JBBM at 21 with a Tribute to David T. Wilson: Founding Editor of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This article documents the contributions of David T. Wilson to the field of business-to-business marketing in general and his contributions as founding editor of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM).

Methodology: In-depth interviews were conducted with David T. Wilson’s doctoral students to discuss the impact he had on their education in business-to-business marketing and in their personal lives. The list of dissertations, which Dr. Wilson chaired, co-chaired, or served on committee, was compiled through the cooperation of libraries at Texas A&M University and The Pennsylvania State University. This list was verified through ProQuest, a global information-content and technology company that provides solutions, applications, and products for libraries. Further, information in this article was derived from a literature review of David’s early JBBM editorials and scholarly articles, as well as those of the current sitting editor.

Findings: Results of this research demonstrate David T. Wilson’s long-term commitment to the field of business-to-business marketing over his 33-year career at The Pennsylvania State University. His influence is demonstrated through his research, teaching, and service related to business-to-business marketing.

Research implications: David T. Wilson’s vision for JBBM was to position it as a theoretical journal with an international editorial review board and a global impact, including handing the editorial reigns over to David Lichtenthal, the current sitting Editor since 1995 and Wilson’s 16^th doctoral student out of a career total of 38.

Practical implications: It is the responsibility of the editorial review board to understand the journal’s past to help guide the future. Therefore, understanding the contributions of David T. Wilson, as the founding editor, to JBBM and the field of business-to-business marketing is useful to scholars and managers alike. This understanding provides a valuable historical context.     

A Reply to the Commentaries on “Business-to-Business Marketing Textbooks: A Comparative Review”

ABSTRACT

In this commentary, the authors respond to the commentary by Professors Butaney, Hutt and Speh, Narus, and Plank on their commentary article “Business-to-Business Marketing Textbooks: A Comparative Review.” The discussion involves responses to particular aspects of each commentary as well as some general thoughts on future developments of business-to-business marketing textbooks, particularly with respect to the influence of new information and communication media. In responding to the commentaries, the authors argue that while they are aware of a strong subjective element which still remains, their comparative examination of a selection of English-speaking textbooks on business marketing aims at providing theoretically-grounded insights that are helpful for both instructors and practitioners. They argue that the application of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (1956) provides an appropriate framework for this objective and its operationalization, respectively. Although the comparison constitutes only a first step directed towards a thoroughly systematic analysis of textbooks on the subject, hopefully, it may nevertheless prove its fruit-fulness in fostering the discussion on future developments of business marketing textbooks.     

The Implications of Business-to-Business and Consumer Market Differences for B2B Branding Strategy

By integrating existing conceptual models and research findings, this effort examines the noteworthy differences between the B2B and the consumer market contexts and the implications of those differences on the formulation of B2B brand strategies. We introduce the B2B-Consumer Market Dimensions Continuum as a tool to identify key differences between the two markets. The continuum is used to suggest the branding approach that is most likely to be successful in a B2B organization's brand-building efforts.     

Commentary: Relative Presence of Business-to-Business Research in the Marketing Literature: The Demand-Oriented Path Forward

In this article we discuss the relative presence of business-to-business (B2B) research in the marketing literature. We concur that B2B research is underrepresented in marketing literature and business school curricula. Avenues for remedy, improvement, and future research are presented.     

A Bibliometric Analysis of the First 25 Years of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing

Purpose: As part of the recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM), this paper presents an overview of the JBBM through a bibliometric analysis (BA) of its content from 1992 to 2016. The analysis focuses on the most cited articles and authors, h-index, publications per year, among others that typically are conducted for BAs.

Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper begins with an introduction to the JBBM, showing its characteristics, its history as well as the editorial development and subsequent journal positioning. This information is followed by an analysis based on bibliometric methodology (BM) which considers the h-index, total citations (TCs), total papers (TPs), TC/TP ratio and other similar measures. To display this information, investigation was done to determine the most cited journals, articles, authors, universities and countries, ergo with the greatest incidence within JBBM. Analyzed are 329 articles, reviews and notes taken from the Scopus database for the periods between 1992 and 2016 for the JBBM.

Findings: At the time of this work, the completion of the 25th anniversary of this journal, there is a rising trend in the number of JBBM publications per year. The researchers from the United States were most frequent contributors to the journal, while researchers from Germany, Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom were well represented. Multiple coauthors were more frequent while topics across the general model of business-to-business (B-to-B) marketing were typically found. Special issues on all three university-level education, technology in the classroom as well as Internet in effect B-to-B tactical marketing.

