Salesperson stereotypes,consumer emotions,and their impact on information processing

This study examines salesperson stereotypes and their effect on the selling environment. After reviewing relevant literature, the authors advance a hierarchical structure of salesperson stereotype categories. Experimental results suggest that stereotypes influence consumer emotions, and these emotions then mediate the relationship between stereotype activation and subsequent consumer cognitions. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1991. His expertise is in the area of consumer behavior and research methods. Current research topics center on consumption-related emotions, their measurement, and their impact on decision making. His research appears in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Advances in Consumer Research, as well as in numerous other national and regional publications. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. His research centers on sales management and the conflicting roles of salespeople. His work appears in prestigious outlets such as theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Marketing Education, as well as in various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He was named Outstanding Marketing Educator by the Academy of Marketing Science in 1990. He has published more than 400 scholarly articles in prestigious outlets such as theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, andJournal of Marketing.     

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.     

The role of affect in attitude formation: A classical conditioning approach

This study investigates the role of affect in attitude formation. Two experiments, using established conditioning procedures, assessed the impact of affect on attitude formation. The results of Experiment 1 indicate that affect can influence attitudes even in the absence of product beliefs. The results of Experiment 2 suggest that affect plays as important or more important a role than the belief mechanism in attitude formation, depending on the number of repetitions. Implications of the results for understanding the role of affect in advertising are discussed. John Kim is an associate professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration at Oakland University. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Cincinnati. His research interests include consumer decision making, advertising effectiveness, and brand equity. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, and theJournal of Business Research. Jeen-Su Lim is Interim Chair and a professor of marketing at the University of Toledo. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Indiana University. His work has appeared in many journals, including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Management International Review, Psychology and Marketing, and theJournal of Health Care Marketing, among others. His research interests include consumer inference processes, new product development and competitive strategy, and export marketing. Mukesh Bhargava is an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and Management at Oakland University. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas, Austin, and several years of practical experience in advertising and marketing research. His research includes areas such as advertising effectiveness and evaluation of marketing strategy in business and nonprofit organizations. His work has appeared in theJournal of Advertising Research, Marketing Letters, theJournal of Business Research, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others.     

The role of competitive alternatives in the postchoice satisfaction formation process

A general model of satisfaction formation is proposed that extends the seminal disconfirmation of expectations model by explicitly incorporating the processing of both chosen and nonchosen alternatives. Using presidential election data, the results show that satisfaction with the nonchoice does remain salient in the determination of overall postchoice satisfaction. Disconfirmation related to either the chosen or the nonchosen alternative influences satisfaction with both the chosen and the nonchosen alternative. Overall, the model suggests that the nonchoice alternative may continue to be relevant in the satisfaction formation process. She received her Ph.D. from McGill University. Her work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Decision Sciences, Journal of Macromarketing, and numerous other journals and conference proceedings. She is also coauthor of three books. She holds a Ph.D. in marketing from Michigan State University. Her work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science; Journal of Business Research; International Journal of Research in Marketing; Journal of Services Marketing; Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior; and other journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Halstead was formerly an account executive with Needham Harper Worldwide and Director of Marketing and Media Services at Maxwell Advertising. Robert D. Mackoy received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University and is an assistant professor of marketing at Butler University. His research has appeared in theJournal of Retailing; Journal of Macromarketing; Journal of Services Marketing; Journal of Social Psychology; Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior; and the proceedings of the American Marketing Association, Association for Consumer Research, and Marketing and Public Policy conferences.     

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.     

An assessment of country of origin effects under alternative presentation formats

Empirical research concerning the effects of country of origin (COO) on consumers’ evaluative reactions to products has produced mixed and sometimes inconsistent results. Potential explanations for this situation include differences in the countries considered, populations sampled, products investigated, availability of product cues other than COO, the format in which the product cues were presented to the subjects, and the types of evaluative reactions considered. The authors present the results of three experiments designed to investigate the impact of three presentation formats (i.e., single cue, explicit multiple cues, and implicit multiple cues) on COO effects for four evaluative reactions (i.e., perceived quality, product evaluations other than quality, affect, and purchase intentions). COO effects were strongest for the single-cue format and weakest for the implicit multiple-cues condition. Perception of product quality was most strongly affected by COO, followed by product evaluations other than quality; COO had its smallest effect on purchase intention. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Indiana University. His work has appeared in many journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Management International Review, Psychology and Marketing, andJournal of Health Care Marketing, as well as conference proceedings. His research interests include consumer inference and decision-making processes, research methods, export marketing, and competitive strategy. He received his MBA from Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from Indiana University. His research interests include consumer choice processes, consumer response to advertising, and marketing communications. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Psychology and Marketing, and elsewhere. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Purdue University. His research interests include buyer-seller negotiations, channel relationships, and marketing strategy. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of Consumer Research.     

