Marketing research: A state-of-the-art review and directions for the twenty-first century

This article provides observations on the state of the art in marketing research during 1987–1997. As such, it updates the earlier state-of-the-art review by Malhotra (1988), which won theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) Best Article Award. The primary thrust of articles published in theJournal of Marketing Research during 1987–1997 is reviewed to determine important areas of research. In each of these areas, the authors summarize recent developments, highlight the state of the art, offer some critical observations, and identify directions for future research. They present a cross-classification of various techniques and subject areas, and make some observations on the applications of these techniques to address specific substantive and methodological issues in marketing research. The article concludes with some general directions for marketing research in the twenty-first century. Naresh K. Malhotra is Regents’ Professor in the DuPree College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America. In an article by Wheatley and Wilson (1987 AMA Educators’ Proceedings), he was ranked number one in the country based on articles published in theJournal of Marketing Research during 1980–1985. He also 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 in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) since its inception through Volume 23, 1995. He is also number one based on publications inJAMS during the 10-year period 1986–1995. He has published more than 75 articles in major refereed journals including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Health Care Marketing, and leading journals in statistics, management science, and psychology. He was chairman of the Academy of Marketing Science Foundation from 1996 to 1998, president of the Academy of Marketing Science from 1994 to 1996, and chairman of the Board of Governors from 1990 to 1992. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy and Fellow of the Decision Sciences Institute. Mark Peterson is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests include methods, affect, international marketing, and quality of life. His work has been published in theInternational Marketing Review, theJournal of Business Research, and theJournal of Macromarketing. He is on the editorial review board for theJournal of Macromarketing. Susan Bardi Kleiser is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include consumer decision making, product management, international marketing, marketing ethics, and marketing research and modeling techniques. Her research has appeared inResearch in Marketing, Advances in Consumer Research, and several proceedings.     

The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service

A conceptual model articulating the nature and determinants of customer expectations of service is proposed and discussed. The model specifies three different types of service expectations: desired service, adequate service, and predicted service. Seventeen propositions about service expectations and their antecedents are provided. Discussion centers on the research implications of the model and its propositions. Her research interests include services marketing and consumer perceptions of price and quality. Her articles have appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Retailing, andManagement Accounting. She is co-author (with Len Berry and Parsu Parasurman) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990). Leonard L. Berry holds the J. C. Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, is Professor of Marketing, and is director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. He is a former national president of the American Marketing Association. His research interests are services marketing, service quality, and retailing strategy. He is the author of numerous journal articles and books, includingMarketing Services: Competing Through Quality (The Free Press, 1991), which he wrote with A. Parasuraman. His research interests include services marketing, sales management, and marketing strategy. He has written numerous articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Sloan Management Review, andBusiness Horizons. He is the author ofMarketing Research (Addison-Wesley, 1991) and coauthor (with Leonard L. Berry and Valarie A. Zeithaml) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990).     

Managing trade promotions in the context of market power

The use of trade promotions as a channel-programming tool has increased substantially in the past decade. In focusing on the tactical implications of trade promotions, some firms appear to have underestimated the tendency of poorly planned trade promotions to interfere with the implementation of a marketing strategy. In this article, the authors examine the complex issue of trade promotion use from both long-term and short-term perspectives. Different trade promotions can produce dissimilar types of channel cooperation, consumer responses, and postpromotion channel member behavior, resulting in differences in distribution-programming preferences between suppliers and retailers. The authors argue that the adjudication of these different preference structures is addressed through the market power of the channel participants. Based on an assessment of these channel relationships, an approach for suggested courses of action is forwarded. Jack J. Kasulis is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Oklahoma. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and has research interests in marketing channels, retailing, and consumer behavior. His articles have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, and various other journals and proceedings. Fred W. Morgan is the Ashland Professor of Marketing at the University of Kentucky. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from Michigan State University in East Lansing and has research interests in legal issues in marketing, sales management, and marketing channels. His articles have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing and Public Policy, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Channels, and various other journals and proceedings. David E. Griffith is an associate professor and the Harvey Jones Chair of Marketing at Ouachita Baptist University. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas in Austin and has research interests in marketing channels, marketing strategy, and ethics. His research has appeared inMarketing Letters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Channels, and various other journals and proceedings. James M. Kenderdine is an associate professor and director of the Distribution Research Program at the University of Oklahoma. He obtained his D.B.A. from Indiana University in Bloomington. His research interests are in wholesaling, retailing, and marketing channels. His publications have includedThe Changing Economics of Wholesaling: A North American Chart Book, Wholesaling in Transition: An Executive Chart Book, and articles in various journals and proceedings.     

