Change in international market strategy as a reaction to performance decline

While a great deal of research has explored how international marketing strategy influences performance, researchers have paid scant attention to understanding changes to international marketing strategy resulting from firm reaction to past performance. In this study, organizational learning theory addresses when and how international marketing strategy will change. Employing data from over 500 exporters, the results, which are consistent with theoretical predictions, indicate that (1) firms are generally not prone to inertia and do, in fact, change their international marketing strategy when facing declines in performance, and (2) that the direction of change depends on the level of competition in the specific foreign market, with firms adapting their international marketing strategy in low competitive markets and standardizing their international marketing strategy in highly competitive markets. The paper includes implications for academics and practitioners.     

Assessing cross-cultural marketing theory and research

A content analysis of 99 articles focuses on the comparative cross-cultural marketing research in 14 leading marketing and business journals from 1990 to 2008. The content analysis indicates strong growth in cross-cultural studies, especially in terms of studies on consumer attitudes and behavior and on promotion-related topics. This study classifies articles according to a series of conceptual (e.g., cultural dimensions employed in the study) and methodological (e.g., use of analytical technique) criteria. Although researchers have advanced in both conceptual and methodological respects, the studies still focus strongly on the dimensions from Hofstede (2001); methodologically, the dominance of two-country studies is problematic. Further, survey data from North America and Europe and researchers based and trained in North America and Europe are still dominant in the research field.     

The role of machine learning analytics and metrics in retailing research

This research presents the use of machine learning analytics and metrics in the retailing context. We first discuss what is machine learning and explain the field’s origins. We then demonstrate the strengths of machine learning methods using an online retailing dataset, noting key areas of divergence from the traditional explanatory approach to data analysis. We then provide a review of the current state of machine learning in top-level retailing and marketing research, integrating ideas for future research and showcasing potential applications for practitioners. We propose that the explanatory and machine learning approaches need not be mutually exclusive. Particularly, we discuss four key areas in the general scientific research process that can benefit from machine learning: data exploration/theory building, variable creation, estimation, and predicting an outcome metric. Due to the customer-facing nature of retailing, we anticipate several challenges researchers and practitioners might face in the adoption and implementation of machine learning, such as ethical prediction and customer privacy issues. Overall, our belief is that machine learning can enhance customer experience and, accordingly, we advance opportunities for future research.     

The one-billion-plus marginalization: Toward a scholarly understanding of Islamic consumers

Information regarding the Islamic perspective on marketing is still lacking in mainstream literature. The present work aims to assemble the theoretical foundations of Islamic marketing thought in relation to the modern marketing paradigm. The paper highlights the opportunity costs involved with marginalizing the one billion plus Muslim consumer segment and presents a conceptualization of Islamic religiosity and its marketing implications building upon the Islamic theology infrastructure in terms of its inherent broad objectives (maqasid ash-shari'ah) while putting forth multi-stakeholder research propositions for future testing. The conceptualization presented serves to establish an enlightened dialogue and foster further cross-cultural understanding of the Muslim consumer segment to benefit academics, practitioners, and policy makers.     

Reviewing half a century of measuring cross-cultural competence: Aligning theoretical constructs and empirical measures

We provide a comprehensive review of how cross-cultural competence (CCC) has been measured over the past half-century in order to more closely align theoretical constructs and empirical measures. Based on a content analysis of 68 academic and commercial CCC instruments and a supplemental survey of 160 experts, we review the approaches used in these instruments to conceptualize and quantify CCC, discuss their limitations, and recommend best practices and directions for future researchers and practitioners when selecting and using CCC instruments or developing new alternatives.     

What will business-to-business marketers learn from neuro-marketing? Insights for business marketing practice

This research note offers expert comments on the boundaries and frontiers of neuro-marketing application for business-to-business (B-to-B) marketing. This is done using a practice-led approach to discuss the boundaries and frontiers of neuro-marketing application for B-to-B marketing. Insights are provided into what neuro-marketing is, is not, can do, cannot do, should do, and should not do in B-to-B settings. This note can assist B-to-B marketing academics, practitioners, and neuroscientists in understanding the boundaries and frontiers of B-to-B neuro-marketing application. This note outlines how neuroscience can be appropriately applied in theoretical and practical B-to-B marketing endeavors. This note offers a useful response to a series of common but often inadequately answered or unanswered questions on B-to-B neuro-marketing application.     

The marketing message: Being broadcast loud and clear?

