From academic research to marketing practice: Exploring the marketing science value chain

We aim to investigate the impact of marketing science articles and tools on the practice of marketing. This impact may be direct (e.g., an academic article may be adapted to solve a practical problem) or indirect (e.g., its contents may be incorporated into practitioners' tools, which then influence marketing decision making). We use the term “marketing science value chain” to describe these diffusion steps, and survey marketing managers, marketing science intermediaries (practicing marketing analysts), and marketing academics to calibrate the value chain.     

Exploring the locus of internal marketing

Service and business-to-business companies have remained at the forefront of studies into internal marketing due to close contact between employees and customers. Marketing academics and practitioners have shown particular interest in the supermarket sector over recent years due to fluctuations in performance that have been reported. Consumers have negligible switching costs, so the risk of them purchasing substitute products is a problem to marketers where there is insignificant product differentiation. There is little evidence to support the benefits of internal market orientation in the food retail industry, and the main reason is difficulty of measuring its value. Although the UK food retail industry has been extensively researched, researchers have yet to address it properly in regard to internal market orientation. There is now an opportunity to create sustainable competitive advantage by providing a variety of offerings.     

Exploring creative marketing thought: Divergent ideation processes and outcomes

Most marketing professionals deem creativity vital to successful marketing performance. However, while previous research has advanced an understanding of creative organizations, much less is known about the cognitive processes that direct the creative thinking of marketing professionals. This article presents a theoretical framework, the Divergent Marketing Thought Model (DMTM), that explores the ideation modes, processes, and outcomes involved in the generation of divergent marketing thought. The proposed model, which is based on a synthesis of research from psychology, marketing, and creativity, offers insight into specific divergent ideation processes that mediate the generation of creative marketing thought. Informed by the DMTM, several formal research propositions are advanced.     

Factors affecting the study of important marketing issues: Implications and recommendations

Academic research in marketing has produced many useful insights and tools over the years. Lately, however, an increasing number of scholars have voiced concern that much of the current academic research is not particularly useful. We explore reasons why this may be the case, and offer a set of recommendations to address them. We first identify three general factors that must be present in order for academics to develop important marketing insights: (i) awareness of important marketing issues, (ii) ability to address these issues, and (iii) motivation to address them. Using this as a framework, we identify several variables that may be reducing the likelihood of our studying important marketing issues. These variables suggest actions that we may take to increase the likelihood of our producing important marketing insights and tools.     

Getting to Yes in China: Exploring Personality Effects in Chinese Negotiation Styles

Researchers believe that personality affects both the negotiation process and outcomes, but have yet to provide reliable evidence. Using a culturally balanced personality scale SAPPS, we explore the impact of personality on negotiation within a collectivist context–China. Hypothesized relationships based on a buyer/seller model are supported that assertive negotiators are more likely to behave competitively, which leads to better economic outcomes, and open-minded negotiators are more likely to use an integrative approach, which leads to higher satisfaction. This result, similar to those obtained in North America, suggests a universal model of negotiation might exist. Our study also indicates, however, that personality only accounts for a small portion of variance in negotiation behaviors. More research from other perspectives is needed for further exploration.     

Exploring the psychological foundations of ethical positions in marketing

While demographic variables may ease the exploration of marketing ethics, psychological variables may provide more insight into individual differences in making ethical judgments. This article uses path analysis to explore relationships among cognitive style as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Forsyth's ethical ideologies, and perceptions of moral judgments about ethical behaviors in marketing. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Industrial procurement: factors affecting sourcing decisions

Industrial procurement is arguably that part of strategy which should have a customer focus. The recent attention to such strategies in a variety of commercial and government contexts, has grown much faster than detailed understanding of how sourcing decisions are made and their implications for organisations. This paper provides an overview of empirical research into sourcing decisions made in organisations.     

