The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: A field experiment

This research relied on a field experiment involving a real-world instance of corporate philanthropy to shed light on both the scope and limitations of the strategic returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, the authors demonstrate that the impact of CSR in the real world is not only less pervasive than has been previously acknowledged but also more multifaceted than has been previously conceptualized. The findings indicated that contingent on CSR awareness, which was rather low, stakeholders did react positively to the focal company not only in the consumption domain but in the employment and investment domains as well. Stakeholder attributions regarding the genuineness of the company’s motives moderated these effects. Sankar Sen (sankar_sen@baruch.cuny.edu) is a professor of marketing at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in marketing in 1993 from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on consumer decision making. He is interested, more specifically, in consumer reactions to company actions, particularly in the domain of CSR. His research has appeared inCalifornia Management Review, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Economic Theory, and others. C. B. Bhattacharya (cb@bu.edu) received his Ph.D. in marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and his M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in 1984. Prior to joining Boston University, he was on the faculty at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University. His specific expertise is in the areas of customer retention and the roles of CSR and organizational identification in designing marketing strategy. He served on the editorial review board of theJournal of Marketing from 2002 to 2005 and has published in journals such as theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, andOrganization Science. He speaks frequently at many academic and business forums and won the William Novelli Best Paper Award at the Social Marketing Conference in 1997. Dr. Bhattacharya received the 2001 Broderick Prize for Research Excellence at Boston University and the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award in 1995, the highest teaching award at Emory University. He is also part of the select group of faculty members onBusiness Week’s Outstanding Faculty list. Prior to his Ph.D., he worked for 3 years as a product manager for Reckitt Benkiser PLC. He has consulted for organizations such as the Hitachi Corporation, Procter & Gamble Company, Bell South, The Prudential Bank, Information Resources Inc., Airwick Industries, Silo Inc., and the High Museum of Art. Daniel Korschun (danielk@bu.edu) is a doctoral candidate in marketing at Boston University. His current research interests include brand management, CSR, and interorganizational relationships.     

The differing roles of success drivers across sequential channels: An application to the motion picture industry

In several product categories, it is typical to release products sequentially to different markets and customer segments. Conventional knowledge holds that the roles of various product success drivers do not differ significantly across these sequential channels of distribution. The authors examine sequential distribution channels within the motion picture industry and develop a model that proposes that such differences exist between a primary (short- and long-term theatrical box office) and a sequential (video rental) channel. The authors test their model with a sample of 331 motion pictures released in theaters and on video during 1999–2001 using partial least squares. Results reveal differences in the impact of success factors across channels. For example, cultural familiarity enhances box office success but relates negatively to video rental success, and distribution intensity and date of release enhance box office outcomes but have no impact on rental revenues. Thorsten Hennig-Thurau (tht@medien.uni-weimar.cie) is a professor of marketing and media research at Bauhaus-University of Weimar’s Media School and Honorary Visiting Professor of Movie Marketing in the Faculty of Management of Cass Business School, City University London. He has published articles in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Service Research, theInternational Journal of Electronic Commerce, theJournal of Interactive Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, and theJournal of Consumer Affairs, among others. He is author of the monograph Relationship Marketing, which has been translated into Chinese. He is member of the editorial board of three journals and serves as reviewer for theJournal of Marketing andMarketing Science. He has won eight Best Article and Best Paper Awards, including the Overall Best Paper Award of the 2005 American Marketing Association Summer Educators’ Conference and the 2002JSR Excellence in Service Research Award. Mark B. Houston (houstonmb@missouri.edu) (PhD, Arizona State University) is the David and Judy O’Neal MBA Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research on strategy, interfirm relationships, and innovation has been published in leading journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He cochaired the 2005 American Marketing Association (AMA) Summer Educators’ Conference and served for two terms as vice president of the AMA’s Technology and Marketing Special Interest Group. Gianfranco Walsh (g.walsh@strath.ac.uk) received his MPhil degree from UMIST (England) and PhD (2001) and Habilitation (2004) degrees from Hanover (Germany). His research focuses on consumer behavior, corporate reputation, and e-commerce. He has presented numerous papers at international conferences. His work has been published in, among others, theAcademy of Marketing Science Review, the International Journal of Electronic Commerce, theJournal of Consumer Affairs, theJournal of Interactive Marketing, theJournal of Macromarketing, and theJournal of Marketing Management. He is the Chair of Marketing and Electronic Retailing at the Institute for Management, University of Koblenz-Landau.     

