertising ethics, and Internet marketing. Her research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, andIndustrial Marketing Management, as well as other journals and proceedings. Faye W. Gilbert (faye.gilbert@gcsu.edu; Ph.D., University of North Texas) is a professor of marketing and dean of the J. Whitney Bunting School of Business at Georgia College and State University. Her research interests are in customer relationship management, health care marketing, and sales management. She has published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Retailing, Psychology and Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings.     

An empirical test of trust-building processes and outcomes in sales manager-salesperson relationships

This study examines three trust-building processes and outcomes in sales manager-salesperson relationships. This study, based on a sample of more than 400 business-to-business salespeoples from a variety of industries, shows two trust-building processes (predictive and identification) to be significantly related to salesperson trust in the sales manager. Interpersonal trust was found to be most strongly related to shared values and respect. Trust was directly related to job satisfaction and relationalism, and indirectly related to organizational commitment and turnover intention. Thomas G. Brashear (brashear@mktg.umass.edu) (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. James S. Boles (jboles@gsu.edu) (Ph.D., Louisiana State University) is an associate professor of marketing in the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. His research has appeared in a variety of journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and theJournal of Applied Psychology. His areas of research interest include personal selling, sales management, key and strategic account management, and business relationships. Danny N. Bellenger (mktdnb@langate.gsu.edu) (Ph.D., University of Alabama) is currently chairman of the Marketing Department in the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. His research has appeared in a number of academic journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Advertising Research, theCalifornia Management Review, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and theJournal of Business Research. He has authored four monographs and four textbooks on marketing research, sales, and retailing. Charles M. Brooks (brooks@quinnipiac.edu) (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Marketing and Advertising at Quinnipiac University. His research has appeared in theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Retailing, Marketing Theory, and theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice.     

The effects of extrinsic product cues on consumers’ perceptions of quality, sacrifice, and value

The authors report the results of two experiments designed to test the effects of extrinsic cues—price, brand name, store name, and country of origin—on consumers’ perceptions of quality, sacrifice, and value. The results of the experiments support hypothesized linkages between (a) each of the four experimentally manipulated extrinsic cues and perceived quality, (b) price and perceived sacrifice, (c) perceived quality and perceived value, and (d) perceived sacrifice and perceived value. The results also indicate that the linkages between the extrinsic cues and perceived value are mediated by perceived quality and sacrifice. R. Kenneth Teas is a distinguished professor of business in the Department of Marketing, College of Business, Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. His areas of research include consumer behavior and decision processes, marketing research methods, services marketing, and sales force management. His articles have been published in numerous journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theAmerican Journal of Agricultural Economics, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, theJournal of Occupational Psychology, andIndustrial Marketing Management. Sanjeev Agarwal is an associate professor in the Department of Marketing, College of Business, Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. His areas of research include multinational marketing strategies, modes of foreign market entry, and sales force management. His articles have been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of International Business Studies, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.     

Service failure and recovery: The impact of relationship factors on customer satisfaction

This research investigated how customers' relationships with a service organization affect their reactions to service failure and recovery. Our conceptual model proposed that customer-organizational relationships help to shape customers' attributions and expectations when service failures occur. The empirical results showed that customers with higher expectations of relationship continuity had lower service recovery expectations after a service failure and also attributed that failure to a less stable cause. Both the lower recovery expectations and the lower stability attributions were associated with greater satisfaction with the service performance after the recovery. These effects appeared to be key processes by which relationships buffer service organizations when service failures occur. Ronald L. Hess Jr. (ron. hess@business.wm.edu) (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) is currently an assistant professor of marketing at the College of William & Mary. His research interests include customer responses to service and product failures; organizational complaint handling; and customer assessments of satisfaction, loyalty, and service quality. He has published his research inMarketing Letters and several conference proceedings. Shankar Ganesan (sganesan @bpa.arizona.edu) (Ph.D., University of Florida) is an associate professor of marketing and Lisle and Rosslyn Payne Fellow in Marketing at the Eller College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona. His research interests focus on the areas of interorganizational relationships, buyer-seller negotiations, service failure and recovery, new product innovation, and E-marketing. He is the author of several articles that have appeared in leading academic journals, including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Applied Psychology. He currently serves on the editorial review board of theJournal of Marketing Research and theJournal of Marketing. Noreen M. Klein (nklein@vt.edu) (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) is currently an associate professor of marketing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research interests include consumer decision making and the behavioral aspects of pricing, and her research has been published in the theJournal of Consumer Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Making, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science.     

