Internal marketing: Concepts,measurement and application

Internal marketing issues have been discussed widely for a number of years yet this remains an area in marketing with many fundamental questions unanswered. Previous research has not satisfactorily addressed a number of crucial issues in its development. The lack of attention to detail has hindered its progress and thus relegated it to the sidelines. As part of a wider study which investigates internal marketing from a transaction cost perspective, this paper sets the scene and explores the different views and applications of internal marketing. It addresses those fundamental questions that have not been thoroughly considered in the past. What are the principles that form the foundations for internal marketing? Does internal marketing belong in all organizations? Is internal marketing merely synonymous with good human resource management or should the organization pursue internal marketing in conjunction with external marketing activities? Then, with the transaction cost framework in mind, this paper considers how internal marketing can be measured and whether it is necessary, merely nice, irrelevant or indeed illegitimate.     

基于4I模型的无线营销的探讨

营销理论从4P、4C、4R发展到4I,他们之间并不是取代关系,而是一种互补、完善和发展的关系,"4I"模型的出现使关系营销更为"精细化"。从无线营销的"4I"模型可以看出,互动是无线营销的核心,"一对一"是无线营销的内在特点,个性化和及时性则是无线营销的外在显著表现。企业只有树立正确的无线营销理念,严格遵守无线营销的一些规则,灵活运用无线营销的"4I"模型,才能提升营销环节的竞争力,从而为企业赢得更多的商业机会和价值。     

农超对接:基于组织治理结构的营销创新研究

目前,"农超对接"是我国农产品市场涌现出的一种新型农产品营销业态,这种流通模式降低了流通费用,提高了农民收入。本文从交易费用及组织治理结构视角,阐释了"农超对接"的营销组织创新机理,对其营销渠道进行了分析,并提出了营销组织创新持续发展的制度保障措施。     

To Be or Not to Be [Locked in]: An Investigation of Buyers' Commitments of Dedicated Investments to Support New Transactions

ABSTRACT

This study draws on two prominent theoretical frameworks, transaction cost analysis and social exchange, which serve as the basis for much of the empirical literature in relationship marketing to investigate the investment behavior of industrial buyers. Specifically, we examine the manner by which situational and contextual factors identified from those frameworks influence buyers' commitment of dedicated investments to support new transactions within ongoing exchange relationships. Our empirical results show that buyer dedicated investments are positively influenced by the extent of supplier dedicated investments, thus supporting the safeguarding rationale posed by transaction cost theory and the reciprocal nature of commitments derived from social exchange theory. Such investments are also positively influenced by the extent of past adaptations made within the pre-existing relationship, consistent with the generalized hostage explanation from the transaction cost literature and theories of the incremental development of relationships. These investments are also positively influenced by the size of the procurement but negatively influenced when a multisourcing purchasing strategy is being pursued, which are consistent with means to manage dependency. It was also found that buyer investments are not uniformly influenced by perceived environmental uncertainty related to supply and market sectors and technological conditions, suggesting that buyers respond to the risks associated with each of these environmental sectors in a distinctive manner.     

基于企业资源异质性的战略联盟偏好研究

关于战略联盟的大多数研究都是沿袭传统的交易成本理论。然而,随着战略联盟数量和方式的不断增加,该理论的解释能力受到质疑。以企业间拥有资源的异质性特征为基础,利用资源学说的观点解释了基于資源异质的战略联盟偏好并对其联盟特性进行了分析总结。     

Governance decisions for the offshore outsourcing of new product development in technology intensive markets

This study addresses how buyers organize their offshore outsourcing new product development relationships. Building on transaction cost economics and resource dependence theories, we propose a model of the influence of key new product development offshore outsourcing factors on two important buyers’ governance decisions (i.e., supply concentration and degree of supplier involvement). The antecedents, drawn from the marketing, management, and international business literatures, include: three sources of asset specificity (degree of modularity, strategic value of the project, and technology specificity) and two sources of uncertainty (cultural distance and technological discontinuity). The results, derived from an analysis of 200 offshore outsourcing new product development relationships, provide new insights for academics and practitioners.     

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics to Oliver E. Williamson: Recognition of the Influence of Transaction Cost Economics on Business Research

This article provides an introduction to the Journal of Retailing Special Issue dedicated to Oliver Williamson and transaction cost economics. The paper briefly outlines transaction cost economics contributions to marketing and related social sciences.     