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.     

Do citizenship behaviors matter more for managers than for salespeople?

This research was designed to investigate the effects of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and objective sales productivity on sales managers’ evaluations of their sales personnel’s performance and to examine whether the impact of OCBs on performance evaluations is greater at higher levels of the sales organization hierarchy. Two samples were obtained from the same organization: a sample of 987 multiline insurance agents and a sample of 161 agency managers. Objective measures of sales productivity were obtained for both samples along with evaluations of three dimensions of OCBs and an assessment of overall performance. The results indicate that managers’ evaluations are determined at least as much by OCBs as they are by objective measures of performance. After partialing out common method variance, the results also indicate that OCBs account for a greater proportion of a sales manager’s evaluation than of a sales representative’s evaluation. The implications of these findings are discussed. Scott B. MacKenzie (Ph.D., UCLA, 1983) is a professor of marketing and the Edgar G. Williams Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. His research on advertising effectiveness, organizational citizenship behavior, and leadership issues can be found in theJournal of marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, andJournal of Consumer Psychology. Philip M. Podsakoff (D.B.A., Indiana University, 1980) is the John F. Mee Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is the author or coauthor of more than 60 articles and/or scholarly book chapters that have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Academy of Management Journal, Psychological Bulletin, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, Organizational Dynamics, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of International Business Studies, andJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. He serves on the Board of Editors of theJournal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Julie Beth Paine is a doctoral student in management at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Her research interests include competence in performance, performance evaluation processes, and reward systems.     

How does sharing a sales force between multiple divisions affect salespeople?

An increasing number of firms are sharing a sales force between multiple divisions of their companies. Although this practice may increase organizational efficiency by reducing unit selling costs, it is not clear how it affects outcomes at the level of the individual salesperson. This study examines the effects of sharing a sales force between multiple divisions on salespeople’s role perceptions, satisfaction, and performance. The results indicate that sharing is associated with higher levels of role stress and lower levels of work satisfaction and nonfinancial performance. The association between sharing and financial performance is not significant. Formalization and centralization of the sales organization moderate the relationships between sharing and the outcome variables. Higher levels of formalization lessen the effects of sharing on salespeople’s role conflict, role ambiguity, and work satisfaction. Conversely, higher levels of centralization exacerbate the effects of sharing on role ambiguity and work satisfaction. His research interests include issues in personal selling, sales management, and channels of distribution. He has published in theJournal of Retailing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include management of brand equity and competitive analysis. He has published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andPlanning Review. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests are in the areas of personal selling and sales management. His articles have appeared in numerous journals, and one of them received the William O’Dell Award for the most outstanding article published in theJournal of Marketing Research. He has coauthored several books includingSales Force Management: Planning Implementation and Control (Irwin, 1992). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Urbana.     

Socializing children about television: An intergenerational study

This article describes a study on mothers’ views of television and children’s perceptions of their mothers’ socialization efforts regarding television. Results from the investigation involving 174 mother and child (in Grades 3–6) dyads suggest that mothers’ perceptions of their responsibilities regarding children’s television viewing vary by parental style. In addition, children’s perceptions of mothers’ verbal interactions about TV and coviewing together with opinions, monitoring, and controlling of television similarly vary across parental styles. These findings support previous research that parental styles play a role in determining the manner in which mothers socialize their offspring about television. Les Carlson (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is a professor of marketing at Clemson University. His research interests center on consumer socialization and environmental advertising. His work has appeared inInternational Marketing Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of General Psychology, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and various conference proceedings. He is a past editor of theJournal of Advertising. Russell N. Laczniak (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is a professor of marketing and chair, Departments of Management and Marketing, at Iowa State University. His primary research interests deal with marketing communication. His research has been published in theJournal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Marketing Communications, Marketing Letters, and various conference proceedings. Ann Walsh (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an assistant professor of marketing at Western Illinois University. She has published in theJournal of Advertising, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Affairs, and American Marketing Association Educators’ Proceedings.     