Transaction utility effects when quality is uncertain

The existing literature finds that price discrepancy, which represents the difference between expected and observed price, helps explain brand choice and purchase intention. This effect is often attributed to transaction utility, that is, the incremental utility associated with the surprise of observing a price lower or higher than expected. This research considers the possibility, however, that transaction utility is a less important determinant of choice when quality is uncertain. We propose and find that acquisition utility (perceived value for the money) tends to dominate the explanation of purchase intention, but transaction utility is significant only when consumers are more certain about quality. Our discussion considers the relative role of transaction utility in explaining consumer decision making and how the informative and allocative roles of price might be distinguished. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Ohio State University and his B.S. from Ohio State University. His research interests include information economics and pricing. Previously, he taught at the University of South Carolina. He has published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of Retailing, among others. He received his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina, his M.B.A. from the University of Georgia, and a B.S. degree from Clemson University. Previously, he taught at the University of Alabama. His research interests include consumer perceptions of value and interpersonal influences. He has published in theJournal of Consumer Research and theJournal of Marketing Research, among others. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina and has a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Delhi. His research interests include price bundling, price effects on perceived quality perceptions, and segmentation of business-to-business markets. He has published in theJournal of Business Research and theAdvances in Consumer Research series, published by the Association of Consumer Research. He previously taught on the faculty of Valdosta State University. She received a B.S. in statistics, a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina, and a M.S. in statistics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She previously taught at Lehigh University. Her research interests include market segmentation, discrete data analysis, and pricing. She has published in theJournal of Marketing Research, as well as in theProceedings of the American Marketing Association and theAssociation for Consumer Research.     

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.     

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.     

The measurement of intergenerational communication and influence on consumption: Development, validation, and cross-cultural comparison of the IGEN scale

This article develops and validates measures of intergenerational communication and influence about consumption. Despite the widespread belief that parents play a pivotal role in the consumer socialization of their children, empirical research on the skills, attitudes, and preferences transmitted from one generation to the next is quite limited. One factor that may explain this deficiency is the lack of appropriate instruments for assessing intergenerational issues. Drawing on consumer socialization theory and research, intergenerational transmission is defined in terms of three components directly relevant to marketplace transactions: (1) consumer skills, (2) preferences, and (3) attitudes toward marketer-supplied information. Multi-item scales are developed to measure each of these components. The findings of three studies supporting the reliability, dimensionality, and validity of the intergenerational scales are reported. Validation efforts incorporate cross-cultural analyses from the United States and Thailand, as well as dyadic-level comparisons between parents and children. Madhubalan Viswanathan is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Illinois. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His research interests include consumer psychology and measurement. His research appears in several journals including theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Applied Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, andPsychology and Marketing. He serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Consumer Psychology andPsychology and Marketing. Terry L. Childers is a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. His research interests include visual information processing, measurement, and psychometrics. His work has been published in several journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, and theJournal of Mental Imagery. He serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Consumer Research and theJournal of Business Research. Elizabeth S. Moore is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Her research interests include consumer decision processes within the household, the effects of advertising and promotion on children, as well as marketing and society issues. Her work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research (in press), and theJournal of Macromarketing, as well as other books and conference proceedings.     

Ethical correlates of role conflict and ambiguity in marketing: The mediating role of cognitive moral development

Researchers in marketing ethics have identified the importance of cognitive moral development (CMD) in marketing ethics models. This study looks at selected correlates of role conflict and role ambiguity in marketing, especially the mediating role of CMD. Of the correlates examined, the results seem to support the existence of statistically significant relationships between CMD and role conflict and ambiguity. Implications for practitioners are provided. For example, the study could have direct implications for management personnel who have the responsibility of hiring ethical people and helping them address any role conflict or ambiguity that may arise from their job. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, theJournal of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, theJournal of Promotion Management, Health Marketing Quarterly, and various national proceedings. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Texas Tech University. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Macromarketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, International Marketing Review, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and various other journals and proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His research has previously appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research and numerous other journals and proceedings. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Florida State University. His research has been published in theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Marketing Management, and in various proceedings.     