Determinants of online channel use and overall satisfaction with a relational,multichannel service provider

This study examines what drives customers' use of an online channel in a relational, multichannel environment. The authors propose a conceptual model of the determinants of online channel use and overall satisfaction with the service provider. They then conduct two large-scale studies in different service contexts to test the model. The results show that Web site design characteristics affect customer evaluations of online channel service quality and risk, which in turn drive online channel use. Customers' overall satisfaction with the service provider is determined by the service quality provided through both the online channel and the traditional channel. The results offer insights into the trade-offs that multichannel service providers face as they attempt to influence online channel use while maintaining or enhancing overall customer satisfaction. Mitzi M. Montoya-Weiss (m_mw@ncsu.edu) (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is a professor of marketing in the Department of Business Management at North Carolina State University. Her research interests include new product development and adoption, virtual teams, and knowledge management. Her research has appeared inMarketing Science, Management Science, Decision Sciences, theAcademy of Management Journal, theJournal of Product Innovation Management, and other scholarly journals. She has taught courses in marketing management, product and brand management, and management of technology. Glenn B. Voss (gvoss@ncsu.edu) (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is an associate professor of marketing in the Department of Business Management at North Carolina State University. His research interests include relationship and services marketing, creativity and entrepreneurship, and retail pricing strategies. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Organization Science, theJournal of Retailing, Marketing Letters, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and other scholarly journal. He currently serves on the editorial review board of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, and theJournal of Business Research. He has taught courses in marketing strategy, electronic marketing, and nonprofit management in MBA programs in the United States and Europe. Dhruv Grewal (dgrewal@babson.edu) (Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute) is the Toyota Chair in E-Commerce and Electronic Business in Babson College. His research and teaching interests focus on e-business, global marketing, value-based marketing strategies, and understanding the voice of the customer (market research). He is also co-editor of theJournal of Retailing. He has published more than 50 articles in outlets such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, and theJournal of Retailing. He currently serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, and theJournal of Product and Brand Management.     

A cross-national model of job-related outcomes of work role and family role variables: A retail sales context

This article proposes a model of job-related outcomes of four role variables in a retail sales context: work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), work role conflict (RC), and work role ambiguity (RA). We tested the applicability of the model with three cross-national samples, that is, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Romania, and the results revealed that the model's measures and effects are mostly similar across samples. It was also posited and mostly supported that the effects that WFC and FWC have on the job-related outcomes are greater than the effects of RC and RA. Implications concerning the effects of role variables for international retail managers are offered. Richard G. Netemeyer (rgn3p@forbes2.comm.virginia.edu) is a professor of marketing in the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina in 1986. His research interests are primarily consumer behavior and organizationbehavior issues. His research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and others. Thomas Brashear-Alejandro (brashear@mktg.umass.edu) (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an associate professor of marketing in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in a number of academic journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and theJournal of Business & Industrial Marketing. James S. Boles (JBoles@gsu.edu) is an associate professor of marketing at Georgia State University (GSU). He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. His research has appeared in a variety of journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and theJournal of Applied Psychology. His areas of research interest include personal selling, sales management, key and strategic account management, and business relationships.     

The relationship of learning and memory with organizational performance: The moderating role of turbulence