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 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.     

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.     

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.     

Customers’ reactions to price increases: Do customer satisfaction and perceived motive fairness matter?

Most of the previous research on price changes has focused on price decreases. This article investigates the effects of price increases at an individual level. The authors argue that customers’ reactions to price increases (i.e., repurchase intentions) are strongly driven by two factors: the magnitude of the price increase and the perceived fairness of the motive for the price increase. In this context, the authors examine the role of customer satisfaction in influencing the impact of these two variables on repurchase intentions after a price increase. Their findings reveal that as satisfaction increases, the negative impact of the magnitude of a price increase is weakened. Furthermore, the results suggest that satisfaction moderates the impact of perceived motive fairness. The authors also find that the level of satisfaction can influence the valence of the perceived motives in response to a price increase. Christian Homburg (homburg@bwl.uni-mannheim.de) is a professor of marketing and chair of the Marketing Department at the University of Mannheim, Germany. He also serves as director of this university’s Institute for Market-Oriented Management. He holds master’s degrees in business administration and mathematics and a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He also holds a habilitation degree from the University of Mainz, Germany. His research interests include market-oriented management, buyer-seller relationships, and business-to-business marketing. He has published in theJournal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing. He is also the founder of Professor Homburg & Partners, an internationally operating management consulting firm. Wayne D. Hoyer (wayne.hoyer@bus.utexas.edu) is the the James L. Bayless/William S. Farish Fund Chair for Free Enterprise, the chairman of the Department of Marketing, and the director of the Center for Customer Insight in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.A. from Purdue University in the area of consumer psychology. He has published more than 60 articles in various forums including theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, the Journal of Advertising Research, and theJournal of Retailing. His research interests include customer insight and relationship management, consumer information processing and decision making (especially low-involvement decision-making), and advertising effects (most particularly, miscomprehension and the impact of humor). Nicole Koschate (nicole.koschate@bwl.uni-mannheim.de) is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration at the University of Mannheim, Germany. She holds a double master’s degree in business administration and psychology and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Mannheim, Germany. Her current research areas include pricing, customer insight, dynamic issues in marketing phenomena, and buyerseller relationships. Her research appears in several outlets, including theJournal of Marketing.     

The impact of social influence and role expectations on shopping center patronage intentions

Shopping is generally a socially visible behavior, frequently done while accompanied by friends or family. The importance of the social interaction achieved through shopping would suggest that social referents may affect the patronage behavior of consumers. However, the ability of social referents to influence patronage may depend on how important the role of shopper is to the individual. Historically, females were expected to assume the role of shopper. But there is evidence that currently the role of shopper has increased in importance for males while decreasing for females who do not occupy the role of housewives. This study used a behavioral intentions modeling approach to investigate the strength and significance of social referent influence on three shopper segments with differing types of role expectations. The shopping orientations and retail feature preferences of the three segments were also measured. The findings suggest there are important differences among the three groups. His primary research interests are in the areas of sales, sales management, and marketing management. His work has appeared in a variety of publications such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and a number of conference proceedings. In addition to his research interests, he has worked in a consulting capacity addressing sales and sales management issues in the insurance and banking industries. in the consumer science and retailing department. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Arizona State University. His primary research interests are in the areas of retail management and marketing strategy. He has coauthored articles in theJournal of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior andJournal of Customer Service in Marketing and Management and has presented a number of papers at various conferences. James D. Gill is vice president of Intersearch Corporation, where he is responsible for the design, implementation, and management of customer satisfaction measurement programs. Prior to joining Intersearch, he was vice president of client services for Walker: Customer Satisfaction Measurements for 5 years. He was also a marketing professor at Arizona State University for 7 years. He has published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Public Opinion Quarterly, andCurrent Issues and Research in Advertising, among others. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, where he received a Ph.D. in business, an M.A. in marketing, and a B.S. in business administration.     