Practical Implications: After observing the different perspectives of the journal’s production, we gain another objective view on the evolution of the JBBM in prior 25 years. This approach is useful for the readers of this journal in order to obtain a quick snapshot of the leading trends occurring in the journal and is similar as performed for many cognate titles. The many titles within marketing and the business disciplines may find such an exercise revelatory.

Originality/Value: There is a trend where several journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Business Research) have produced special sections to show progress and contributions of these to scientific research using BA and BM. This paper does similarly for the JBBM.     

The Influence of B to B Social Media Message Features on Brand Engagement: A Fluency Perspective

Purpose: Social media is increasingly drawing the attention and interest of business-to-business (B to B) organizations. Yet, B to B organizations remain cautious in their social media pursuits, in part based on a stated lack of understanding for best practices. The purpose of the current work is to take initial steps to address this challenge by identifying specific social media message features that influence online users’ engagement with B to B organizations.

Methodology/Approach: This work examines the Twitter feeds of the top 50 social B to B brands (as reported by Brandwatch in 2015) to examine the effects of message features (hashtags, text difficulty, embedded media, and message timing) on user engagement, captured in terms of Twitter likes and retweets.

Findings: We argue that message features that enhance fluency (e.g., images) should enhance engagement. In contrast, those that disrupt fluency (e.g., hasthags) should result in lower levels of engagement. Consistent with these predictions, we find that hashtags and text difficulty correlate to lower levels of engagement whereas embedded media in the form of images and video correlate to higher levels of engagement. Also consistent with the proposed fluency framework, we find that tweets from B to B organizations generate greater engagement on evenings and weekends.

Research Implications: This research applies a fluency lens to identify specific message features that influence online engagement. In doing so, it highlights fluency as a powerful construct for understanding the drivers of B to B social media brand engagement. More generally, this work suggests fluency as a valuable conceptual lens for developing effective B to B social media strategies. This research also speaks to the complexity of B to B social media strategies – organizations must go beyond content and platform decisions, to also consider the specific features of the message.

Practical Implications: Social media is becoming more and more important to B to B organizations and is as yet an underutilized engagement tool. The current work offers initial strategies regarding message features that business practitioners can incorporate into their content development strategies to strengthen engagement. Specifically, efforts should be made to attain high levels of fluency in B to B social media content development.

Originality/Value/Contribution of the Paper: The current work offers initial insights as to the importance of understanding not only how social media topics/content influence engagement, but also the influence of message features (e.g., hashtags, embedded media). In doing so, it highlights fluency as a novel conceptual lens for developing more effective B to B social media strategies. Finally, it draws on actual tweets from leading B to B brands to examine the proposed influence of message features on engagement.     

A Scientometric Analysis of Publications in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing 1993–2014

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To conduct a scientometric analysis of the contents of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing from 1993 to 2014.

Methodology/approach: The authors use the Leximancer computer-aided text analysis program, which reliably and reproducibly identifies the main concepts embedded in the text—their frequency and patterns of co-occurrence—based on the ways words move together in the text. They also identify key concepts that differentiate among the networks of concepts occurring in each of the first four five-year periods of the Journal’s history.

Findings: There are four common underlying conceptual themes: relationships, market, study, and business. But the focal mix of concepts has changed over time, from a narrower initial focus on distribution and power and conflict, to a greater focus on firm business marketing strategy and pedagogy, to a focus on networks, the Internet and more collaborative relations, to a focus, in the most recent period, on psycho-social network concepts, such as trust and commitment.

Research implications: The results complement and provide a baseline for evaluating and comparing researcher-conducted literature reviews of business marketing and JBBM’s contributions. The methodology provides possibilities for further analysis as it can be extended to analyze the business marketing and wider marketing literature more generally and how it has evolved.

Practical implications: Leximancer provides a comprehensive, accessible summary of the content of the JBBM and demonstrates its value as a text analysis program.

Originality/value/contribution: The authors are among the first to use this novel computer text analysis program to conduct a scientometric analyses of journal content. It provides a template for conducting studies of other journals and text.     

JBBM at 21: Variety of Theories,Methods, and Countries While Giving Further Voice to Emerging Markets Within Africa

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The articles published in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM) are reviewed for three themes: the varieties of theories used and tested, the methodologies of choice, and most pertinent to this article, the countries from which the data were obtained in the empirical studies.

Methodology/approach: Literature review of the JBBM issues, all inclusive.