Extensive research has documented how firms’ learning orientation and memory are related to organizational performance. The objective of this study is to examine the moderating role of turbulence on the relationships between firms’ learning orientation and memory and their organizational performance and innovativeness. The study also provides insight into the differential relationships of firms’ learning orientation and memory to their performance and innovativeness. Using survey data collected from 200 supply management professionals, the results suggest that the extent to which learning and memory are associated with organizational performance is contingent on the level of environmental turbulence. Specifically, under low environmental turbulence, learning orientation and organizational memory appear to be related to performance and innovativeness; however, under high environmental turbulence, only learning orientation is a useful predictor. Sangphet Hanvanich (hanvanich@xavier.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing at Xavier University. She received her PhD from Michigan State University. She has published in various journals including theJournal of Service Research andStrategic Management Journal. Her primary research interests are in the areas of marketing strategy, marketing alliances, international business, and international marketing. K. Sivakumar (k.sivakumar@lehigh.edu) (PhD, Syracuse University) is the Arthur Tauck Professor of International Marketing and Logistics, chairperson, and a professor of marketing in the Department of Marketing at Lehigh University. Before joining Lehigh in 2001, he spent 9 years as a faculty member with the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests include pricing, global marketing, and innovation management. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Marketing, theJournal of International Business Studies, Decision Sciences Journal, Marketing Letters, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Interactive Marketing, theJournal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, theJournal of Product Innovation Management, Pricing Strategy & Practice: An International Journal, Psychology & Marketing, Marketing Science Institute’s Working Paper Series, and other publications. He has won several awards for his research (including the Donald Lehmann Award) and is on the editorial review board of several scholarly journals. He has won outstanding reviewer awards from two journals. Home page: www.lehigh .edu/~kasg. G. Tomas M. Hult (nhult@msu.edu) is a professor of marketing and supply chain management and director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University. He serves as executive director of the Academy of International Business. He is associate editor of theJournal of International Business Studies, Decision Sciences, and theJournal of Operations Management. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, theJournal of Marketing, Decision Sciences, theJournal of Operations Management, theJournal of Management, and theJournal of Retailing, among others.     

Managing culturally diverse buyer-seller relationships: The role of intercultural disposition and adaptive selling in developing intercultural communication competence

Given the increase in cultural diversity within marketing organizations as well as within current and potential customer bases, possessing the appropriate communication skills becomes crucial to success in managing culturally diverse relationships. Although marketing researchers have recognized the importance of adaptive selling behavior for successful buyer-seller relationships, the exploration of the intercultural aspects of these relationships has only recently begun. This article examines how adaptive selling behaviors and intercultural dispositions of marketing executives contribute to their perceived intercultural communication competence. Results show that in addition to being adaptive, the intercultural disposition of a marketer is of key importance in developing intercultural communication competence. Theoretical and practical implications for incorporating intercultural communication into the development of successful buyer-seller relationships are discussed. Victoria D. Bush (Ph.D., University of Memphis) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. Her research has appeared in such journals as theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, and theJournal of Services Marketing. Her research interests are in diversity, advertising, and ethics. Gregory M. Rose (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. His research interests include consumer socialization and cross-cultural consumer behavior. He has published or has forthcoming articles in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Marketing, and other journals and proceedings. Faye Gilbert (Ph.D., University of North Texas) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. She has published in theJournal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, theJournal of Health Care Marketing, theJournal of Research in Pharmaceutical Economics, theJournal of Applied Business Research, theJournal of Marketing Management, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and theJournal of Marketing Education, among others. Her work emphasizes the application of consumer behavior theory to health care and to channel relationships. Thomas N. Ingram (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is a professor of marketing at Colorado State University. He has been honored as the Marketing Educator of the Year by Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) and as a recipient of the Mu Kappa Tau National Marketing Honor Society Recognition Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contributions to the Sales Discipline. He has served as the editor of theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management and is the current editor of theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice. His primary research is in personal selling and sales management. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. He is the coauthor of three textbooks:Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach, Sales Management: Analysis and Decision Making, andMarketing: Principles and Perspectives.     

Spreading the word: Investigating antecedents of consumers’ positive word-of-mouth intentions and behaviors in a retailing context