The consumer quest for authenticity: The multiplicity of meanings within the MG subculture of consumption

Authenticity in the consumption context is an important topic within the marketing literature. This article explores authenticity’s multiplicity of meanings within the MG brand subculture of consumption. An ethnographic approach guided data collection, which included participant observation, photo and document reviews, informal conversations, and formal, in-depth interviews with 58 MG owners. The data show that MG owners gain a sense of authenticity in the consumption context via the object and its ownership, consumer experiences, and identity construction and confirmation. As an object, an MG is authentic if it broaches an ideal standard and preserves the brand heritage. An MG experience is authentic when an owner interacts with the car through driving and self-work activities. Finally, an MG owner authenticates his or her identity through role performance and communal commitment. Implications are discussed in light of brand management. Thomas W. Leigh (tleigh@terry.uga.edu) holds the Emily H. and Charles M. Tanner, Jr. Chair of Sales Management at the University of Georgia. He earned his DBA in marketing at Indiana University and an MBA and BS (economics) from Southern Illinois University. He is a past president of the American Marketing Association (AMA) Academic Council, has served on the AMA Board Finance Committee, and is a charter member of the AMA Foundation Leadership Circle. He served as chairman of the East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross from 1992 to 1993. His research has appeared in a variety of journals, includingJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Planning Review, Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, andExpert Systems and Applications. He has served on the editorial boards ofJournal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management. Cara Peters (petersc@winthrop.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She holds a BA in management from Luther College and an MBA and a PhD in business administration from the University of Nebraska. She has published in numerous conference proceedings and peer-reviewed journals, including theJournal of Consumer Psychology; Consumption, Markets, and Culture; and {jtJournal of Academy of Marketing Science}. Jeremy Shelton (sheltonious@yahoo.com) is an assistant professor of psychology at Lamar University. He holds a PhD from the University of Georgia. His research interests lie in consumer identity and brand extensions. He has published inConsumption, Markets, and Culture, among other outlets.     

Ethical sensitivity to stakeholder interests: A cross-cultural comparison

This study applied Hofstede’s typology to examine the effect of culture on ethical sensitivity toward various stakeholders. It was found that uncertainty avoidance had a positive effect and that power distance and individualism/masculinity had negative effects on ethical sensitivity. The results also indicated that ethical sensitivity to stakeholder interests is dependent on which stakeholder is affected. Although Americans and Taiwanese sales agents were equally sensitive to customer interests, the Taiwanese were more sensitive to the interests of their company and a competitor but were less sensitive to the interests of a colleague. This study should prove valuable to international marketers because the cultural typology allows managers to identify differences in work-related values of employees across different nationalities and thus provides a theoretical base for designing more effective sales management practices. Jeffrey G. Blodgett (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. His research interests include consumer complaint behavior and cross-cultural issues. His work has been published in theJournal of Retailing, Journal of Services Research, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, and in other marketing journals. Long-Chuan Lu is an assistant professor of marketing at the National Chung-Cheng University of Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, in addition to other journals and conference proceedings. Gregory M. Rose (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Mississippi. His research interests include consumer socialization and cross-cultural consumer behavior. He has published articles in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Marketing, and other journals and proceedings. Scott J. Vitell is the Phil B. Hardin Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi, receiving his Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. His previous work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, andResearch in Marketing and the Journal of Business Ethics, in addition to numerous other journals and conference proceedings.     