Communication lies at the very heart of marketing; but how well do marketers and marketing academics communicate? Academics, including those in marketing, have been criticized for putting their ideas across in a complex and unclear way. Marketing academics may have some valuable new ideas to “sell” to practitioners; but are they so product orientated that they are ignoring the communications needs of their potential customers? This paper tries to explore the importance of clear communications for academics and practitioners; and to survey how clearly we are communicating through the channel of marketing journals in particular.     

Towards a paradigm shift in marketing? An examination of current marketing practices

In recent years, the traditional Transaction approach to marketing has been challenged to the point where a number of authors have suggested that a “paradigm shift” is occurring. The “newparadigm” is commonly referred to as Relationship Marketing, and has been used to reflect a number of different types of relational marketing activity, including Database, Interaction and Network marketing. This paper investigates current marketing practice to clarify the relevance of these alternative approaches using four case studies and a survey of 134 firms. The results do not support the notion of a complete “paradigm shift”. Rather, the findings show that for many firms, transactional marketing is relevant and practised concurrently with various types of relational marketing. It is concluded that while relational marketing issues are currently receiving attention from academics and practitioners alike, the role of transactional marketing should not be ignored or underestimated.     

Thirsty in an Ocean of Data? Pitfalls and Practical Strategies When Partnering With Industry on Big Data Supply Chain Research

Increased volume, velocity, and variety of data provides new opportunities for businesses to take advantage of data science techniques, predictive analytics, and big data. However, firms are struggling to make use of their disjointed and unintegrated data streams. Despite this, academics with the analytic tools and training to pursue such research often face difficulty gaining access to corporate data. We explore the divergent goals of practitioners and academics and how the gap that exists between the communities can be overcome to derive mutual value from big data. We describe a practical roadmap for collaboration between academics and practitioners pursuing big data research. Then we detail a case example of how, by following this roadmap, researchers can provide insight to a firm on a specific supply chain problem while developing a replicable template for effective analysis of big data. In our case study, we demonstrate the value of effectively pairing management theory with big data exploration, describe unique challenges involved in big data research, and develop a novel and replicable hierarchical regression‐based process for analyzing big data.     

The quest for consumer engagement via cause-related marketing: A mixed method study in an emerging economy

The present study attempts to understand the concept of consumer engagement (CE) in Cause-related Marketing (CRM) context. Utilizing a simultaneous qual + qual mixed method research approach; the authors have attempted to consider two research questions: (1) how online retail organizations operating in India are framing CRM campaigns for enhancing consumer engagement, and (2) what are the factors that motivate consumers to engage with CRM initiatives of online retailers. Integrating the findings of the study with the ‘Hierarchy of Engagement Model’ provided by Grewal et al. (2017b), the authors have proposed a conceptual model of CE in CRM context. Further, the study provides implications for both academics and marketing practitioners.     

Relationship Use and Market Dynamism: A Model of Relationship Evolution

Evidence for the success of relationship marketing remains contradictory, with practitioners reporting that most relationship marketing efforts fail, and academic researchers suggesting that further exploration of the boundary conditions of relationship marketing are needed. A number of researchers have identified changes in the competitive environment as the basis for the adoption of relationship marketing, although recent research suggests a more complex, contingent view. Drawing upon longitudinal case studies from the New Zealand wine industry, this article names a number of contextual conditions that influence the development and evolution of relationship strategies. The findings identify changes in the form and intensity of relationships. The source of these changes is identified. Based on this analysis, four marketing 'gestalts' are identified. The evolution of each gestalt is then explained, with the approaches used by firms to navigate from one gestalt to another described.     

Endogeneity in survey research

Endogeneity is a crucial problem in survey-based empirical research on marketing strategy (MS) and inter-organizational relationships (IORs); if not addressed, it can cause researchers to arrive at flawed conclusions and to offer poor advice to practitioners. Although the field is increasingly cognizant of endogeneity-related issues, many authors fail to properly address it, particularly in survey-based research. Emphasizing the role of essential heterogeneity, this article develops an overarching framework to help improve the understanding of endogeneity problems and how to tackle them when researchers use cross-sectional survey-based data. The authors provide explanations of and advice for how MS and IOR researchers can address six “painful” and sometimes hidden decisions: 1) Do you have an endogeneity problem? 2) What technique/estimator is appropriate? 3) What instrumental variables (IVs) should be chosen? 4) How should IVs be evaluated empirically? 5) How should the results be interpreted and evaluated? and 6) What results should you report? The authors provide a practical flowchart to guide researchers in their efforts to address endogeneity-related concerns.     

Moving from subject-object to subject-subject relations: Comments on “figuring companion-species consumption”

The analytical themes Bettany and Daly pursue touch upon several topics noteworthy in consumer and marketing research past and present — namely, relationships between consumers and consumption offerings, between marketers and consumers, between academics and practitioners, and between culture and nature. In discussing each, the present article extends Bettany and Daly's insights, posing challenges at once playful and very serious for consumers, marketers, researchers, and public policy analysts.     