Firm-level export performance assessment: Review, evaluation, and development

Export performance is one of the most widely researched but least understood and most contentious areas of international marketing. To some extent, this problem can be ascribed to difficulties in conceptualizing, operationalizing, and measuring the export performance construct, often leading to inconsistent and conflicting results. This study reviews and evaluates more than 100 articles of pertinent empirical studies to assess and critique export performance measurements. Based on gaps identified in this evluation, guidelines for export performance measure development are advanced, suggesting, however, a contingency approach in their application. Several conclusions and implications for export strategy and future research are derived from this analysis. Constantine S. Katsikeas holds the Sir Julian Hodge Chair in Marketing and International Business at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. His main research interests lie in the areas of international marketing and purchasing, global strategic alliances, and competitive strategy. He has published widely in these fields and his articles have appeared inJournal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, (formerly Columbia)Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andManagement International Review, among others. Leonidas C. Leonidou is associate professor of marketing at the University of Cyprus. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Bath, and has research interests in international marketing, relationship marketing, strategic marketing, and marketing in emerging economies. He has published extensively in these fields and his articles have appeared in various journals includingJournal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, andManagement International Review. Neil A. Morgan is assistant professor of marketing in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research interests focus on strategic issues concerning marketing resources and capabilities, and marketing planning and implementation processes and their links with business performance. His work has appeared inJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, British Journal of Management, European Journal of Marketing, and other journals.     

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 antecedents and consequences of customer-centric marketing

As we enter the twenty-first century, the marketing function remains concerned with serving customers and consumers effectively. The authors propose that just as the marketing function gradually shifted from mass marketing to segmented marketing in the twentieth century, it will increasingly move toward customer-centric marketing in the next century. In the practice of customer-centric marketing, the marketing function seeks to fulfill the needs and wants of each individual customer. The antecedents of customer-centric marketing are the increasing pressure on firms to improve marketing productivity, increasing market diversity in household and business markets, and technology applicability. On the basis of the shift toward customer-centric marketing, the authors expect increased importance of marketing as a “supply management” function, customer outsourcing, cocreation marketing, fixedcost marketing, and customer-centric organizations. This article highlights the implications of customer-centric marketing as well as the boundary conditions that will affect its adoption. Jagdish N. Sheth is the Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Gouizeta Business School at Emory University. He has published 26 books and more than 200 articles in marketing and other business disciplines. His book,The Theory of Buyer Behavior (with John A. Howard), is a classic in the field of consumer behavior and is one of the most cited works in marketing. His other books includeMarketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation (with David Gardner and Dennis Garrett) andConsumption Values and Market Choices: Theory and Applications (with Bruce Newman and Barbara Gross). Rajendra S. Sisodia is Trustee Professor of Marketing at Bentley College. Previously, he was an associate professor of marketing and director of executive programs at George Mason University and an assistant professor of marketing at Boston University. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from Columbia University. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such asHarvard Business Review, Journal of Business Strategy, Marketing Letters, andMarketing Management. He has also authored about two dozen cases, primarily on strategic and marketing issues in the telecommunications industry, as well as a number of telecommunications industry and company analyses. Arun Sharma is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Miami. He has published more than 30 articles in marketing and his interests are in the area of market and marketing evolution.     

The role of satisfaction with territory design on the motivation, attitudes, and work outcomes of salespeople