Selling strategies: The effects of suggesting a decision structure to novice and expert buyers

This research investigates the impact of selling strategies on selling effectiveness. The authors compare two selling strategies: (1) an agenda strategy, in which a salesperson attempts to influence the structure of the buyer’s decision by suggesting constraints that eliminate competitive products from consideration, and (2) a more typical selling strategy that summarizes the target product’s benefits. The results show that when sellers use an agenda selling strategy, target products receive higher evaluations and have higher probabilities of being considered and chosen. Buyer expertise moderates this effect, with the agenda strategy in most cases having more impact on novice buyers than on expert buyers. These findings demonstrate the importance of selling strategy to selling effectiveness, suggest the potential benefit for sellers of using selling strategies that attempt to influence the structure of the buyer’s decision, and provide support for the contingent nature of selling effectiveness. Judy A. Wagner (Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) is currently an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her primary research interests are personal selling strategies, sales management, and buyer decision making. Her research has been published inAdvances in Consumer Research and the proceedings of the American Marketing Association and is forthcoming in theJournal of Business Research. Noreen M. Klein (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 theJournal of Consumer Research andOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Making. Janet E. Keith (Ph.D., Arizona State University) is currently an associate professor of marketing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research interests lie in behavioral issues in channels of distribution and in sales and sales management. Her studies have been published in journals such as theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, andJournal of Marketing Channels.     

Heterogeneity in sales districts: Beyond individual-level predictors of satisfaction and performance

This article examines the influence of heterogeneity within a sales unit on the unit’s satisfaction and performance.Sales unit refers to a set of salespersons working out of the same office and for the same supervisor, andheterogenity refers to salespersons’ dispersion or variance on key dimensions. Specifically, drawing on theories in social psychology, the authors study the influence of sales unit heterogeneity in terms of (1) demographic characteristics (e.g., gender dispersion), (2) skills and rewards (e.g., reward dispersion), and (3) goal orientations (e.g., learning orientation dispersion) on a sales unit’s performance and job satisfaction levels. The hypotheses developed are tested using data from a study involving 476 salespeople belonging to 105 sales units in a large organization. The authors find that the focal heterogeneity variables account for nearly 25 percent of the total variance explained by the full set of independent variables included in the model. R. Venkatesh is an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business. His articles on product bundling, cobranding and sales force management have appeared or are forthcoming in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andMarketing Science. Goutam Challagalla is an associate marketing professor at Georgia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas at Austin, where he won the Outstanding Dissertation Award. He has published articles on sales management and marketing theory in marketing and psychology journals. Ajay K. Kohli is Isaac Stiles Hopkins professor of marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. During 2000–2001, he is on leave from Emory and working at the Monitor Company. He has published in several journals on market orientation, sales management, and organizational buying behavior.     

A scale for measuring attitude toward private label products and an examination of its psychological and behavioral correlates

A measure of consumers’ attitude toward private label brands is developed, and its psychometric properties are assessed. Predictions are then tested regarding relationships between private label attitude and (1) latent perceptual and sales promotion constructs, and (2) purchase behaviors measured in a field setting. The measure is positively related to value consciousness, deal proneness, and smart-shopper self-perceptions, and negatively related to the propensity to be brand loyal and hold price-quality perceptions. Predictive validity of the private label measure is supported by a positive relationship with private label purchases from a grocery store shopping trip. Despite a positive relationship between the latent constructs of private label attitude and deal proneness, the consumer segment that allocated a high percentage of total purchases to private label products made fewer purchases on sale or with a coupon. These findings suggest that consumers may choose between price-related deals and private label purchases. Scot Burton is professor and Wal-Mart chairholder in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include public policy and consumer welfare concerns, consumer price and promotion perceptions, and survey research measurement issues. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, theJournal of Applied Psychology, and others. Donald R. Lichtenstein is a professor in the Department of Maketing at the University of Colorado. His research interests include consumer processing of price and sales promotion information and consumer welfare issues related to marketplace choice. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, and others. Richard G. Netemeyer is a professor in the Department of Marketing, E. J. Ourso College of Business Administration at Louisiana State University (LSU). He received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of South Carolina in 1986. Since then, he has been a member of the marketing faculty at LSU. His research interests include measurement and scaling, public policy, maladaptive behaviors, and consumer behavior in general. His research has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, and others. He is also a member of the editorial review boards of theJournal of Consumer Research and theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing. Judith A. Garretson is a Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include promotion issues and public policy and consumer welfare. her work has appeared in theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, theJournal of Professional Services Marketing, and proceedings of the American Marketing Association and Association for Consumer Research.     