Empirical studies investigating the antecedents of positive word of mouth (WOM) typically focus on the direct effects of consumers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with previous purchasing experiences. The authors develop and test a more comprehensive model of the antecedents of positive. WOM (both intentions and behaviors), including consumer identification and commitment. Specifically, they hypothesize and test commitment as a mediator and moderator of satisfaction on positive WOM and commitment as a mediator of identification on WOM. Using data obtained from customers of a retailer offering both products and services, they find support for all hypothesized relationships with WOM intentions and/or WOM behaviors as the dependent variable. The authors conclude with a discussion of their findings and implications for both marketing theory and practice. Tom J. Brown (tomb@okstate.edu) is Ardmore Professor of Business Administration and an associate professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal 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.). Thomas E. Barry (tbarry@mail.smu.edu) is a professor of marketing and vice president for executive affairs at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. His primary teaching and research interests are in the areas of integrated marketing communications, marketing management, brand equity, loyalty, and advertising effectiveness. His research has appeared in numerous journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is the author or coauthor of two books in marketing and advertising management. He has consulted for a variety of firms and is a director on four boards. In 1995, he received the Outstanding Contributions in Advertising Research Award from the American Academy of Advertising. Peter A. Dacin (pdacin@business.queens.ca) is a professor of marketing at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. His primary teaching and research interests lie in consumer/managerial judgment formation, brand equity/dilution, corporate reputation, and research methods and design. He has also published in the area of sales force management. His research has appeared in several leading journals including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, and theJournal of Consumer Research. In addition, he has published in numerous conference proceedings. He is currently the chair of the American Marketing Association’s ConsumerBehavior Special Interest Group, serves on the Academic Council of the American Marketing Association, and is cofounder of the Corporate Identity/Associations Research Group. Richard F. Gunst (rgunst@mail.smu.edu) is a professor and chair of the Department of Statistical Science at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. He received his Ph.D. from SMU. His primary teaching and research interests are in the areas of linear and nonlinear modeling and regression analysis, with an emphasis on spatial statistical modeling. He has co-authored three books on regression analysis and the statistical design and analysis of experiments, in addition to publishing scholarly articles in theJournal of the American Statistical Association, Biometrika, Biometrics, andTechnometrics. He has received the W. J. Youden (1974, 1985) and Frank Wilcoxon (1994) Publication Awards fromTechnometrics, and the American Statistical Association’s Award for Outstanding Statistical Application Award (1994). He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and received its Founders Award in 1999.     

The theoretical underpinnings of customer asset management: A framework and propositions for future research

Most research in customer asset management has focused on specific aspects of the value of the customer to the company. The purpose of this article is to propose an integrated framework, called CUSAMS (customer asset management of services), that enables service organizations (1) to make a comprehensive assessment of the value of their customer assets and (2) to understand the influence of marketing instruments on them. The foundation of the CUSAMS framework is a careful specification of key customer behaviors that reflect the length, depth, and breadth of the customer-service organization relationship: duration, usage, and cross-buying. This framework is the starting point for a set of propositions regarding how marketing instruments influence customer behavior within the relationship, thereby influencing the value of the customer asset. The framework and propositions provide the impetus for a research agenda that identifies critical issues in customer asset management. Ruth N. Bolton (ruth.bolton@owen.vanderbilt.edu) is a professor of marketing in the Owen Graduate School of Business at Vanderbilt University. Her current research is concerned with high-technology services sold to business-to-business customers. Her most recent work in this area studies how organizations can grow the value of their customer base through customer service and support. Her earlier published research investigates how organizations’ service and pricing strategies influence customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as company revenues and profits. She has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Service Research, Marketing Letters, Marketing Science, and other journals. Katherine N. Lemon (katherine.lemon@bc.edu) is an associate professor in the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Her current research investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer-firm relationships. In addition, her research examines relevant metrics for measuring and managing the value of customer relationships. Her earlier published research investigates how emotional reactions (such as anticipated regret) inflence customer retention decisions. She has published articles in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Service Research, Marketing Science, theJournal of Product Innovation Management, and other journals. Peter C. Verhoef (verhoef@few.eur.nl) is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His main research interest is customer asset management. He has also done research on other topics, such as waiting times, private labels, and out-of-stocks. He has been a visiting professor at the Tuck School of Business Dartmouth College in fall 2003. He has published a wide variety of articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, Marketing Letters, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Consumer Psychology.     

Family structure,materialism, and compulsive buying: A reinquiry and extension

The present study represents a reinquiry and extension of Rindfleisch, Burroughs, and Denton's (1997) foundational study concerning the impact of family structure on materialism and compulsive buying in young adults. In addition to reexamining the relationships specified in the Rindfleisch et al. study, the authors of this study also examine additional and/or different relationships. The findings of their reinquiry include the following: (1) family structure is positively related to the happiness dimension of materialism; (2) the predicted direct effect of family structure on compulsive buying was not supported, suggesting that divorce may not affect compulsive buying until early adulthood; and (3) the mediating roles of family stressors and family resources, and the moderating role of socioeconomic status may require additional investigation. Directions for future research in this nascent area of inquiry are offered. James A. Roberts (jim_Roberts@baylor.edu) (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is the W. A. Mays Professor of Entrepreneurship and associate professor of marketing at Baylor University. He has had articles published in numerous journals including theJournal of Consumer Affairs, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, Business Horizons, Psychological Reports, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, theJournal of International Consumer Marketing, theJournal of Social Behavior and Personality, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of Managerial Issues, theEducation Review, theJournal of Marketing Management, and various conference proceedings. Areas of research include selling and sales force management, compulsive buying, socially and ecologically conscious consumer behavior, and advertising-related issues. Current research efforts focus on the marketing/entrepreneurship interface. Chris Manolis (manolis@xavier.edu) is an associate professor of marketing at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, and his research interests include the study of psychological and behavioral processes of exchange participants and various methodological/empirical research issues. His research has appeared in a number of journals, including theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Consumer Marketing, theJournal of Services Marketing, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, andStructural Equation Modeling. Joh F.(Jeff) Tanner Jr. (jeff_tanner@baylor.edu) (Ph.D.,University of Georgia) serves as associate dean at Baylor University. His research interests are the use of marketing technology to promote responsible behavior and customer relationship management. He has published research in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, and others.     

