Crafting customer insight: What we can learn from the revival of the vinyl record

The recent resurgence of the vinyl record and the proliferation of so-called craft and artisanal products offer unique opportunities to observe ongoing shifts in the contemporary consumer’s values and attitudes. In this article, we explore such thought-provoking market developments and their implications by contrasting them with the conventional understanding of markets and consumers. This understanding can lead to marketing myopia as it works from the utility-oriented assumption that what ultimately matters for both the company and the customer is cost efficiency and convenience. Against this backdrop, in this article, we discuss how market developments representing the contemporary consumer’s mindset prove valuable in creating customer insight that highlights aspects often obscured by an exaggerated focus on cost efficiency and convenience. We provide an alternative approach to evaluating markets and consumers that encourages companies to build their customer-centric market strategies around questions of context, authenticity, story, and resonance. This will help them narrow the gap between their market offerings and the actual wants and needs of their customer, and consequently allow them to revitalize their market.     

The Power of Consequential Product Sounds

Building on theory in sensory marketing, mental simulation, and cue diagnosticity, this research investigates when consequential product sounds, or ancillary sounds generated by the normal operation of a product, can impact customers’ perceptions and behavioral intentions. Across four studies, we demonstrate how consequential product sounds coupled with imagery and phrasing of products in use can encourage customers into a mental space in which they can clearly envision using the product, also known as a process mindset. This mindset allows customers to use the amplitude of the consequential product sound to make inferences about its power, and subsequently enhances their willingness to pay for louder products (versus quiet products or those with no sound). Effects are attenuated when customers are encouraged into an outcome mindset, or a mental space in which they only consider the end benefits of using a product. We provide clear theoretical and managerial implications and, based on our findings, propose that retailers should consider incorporating consequential product sounds into customers’ shopping experiences, as these auditory cues can help to encourage a process mindset and thereby, positively impact customers’ willingness to pay.     

Performance implications of cognitive complexity: An empirical study of cognitive strategic groups in semiconductor industry

This study extends previous strategic group research by empirically examining the performance effects of group's cognitive complexity in Taiwan semiconductor industry. Through computer-aided content analysis, this study derives themes from letters to shareholders as variables to assess the managerial cognitive complexity and uses thematic variations to find cognitive strategic groups during periods of market downturns, uncertainty and upturns. The study specifies three statistically reliable and accurate themes (operation, customer, and product) and identifies five types of cognitive strategic groups with different degrees of cognitive complexity on perceived strategic dimensions. The results indicate that cognitively complex groups with dual orientations toward customers and products sustain competitive advantages over time, especially during periods of market downturns and uncertainty.     

Bundling products to success: The influence of complementarity and advertising

This study investigates the strategic influence of product complementarity and advertising on the success of bundling products. We use a profit maximization model to show that when a firm sells bundled products, both the product complementarity and advertising significantly impact the performance of bundled products. The bundling strategy with advertising can help firm achieve higher performance than the bundling strategy without advertising. However, the price discount to the identical products must be attractive to customers and the degree of product complementarity to the complementary products must be large enough, and then the bundling strategy with advertising can obtain a success in the market. Furthermore, our results also show that when the degree of the complementarity between two products increases, firm should invest less on advertising to promote the bundled products. Based on our results, we propose optimal marketing strategies for firms to adopt. Firm managers can utilize our findings to plan their bundling strategies wisely.     

Relating strategic market orientation and market performance: role of customer value types

A service provider achieves competitive advantage by configuring appropriate strategic orientation and customer value type. This paper addresses three important issues: (i) which customer value type (economical, relational or technical) is important for bank customers? (ii) which strategic market orientation (customer or competitor) helps in achieving the desired value type? and (iii) which value type significantly predicts market performance? We propose that a strategic market orientation pursued by a firm shall influence the customer value it intends to offer so as to maximize the market performance. Using data collected from 538 bank customers, this study reveals that when there is a perfect match between strategic market orientation and value being perceived by its customers, a firm shall achieve strategy-value fit and realize optimal market outcomes in the form of customer satisfaction, acquisition, retention, cross-selling, and up-selling. Furthermore, a bank shall realize maximum level of market performance if it pursues both customer and competitor orientation and endeavors to deliver technical/functional value to its target customers. The paper concludes with managerial implications and future research directions.     