Green cooperation in last-mile logistics and consumer loyalty: An empirical analysis of a theoretical framework

Based on the contingency, transaction, and trust theories, this paper explored how the green cooperation between supplier and customer in last-mile logistics contributes to consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors and trust and transaction cost's contingency role. We collected survey data from 453 users of green shopping platforms in South Korea (e.g., Homepick and Smart Locker) and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that green cooperation with companies positively affects consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors and trust, and transaction costs negatively moderate such relationships. In addition, customer trust positively affects sustainable consumption behavior and loyalty. We also found that improved sustainable consumption behavior can form loyalty, but transaction cost decreases its positive impact. This paper evaluates the last-mile delivery through green cooperation and enriches the literature on contingency, transaction cost, and trust theories.     

电子商务与和谐营销

在现实中,由于存在着信息不对称,企业追求利益最大化的利己性导致越来越多的企业走向了低伦理营销,电子商务的和谐营销模式通过构建有效的电子商务交易平台降低了交易中的信息不对称程度,减少交易的不确定性,从而促进供应商和购买者在营销博弈过程中达成利益均衡,使营销主体在竞争中协调发展。本文分析了在信息不对称情况下,供应商和消费者面临的信息成本和信息收益,论证了在不同条件下他们各自采取的行为模式,认为电子商务是否发挥作用的关键要看其是否发挥了企业内部和外部各因素以及与企业相关的内部和外部各利益主体的信息整合、协同的作用。     

农户交易中介化——概念界定与经济合理性论证

目前我国绝大多数农户采用直接化的交易方式,近年来,出现了一种新的交易方式,即"交易中介化",到底是哪种交易方式更有效?哪种方式更能节省交易成本?所以必须对其内涵进行界定,以"交易成本"为分析工具,借助一个关于基础交易成本与交易方式选择的模型。由于农户的有限理性、不确定性、交易频率、资产的专用性等因素影响,农户的基础交易成本是相当高的。从微观经济学的角度来看,直接化的交易还会使农户的福利受到损失。换言之,中介化交易是一项有效的制度安排。     

营销的本质是管理交易而非买卖交易——兼论营销与销售的区别

"营销的本质"和"营销与销售的区别"是市场营销理论和实践的基本问题。从制度经济学的视角看,营销的本质是企业的一种管理交易,而不是产品买卖交易。营销具有管理交易的本质特征:生产性、效率性和层级性,而销售具有买卖交易的本质特征:分配性、价格性和平等性。营销本质上是生产者的行为,是产业资本的行为,而销售本质上是商人行为,是商业资本的行为。     

纵向分解中国食品的安全监管问题——TBT与第三类交易成本分析

文章通过建立一个以交易成本为分析工具的规范性框架,探讨我国加强食品(包括国产食品和进口食品)安全监管与交易成本变动的强弱关系,寻找突破TBT重围的出路。文章先将分析角度定位于宏观组织——国家,然后从组织成员(企业)这个层次对交易成本进行分解,运用"第三类交易成本"模型,解析交易成本与"战略性投资"的数理关系。主要结论是:加强食品安全监管是降低食品、农产品出口交易成本、突破TBT障碍的必经之路,也是提高国民生活品质、扭转农产品贸易逆差局面的有效途径。     

The Role of Marketing in Digital Business Platforms

Digital business platforms (DBPs) such as eBay, Google, and Uber Technologies have seen enormous growth; this paper explores their salient characteristics, the role of marketing in helping DBPs succeed, and important research topics for theory and practice. A new conceptual framework based on insights from transaction cost analysis outlines the role and impact of marketing in DBPs. A key role for marketing is to increase the number and quality of interactions on a DBP while reducing transaction costs for users and production costs for the DPB. The DBPs' interactions and the data thus generated are key enablers of value creation and value appropriation on these platforms. However, there are several challenges to resolve in value creation and value appropriation because DBPs cater to the needs of many different types of users. Therefore, DBPs should carefully coordinate and manage interactions among users on different sides of a platform. For researchers, there are many opportunities to reconceptualize some of the traditional roles of marketing in the context of DBPs.     

