Buzz marketing for movies

In today's dynamic entertainment environment, movies are struggling to stay afloat and remain profitable. Challenges such as piracy, digital theft, competition, overlapping movie campaigns, media fragmentation, and audience saturation are forcing marketers to stretch their film budgets and make every dollar as effective as possible. With more and more entertainment options crowding peoples' lives, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach movie audiences. By breaking through the daily clutter and noise, and capturing peoples' attention to the point that talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share, buzz marketing is one such promotional posture that drives audiences to theaters. In order to achieve success with buzz marketing, however, marketers must recognize the role it plays in the context of movie differentiation strategies to support the company's overall approach. To that end, this article analyzes buzz marketing as it pertains to six movie differentiation strategies (differentiation with cosmetic movie features, differentiation to reach market segments, growing a movie segment, positioning to support the movie image, positioning to extend the movie image, and differentiation via non-traditional channels) and offers steps for its successful implementation.     

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

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

Explaining the marketing effort of professional service providers: An exploratory study

A mail survey was done of professionals from major architectural, law, and accounting firms to determine what factors seem to explain how much effort they devote to marketing their firms' services. The results of this exploratory study identified several significant explanatory variables, a few of which had effects in some professions and not others. Additional research in this area is recommended.     

Improving marketing success: The role of tacit knowledge exchange between sales and marketing

Successful organizations adapt their marketing strategies to marketplace changes. Boundary spanners, such as salespeople, because they are able to embed themselves in social networks outside the organization, play a key role in developing marketplace knowledge. However, if this knowledge remains solely with the boundary spanners, it cannot be used effectively to improve firm performance. This study investigates tacit knowledge exchange between sales and marketing and its ability to enhance marketing success (i.e., marketing program innovativeness, relative efficiency, and relative effectiveness). In addition, by examining five antecedents hypothesized to influence tacit knowledge exchange, it provides guidance to sales and marketing managers, who desire to improve tacit knowledge exchange, and, in turn, marketing success.     

Teaching basic marketing accountability using spreadsheets: An exploratory perspective

Extant literature suggests that a key problem with marketing is a lack of financial accountability, and a possible way of improving the situation is to use spreadsheets to inculcate marketing accountability among future marketing executives. This study attempts to enhance our understanding of how to impart spreadsheet skills and encourage an accountability mindset among undergraduate marketing students by focusing on a course called Marketing and Money. Assessment data indicate that the course, which captures the spirit of the behavioral model of learning, does in fact enhance students' spreadsheet skills in a consistent manner. In addition, the analysis suggests that in order to increase students' self efficacy, instructors ought to try to make the course perceptually more useful rather than try to reduce its difficulty.     

Exchange rate policies in Asia in an era of financial globalisation: An empirical assessment

Ebbs and flows of capital have complicated macroeconomic policy management for all emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) regardless of whether they have adopted flexible or managed exchange rate regimes. In the light of the renewed interest in the trilemma versus dilemma debate, we contribute to the related literature by presenting an empirical analysis of exchange rate flexibility and intervention for selected Asian EMDEs over the time period 2001–2016. In addition to estimating augmented Frankel–Wei regressions, we employ a generalised auto‐regressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model to assess the extent of foreign exchange (FX) intervention and whether there exist any asymmetries in the way countries intervene. Our results show that although there is greater flexibility in exchange rates, there is evidence of some countries potentially using FX intervention to manage currency movements. We also find evidence of asymmetry in intervention where exchange rate volatility responds more emphatically to FX sales than purchases.     

Beyond the world of packaged goods: assessing the relevance of integrated marketing communications for retail and consumer service marketing

Product and packaged goods marketers have responded to changing consumer and media environments by adopting integrated approaches to marketing communication. The value and utility of such approaches likely extend to a wide range of marketers, but there have been few published attempts to examine the viability of the integrated marketing communication concept in retail and service marketing. This study addresses this void by using a seven-stage model of integrated marketing communications to examine the media and message delivery practices of national and regional retailers and consumer service marketers. The results of a national mail survey found many of these marketers using such key integrated marketing communication elements as multiple media, databases, individual-level consumer information and behavioural response measures in their media and message delivery practices. Few, however, were using these elements in a strategic or coordinated fashion. Integrated approaches thus appear to have much value in retail and service marketing, particularly as a means for coordinating media and message delivery elements in a fashion that provides a way to link behavioural responses to media vehicles and advertising messages.     

More than meets the eye: The functional components underlying influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is the practice of compensating individuals for posting about a product or service on social media. Influencer marketing is on the rise, and many marketers now plan either to start using influencers or to increase their use of them in their media mixes. Despite such growth, relatively little strategic or academic insight exists that is specific to influencers. In this article, we describe the roots of influencer marketing and the many different types of influencers that now exist. We identify influencers’ three functional components: the audience, the endorser, and the social media manager. We then detail for each of these components the different sources of value influencers potentially offer marketers. We draw on relevant academic research to offer advice about how to leverage each component strategically. We close by describing how the interplay of these functional components makes influencers a potentially powerful—and undervalued—marketing tool.     