Does online observational learning matter? Empirical evidence from panel data

The information presented on a product sales page plays an important role in consumers' purchase decisions. This study examines the persuasive effect, whether a customer's choice is heavily driven by information inferred from others' behavior, and how these impacts are moderated by market age and product type. Results show that online customer choice was significantly affected by historical cumulative sales and times saved. Positive cumulative sales and shop service quality have a significant positive impact on product sales. The times saved have no direct impact on product sales. For different types of products, the times saved of experiential products has a significant impact on product sales, while the shop service quality information of search products has a greater impact on product sales. The influence of online observation learning on product sales will be significantly moderated by a combination of product type and market age. These findings not only offer important theoretical contributions to e-commerce research but also provide practical implications for online sellers and managers of social commerce platforms.     

城市营销的机会分析

城市营销在近年来越来越受到国际性的关注。在制定城市营销战略的过程中，首要的任务就是要分析城市营销的机会。本文在前人研究的基础上，总结了以环境分析和市场分析为核心的城市营销机会分析框架，并进一步展开了以SWOT分析为精髓的城市营销环境分析和以顾客行为分析和市场细分为要旨的城市营销市场分析。     

It's a secret: Marketing value and the denial of availability

Marketing thrives on secrets, yet surprisingly little formal attention has been paid to how the marketing of secrecy and the secrecy of marketing can play a significant role in contemporary organizations. We draw upon the fields of organizational studies, psychology, and marketing to develop a typology of secrets that reflects their marketing value and their knowledge value. Marketing secrets can have value to the firm (strategic value), to the customer (marketing value), or to both parties. Based on these two dimensions, we identify four different types of marketing secrets: (1) appealing secrets have high strategic value, as well as high marketing value; (2) mythical secrets mean little to the firm but a lot to the customer; (3) plain secrets are critical to the firm but are irrelevant to customers; and (4) weak secrets have neither strategic value nor marketing value. Our typology enables academics to formulate research questions regarding secrecy in marketing, and serves as a guide for practitioners in the construction of strategies that can exploit the strategic value of secrets by ‘romancing’ them, and increase their knowledge value by ‘educating’ the secrets.     

THE IMPACT OF INTERNAL MARKETING EFFORTS IN DISTRIBUTION SERVICE OPERATIONS

Marketing efforts can offer firms a greater competitive advantage by overtly stimulating the impact of frontline logistics employees on customer value creation. In such a situation, internal marketing becomes the strategy of choice in both service and product support contexts. A broad marketing mix framework is introduced shifting the traditional application from marketing products to marketing the workplace to logistics distribution employees. Research findings support a multidimensional operationalization of internal marketing. Holistic tests indicate that internal marketing on an interpersonal level is associated with satisfied and higher performing distribution center employees and increased interdepartmental customer orientation.     

Translating strategy into action: The importance of an agile mindset and agile slack in international business

There is growing recognition that agility, the ability to respond quickly, is essential for international business (IB) in times of daunting challenges. Drawing on the resource-based view, we argue that agility is more than a capability and therefore should be investigated from a broader perspective. The current study offers insights for the IB literature by introducing agile resources (mindset and slack) as drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness capability. An agile mindset drives firms to seek out and introduce new management methods and approaches by encouraging their members to be alert to new and innovative ways of doing things. Agile slack refers to unutilized resources that can be quickly deployed in new strategic initiatives. An analysis of survey data from 179 managers via structural equation modeling shows that an agile mindset and agile slack strongly drive marketing strategy effectiveness capability. Marketing strategy effectiveness is a crucial driver of international performance. Nevertheless, the results suggest that while agile resources are important drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness, they do not influence performance directly. Hence, a firm’s ability to exploit resources through capabilities is critical, and to be truly agile, firms must invest in agile slack resources. Managers are advised to improve their firm’s effectiveness and performance by adopting an agile mindset while relying on agile slack resources.     

An Assessment of When,Where and Under What Conditions In-Store Sampling is Most Effective

In-store product sampling is a commonly used promotional technique designed to give prospective consumers an opportunity to experience a product prior to purchase. While prior research has documented a positive relationship between short-term sales and perceptual measures of the customer shopping experience, little is known about the long-term impact of sampling or factors that moderate its success. In this paper, we develop an empirical approach that allows us to study the short-term and long-term effects of in-store sampling on both own and competitive products. We apply our approach to six store-level scanner data sets across four different product categories and show that in-store sampling has both an immediate (short-term) and sustained (long-term) impact on sales. We also show that the impact of sampling on sales is moderated by the characteristics of the store conducting the event, and that repeated sampling for a single product leads to a multiplicative increase in its long-term sales performance. We find that, unlike many types of in-store promotion, sampling results in a category expansion effect as opposed to a pure substitution effect. We contrast the immediate and long-term sales patterns for in-store sampling to those of product displays and discuss managerially relevant differences. Finally, we demonstrate incremental profit implications and store selection scenarios for different incremental costs of conducting the in-store events using constrained optimizations.     