The effect of management commitment to service quality on employees’ affective and performance outcomes

A service recovery performance model is proposed and tested with data from frontline bank employees in Turkey. The model is derived from Bagozzi's (1992) reformulation of attitude theory. The empirical results suggest that top management commitment to service quality, as manifested by frontline employees' appraisal of training, empowerment, and rewards, has a significant effect on their perceptions of service recovery performance. The influence of management commitment to service quality on service recovery performance is mediated by frontline employees' affective commitment to their organization and job satisfaction. Implications of the results and further research avenues are discussed. Emin Babakus (ebabakus@ memphis.edu) (Ph.D., University of Alabama, 1985) is a professor of marketing at the University of Memphis. In addition to theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, his research has been published in such journals as theJournal of Marketing Research, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Business Research, and theJournal of Advertising Research. He serves on the editorial review boards of several journals. Ugur Yavas (raxyavas@mail.etsu.edu) (Ph.D., Georgia State University, 1976) is a professor of marketing at East Tennessee State University. Besides theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, he has contributed to such journals as theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Business Research, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, International Marketing Review, theJournal of International Marketing, Management International Review, theJournal of the Market Research Society, theInternational Journal of Service Industry Management, andLong Range Planning. He currently serves as the editor of theJournal of Asia-Pacific Business. Osman M. Karatepe (osman.karatepe@emu.edu.tr) (Ph.D., Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, 2002) is an assistant professor of marketing at Eastern Mediterranean University (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). He has contributed to such journals as theJournal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, The Service Industries Journal, Tourism Analysis, theInternational Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, andAnatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research. He currently serves as the associate editor of theEMU Journal of Tourism Research. Turgay Avci (turgay.avci@emu.edu.tr) (Ph.D., Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey, 1995) is an assistant professor of management at Eastern Mediterranean University (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). He has contributed to such journals asThe Service Industries Journal, theJournal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, Tourism Analysis, theInternational Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, andAnatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of theEMU Journal of Tourism Research.     

Marketing of risky sports: From intention to action

High-risk sports, such as skydiving, parachuting, and hang gliding, have become increasingly popular in recent years. This article uses expectancy-value theory to integrate previous research on risky behavior and risky sports. The model that is developed relates the expected benefits of risky sports to several antecedents; specifically, thrill and adventure seeking, arousal avoidance, role relaxation, and age. Two samples are drawn to represent the general population, as well as people just joining risky-sports clubs. In the general population, the intention to engage in risky sports is related to the ability to arouse curiosity. Other motives, specifically thrill and adventure seeking, become more salient as an individual moves closer to actually engaging in a risky sport. Aviv Shoham (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is a lecturer of marketing, Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. He has published or has forthcoming articles in journals such as theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of International Marketing, theJournal of Global Marketing, theJournal of International Consumer Marketing, and other marketing journals. He is also a frequent contributor to several marketing conferences. Gregory M. Rose (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is an assistant professor of management and marketing at the University of Mississippi. His research has been published or is forthcoming in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Global Marketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, theJournal of Applied Social Psychology, Advances in Consumer Research, and other journals and proceedings. Lynn R. Kahle is the James Warsaw professor and department chair of marketing at the University of Oregon. Topics of his research include social adaptation, values, and sports marketing. His articles have appeared in journals such as theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly, theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, andChild Development. His books includeSocial Values and Social Change, Marketing Management, andValues, Lifestyles, and Psychographics.     