Impact of culture on marketing strategy: Introduction to the special issue

This special issue of the Journal of Business Research features eleven articles selected from the papers presented during the fourth meeting of the Royal Bank International Research Seminar which took place in Montreal at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, September 23 and 24, 2007. They cover topics related to culture and marketing communications, consumer socialization, materialism, identity and religiosity, service quality, language effects, consumer revenge behavior and government actions.     

The depicted service employee in marketing communications: An empirical assessment of the impact of facial happiness

Employees are often depicted in service firms’ marketing communications material. This study examines one particular aspect of such depictions: the signaling of happiness in terms of the employees’ facial expressions. It is assumed that depicted faces transmit emotional signals, that receivers are hardwired to react to such signals, and that the emotional signals influence the outcomes of the receivers’ information processing activities. Our empirical results show that this was indeed the case: employee display of happiness was positively and significantly associated with employee evaluations. The contribution of employee happiness remained significant when other characteristics of the depicted face (e.g., attractiveness) were controlled for. Our results also show that employee evaluations had a positive impact on the overall evaluation of the offer of the employee's firm, and that the employee evaluations mediated the association between employee display of happiness and the evaluation of the offer.     

Communication channels in markets: a definition and conceptualization

The marketing mix taxonomy by classifying marketing communications according to how they are controlled by the marketer. The proposed definition of 'marketing communications' and 'communication channels' is customer-focused in contrast to the prevailing marketer-focused interpretations in the literature. This definition calls attention to the sources of information received by customers, some of which are only weakly controlled by the marketer. The control of communication channels is conceived in terms of five types-supervisory, contractual, agency, relational and informal.     

Can good marketing carry a bad product? Evidence from the motion picture industry

We examine the relative roles of marketing actions and product quality in determining commercial success. Using the motion picture context, in which product quality is difficult for consumers to anticipate and information on product success is available for different points in time, we model the effects of studio actions and movie quality on a movie’s sales during different phases of its theatrical run. For a sample of 331 recent motion pictures, structural equation modeling demonstrates that studio actions primarily influence early box office results, whereas movie quality influences both short- and long-term theatrical outcomes. The core results are robust across moderating conditions. We identify two data segments with follow-up latent class regressions and explore the degree of studio actions needed to “save” movies of varying quality. We finally offer some implications for research and management.     

Marketing accountability: Linking marketing actions to financial results

This plenary address to the Society for Marketing Advances calls on the marketing discipline to be accountable, link its contributions to financial performance, and assert the value it contributes to the firm. The paper suggests a process for developing causal links among marketing activities, intermediate marketing outcomes, and financial performance metrics.     

Relationship marketing: Local implementation of a universal concept

Relationship marketing has been described as a new paradigm for the study of exchange. However, current interest in developing relationship marketing programs overlooks the existence of relational exchange as the dominant form of exchange in many of the world's economies. This paper discusses the nature of relational exchange and governance within a cross-cultural context and advises caution in the implementation of western style tactical relationship marketing activity in markets where relationships represent core cultural values.     

Segmentation in direct marketing channels: a transaction-patterns based method

This paper presents a method designed to segment a customer file for direct marketing using behavioral data. The results of this method are tested against the traditional Recency-Frequency-Monetary Amount segmentation model, as well as other parameters of consumer behavior. Strategic applications and future research orientations are suggested.     

奥运赞助商北京奥运会赞助营销效果实证研究

2008年北京奥运会带动了体育赞助营销在中国的迅速发展。奥运赞助对企业来说,是巨大的投入。奥运赞助的效果究竟如何,在现有的营销研究中鲜有涉及。本文介绍了笔者和益普索（Ipsos）公司的研究人员共同进行的企业奥运赞助营销实证研究。通过调查数据的采集和分析,我们发现,消费者并不能有效区分奥运赞助商和非奥运赞助商,但是奥运赞助有助于提高企业及其品牌的形象,增强消费者对其产品和服务的购买意愿。     

销售风格与顾客合作倾向的实证研究

在营销活动过程中,推销员的销售风格往往对顾客的购买合作意愿起到至关重要的影响。采用实证方法,检验和发展推销方格理论不同风格的推销员遇到防卫型顾客时,何种风格的推销员更有可能完成任务。研究结果修正了传统的看法:防卫型顾客对强力型与技术型推销员的购买意愿有显著差异,且对技术型推销员的购买意愿高于强力型推销员,表明技术型的推销风格更易为人们所接受。     

From academic research to marketing practice: Some further thoughts

In this rejoinder, we share some further thoughts that were triggered by the insightful comments of Lehmann and Winer, and address some concerns expressed by them. We argue that our work can be interpreted using two different reference points, leading to an optimistic view or a more pessimistic one. We also advance a number of strategies for those in our field who aspire to influence the decisions that managers actually make.     

An empirical comparison of consumer-based measures of brand equity

This article compares eleven different consumer-based brand equity measures and evaluates their convergence. Predictive validity at the individual and aggregate levels is also investigated. Measures based on the dollar metric method and discrete choice methodology predict choices extremely well in a simulated shopping environment, as well as purchase-intention and brand-quality scales.