Investigating the effect of customer-generated content on performance in online platform-based experience goods market

As COVID-19 persists, a new normal has emerged in our lives and consumption patterns. The rapid rise in demand for online consumption without physical contact is a prime example of this shift. Online platform-based markets have evolved into retail channels, allowing consumers to purchase both search goods and experience goods without contact. The platform provides an environment where customers can encounter a diverse range of customer-generated content (CGC) and gain insights into the purchasing experiences of others. However, despite the growing trading volume and diversification of products traded, relatively few studies exist on purchasing tangible experience goods in the online platform-based market. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of CGC (i.e., content and valence) on the market performance of experience goods, such as sales and sales rank in the platform-based market. We first examine the customer experience-related content in CGC in this market and then investigate the effect of CGC on market performance, such as sales and search ranks. We use crawled data from a platform that sells and rents artwork for empirical analysis. LDA topic modeling findings reveal that CGC has three primary topics (i.e., basic, artist, and style). The regression analysis results show that only style-related content improves performance, whereas basic-related content negatively affects search ranks. The valence of CGC does not significantly impact either performance measure. Additionally, we consider the role of rental services in this market and find that rental volume and search rank have an inverted U-shaped relationship. This study has important implications because it proposes a research framework and empirical model for examining the impact of CGC on performance in the online platform-based market for experience goods. It also has important managerial implications for platforms and sellers looking to enhance their market performance by monitoring CGC.     

Web Marketing: Has the Distinction Between Products and Services Become Obsolete?

The marketing literature makes a distinction between products and services. We argue that, in the Internet, the characteristic features of services disappear making services more like products. Is it therefore necessary or even possible to differentiate products from services on the Internet? In this paper we review the basic assumptions about services. We show that these assumptions are no longer valid in Web-based marketing. We review the traditional service model and show that it is no longer sufficient for modeling electronic services. We propose an expanded model, the electronic marketing model, which does not necessitate the distinction between products and services. Instead, the model prompts managers to focus on the key player—the customer.     

Integrating Customer Satisfaction into the Strategic Marketing Plan

Demanding ever-increasing quality and value, consumers are having major impact on organizations. Ideally, marketing should be at the forefront of organizational change because of this new orientation to customer satisfaction. Marketing can increase its contribution to the organization to the extent it is able to integrate customer satisfaction into the strategic marketing plan. Manufactured products and delivered services generally arise from a need. As long as that need exists and it is fulfilled, the life of the business that procedures that product or service continues. Many businesses have faltered or even disappeared because they did not consistently keep customer needs, expectations, perceptions and attitudes as their first priorities in decision-making and planning. In a changing marketplace, focusing on customer satisfaction ensures a solid foundation on which continued growth and success can be built. This article presents a summary of the key concepts gathered from a review of recent literature on the customer satisfaction process. Examples are offered to illustrate that companies are integrating customer satisfaction to increase their competitive advantage. Finally, the article provides a framework for integrating customer satisfaction into the strategic marketing plan.     

“Deal of the Day” Platforms: What Drives Consumer Loyalty?

“Deal of the Day” (DoD) platforms have quickly become popular by offering savings on local services, products and vacations. For merchants, these platforms represent a new marketing channel to advertise their products and services and attract new customers. DoD platform providers, however, struggle to maintaining a stable market share and profitability, because entry and switching costs are low. To sustain a competitive market position, DoD providers are looking for ways to build a loyal customer base. However, research examining the determinants of user loyalty in this novel context is scarce. To fill this gap, this study employs Grounded Theory methodology to develop a conceptual model of customer loyalty to a DoD provider. In the next step, qualitative insights are enriched and validated using quantitative data from a survey of 202 DoD users. The authors find that customer loyalty is in large part driven by monetary incentives, but can be eroded if impressions from merchant encounters are below expectations. In addition, enhancing the share of deals relevant for consumers, i.e. signal-to-noise ratio, and mitigating perceived risks of a transaction emerge as challenges. Beyond theoretical value, the results offer practical insights into how customer loyalty to a DoD provider can be promoted.     