The primary emphasis of previous research concerning salespeople has been focused on their attitudes and behavior. The relationship between organizational variables and salesperson attitudes and behavior has received very limited attention. Sales territory design is largely uncontrollable by the salesperson, yet is acknowledged by managers and researchers as an important factor enabling salespeople to perform well. The objective is to examine satisfaction with territory design from the perspective of the salesperson. A conceptual model and hypotheses are developed linking the satisfaction with territory design with role ambiguity, intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and performance. Role conflict, met expectations, organizational commitment, and intention to leave are also included in the model. Survey results provide strong support for 19 of the 21 hypotheses examined. The findings offer significant insights concerning the role of territory design satisfaction in face-to-face selling and its consequences. Several managerial implications and avenues for future research are discussed. Ken Grant is the deputy head in the Department of Marketing, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a member of the editorial boards of theEuropean Journal of Marketing and theJournal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science. He has published in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, and several other journals. He advises companies on marketing planning, new products, and sales management and conducts research and publishes in these areas. David W. Cravens holds the Eunice and James L. West Chair of American Enterprise Studies at Texas Christian University. His research on sales management and marketing strategy has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and other leading journals in marketing and management. Before becoming an educator, he held various industry and government executive positions. He is internationally recognized for his research on marketing strategy and sales management. He has been a visiting scholar at universities in Austria, Australia, Chile, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and Wales. His textbook,Strategic Marketing (Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2000), is widely used in strategy and management courses. George S. Low is an associate professor of marketing in the M. J. Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University. He received a B.A. in advertising from Brigham Young University, an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Colorado-Boulder. His research on the management of integrated marketing communications and brands has been published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising Research, Marketing Management, Marketing Science Institute’s Working Paper Series, and other journals. William C. Moncrief is a senior associate dean and professor of marketing at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his B.Sc. in political science and his M.B.A. from the University of Mississippi. He completed his Ph.D. at Louisiana State University in 1983. His work has been published in leading marketing and sales journals, including theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, among others. His research interests are in the field of sales management and include topics such as sales deployment, sales contests, international sales, telemarketing, turnover, laptop computers, sales job activities, and quality control. He has taught in Germany, conducted research in Europe, and has most recently consulted in Mexico.     

The paradox of a marketing planning capability

Strategy scholars have long debated the value of formal planning, and research has offered inconsistent support for planning to enhance firm performance. Given these mixed empirical effects, we draw from the resource-based view of the firm to illustrate a paradox firms may face. In particular, a strong marketing planning capability may not only reduce the incidence of postplan improvisation but also contain inherent process rigidity. Since both of these can also increase performance, results illustrate a performance paradox in marketing planning. Rebecca J. Slotegraaf (rslotegr@indiana.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Her research focuses on the nature and effect of organizational resources, marketing capabilities, and deployment actions on competitive advantage. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to this publication in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, she has also published several articles in theJournal of Marketing Research. Peter R. Dickson (dicksonp@fiu.edu) is the Knight-Ridder Eminent Scholar in Global Marketing at Florida International University. He was previously the Arthur C. Nielsen Jr., Chair of Marketing Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and before that the Crane Professor of Strategic Marketing and a professor of industrial design at the Ohio State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Thirty of his articles on buyer and seller behavior have been published in leading marketing journals.     

Consumer evaluations of corporate brand redeployments

There has been little attention paid to the management of corporate brand names as part of the merger and acquisition process. As an initial step towards developing a better understanding of this brand redeployment decision the authors consider the reactions of one important stakeholder group—consumers—to alternative strategies. Specifically, the authors discuss the importance of the corporate branding decision in the M&A process and present a typology of alternative redeployment strategies as well as an exploratory study examining reactions to different postmerger branding strategies. The authors find evidence that the brand equity related to corporate brands is often decreased as a result of M&A activities and that individuals react differently to mergers employing different redeployment strategies. These results emphasize the need for firms to evaluate the corporate branding component of M&A activities as part of the process of managing corporate brands and should generate interest and research in this managerially relevant area. Anupam Jaju (ajaju@gmu.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia at Athens. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of International Management, Marketing Theory, andMarketing Education Review. His current research focuses primarily on exploring three interrelated domains of business: the link between corporate and functional (marketing) strategy, the market orientation of corporate strategies, and the market and customer-related consequences of corporate strategy. Christopher Joiner (cjoiner@gmu.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, andAdvances in Consumer Research. Srinivas K. Reddy (sreddy@terry.uga.edu) is the Robert O. Arnold Professor of Marketing and the director of the Coca-Cola Center for Marketing Studies at the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has taught previously at New York University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a visiting professor at Stanford Business School. His research on brand and marketing strategy and has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Marketing Letters, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Business Research. His current research interests include the financial and marketing impacts of brand failure and understanding the value of creative products such fine art.     

Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and business benefits

The article explores the nature of corporate citizenship and its relevance for marketing practitioners and academic researchers. Specifically, a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship are first proposed. Then, an empirical investigation conducted in two independent samples examines whether components of an organization’s culture affect the level of commitment to corporate citizenship and whether corporate citizenship is conducive to business benefits. Survey results suggest that market-oriented cultures as well as humanistic cultures lead to proactive corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with improved levels of employee commitment, customer loyalty, and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful business practice both in terms of internal and external marketing. Isabelle Maignan is an assistant professor of marketing and international business at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Her research interests focus on business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and international marketing. Her work has appeared in theJournal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, and theJournal of Business Ethics, as well as other journals and conference proceedings. O. C. Ferrell is a professor of marketing at Colorado State University. He is the coauthor of 16 books and 60 articles. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, and theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings. G. Tomas M. Hult is the director of international business and an associate professor of marketing and international business at Florida State University. His research interests focus on marketing strategy, international marketing, and methodological issues in marketing. Dr. Hult’s work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Decision Sciences, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, andInternational Marketing Review, as well as other journals and proceedings.     

The e-marketing mix: A contribution of the e-tailing wars

In the context of the wars between the upstart Internet retailers and the existing bricks-and-mortar retailers, many e-marketing techniques were invented. This article develops a single unifying and theoretically based taxonomy for e-marketing techniques: the e-marketing mix. Drawing on the paradigms of exchange, relationships, and digital interactions in networks, 11 e-marketing functions are identified that form the elements of the e-marketing mix. Nine of the 11 e-marketing functions are considered basic, while 7 functions moderate the effects of others and are termedoverlapping. The 11 e-marketing functions provide a categorization of the e-marketing techniques. Compared to the conventional marketing mix, the e-marketing mix has more overlapping elements and directly represents personalization, an aspect of segmentation, as a basic function. The existence of multiple elements that are basic and overlapping in the e-marketing mix indicates that integration across elements should be more commonplace compared to the traditional marketing mix. Kirthi Kalyanam is the J. C. Penney Research Professor in the Department of Marketing and the director of E^*Business Initiatives at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. The Leavey School offers the premier M.B.A. program for working professionals in Silicon Valley. He teaches e-business, channel marketing, and retailing in the EMBA, M.B.A., and undergraduate programs. His research interests are in e-business, retailing, and pricing. His publications have appeared as lead articles inMarketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Letters, Journal of Retailing, andJournal of Interactive Marketing. His research paper, published in theJournal of Marketing Research on GeoDemographic Marketing, was selected as a finalist for the American Marketing Association’s Paul E. Green Award for impact on the practice of marketing. Professor Kalyanam has received the dean’s award for outstanding teaching and/or research contributions. He has also taught at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, the Krannert School of Management, and the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing at Purdue University and at DePaul University in Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in business administration from the Krannert School of Management, Purdue University. Shelby McIntyre is a professor of marketing at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. He is also a research associate at the Retail Workbench, a research and education center dedicated to applying advanced information technology to the problems of retailing. He earned a B.S. in engineering (1965), an M.B.A. (1973), and a Ph.D. (1979), all from Stanford University. He has subsequently published more than 50 articles in leading marketing journals, including 5 in theJournal of Marketing Research, 2 inManagement Science, and 11 in theJournal of Retailing. He is on the editorial board of theJournal of Marketing. He has twice received the annual award from theJournal of Retailing for the article “Best Contributing to Theory and Practice in Retail Marketing.” He teaches marketing information systems, marketing research, brand management, and marketing management and was the chair of the Marketing Department at Santa Clara University from 1983 to 1991. His research interests currently focus on decision support systems, retail-related decision models, and e-commerce.     

Organizational culture and ethical research behavior

The author examines, in the context of Wallach’s (1983) conceptualization, the influence of bureaucratic, supportive, and innovative cultural dimensions on marketing research professionals’ reported ethical research behavior. The results indicate that marketing research professionals in organizations of bureaucratic-innovative-supportive culture reflect the highest reported research ethics behavior, followed by those in organizations of innovative-supportive and bureaucratic-only cultures, respectively. He received his M.B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Akaah’s articles have appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Health Care Marketing, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, Journal of Global Marketing, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Direct Marketing, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Proceedings of the American Marketing Association, and elsewhere. His current research interests include consumer decision processes, marketing ethics, and international marketing strategy.     