Estimating individual cross-section coefficients from the random coefficient regression model

Marketing researchers frequently encounter cross-sectional, time-series data when developing sales response models. One approach to analyzing such data is to estimate a separate OLS equation for each cross-section. Alternatively, one could pool the data from all cross-sections to estimate a single set of response coefficients for all cross-sections. However, when data are pooled, the responsiveness of individual cross-sections cannot be evaluated. In this note, we introduce a version of the random coefficient model that can be used to estimate separate sets of response coefficients for each cross-section, thereby circumventing the assumption that coefficients are homogeneous in all cross-sections. We demonstrate this approach with an empirical model that relates brand level sales to price and advertising. This research was conducted while he was on the Marketing Department faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his doctorate from Purdue University. Dr. Leone’s primary research interests investigating the effects of advertising, price, and promotion on market performance. He has written extensively in this area and has published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Management Science andOperations Research. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics at Purdue University. His research focuses on econometric methods and statistical modelling in finance and marketing. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Mulhern specializes in econometric and time series analysis, particularly of retail price and promotional activities. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing and theJournal of Business Research.     

Marketing to and serving customers through the internet: An overview and research agenda

The authors discuss the motivations for this special issue and propose a conceptual framework pertaining to the issue’s theme. Using this framework as a backdrop, they then offer an overview of the remaining articles by segmenting them into categories and discussing their relationship to the framework. They conclude by highlighting research avenues for augmenting our understanding of marketing to and serving customers through the Internet. A. Parasuraman (D.B.A., Indiana University) is a professor and holder of the James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing at the University of Miami. He has received many distinguished teaching and research awards. In 1988, he was selected as one of the “Ten Most Influential Figures in Quality” by the editorial board ofThe Quality Review. In 1998, he received the American Marketing Association’s “Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award.” In 2001, he received the Academy of Marketing Science’s “Outstanding Marketing Educator Award.” Dr. Parasuraman has published numerous articles in leading scholarly and managerial journals. He has served as editor of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science for a 3-year term (1997–2000). He has authored or coauthored several books, the most recent of which isTechno-Ready Marketing: How and Why Your Customers Adopt Technology (2001). George M. Zinkhan is the Coca-Cola Company Chair of Marketing at the University of Georgia. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Michigan, he served on the faculty at both the University of Houston and the University of Pittsburgh. His main research focus is in the areas of communication, advertising, and electronic commerce. His recent coauthored books includeElectronic Commerce: A Strategic Perspective (2000) andConsumers (2002).     

The accuracy of brand and attribute judgments: The role of information relevancy, product experience, and attribute-relationship schemata

A multidimensional approach for accuracy of ratings is introduced that examines consumers’ abilities to assess various brands across a set of attributes and attribute performances across a set of brands. A model is presented that addresses the roles of the relevancy of information, attribute-relationship schemata, and consumers’ product category experience on the accuracy of their brand attribute ratings. Study participants were provided either with relevant or irrelevant attribute information for various automobile brands and later asked to rate the attribute performances of brands. The results indicate that the provision of relevant information in the judgment environment increases brand and attribute rating accuracy but does not favorably affect consumers’ brand attribute-relationship schemata. Rather, consumers’ product experience was directly related to their attribute-relationship schemata, which in turn were related to improved accuracy of brand and attribute ratings. Kevin Mason is an associate professor of marketing at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include consumer information processing and choice strategies. He has published in theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, Journal for the Association of Marketing Educators, andInternational Advances in Economics Research. Thomas Jensen is professor and Wal-Mart lecturer in retailing in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include consumer information processing, advertising and price perceptions, and retail image and patronage. His work has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, and other journals. Scot Burton is professor and Wal-Mart chairholder in marketing, Department of Marketing and Transportation, University of Arkansas. His research interests include public policy and consumer welfare concerns, survey research measurement issues, and consumer price and promotion perceptions. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and other journals. Dave Roach is a professor of management at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include information processing, judgmental accuracy, and organization change. He has published inHuman Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Journal of Information Technology Management, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, andJournal for the Association of Marketing Educators.