Findings: The JBBM has had papers involving surveys 74%; case studies 11%; interviews 6%, experiments 4%, and networks 3%. There is a tremendous breadth of country representation, more than most other marketing journals.

Research implications: The authors encourage more frequent investigations into emerging markets, using African countries as exemplars.

Practical implications: To begin to understand marketing phenomena in the variety of African countries, the authors encourage researchers to establish partnerships, with African scholars and global multinationals whose marketing managers may have interest in understanding these markets and who may have data to share.

Contribution of the paper: Although a seemingly infinite number of marketing questions still exist even in well-developed markets, and scholars have begun to recognize opportunities in developing markets, future research will prove useful into emerging and nascent markets.     

保险O2O营销模式的实践与研究

线上到线下（O2O）营销模式既有别于通常意义上的网络营销,也有别于传统意义上的电子商务。O2O作为一种新型营销模式,越来越受到商家的重视和消费者的认可。在保险营销中运用O2O营销模式具有一定优势,有利于满足消费者个性化需求,有利于保险经营者获得更多商机,有利于促使保险从业人员提高自身综合素质。但其在运行中也面临很多瓶颈问题,如线上线下无缝对接问题、购后服务问题、经营模式创新问题、支付方式问题、保险监管问题等。为更好地解决O2O营销模式在保险营销中遇到的问题,促进保险销售O2O模式健康良性发展,必须抓好以下关键点：一要完善保险企业在线定制个性化服务机制,实现线上线下无缝对接;二要解决O2O营销模式核心内容,明确支付方式;三要为客户提供优良的服务体验环境,建立客户满意度反馈机制;四要结合保险企业实际,采用不同的保险O2O营销模式;五要建立网络评估体系,做好O2O销售成果评估;六要出台相关法律法规,加大对O2O营销模式的监管。     

企业营销危机分析与对策研究

面对市场经济条件下的激烈竞争,如何预防和应付各种突如其来的营销危机,保持企业自身竞争优势,已经成为现代企业亟待解决和思考的问题。对企业而言,营销危机既意味着危险,也意味着机遇,具有隐蔽性、突变性、连带性、公开性和预知性等特点。造成营销危机的内因包括营销理念误区、营销决策失误、营销措施失当、营销人员素质低下和产品策略方面的问题,外因主要包括宏观经济环境的影响、政策法规的颁布和调整、新商务模式的冲击和人为与自然因素。面对营销危机,企业应进行预警分析和预控,开展危机营销,并针对不同情况分别实施诚信策略、转移性策略、缩减性策略、公关策略和创新策略。     

浅析知识经济时代营销人才的精神特征

营销人才是企业连接社会、连接市场的桥梁,营销人员既是企业开拓市场的先锋,又是企业形象的重要代表,但对于企业来说是可遇不可求的。本文透过"把木梳卖给和尚"的故事探讨营销人才具有的精神特征。     

Bridging the B2C and B2B Research Divide: The Domain of Retailing Literature

As the oldest academic journal in marketing, Journal of Retailing publishes research dealing with all sorts of B2B and B2C retailing-related topics. However, there appears to be a perception that Journal of Retailing welcomes only research pertaining to B2C issues. In this article, we debunk that perception through an analysis of the content of Journal of Retailing articles published during the 2002-2008 period. In particular, we find that only 18.7% of Journal of Retailing's content is devoted exclusively to B2C or C2C (consumer-to-consumer) topics. The remainder focuses on B2B research issues. We explore the implications of these findings for researchers who wish to pursue retailing-related B2B research.     

论我国市场研究的演进--对我国企业市场化进程的一种解析

中国的市场研究业作为一个完全在市场经济中成长起来的行业 ,它的成长不仅密切地反映了我国经济体制逐步迈向市场化的过程 ,而且深刻地折射出了中国企业群体逐步走向科学决策和理性营销的过程。本文从这种企业市场化进程和市场研究需求之间的相关性出发 ,回顾和总结了市场化改革背景下我国市场研究业近 2 0年的演进过程和特征 ,并试图通过对市场研究业研究方法、服务对象和营销应用的变化来侧面印证和解析我国企业市场化的进程。     