The impact of technology on the quality-value-loyalty chain: A research agenda

In this article, the authors first propose a simple model summarizing the key drivers of customer loyalty. Then, on the basis of this model and drawing on key insights from the preceding articles in this issue, they outline a set of issues for further research related to the quality-value-loyalty chain. Next, the authors develop a conceptual framework that integrates the quality-value-loyalty chain with the “pyramid model,” which emphasizes the increasing importance of technology-customer, technology-employee, and technology-company linkages in serving customers. Using this integrated framework as a spring-board, they identify a number of avenues for additional inquiry pertaining to the three types of linkages. A. Parasuraman (D.B.A, Indiana University) is a professor and holder of the James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing at the University of Miami. He teaches and does research in services marketing, service-quality measurement, and the role of technology in marketing to and serving customers. He has received many distinguished teaching and research awards, including, most recently, the “Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award” given by the American Marketing Association's (AMA) SERVSIG. He has written numerous articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, andSloan Management Review. He is the author of a marketing research text and coauthor of two books on service quality and services marketing. In addition to being the editor of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS), he serves on the editorial review boards of five other journals. Dhruv Grewal (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) is Interim-Chair and a professor of marketing at the University of Miami. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Retailing. His research interests focus on retailing, pricing, international marketing, and consumer behavior issues. He currently serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, and theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing. He has won awards for both his teaching and research. He has coedited a special issue of theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing and of theJournal of Retailing. He was recently elected to the AMA Academic Council—VP Research and Conferences (1999–2001). He is currently writing a book onMarketing Research (publisher: Houghton Mifflin).     

Can price dispersion in online markets be explained by differences in e-tailer service quality?

It has been hypothesized that the online medium and the Internet lower search costs and that electronic markets are more competitive than conventional markets. This suggests that price dispersion of an item with the same measured characteristics across sellers at a given point in time for identical products sold by e-tailers online should be smaller than it is offline, but some recent empirical evidence reveals the opposite. Based on an empirical analysis of 105 e-tailers comprising 6.739 price observations for 581 items in eight product categories, the authors show that online price dispersion is persistent, even after controlling for e-tailer heterogeneity. The general conclusion is that the proportion of the price dispersion explained by e-tailer characteristics is small. Also, after controlling for differences in e-tailer service quality, prices at pure-play e-tailers are equal to or lower than those at bricks-and-clicks e-tailers for all categories except books and computer software. Xing Pan is a doctoral candidate in marketing at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. His research interests include pricing, electronic commerce, industrial organization, and consumer economics. His dissertation, which investigates price dispersion and price competition in online retail markets, won the 12th Annual Doctoral Research Fellowship awarded by the Economic Club of Washington. He has published in theAdvances in Applied Microeconomics and has presented several papers at Marketing Science conferences and MSI conferences. Brian T. Ratchford holds the Pepsico Chair in Consumer Research at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He holds M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Rochester. His research interests are in economics applied to the study of consumer behavior, information economics, and marketing productivity. He has published more than 30 articles in the leading journals in marketing and related fields, includingJournal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, andJournal of Marketing Research. He is past editor ofMarketing Science and currently on the editorial review boards ofJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, andJournal of Retailing. Venkatesh (Venky) Shankar is the Ralph J. Tyser Fellow and a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. His research interests include e-business, competitive strategy, international marketing, pricing, innovation, and supply chain management. His research has been published in journals such as theJournal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Marketing Letters, and theJournal of Retailing. He is an associate editor ofManagement Science and is also on the editorial boards ofMarketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He was a visiting faculty member at the Sloan School of Management, MIT, last year and has also taught at the Chinese European International Business School, Shanghai.     