An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity

This study explores the relationships between selected marketing mix elements and the creation of brand equity. The authors propose a conceptual framework in which marketing elements are related to the dimensions of brand equity, that is, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand associations combined with brand awareness. These dimensions are then related to brand equity. The empirical tests using a structural equation model support the research hypotheses. The results show that frequent price promotions, such as price deals, are related to low brand equity, whereas high advertising spending, high price, good store image, and high distribution intensity are related to high brand equity. Boonghee Yoo (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an assistant professor of marketing at St. Cloud State University. His research interests include brand equity, cross-cultural scale development, service quality, retail productivity, Internet marketing, and marketing methodology. He has published previously in theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Business & Industrial Marketing, theJournal of Service Research, and theJournal of Marketing Channels. Naveen Donthu (Ph. D., University of Texas, Austin) is a professor of marketing at Georgia State University. His research interests center on research methodology, site selection models, comparative and outdoor advertising, brand equity, Hispanic consumer research, cross-cultural issues, and customer satisfaction. His work has appeared in journals such asMarketing Science, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Retailing, and theJournal of Business Research. Sungho Lee (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Seoul, South Korea. His research focuses on understanding consumers’ cognitive processing of brand and price information, brand extension and brand equity, and advertising-driven persuasion processes. He has published previously inAdvances in Consumer Research, Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research, Academy of Marketing Science-World Marketing Congress, Korean Marketing Review, andKorean Management Review.     

Transformational and transactional leadership and salesperson performance

This study examines the impact of transformational and transactional leader behaviors on the sales performance and organizational citizenship behaviors of salespeople, as well as the mediating role played by trust and role ambiguity in that process. Measures of six forms of transformational leader behavior, two forms of transactional leader behavior, trust, and role ambiguity were obtained from 477 sales agents working for a large national insurance company. Objective sales performance data were obtained for the agents, and their supervisors provided evaluations of their citizenship behaviors. The findings validate not only the basic notion that transformational leadership influences salespeople to perform “above and beyond the call of duty” but also that transformational leader behaviors actually have stronger direct and indirect relationships with sales performance and organizational citizenship behavior than transactional leader behaviors. Moreover, this is true even when common method biases are controlled. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed. Scott B. Mackenzie (Ph.D., UCLA, 1983) is the IU Foundation Professor of marketing at the Kelley School of Business, 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 the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 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, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Consumer Psychology. Philip M. Podsakoff (DBA, Indiana University, 1980) is a professor of organizational behavior and human resources and the John F. Mee Chair of Management at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. He is the author or coauthor of more than 65 articles and/or scholarly book chapters that have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 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, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and theJournal 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. Gregory A. Rich (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1996) is an assistant professor of marketing at Bowling Green State University. His primary research interest is in the application of leadership theory to issues of sales management, and his work has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, and several conference proceedings.     

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.     

Decision-making time in organizational buying behavior: An investigation of its antecedents

This study reports an empirical investigation focusing on the length of time firms take in making major purchase decisions (DMT) and examines antecedents such as buyclass, firm size, decision-making unit (DMU) size, information sources, and size of the consideration set. Data were provided by a national sample of organizations involved in the purchase of telecommunications systems. Findings suggest that firm size, buyclass, DMU size, information sources, and size of consideration set all significantly affect DMT. Antecedent relationships among the independent variables were also largely as expected. This study provides a starting point for a fertile area of research with important implications for organizational buyers and sellers as well as researchers. She holds a B.S. in Marketing and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Northwestern University. Her research interests are in the areas of technology diffusion and management as well as consumer behavior, advertising, and macromarketing. She has published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Macromarketing, European Journal of Marketing, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Telematics and Informatics, andJournal of Economic Psychology. She is a member of the Editorial Policy Board of the Journal of Macromarketing and President of the International Society for Marketing and Development. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Johnson’s research interests focus on interorganizational relationships in marketing contexts, such as distribution channels or business-to-business marketing with emphasis on cross-culture interorganizational marketing relationships. Dr. Johnson’s research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, andCurrent Issues and Research in Advertising, among other journals and conference proceedings. She has also presented her work at a variety of domestic and international conferences. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His research interests are in the areas of pricing, consumer behavior, and marketing research. He is coauthor ofConsumer Behavior: Concepts and Applications, currently in its fourth edition, and his research has been published inDecision Sciences, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Retailing, Journalism Quarterly, and other leading journals and publications of professional societies. He holds degrees in engineering and management from India and a Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University. Dr. Dholakia’s research deals with technology, innovation, market processes, globalization, and consumer culture. Dr. Dholakia has published over 70 papers in professional journals and proceedings in management, marketing, and technology. Among his books areEssentials of New Product Management (coauthored, Prentice-Hall, 1987).     

A measure of service quality for retail stores: Scale development and validation

Current measures of service quality do not adequately capture customers’ perceptions of service quality for retail stores (i.e., stores that offer a mix of goods and services). A hierarchical factor structure is proposed to capture dimensions important to retail customers based on the retail and service quality literatures as well as three separate qualitative studies. Confirmatory factor analysis based on the partial disaggregation technique and cross-validation using a second sample support the validity of the scale as a measure of retail service quality. The implications of this Retail Service Quality Scale for practitioners, as well as for future research, are discussed. She received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Her research interests include attitude and choice models, service quality and customer satisfaction issues, technology in service delivery, and business-to-business relationships. She has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior, Journal of Health Care Management, International Journal of Research in Marketing, andPsychology and Marketing, as well as in various conference proceedings. She also holds a B.S. and an M.S. from Florida State University and an M.B.A. from Mercer University. Her research interests include services marketing, service quality, retailing, and manager-employee relationships. Her publications include articles in theJournal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior, The Service Industries Journal, and in various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His research interests include cohort analysis, measurement issues, generalizability studies, and customer satisfaction. He has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, as well as in several conference proceedings.     