Understanding contemporary marketing: Development of a classification scheme

The term Relationship Marketing has been used in a multitude of ways to describe and define marketing in the contemporary environment. This has led to the term being loosely defined and applied in the literature, resulting in frustration for both researchers and practitioners. Therefore, a classification scheme is developed from analysis of the extant literature, and used to systematically examine the meaning of marketing across twelve dimensions which reflect issues related to marketing practice. From this scheme, the authors identify two ‘perspectives’ of marketing, which encompass four distinguishable ‘types’ of marketing. Implications for future research in the area are discussed.     

Modeling Marketing Dynamics by Time Series Econometrics

This paper argues that time-series econometrics provides valuable tools and opens exciting research opportunities to marketing researchers. It allows marketing researchers to advance traditional modeling and estimation approaches by incorporating dynamic processes to answer new important research questions. The authors discuss the challenges facing time-series modelers in marketing, provide an overview of recent methodological developments and several applications, and highlight fruitful areas for future research. This discussion is based on the First Annual Conference on Modeling Marketing Dynamics by Time Series Econometrics at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA on September 16–17, 2004.Insights from the First Annual Conference, Tuck School of Business at DartmouthThis revised version was published online in May 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Cross-cultural advertising communication: Visual imagery, brand familiarity, and brand recall

The focus of this paper is to address the issue of visual imagery in cross-cultural consumer research. The authors investigate the relationship between visual imagery, brand familiarity, and brand claim recall in two distinct cultural environments — the U.S. and Russia. The paper consists of two studies that explored imagery potency from the point of view of memory-evoking effects. The results suggest that image-intensive tools generate different returns depending on the level of brand familiarity and cultural media. The research findings may be of interest to marketing scholars studying cross-cultural consumer behavior as well as to practitioners operating in international advertising and global brand building.     

The emergence and development of place marketing's confused identity

This paper draws parallels between the emergence and development of place marketing research with the emergence of service marketing as a distinct subject area within marketing. However, the topic area itself remains confused, terms used to describe its various associated phenomena have not been clearly defined, there is little consensus what type of marketing or branding applies to places, and the literature has not resolved the differences in marketing / branding individual places and whole nations, thus leading to confusion for academics and practitioners alike. A thematic review of the literature is presented in order to reflect on the way various aspects of the literature have developed, and how this has impacted on the current debate. The confusion over the use of terms originates from the way the literature developed over time in different subject areas, but also appears to be linked to the way authors successfully target articles for publication, using terms that better align with a journal's focus rather than necessarily using the most appropriate term for the specific construct under investigation.     

The Physical Attractiveness Phenomena. Patzer,Gordon L. New York: Plenum Press, 1985. 308 Pp. $39.50

This paper presents integrated marketing communication (IMC) and brand identity as critical components of the firm's brand equity strategy. Specifically, the authors provide a brand equity strategy schematic that details (1) the role of IMC in creating and maintaining brand equity, and (2) the role of brand identity in informing, guiding, and helping to develop, nurture, and implement the firm's overall IMC strategy. The authors also present a conceptual framework with testable research propositions toward IMC theory development. Finally, a discussion of implications for academics and practitioners is provided, and opportunities for future qualitative and quantitative research are suggested.     

Twenty years of IMC

This article examines the understanding and practice of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in organisations since its inception 20 years ago. It analyses a survey conducted among chief executive officers (CEOs) of marketing communications agencies, chief marketing officers (CMOs) of client companies, and other senior leaders of the industry in the Asia-Pacific region. It then looks into the similarities and differences between academics’ and practitioners’ understanding and practice of IMC.     

Digital marketing communication in global marketplaces: A review of extant research,future directions,and potential approaches

Digital marketing communication, that is, communication through digital or electronic media among businesses and consumers, is growing rapidly, especially during the COVID-19 era. We propose a framework for analyzing digital marketing communication along four major dyads, business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), and consumer-to-business (C2B). We review and summarize, for researchers and practitioners, the literature during 2000–2021 in these dyads along four major components: goals; channels, media, and platforms; content; and responses. We find that extant research in digital marketing communication pertains mostly to a specific, national level rather than a global level, despite the porousness of national boundaries for digital marketing. We derive important insights, identify key research gaps and questions in each of the dyads along these dimensions. We suggest approaches to address these research questions under three major components: substantive issues, data, and methods. These approaches can offer the insights that managers need to better formulate digital marketing strategies in local and global contexts.