Analysis of means in marketing research

Analysis of variance, often the method of choice in evaluating the outcomes of marketing tests, can be significantly enhanced in its decision-support value. For this purpose one may apply more recently developed supplementary approaches: (1) Evaluation of main effects and interactions with Decision-Line (DL) criteria; (2) graphic multi-comparative analysis contrasted against the DL's; and (3) estimation of net component of variance for factor and interaction effects. An illustrative case history serves to highlight the more comprehensive overview and better understanding of experiment outcomes thus achieved.     

营销双元性、吸收能力与企业营销绩效

基于资源编排理论,高水平的营销开发与营销探索并不一定能够给企业带来更高的营销绩效。有鉴于此,本研究将营销双元性界定为营销开发与营销探索的平衡,同时在营销活动中进行开发与探索,并检验企业吸收能力对营销双元性的销售增长效应的调节作用。对广东省227家中小外向型民营企业进行问卷调查,并结合二手财务数据进行实证研究,结果表明：（1）营销双元性对企业销售增长的影响呈向上的凹形曲线;（2）高水平营销开发的企业中,营销双元性对销售增长的二次效应更强,即营销双元性对销售增长具有积极影响;（3）营销开发与营销探索通过营销双元性间接对企业销售增长产生影响。     

Business cycle research in marketing: a review and research agenda

Business cycles (BCs) may affect entire markets, and significantly alter many firms’ marketing activities and performance. Even though managers cannot prevent BCs from occurring, marketing research over the last 15 years has provided growing evidence that their impact on consumers, and hence on firm and brand performance, depends to a large extent on how firms adjust their marketing mix in response to these macro-economic swings. In this study, we review the growing marketing literature on how to attenuate or amplify the impact of BC fluctuations. Our discussion focuses on three key aspects: (1) the scope of, and insights from, existing BC research in marketing, (2) advancements in the methods to study various BC phenomena in marketing, and (3) some emerging trends that offer new challenges and opportunities for future BC research in marketing.     

Historical research in marketing: Retrospect and prospect

The history of historical research in marketing is reviewed as background to an examination of the state of the art. We focus on the major current contributors to historical research in marketing, their recent works, and opinions about future prospects for this field.     

Directions for marketing knowledge development: Opinions of marketing research managers

If future academic research is to make a meaningful contribution to marketing practice, we must know more about the strengths and gaps in our existing marketing knowledge base. This article reports the findings of a survey of marketing research managers employed by firms serving both consumer and industrial markets. Data were collected on researchers' perceptions of (1) importance of decision making areas, (2) need for additional knowledge accumulation, and (3) type of additional knowledge development. Survey results suggest that some decision areas are perceived to be in far greater need of further study than others, and that academic research output does not always correspond to the information requirements of marketing practitioners. General Electric Company     

The comparative test in marketing research and theory development

The comparative test has traditionally been viewed as a theoretical and methodological technique that was useful for making rapid advances in the development of marketing as a science. Enthusiasm for the comparative test is rooted in logical empiricism. Unexplored implications for the use of the comparative test in marketing are offered from the sophisticated methodological falsificationist and the social constructionist perspectives. A proposed solution to the problems that are created from using the comparative test in the traditional manner is presented. The solution proposed is relevant to methodology in science in general and should aid research and the development of theory in marketing.     

Some observations on the state of the art in marketing research

This paper provides some observations on the state of the art in marketing research. The primary and secondary thrust of the articles published in the Journal of Marketing Research during 1980–1986 is briefly reviewed to identify important areas of inquiry. In each of these areas, we summarize recent developments, highlight the state of the art, offer some critical observations, and identify directions for future research. A cross-classification of various techniques and problem areas is also presented and some observations are made on the application of these techniques to address specific substantive and methodological issues in marketing research.     

Benefits and challenges of conducting multiple methods research in marketing

Using multiple methods to study a phenomenon is proposed to produce results that are more robust and compelling than single method studies. This research note investigates the implementation of multiple methods research in marketing. In the main study, we conducted a content analysis of articles published in five leading marketing journals from 1990 to 2008: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science. To aid in interpretation of findings from the content analysis, we gathered verbal data from authors of recent multiple methods studies to gain further insight into the benefits and challenges of conducting and publishing multiple methods research.     

The integration of microcomputers in marketing research and decision making

This paper focuses on the integrative and pervasive use of microcomputers in marketing research and managerial decision making. The marketing research process is conceptualized as consisting of six phases. At each phase, microcomputer applications and illustrative software are identified as implications for the practice of marketing research discussed. Next the paper illustrates the use of microcomputers in selected application areas such as market segmentation, sales forecasting, new product development, pricing and decision support and expert systems. Guidelines for the selection of microcomputer software in specific situations are provided. The paper concludes with some observations on the future applications of microcomputers in marketing research and decision making.     