Should Strategic Market Management Replace Strategic Management as the Planning Model for Restaurant Decision-Making?

ABSTRACT

In his book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Henry Mintzberg proposed that planning and implementation must not be two separate functions, but a continuous managerial decision-making process. One that is based first, on an astute analysis of volatile environmental market conditions, and second, on management's ability to effectively transform its offering to satisfy this moving target. This article questions the use of the concept and term strategic management in restaurants to describe what may be best termed strategic market management. Additionally, a framework within which modern restaurant planning takes place is presented.     

What factors determine e-satisfaction and consumer spending in e-commerce retailing?

Evidently, the Internet has resulted in a fundamental shift in retailing practice, creating a shift in both consumer and business behavior, which has been compared to that of the Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this paper is to analyze customer satisfaction in e-commerce market. In particular, we determine the factors that affect customer e-satisfaction and the relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer spending in e-commerce retailing. We focus on how American based e-commerce firms are impacted by these developments and how marketing practices have reflected the developing e-commerce situation. The results show that customer satisfaction does have an impact on consumer spending in American based e-commerce retailers. Further, the relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer spending is positive, where higher e-satisfaction results in more spending in e-commerce. The results also show that there is a direct relationship among e-service quality, e- satisfaction and e-loyalty in terms of online spending by consumers. However, the analysis shows that e-commerce still faces challenges compared with traditional offline retailers since customers cannot feel and try the products, and may end up choosing the products that they do not want.     

Do Customer and Technology Orientations Influence Product Innovativeness in SMEs? Some New Evidence from Greece

Due to the recently articulated need for a better understanding of product innovativeness determinants, this study focuses on firm-specific factors that influence the innovativeness level of new products. A path analysis model pertaining to a dataset of 150 manufacturing SMEs in Greece is applied to examine customer and technology orientations' direct effects on product newness to customers on the one hand and their indirect effects through learning orientation on new product uniqueness on the other. Empirical results indicate that technology orientation is more important than customer orientation in explaining product newness to customers and thus increases the chances of the firm producing a new product beyond their experiences and consumption patterns. They also suggest that learning orientation being enhanced by stronger customer and technology orientations constitutes a key organisational capability in creating more unique new products for the market. These findings are discussed in the context of Greek SMEs in the food & beverages and textile industries, taking into account the specific conditions prevailing. Apart from providing some new evidence in the important area of SMEs, this study also reveals interesting implications for managers and policy-makers while providing potential avenues for further investigation.     

Marketing and advertising practices of Turkish entrepreneurs in transition economies: Evidence from Georgia

As a transition economy, Georgia has an uncertain, complex, and immature business environment, typical of transition economies in the Eurasian region. In an effort to provide insights into marketing and advertising practices in the Eurasian transition economies, this study empirically examines the marketing and advertising practices in Georgia through two surveys conducted with Turkish entrepreneurs in Georgia and Georgian consumers. On the one hand, the findings of the survey of the Turkish entrepreneurs indicated that an overall adaptation strategy is needed in Georgia; in addition, foreign entrepreneurs willing to enter the Georgian market are advised to offer a variety of products by collaborating with local distributors and agents. Although Georgian consumers do not have high income, low-price strategy does not always work as consumers equate low price with inferior quality. Marketing of prestigious products are to be sold at higher prices and appropriate product positioning strategies must be developed for each target market segment. Merchandising strategies must be congruent with the target market served as well as retail stores/outlets utilized. On the other hand, the Georgian consumers demand better customer service and increased variety of products; advertising is welcomed to a certain extent as long as advertising provides useful product/brand and company information.     

内蒙古经济型酒店营销策略研究

目前,内蒙古经济型酒店营销存在的问题是:市场竞争激烈,产品缺乏创新;缺乏专业的营销人才;市场营销手段单一,网络技术水平较差;营销策略缺乏特色。针对这些问题,内蒙古经济型酒店应创新产品策略,注重对产品质量把关,发挥特殊民族风情优势,制定符合自身的产品策略,加大酒店营销人才的培养力度,提高全体员工服务意识,加强网络营销和有效沟通,树立品牌形象,增强客人对酒店的信赖感和真诚度,以提高内蒙古经济型酒店的市场竞争力。