The effects of job autonomy, customer demandingness, and trait competitiveness on salesperson learning, self-efficacy, and performance

Although self-efficacy has been demonstrated to be positively associated with performance-related variables, few studies have looked at its possible antecedents in the context of personal selling. Applying social cognitive theory, this study posits that while self-efficacy positively affects performance, the salesperson's learning effort directly affects self-efficacy. Furthermore, two task-related factors (perceived job autonomy and customer demandingness) and one individual difference variable (trait competitiveness) are proposed to affect salesperson learning effort and self-efficacy. Two empirical studies show consistent results regarding the positive effects of learning on efficacy and efficacy on performance as well as the influences of three exogenous constructs on learning and efficacy. Implications and future research directions are discussed. Guangping (Walter) Wang is an assistant professor of business at Penn State University at Hazleton. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Louisiana State University in 2000. His research interests include sales management, relationship marketing, database marketing, and e-commerce. His work has appeared or been accepted for publication in theJournal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Relationship Marketing, Journal of Global Marketing, and a number of national and international conference proceedings. Richard G. Netemeyer is a professor of marketing in the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina in 1986. His research interests are primarily consumer and organizational-behavior issues. His research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, OBHDP, JAMS, and others.     

A proposed model of external consumer information search

An enduring interest in consumer behavior is the investigation of external prepurchase information search. Past research has identified a large number of factors that have been found to influence the extent of information search. The purposes of this article are to summarize the external information search literature and then develop a more parsimonious model of information search. Specifically, we propose that the effects of these antecedents of information search are mediated by four variables: ability, motivation, costs, and benefits. This model integrates the psychological search literature by incorporating ability and motivation to search for information and the economic paradigm that centers on the perceived costs and benefits of information search. Propositions are developed based on this comprehensive model for future testing. Jeffrey B. Schmidt recently became an assistant professor of marketing at Kansas State University after completing his Ph.D. at Michigan State University. His research interests include new product development and international product strategy. His work has appeared in theJournal of Product Innovation Management andJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing as well as in various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University. His research interests include consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction and issues involving consumer knowledge. His work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, andJournal of Product Innovation as well as in various conference proceedings.     

A cross-national model of job-related outcomes of work role and family role variables: A retail sales context

This article proposes a model of job-related outcomes of four role variables in a retail sales context: work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), work role conflict (RC), and work role ambiguity (RA). We tested the applicability of the model with three cross-national samples, that is, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Romania, and the results revealed that the model's measures and effects are mostly similar across samples. It was also posited and mostly supported that the effects that WFC and FWC have on the job-related outcomes are greater than the effects of RC and RA. Implications concerning the effects of role variables for international retail managers are offered. Richard G. Netemeyer (rgn3p@forbes2.comm.virginia.edu) is a professor of marketing in the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina in 1986. His research interests are primarily consumer behavior and organizationbehavior issues. His research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and others. Thomas Brashear-Alejandro (brashear@mktg.umass.edu) (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an associate professor of marketing in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in a number of academic journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and theJournal of Business & Industrial Marketing. James S. Boles (JBoles@gsu.edu) is an associate professor of marketing at Georgia State University (GSU). He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. His research has appeared in a variety of journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and theJournal of Applied Psychology. His areas of research interest include personal selling, sales management, key and strategic account management, and business relationships.     

Consumer perceptions of tensile price claims in advertisements: An assessment of claim types across different discount levels

Findings are reported for two studies that examined the effects of three forms of tensile price claims (i.e., stating a minimum, maximum, or range of savings) on consumers’ price perceptions, search and shopping intentions, and estimates of price reduction across four different discount range levels. Hypotheses are offered based on a rationale drawn from an anchoring and adjustment framework. Results of both studies indicate that for broader discount ranges, tensile claims stating the maximum level of savings have more positive effects than those stating the minimum level or the entire savings range. For more narrow discount ranges, tensile claims stating the maximum level of savings appear to be no more effective than claims stating the minimum level or the entire savings range. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Houston in 1988. Dr. Biswas’s work has been published or is scheduled to appear in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Psychology and Marketing, and Journalism Quarterly, as well as other refereed journals and proceedings. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Houston and a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Texas. His research has been published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, and others.