A suggested taxonomy for marketing thought: The case of lacking applied development and research in marketing

An examination of marketing literature reveals a surpricing deficiency of articles discussing theoretical applications in marketing. These deficiencies are largely in the area of specific, practical, everyday applied marketing. This article casts the literature into an overall taxonomy of marketing thought and development, highlighting the deficiency. Then the article discusses the deficiency positing reasons for its continued existence. It is thought that such a taxonomy might better help marketers identify critical need areas that might well result in unusually productive findings and advances important to all marketers. EDITOR'S FOOT-NOTE: Reviewers have agreed that marketing has no Taxonomy and needs one, but that a full study and statement would be a Herculean task. The paper published here is presented as a beginning and, as the author himself states, “in the hope to stir controversy, debate, and effort.”     

The utility of item response modeling in marketing research

Item response modeling (IRM/IRT) has been known to marketing scholars for a number of years. However, with the exception of some notable and important applications in international (cross-cultural) marketing and consumer behavior, even a cursory reading of marketing journals reveals a general lack of interest in applying IRM, despite its ability to provide highly useful measurement-related information. To address and hopefully remedy the paucity of adoption, we offer an application-oriented discussion of the utility of IRM for marketing and related business research to enable researchers to utilize the strengths and realize the benefits of this methodology in their empirical work. After a short discussion of the history of IRM, we focus on its fundamentals within a modern statistical framework based on the generalized linear model and closely related non-linear factor analysis. We then engage major concepts of IRM, including item characteristic curve, local independence, and dimensionality, as well as parameter estimation and information functions. The popular one- and two-parameter logistic models are next discussed, as is the issue of model selection. Several polytomous item response models are subsequently dealt with, followed by a discussion of multidimensional IRM and data illustrations of item response models using widely available software. References to exemplar marketing applications are provided along the way, and a discussion of limitations of IRM concludes the article.     

Students in marketing research: Surrogates vs. role-players

The usefulness of the student surrogate has been debated extensively in the marketing literature. The results discussed here suggest that business students are ineffective role-players with regard to anticipating consumers' and businesspersons' reactions; however, students' own evaluations were very much like those of businesspersons.     

Are microcomputers replacing mainframes in marketing research firms?

Recent research, on the computerization of marketing has emphasized the advantages, adoption, and diffusion of microcomputers, largely as compared to mainframe computers. This note compares microcomputer and mainframe usage in marketing research over several activities and suggests that microcomputers have not replaced mainframes to the extent implied by previous articles. In a study of marketing research firms, high microcomputer ownership and increased usage is revealed, not only for word-processing types of activities, but also for data analysis. While a smaller proportion of research firms use mainframes, larger firms are continuing and predominantly increasing their use of mainframes. Further, relatively high rates of mainframe usage are reported for data analysis, data collection, and data base management by firms with access to both types of computers.     

Microcomputer based methods for dyadic interaction research in marketing

Microcomputer based methodologies offer new dimensions to the study of dyadic interaction in marketing. This article explores the role of the microcomputer as a dyadic interaction research tool in the contexts of buyer-seller negotiation and buyer-seller communication processes. The authors conclude that microcomputer applications represent a promising new direction in the study of dyadic behavior. Moreover, the microcomputer’s potential for improved experimental control and measurement is relatively untapped.     

The use of students as experimental subjects in marketing research

The ability to generalize experimental observations to some larger environment is frequently a critical issue in marketing and consumer behavior research. A number of books and articles have been devoted to the problems associated with external validity but only recently have marketing scholars begun to examine the validity of employing students as subjects in marketing studies. The research reported in this paper was undertaken in an effort to investigate the validity of using students as surrogates for their parents along a number of selected cognitive dimensions. Testing the responses of both groups with MANOVA, it was discovered that student repsonses were significantly different from their parents on every dimension of interest. The findings suggest that had these particular student subjects been chosen as surrogates for their parents in a marketing research study, the external validity would have been seriously questioned.     

The impact of the academy of marketing science on marketing scholarship: An analysis of the research published inJAMS

This article presents an analysis of the research published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS). A brief history of the journal is chronicled, and its output in recent years is considered. Special attention is paid to the content of the articles published and the research methods used. An analysis of frequent contributors is also conducted. Much of the analysis focuses on the past 10 years. The conclusion is thatJAMS has made a significant impact on marketing scholarship and has emerged as a top marketing journal of which all the fellows of the academy can justifiably be proud. In an article by Wheatley and Wilson (1987), he was ranked number one in the country based on articles published in theJournal of Marketing Research during 1980–1985. He holds the all-time record for the maximum number of publications in theJournal of Health Care Marketing. He is ranked number one based on publications inJAMS since its inception through Volume 23 (1995). He is also number one based on publications inJAMS during the 10-year period of 1986–1995. He has published 67 articles in major refereed journals. The second edition of his book titledMarketing Research: An Applied Orientation was published recently (Prentice Hall, 1996). The book has received widespread adoption at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, with more than 100 schools using it. He is the winner of numerous awards and honors for research, teaching, and service to the profession. An erratum to this article is available at .