A three-component model of customer commitment to service providers

Although research into the determinants of service provider switching has grown in recent years, the focus has been predominantly on transactional, not relational, variables. In this research, the authors address the role of consumer commitment on consumers’ intentions to switch. Drawing from the organizational behavior literature, they build on previous service switching research by developing a switching model that includes a three-component conceptualization of customer commitment. Structural equation modeling is used to test the model based on data from a survey of 356 auto repair service customers. The authors’ results support the notion that customer commitment affects intentions to switch service providers and that the psychological states underlying that commitment may differ. As such, future marketing research should consider these different forms of commitment in understanding customer retention. The implications of this model for theory and practice are discussed. Havir S. Bansal (hbansal@wlu.ca) is an associate professor of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University. He earned his Ph.D. from Queen’s University in 1997. His research interests are focused in the area of services marketing with emphasis on cuctomer switching behavior, word-of-mouth processes in services, and tourism. His research has been published in theJournal of Service Research, theJournal of Quality Management, andPsychology and Marketing and has publications forthcoming in theJournal of Services Marketing andTouris Management. He has also presented at and published articles in the proceedings of various national and international conferences. P. Gregory Irving (girving@wlu.ca) is an associate professor of organizational behavior at Wilfrid Laurier University. He received his Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Western Ontario. His research interests included commitment and work-related attitudes, psychological contracts, and organizational recruitment and socialization. His research has appeared in a variety of journal including theJournal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, theJournal of Organizational Behavior, theJournal of Management, Human Performance, andBasic and Applied Social Psychology. Shirley F. Taylor (Ph.D., University of British Columbia) (staylor@business.queensu.ca) is an associate professor in the School of Business at Queen’s University, where she teaches and conducts research in the area of services marketing. Her research interests include service provider loyalty and switching, customer commitment, and perceptions management of service delays. Her work has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, theJournal of Service Research, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, and theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing. She currently serves on the editorial boards of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, and theCanadian Journal of Administrative Sciences.     

Psychological climate, empowerment, leadership style, and customer-oriented selling: An analysis of the sales manager-salesperson dyad

This study examined antecedents and performancerelated consequences of customer-oriented selling. The antecedents include sales managers’ leadership styles, psychological empowerment, and the psychological climates of organizations. Data were gathered on two separate performance outcome measures. Responses from 106 sales managers and 313 sales representatives were analyzed. The results indicate that transformational leadership, empowerment, and specific components of the psychological climate are important predictors of customer-oriented selling. Craig A. Martin (craig.martin@wku.edu), PhD, is an assistant professor of marketing in the Department of Marketing at Western Kentucky University. He received his PhD from the University of Memphis. He specializes in sales and sales management, the consumer socialization of adolescents, sports marketing, and advertising to adolescents. He has had research accepted for publication in theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Consumer Marketing, theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, theMarketing Management Journal, theInternational Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, theInternational Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, and multiple national and regional conferences. Alan J. Bush (alanbush@memphis.edu), PhD, is a professor of marketing in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at the University of Memphis. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. His current research interests are primarily sales force research and sports marketing. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and others.     

Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees

This research develops and tests a measurement model representing the ethical work climate of marketing employees involved in sales and/or service-providing positions. A series of studies are used to identify potential items and validate four ethical-climate dimensions. The four dimensions represent trust/responsibility, the perceived ethicalness of peers’ behavior, the perceived consequences of violating ethical norms, and the nature of selling practices as communicated by the firm. Both first- and second-order levels of abstraction are validated. Relationships with role stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are described and discussed. The scale is unique from previous attempts in its scope, intended purpose (marketing employees), the validation procedures, and in that it is not scenario dependent. The results suggest the usefulness of the marketing ethical climate construct in both developing theory and in providing advice for marketing practice. Barry J. Babin (Ph.D., Louisiana State University) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi. His research involves behavioral interactions between exchange actors and the environment. Barry’s research appears elsewhere in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Business Research, and other professional publications. He is the immediate past president of the Society for Marketing Advances and the current Marketing Section Editor of theJournal of Business Research. James S. Boles (Ph.D., Louisiana State University) is an associate professor of marketing at Georgia State University. His research concentrates on the multifarious aspects of selling, particularly on job-related attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. His research appears elsewhere in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of Business Research, and other professional publications. He is highly involved in sales and creative training. Donald P. Robin (DBA, Louisiana State University) is the J. Tylee Wilson professor of business ethics in the Wayne Calloway School of Business and Accountancy at Wake Forest University. His research appears elsewhere in theJournal of Marketing, theAccounting Review, theJournal of Business Research, theAmerican Business Law Journal, and many other places. He has published in several business ethics journals includingBusiness Ethics Quarterly, theJournal of Business Ethics, and theBusiness and Professional Ethics Journal. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Marketing Advances.     