Opinion leadership vs. para-social relationship: Key factors in influencer marketing

The literature on influencer marketing has identified opinion leadership of influencers and parasocial relationship with influencers as two focal constructs affecting followers' purchase intention; yet they are only studied in isolation. This research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects of the two key constructs by combining and comparing them in a model with the moderators of post characteristics, namely post type and correspondent inference. Empirical results from 409 online followers of two Instagram accounts confirm the complementary effects of opinion leadership and parasocial relationship in influencer marketing and reveal the more prominent role of parasocial relationship over opinion leadership in affecting followers’ purchase intention. These effects are moderated by post characteristics. Storytelling posts intensify both effects. Correspondent inference enhances the effect of parasocial relationship, but not that of opinion leadership. These findings point to the importance of the social aspect of influencer marketing and inform the influencer marketing research and practice on “who says what” for improving communication effectiveness.     

Finding critical success factors for virtual community marketing

Previous studies have identified critical success factors related to using virtual communities as a marketing channel. These studies have followed two research trends that connect the virtual community to actual purchasing. One is finding relationships between the operational elements of a virtual community and members’ intent to purchase and the other is finding relationships between characteristics of virtual community members and their intent to purchase. The model for this study reflects both trends. In addition, the model reflects research related to factors of customer satisfaction and the measurement of marketing success in terms of sense of community and loyalty. Conclusions from this research have been verified empirically with survey data collected from 292 virtual community members representing nine profit-oriented virtual communities. This study confirms that operational elements of a virtual community and characteristics of virtual community members affect the success of virtual community marketing. It is also confirmed that perceptions of usefulness, trust, and commitment toward the virtual community are important intervening effects. However, not all factors studied in the model were found to be significant in relationship to successful virtual community marketing. The analysis of the results from this study should be helpful to practitioners who use virtual communities as a marketing channel.     

Exploring online comments from a strategic marketing stance to reduce wildlife crime

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is an omnipresent global threat to ecological, social, and economic systems. Marketing expertise can aid in the mitigation and reduction of crime against wildlife using a variety of mechanisms. This paper focuses on how social media usage relates to the framing of conservation appeals. By studying the content of existing blogs, articles, white papers, and other online postings, we extract relevant themes and concepts. Conducting an unguided semantic analysis of our data, we analyzed messaging appeal strategies and the underlying social or informational frameworks they employ. Using literature on advertising appeal types and contrasting social/emotional with knowledge-based/informational messaging strategies, we identified how wildlife crime prevention content employs these rhetorical framing mechanisms. Through the lens of social learning theory, our study proposes messaging strategies as a framework for understanding online content. Crimes against wildlife are creating increasingly severe ecological, economic, and social damage within international political and social communities; individuals learn from and engage with online content, therefore appropriate framing mechanisms can aid marketers in designing effective prevention appeals.     