Spreading the word: Investigating antecedents of consumers’ positive word-of-mouth intentions and behaviors in a retailing context

Empirical studies investigating the antecedents of positive word of mouth (WOM) typically focus on the direct effects of consumers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with previous purchasing experiences. The authors develop and test a more comprehensive model of the antecedents of positive. WOM (both intentions and behaviors), including consumer identification and commitment. Specifically, they hypothesize and test commitment as a mediator and moderator of satisfaction on positive WOM and commitment as a mediator of identification on WOM. Using data obtained from customers of a retailer offering both products and services, they find support for all hypothesized relationships with WOM intentions and/or WOM behaviors as the dependent variable. The authors conclude with a discussion of their findings and implications for both marketing theory and practice. Tom J. Brown (tomb@okstate.edu) is Ardmore Professor of Business Administration and an associate professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His current research interests include causes and effects of corporate reputation and the customer orientation of service workers. He is cofounder of the Corporate Identity/Associations Research Group. Teaching interests include marketing research, services marketing, and corporate communications. He is coauthor (with Gilbert A. Churchill Jr.) ofBasic Marketing Research (5th ed.). Thomas E. Barry (tbarry@mail.smu.edu) is a professor of marketing and vice president for executive affairs at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. His primary teaching and research interests are in the areas of integrated marketing communications, marketing management, brand equity, loyalty, and advertising effectiveness. His research has appeared in numerous journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is the author or coauthor of two books in marketing and advertising management. He has consulted for a variety of firms and is a director on four boards. In 1995, he received the Outstanding Contributions in Advertising Research Award from the American Academy of Advertising. Peter A. Dacin (pdacin@business.queens.ca) is a professor of marketing at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. His primary teaching and research interests lie in consumer/managerial judgment formation, brand equity/dilution, corporate reputation, and research methods and design. He has also published in the area of sales force management. His research has appeared in several leading journals including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, and theJournal of Consumer Research. In addition, he has published in numerous conference proceedings. He is currently the chair of the American Marketing Association’s ConsumerBehavior Special Interest Group, serves on the Academic Council of the American Marketing Association, and is cofounder of the Corporate Identity/Associations Research Group. Richard F. Gunst (rgunst@mail.smu.edu) is a professor and chair of the Department of Statistical Science at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. He received his Ph.D. from SMU. His primary teaching and research interests are in the areas of linear and nonlinear modeling and regression analysis, with an emphasis on spatial statistical modeling. He has co-authored three books on regression analysis and the statistical design and analysis of experiments, in addition to publishing scholarly articles in theJournal of the American Statistical Association, Biometrika, Biometrics, andTechnometrics. He has received the W. J. Youden (1974, 1985) and Frank Wilcoxon (1994) Publication Awards fromTechnometrics, and the American Statistical Association’s Award for Outstanding Statistical Application Award (1994). He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and received its Founders Award in 1999.     

Serving customers and consumers effectively in the twenty-first century: A conceptual framework and overview

In this article, the authors first propose and discuss a conceptual framework pertaining to the theme of this special issue. This framework portrays “markets” as consisting of “customers” and “consumers,” specifies the distinction as well as linkages between the two, and outlines specific components of individual linkages between pairs of entities within markets. Using this framework as a backdrop, the article then provides an overview of the rest of the special issue by discussing how each of the remaining articles relate to the framework and to one another. A. Parasuraman (D.B.A., Indiana University) is a professor and holder of the James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing at the University of Miami. He teaches and does research in services marketing, service-quality measurement, and the role of technology in marketing to and serving customers. He has received many distinguished teaching and research awards, including, most recently, the “Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award” given by the American Marketing Association's (AMA) SERVSIG. He has written numerous articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Retailing, andSloan Management Review. He is the author of a marketing research text and coauthor of two books on service quality and services marketing. In addition to being the editor of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS), he serves on the editorial review boards of five other journals. Dhruv Grewal (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) is Interim-Chair and a professor of marketing at the University of Miami. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Retailing. His research interests focus on retailing, pricing, international marketing, and consumer behavior issues. He currently serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, and theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing. He has won awards for both his teaching and research. He has coedited a special issue of theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing and of theJournal of Retailing. He was recently elected to the AMA Academic Council—VP Research and Conferences (1999–2001). He is currently writing a book onMarketing Research (publisher: Houghton Mifflin).     