Branded lives: The production and consumption of meaning at work

Over the last number of decades, as a result of regulatory, technological and changing consumer dynamics, many service organisations operate in an increasingly competitive and dynamic external environment. These changes have led to service companies trying to both recruit and retain profitable customers. In order to compete effectively, do companies focus on transaction and relationship marketing activities only or on the balanced delivery of both? Apart from a small body of work (Brodie et al. 1997; Coviello et al. 1997; 2002), the literature has treated transaction and relationship marketing in an isolated and non-integrated fashion. In particular there has been limited consideration of the pertinent issues facing service organisations trying to integrate these two perspectives in practice. This article describes an in-depth study of a service organisation's transaction and relationship marketing activities. In this study theory was used in the development of a conceptual model. This model was used as a framework to guide the study and data collection using one retail bank case. The data were analysed in relation to the transaction and relationship marketing focus and activities of the bank. The findings indicate that resource investment in some aspects of transaction and relationship marketing activities, in practice, was unbalanced compared to the resource investment in a wide range of support activities. The study has implications for research and theory and to those attempting to deliver both transaction and relationship marketing in the context of dynamic and competitive environments.     

Branding in the era of digital (dis)intermediation

Marketing academics are keenly aware of the seismic shifts in today's marketing environment caused by digital (dis)intermediation. In this article, we discuss four types of digital (dis)intermediation, and how they affect branding activities of incumbents and new firms. First, we discuss digital transaction intermediation, a development that is closely tied to the rise of ecommerce retailers. A second type is digital transaction disintermediation associated with the rise of ecommerce D2C models. These first two types of digital (dis) intermediation are primarily top-down processes, where firms are developing new ways to sell their brands to consumers. The next two types of digital (dis) intermediation are of the bottom-up kind — the consumer is in the driver's seat. Digital marketing intermediation and the rise of D2C brand-building models is powered by crowdsourcing. A final development is digital marketing disintermediation, which is closely tied to the rise of C2C models. We present issues in need of future research for each type of digital (dis)intermediation. We conclude with an appeal that marketing takes the lead in developing overarching, indigenous theories of digital (dis)intermediation to make sense of the rapid changes in the marketplace.     

Book Reviews

Analytical business history requires a synthesis of theories of transaction cost, entrepreneurship and firm-specific competence. These theories can be integrated using the concept of information cost. Economies of information cost explain the emergence of market-making intermediation in capitalist economies. Economists have been so preoccupied with production that they have ignored the role of market-making intermediation, despite the fact that market-making intermediation has a crucial impact on the strategy and organisation of the firm. This essay charts the historical emergence of market-making intermediation, and analyses its effects using a diagrammatic technique specially developed for this purpose. It is suggested that the concept of information cost, and the techniques of analysis allied with it, offer a useful way forward for business historians.     

Corruption in international business

I analyze corruption in international business, presenting a critical assessment of the topic and providing suggestions for future research. I argue that corruption creates a laboratory for expanding international business studies because its illegal nature, the differences in perception about illegality, and the variation in the enforcement of laws against bribery across countries challenge some of the assumptions upon which arguments have been built, i.e., that managers can choose appropriate actions without major legal implications. Hence, I first provide suggestion for how to analyze the topic of corruption in future studies by analyzing the types, measures, causes, consequences, and controls of corruption. I then provide suggestions for how to extend leading theories of the firm by using corruption as a laboratory that challenges some of the assumptions of these theories: extending agency theory by analyzing the existence of unethical agency relationships; extending transaction cost economics by analyzing illegal transaction costs minimization; extending the resource-based view by studying corporate social irresponsibility capability; extending resource dependency by analyzing the ethical power escape; and extending neo-institutional theory by studying illegal legitimacy.     

The theory and practice of user‐initiated innovation

User‐initiated product innovation occurs when a firm that has invented a novel device first invests in its internal application as a process innovation and second seeks returns from its general marketing. The paper defines the nature and scope of user‐initiated innovation (UII), presents summaries of detailed case histories of its instance, and discusses its explanation and managerial implications. Three modes of user‐initiated product innovation and users’ roles in them are distinguished and three explanations of the functional locus of innovation are critically considered in terms of their explication of empirically‐derived strategies of innovation: the appropriability of benefit, appropriability regimes, and transaction costs theories.     

数字化营销的特点及其对企业营销行为的影响分析

随着知识经济的发展和社会数字化进程的加快，在营销领域，数字化营销应运而生。现有的市场营销理论主要针对的还是传统的营销方式，较少涉及这一新兴营销模式。本文在明晰数字化营销内涵的基础上。分析了其特点及其在未来一段时间内对于企业营销行为的影响。