Israeli women entrepreneurs: An examination of factors affecting performance

This article examines individual factors influencing performance of 200 Israeli women-owned businesses. Whereas research on women entrepreneurs is extensive in developed countries, especially in the United States and Europe, there are comparatively few studies of performance of women-owned businesses in non-OECD countries. There is evidence that social structures (work, family, and organized social life) vary among developed and developing countries as these relate to women entrepreneurs. However, these differences have not been considered as they may relate to theories explaining performance of women-owned businesses. The extent to which existing theories are useful in the context of non-OECD countries is of increasing importance as women in these countries are assuming a greater role in enterprise creation and economic development as a result of radical geopolitical and economic policy changes worldwide.In Israel, women suffer from occupational segregation and typically earn less money than their male counterparts, despite a generally high level of education. Entrepreneurship offers a vehicle for Israeli women to achieve economic parity. Approximately 5.1% of Israeli women are self-employed (compared with 15% of Israeli men) of the 816,800 Israeli working women. This study is the first systematic investigation of performance variation among Israeli women entrepreneurs, thereby contributing to our understanding of women's entrepreneurship in non-OECD countries.Five theoretical perspectives explain performance: individual motivations and goals; social learning (entrepreneurial socialization); network affiliation (contacts and membership in organizations); human capital (level of education, business skills); and environmental influences (location, sectoral participation, and sociopolitical variables). Each of these perspectives is associated with empirical work showing relationships between these individual level factors and performance. Three questions directed this study: (1) Which factors influence the performance of Israeli women entrepreneurs? (2) Which factors explain any variance in performance among businesses established by Israeli women entrepreneurs? (3) How similar are these explanatory factors to those found in other countries?A sample of 220 Israeli women business-owners responded to a survey instrument originally composed by Hisrich and Brush (1982, 1985) that was translated into Hebrew and adapted to the particular conditions of the Israeli population. A majority of the questionnaires was distributed at meetings of professional associates of women entrepreneurs and returned by mail, but one-fourth was distributed to women who were not members of any professional association. No significant differences were found between the respondents who were members or non-members of associations. Reliability testing showed alpha coefficients of 0.65 and higher for scaled questions, which is acceptable for survey data. Statistical analyses, including Pearsons's correlations and multiple regressions, examined relationships between factors identified from theoretical perspectives and performance, which was measured by profitability, income, size (number of employees), and revenues.Demographic variables were examined, and the age of the woman entrepreneur's children was significantly related to profitability (p < .01). The majority of Israeli women entrepreneurs are married and became entrepreneurs after their children were grown. This is consistent with the strong family orientation prevalent in the Israeli culture and the existence of institutional arrangements that support the working mother model as long as she gives priority to family responsibilities.Of the five theoretical perspectives, results showed network affiliation, motivation, human capital, and environmental factors affected different aspects of performance, whereas social learning theory or existence of a role model had no significant effect on performance outcomes. Network affiliation was significantly related to profitability (p < .001), and the use of outside advisors also was related to revenue. In contrast, participation in multiple networks was negatively related to revenue, income, and size of the business.Motivations showed a strong relationship to performance. Factor analysis identified three basic groups of motives: achievement, independence, and economic necessity. Similar to findings in other countries, achievement motives were highly related to personal income, whereas economic necessity was significantly related to both profitability and revenue.Analyses of human capital variables showed mixed results; education level, areas of study, and previous entrepreneurial experience had no effect on previous experience. The fact that this population was highly educated (51% had university degrees) may have impacted on this result. Consistent with prior research findings, previous experience in the industry had a direct and significant effect on performance (p < .001). Previous salaried employment and involvement in the creation of a business were significantly correlated with sales and number of employees. Results also showed that indexes of women entrepreneurs' business skills (obtaining financing, budgeting, labor management, and planning ahead) were highly correlated with revenues (p < .01). Regression analysis showed the business skill index significantly related to profitability (p < .01). Environmental factors were significantly related to performance in that the sectoral affiliation (service versus manufacturing) was related to revenues and employees, but not to profitability and income.This study supports previous research from the United States and Europe on women entrepreneurs, which found that performance is related to previous industry experience, business skills, and achievement motivation. However, the differential effects of network affiliations was significantly more important for women entrepreneurs in Israel. Affiliation with a single network was highly related to profitability, whereas involvement in multiple networks was detrimental to both revenues and the number of employees. These findings imply that to perform well, Israeli women entrepreneurs should gain related industry experience, develop business skills, and seek to achieve success. Most importantly, commitment to a single network for support and advice is better than a loose alignment with many support groups.This research has implications for studies of women entrepreneurs in other non-OECD as well as developing countries. In countries such as Russia or China, anecdotal evidence shows self-employment offers women an opportunity to improve their economic status as more capitalistic policies are adopted. The extent to which individual factors found important in this study, such as business skills, motivations, previous industry experience, and network affiliation, affect performance in these countries is a topic for future investigation. This study suggests that individual factors affect performance differentially as a consequence of variations in social structures, work, organized social life, and family. Future research should explore the extent to which this is the case. Examination of aspects of organizational strategies and government policies as these influence performance is another topic for future study.     

Exploring globalization and marketing performance at the 2012 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul

This special issue of the Journal of Business Research features sixteen articles selected from papers presented during the third Global Marketing Conference held in Seoul, July 19–22, 2012, hosted by Korean Scholars of Marketing Science, European Marketing Academy, Japan Society of Marketing and Distribution, International Textile and Apparel Association, and Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. The articles offer readers an interesting mix of topics and methods in complex and global marketing environments. They offer marketing practitioners new ideas and approaches for dealing effectively with the increasingly challenging marketing world and provide marketing researchers insights that may inspire future research.     