An evaluation of journals used in doctoral marketing programs

Studies that rank the relative quality of scholarly marketing journals have relied primarily on expert opinion surveys and citation analyses. The authors use a new approach that combines elements of these two alternatives and compile a database of 6,294 citations (representing 3,423 different articles) from 109 syllabi obtained from a broad sampling of AACSB-International-accredited schools with marketing doctoral programs. The five most citedjournals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science) account for 66.5 percent of citations in the syllabi. Rankings of journals other than the top five vary markedly from previous journal quality studies. Few articles are cited in common across programs, and the authors find considerable variation even within individual seminar types. The findings provide a new basis for assessing the quality of journals and provide new insights about the content of doctoral programs. Ronald J. Bauerly (RJ-Bauerly@wiu.edu; DBA, Southern Illinois University) is a professor at Western Illinois University. His research focuses on marketing education and online auctions. His work has appeared inManagerial Finance, College & Research Libraries, and theJournal of Marketing for Higher Education. Don T. Johnson (DT-Johnson@wiu.edu; Ph.D., University of Georgia) is a professor at Western Illinois University. His research interests are varied but are largely concentrated in the area of real estate. His work has appeared in theJournal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, Financial Services Review, and theJournal of Investing.     

A refinement and validation of the MARKOR scale

In this article, the authors attempt to develop an improved market orientation scale built on Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar’s market orientation scale (MARKOR). The modified scale is then compared with the MARKOR scale in a validation study. The authors argue that the scale improves operationalization of the market orientation construct, and the results indicate that the psychometric properties of the new scale are superior to those of the MARKOR scale. Implications of the results are discussed, and a future research agenda is offered. Ken Matsuno is assistant professor of marketing at Babson College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. His research interests include marketing strategy formulation process and its outcomes and business-to-business marketing issues. His work can be found in theJournal of Marketing, theInternational Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, and several academic conference proceedings. John T. Mentzer is the Harry J. and Vivienne B. Bruce Excellence Chair of Business Policy in the Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Transportation at the University of Tennessee. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State. He has published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Logistics International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Transportation Journal, Columbia Journal of World Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Research in Marketing, and other journals. Joseph O. Rentz is associate professor of marketing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His research interests include cohort analysis, measurement issues in marketing, generalizability studies, and itnerfunctional effectiveness. He has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of Marketing Research among others.     

Market valuation models of the effect of advertising and promotional spending: A review and meta-analysis

A narrative review is presented, within the organizing framework of a meta-analysis, of econometric models reported in the business literature that estimate the effect of advertising and promotional spending on the market value of the firm. Results from published market valuation models are aggregated, and various model specifications are appraised. In brief the meta-analysis finds support for a positive relationship between levels of advertising and promotional spending and the market value of the firm. That is, marketing activities (represented here by observed advertising and promotions spending) are generally expected to deliver future cashflows and produce increases in shareholder wealth. The review seeks to enhance understanding among the community of marketing scholars of the properties of market valuation models published in the literature and serves as a springboard for ongoing investigation of a crucial question for marketing theory and practice. Margy P. Conchar (concharm@mail.ecu.edu) (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is an assistant professor at East Carolina University. Her research focuses on consumer behavior and advertising. Her work in consumer behavior concentrates on risk, motives, and optimal consumption experience. Her research in advertising focuses on the interface between advertising and finance, accounting, or economics. She has previously published in the proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Association for Consumer Research, the American Marketing Association of Educators, and the Society for Marketing Advances. Melvin R. Crask (mcrask@terry.uga.edu) (DBA, University of Indiana) is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Georgia (UGA). He is currently serving as director of the MBA program at UGA. His teaching interests are in the areas of marketing research and marketing strategy. He has published more than three dozen articles and papers dealing with marketing research methods and with strategic issues in marketing. He is also the coauthor of two books, one on marketing strategy and one on marketing research. George M. Zinkhan (gzinkhan@terry.uga.edu) (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is the Coca-Cola Company Chair of Marketing at the University of Georgia. His major research interests include advertising, communication, and e-commerce.     

Discrete choice surveys by telephone

In two consumer studies, discrete choice surveys were administered both by telephone and by traditional pencil and paper methods. Study participants responded to discrete choice surveys concerning pizza restaurants in the first study and fast food restaurants in the second. Neither aggregate level estimated utilities for the pizza restaurants, nor market shares for the fast food restaurants differed by method of administration. The results indicate that discrete choice surveys can be successfully administered by telephone. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Perkins is interested in marketing research methodology and in the use of marketing research information in managerial decision making. Dr. Perkins has published articles in theJournal of Marketing Research andPsychometrika. He is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Marketing Research Association, and the TIMS College of Marketing. Jacqueline Roundy recently completed the M.S. degree in marketing from the Pennsylvania State University. In addition she holds an M.B.A. from the University of Utah. She is currently working in Europe.