企业营销预算中资源优化模型与作业预算法

营销预算是企业预算管理中的一个重要组成部分,建立与完善现代企业制度,就必须建立科学化的预算管理体系。预算体系科学化的问题包含了许多内容,如预算观念的创新、预算目标的建立和预算方法的科学化等。本文运用二层规划模型强调对有限资源的有效运用,其求出的结果为最大的企业效益和营销活动效益,对应的费用预算即为最优化的预算决策方案。作业预算法的重点则在于通过作业链和价值链的分析来分配获取相应价值的合理付出;以企业战略和客户需求为起点,通过价值链分析来改进企业的业务流程,并根据顾客链预测作业量,进而更合理地预测成本并实施有效控制。     

Logit模型在市场营销定量研究中的应用——消费者对家电品牌选择的实证分析

市场营销的定量研究以及如何开启消费者的行为黑箱,一直以来都是国外市场营销研究者们长期并将继续深入探讨的核心主题。在此过程当中,Logit模型是他们比较青睐和广泛采用的一类研究工具。通过对Logit模型的原理的介绍,以及将这一模型用于国内消费者对某一家电品牌选择的实证研究,从而表明Logit模型能够用于分析市场营销研究中的诸多问题,并且能够揭示出更多有用的量化信息,而这对于市场营销的学术研究和市场营销管理的实践都无疑是大有裨益的。     

The effect of customer empowerment on adherence to expert advice

Customers often receive expert advice related to their health, finances, taxes or legal procedures, to name just a few. A noble stance taken by some is that experts should empower customers to make their own decisions. In this article, we distinguish informational from decisional empowerment and study whether empowerment leads customers to adhere more or less to expert advice. We empirically test our model by using a unique dataset involving 11,735 respondents in 17 countries on four continents. In the context of consumer adherence to doctors' therapy advice (patient non-adherence to doctor advice may cost about $564 billion globally to the pharmaceutical industry every year), we find that decisional empowerment lowers adherence to expert advice. The effect of informational empowerment varies predictably across cultures and is only universally beneficial when initiated by the customer. These findings have important implications for professional service providers.     

The Global and Regional Dispersion of Publishing in the Field of International Marketing

ABSTRACT

This paper empirically examines the research productivity of academic institutions in the leading international marketing journals, leading generalist marketing journals, and leading international business journals between the years 1999 and 2003 from a regional and country-specific perspective. The research found that across the three groups of journals, the majority of works were authored by academics at institutions located in North America, although North Americans contribute significantly less in the international marketing and international business journals than leading generalist marketing journals. The findings suggest that there is a broadening of non-U.S. influence within the international marketing and international business journals, which should lead to a broadening of international marketing theory.     

The Future Scope of Netnography and Social Network Analysis in the Field of Marketing

The marketing landscape has evolved to a great extent with the advent of Internet strategy integration, refined Internet marketing metrics, increase in wireless networking, rising consumer ownership of computers, the era of big data and e-commerce, influencer marketing, and the evolution of the Internet. To tap this virtual environment, newer methods of Internet research are required. This article studies the usage of two Internet research methodologies—Netnography and Social Network Analysis—and explores their potential toward the domain of marketing. An exhaustive literature review was conducted and after analyzing the previously published literature in this domain, it is seen that a clear link between these methodologies and the field of marketing has not been established. With a detailed analysis of previously published research work, using these two methodologies the authors are able to derive correlations with marketing concepts and are able to establish the future potential of the two methodologies of Netnography and Social Network Analysis as marketing research methodologies.     

营销动态能力的概念与量表开发

营销动态能力是动态能力在企业营销领域的特定形式,对其内涵及结构维度的研究还比较缺乏。文章运用混合方法对营销动态能力进行概念界定与量表开发：首先对营销动态能力理论渊源进行梳理,然后对其概念内涵进行界定;继而通过内容分析和探索性因子分析编制营销动态能力量表;最后运用327家样本企业数据对量表进行信度和效度检验。结论表明,营销动态能力具有多维度结构,包含市场感知能力、界面协同能力和顾客响应能力三大维度。研究结论为企业培育营销动态能力提供方向指引,也为后续实证研究奠定工具基础。     

A brief commentary on the past,present and future trajectory of the Journal of World Business

In this brief commentary, we reflect on 50 years of the Journal of World Business and its predecessor, Columbia Journal of World Business. Commenting from our roles as authors, editorial board members, reviewers and advocates for the journal, we chronicle important trends in JWB's editorial emphasis and publication record, trends that are reflective of broader changes in the global business environment and the field of International Business. We derive a series of themes that have ebbed and flowed during the period, and reflect on these patterns and their implications for IB scholarship. We conclude by deriving insights from past contributions that can shed light on future directions in the international business field.