市场营销新理念:绿色营销

<正> 自20世纪70年代以来,全球掀起了一场绿色浪潮,人们开始关注消费中的环境代价,呼吁既无污染又有利于健康的绿色产品。中国加入WTO,企业要参与国际竞争,要开拓市场,就必须顺应环保消费的新潮流,实施绿色营销。绿色营销是一种新的营销方式:企业在营销活动中谋求消费者利益、企业利益和环境利益的统一协调,既充分满足消费者的需求,获取企业利润,又充分注意自然生态平衡和社会效益。其对产品的设计、制造、定价、促销都要以保护环境和人类长远利益,实现可持续发展为目的。     

Exploring factors driving social recruiting: The case of Australian organizations

This study identifies key factors driving the organizational adoption of social recruiting technologies, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. The Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) framework, as an initial exploratory approach, is used to identify underlying factors of new technology adoption. Qualitative evidence collected from 12 Australian firms serves to specifically categorize key determinants of the organizational adoption of social recruiting technologies. It is found that apart from several TOE factors that significantly influence the organizational decision making with reference to social recruiting, top management support is seen as imperative for successful adoption of recruiting technologies. Formalization, comprehensiveness, and strategic orientation of organizational human resource departments are closely linked to adoption of social recruiting at the firm level. In addition, job applicants’ readiness and local success stories have driven firms to adopt social recruiting technologies. The study extends and modifies the TOE model to provide the theoretical foundations of social recruiting in the context of Australian organizations and help human resource professionals and practitioners to gain a better understanding of key drivers of organizational social recruiting.     

当前影响船舶市场的诸多经济因素分析

一、世界经济继续复苏 当前,世界经济形势处于近几年来最好的时期.如图1所示,世界经济在经历2001年大跌后,逐渐好转,一直到2003年下半年开始,世界经济显示出明显的复苏势头,呈现出反转的态势,前景看好.据国际货币基金组织最新预测,2004年,世界经济增长速度可望达到4.6%,世界贸易将增长6.8%.     

Exploration of lead factors affecting service recovery

This research attempts to explore the influence of empowerment on service recovery from the viewpoint of managers and also to probe into the possible differences in the adoption of service recovery strategies in different corporate cultures. Linear multivariate data analysis and nonlinear fuzzy neural network are combined to analyze data and verify the proposed hypotheses. Through the investigation into Chinese and Western food chain stores, it is shown that the more empowered employees will adopt more active failure recovery strategies; and tougher corporate cultures tend to have passive service recovery strategies, whereas minor corporate cultures tend to have active service recovery strategies. Customer relationship involvement reveals positive influences on the adoption of recovery strategies. The characteristic of this research is that, on the one hand, through the empirical conclusion of the nonlinear fuzzy neural network model, we not only measure the relationship among the variables more precisely, but also have less restrictive conditions. Also, according to organizational management factors, this research proposes and examines the influencing factors affecting service recovery strategies. It explores the responses to service recovery from the viewpoint of internal prevention in the organization, which is different from past research that focussed mostly upon consumers' views.     

试论国际市场营销环境中的文化因素及其作用

传统观念认为,市场营销特别是国际市场营销是一种经济活动,经济因素是唯一的决定因素。但是,文化因素在国际市场营销中更起着非常重要的作用,使文化的构成要素在国际市场营销活动中有各自的影响和作用。     

Reconciling marketing with political science: Theories of political marketing

This paper has two broad aims: to trace the theoretical development of political marketing and then demonstrate how these concepts can be used in the analysis of election campaigns. Electioneering is not the sole manifestation of marketing in politics but it is the most obvious, a point underlined by recent work addressing the prominent role now played by political marketing in a parliamentary democracy like Britain. Whilst much of this material understandably concentrates on the once neglected work of campaign practitioners, the more theoretical explorations of the intersection between marketing and politics have tended to appear in management journals. This paper intends to explore the relationship from a political science perspective.