Attitude basis,certainty, and challenge alignment: A case of negative brand publicity

By integrating research from attitude challenge matching and consumer alignment and judgment revision, the authors explore how firms can position brands to insulate them from negative publicity and how consumers evaluate brands in reaction to such publicity. They introduce an important moderator of brand evaluation revision, prior brand attitude certainty, and propose that when negative publicity matches or “aligns” with the basis of a brand attitude, certainty in that attitude interacts with the attitude, determining the affect of the negative publicity on brand evaluations. The results of two experiments suggest that prior brand attitudes held with high certainty tend to “nsulate” brands, even when negative publicity matches or aligns with the bases of brand attitudes, whereas brand attitudes held with low certainty may exacerbate the effects of negative event publicity. The results also show that multiplex positioning (positioning a brand with both performance-and values-based attributes) may insulate brands more effectively from negative publicity. Chris Pullig (chris_pullig@baylor.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. Before beginning his academic career, Professor Pullig worked in the retail industry as the CEO of a chain of specialty clothing stores and also as a consultant with the Small Business Administration. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and was previously on the faculty at the University of Virginia. His research is in consumer attitudes and decision making, with an emphasis on effective creation and the protection of consumer-based brand equity. His previous work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, and others. Richard G. Netemeyer (rgn3p@virginia.edu) is the Ralph A. Beeton Professor of Free Enterprise in the Mclntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He received his PhD in business administration from the University of South Carolina in 1986. From 1986 to 2001, he was a member of the Marketing Department in the College of Business at Louisiana State University. In 2001, he joined the faculty at Mclntire. His substantive research interests include’ consumer and organizational behavior topics and public policy and social issues. His methodological research interests focus on survey methods and measurement. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theAmerican Journal of Public Health, and others. Abhijit Biswas (a.biswas@wayne.edu) is the Kmart Endowed Chair and Professor of Marketing at the School of Business Administration, Wayne State University. He received his PhD from the University of Houston. His research interest is primarily in the area of pricing and consumer behavior, and he has published numerous research papers in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Marketing Letters, and other refereed journals and proceedings. He currently serves on the editorial boards of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science and theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing and is the associate editor for the Business and Marketing Research track of the Journal of Business Research.     

Consumer ethnocentrism offline and online: The mediating role of marketing efforts and personality traits in the United States, South Korea, and India

Consumer ethnocentrism is an important concept that is used to understand international marketing phenomena. In this article, the authors conduct two empirical studies. Using consumer data from the United States, South Korea, and India (three diverse cultural and economic environments), they explore six hypotheses. In Stage 1, the results suggest that across all three countries, consumer ethnocentrism provokes negative attitudes toward both foreign advertisements and foreign products. The authors identify a set of consumer variables (i.e., consumers’ global mind-set) that may mediate consumers’ unfavorable attitudes toward foreign advertisements and products derived by consumer ethnocentrism. In Stage 2, the authors find that consumer ethnocentrism dampens consumers’ online consumption activities on a foreign Web site. Finally, the authors find that marketers’ e-mail communications to foreign consumers mediate consumer ethnocentrism in online environments. Hyokjin Kwak (hkwak@drexel.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing at Drexel University. His research interests include advertising effects, consumer communications, and strategic marketing. He has publications in theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, theJournal of Consumer Marketing, and other marketing journals. Anupam Jaju (ajaju@gmu.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Management at George Mason University. His main research interests are in marketing strategy, marketing-technology interface, and international marketing. His work has been published in theJournal of International Management, Marketing Theory, andMarketing Education Review. Trina Larsen Andras (published as Trina Larsen, larsent@ drexel.edu) is a professor and the head of the Marketing Department at Drexel University. Her research has been published in many of the major professional journals in her field, includingHarvard Business Review, theColumbia Journal of World Business, International Marketing Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Management International Review, theJournal of Global Marketing, and theJournal of International Marketing, among others. Her research is focused on international marketing, specifically, cross-cultural behavioral and relationship issues in international marketing management.