The impact of shopbots on electronic markets

Internet shopbots are automated tools that allow customers to easily search for prices and product characteristics from online retailers. Some market observers have predicted that shopbots will benefit consumers at the expense of retailers. In this view, shopbots will radically reduce consumer search costs and reduce retailer opportunities to differentiate their products; as a result, they will drive retailer margins toward zero. However, a review of the literature suggests that while shopbots may place pressure on retailer margins in some circumstances, retailers retain numerous opportunities to differentiate their products, leverage brand names, set strategic prices, and reduce the effectiveness of consumer search at shopbots. The article closes by identifying significant questions for future research. Michael D. Smith is an assistant professor of information systems and marketing at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management and the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in telecommunications science from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in management science and information technology from Sloan School of Management at MIT. His research relates to the nature of structure and competition in electronic markets and addresses the efficiency of electronic markets, the uses of network effects and lock-in techniques for competitive advantage, and the measurement of consumer responses to retailer differentiation strategies. Prior to receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Smith worked extensively in the telecommunications and information systems industries, first GTE in their laboratories, telecommunications, and satellite business units and subsequently with Booz Allen and Hamilton as a member of their telecommunications client service team. While with GTE, he was awarded a patent for research for applying fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence techniques to the design and operation of telecommunications networks.     

The role of slotting fees and introductory allowances in retail buyers’ new-product acceptance decisions

Although slotting fees and introductory allowances have become well established in the grocery and other industries, they remain a source of controversy among channel members. Retailers claim that these fees and allowances help mitigate the risks associated with new-product acceptance. Manufacturers counter that retailers are abusing slotting fees and allowances by using them as a source of profit. The authors investigate this controversy by empirically examining the role of slotting fees and allowances in the retail buyers’ product acceptance decision process. Results provide evidence to suggest that introductory allowances are indeed being used by retailers in the sample to offset perceived risks and costs of carrying new products. However, findings regarding slotting fees are much less supportive of retailers’ claims. J. Chris White (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida. His primary research and teaching interests include marketing strategy and management, retail management, international strategy, and promotion strategy. Lisa C. Troy (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is an assistant professor of marketing at Utah State University. Her primary research and teaching interests include product innovation and new product development, marketing strategy, retail management, and international marketing. R. Nicholas Gerlich (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an associate professor of marketing at West Texas A&M University. He is actively involved in the development of Web-based courses and has research interests in the marketing of new products.     

关于企业管理专业博士研究生课程设计的思考

博士研究生课程体系设置的科学与否,直接影响到博士研究生培养质量的高低。目前,国内高教博士课程设计不尽完善．本文在分析国内外企业管理专业博士课程设置的基础上,提出了以完善博士生知识结构为基础,以提升博士生能力结构为目标的课程设计思路,通过基础理论、专业知识、研究工具与方法等五大模块课程的组配,全面提升博士研究生的知识萃取能力、知识结构化能力、知识衍生能力和知识文本化能力。     

Consumer images of two types of competing financial service retailers

Service retailers sell an intangible product which is frequently difficult to evaluate. Therefore, the images consumers have of the service retailer are especially critical. This research measures consumer images of two types of financial service retailers to assess the similarity of retail image, crosssectionally, and the stability of these images, longitudinally.     

Profitable positioning for retailers

This article has considered the nature and role of positioning among retailers. The positioning of retail stores was defined as the perceived image consumers have of one store in relation to competitive outlets within the same trading area. And profitable positioning for retailers was identified as a strategy for developing and projecting unique store images for increasing the retailer’s total profits.     

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.     

Transference and congruence effects on purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers: initial evidence from the U.S. and South Korea

Drawing from research on retailing, online shopping behavior, and theories of cognitive psychology, we develop and test a framework that investigates purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers. The framework simultaneously examines the influence of transference of attitude and trust from the multi-channel retailer??s physical to online stores, image congruence between the multi-channel retailer??s physical and online stores, and image congruence between the multi-channel retailer??s online store and a prototypical online store. Further, recognizing that several retailers now operate as multi-channel retailers in different countries, we examine the influence of cultural differences in thought processes (i.e., holistic versus analytic thinking) on shoppers?? evaluation of online stores of multi-channel retailers. Toward this end, we test the framework using data collected from respondents in the U.S. (analytic thinkers) and South Korea (holistic thinkers). We conclude with a discussion of the findings, suggestions for future research, and potential limitations.     

Why do suppliers choose wholesale price contracts? End-of-season payments disincentivize retailer marketing effort

Although theoretical work has shown that end-of-season payment contracts, which allow suppliers and retailers to share the cost of unsold inventory, increase total profit, most suppliers and retailers today still use simple wholesale price contracts. In a series of experimental studies, we show that supplier preferences for wholesale price contracts can be explained by their concern that end-of-season payments contracts will disincentivize retailer marketing effort. Moreover, suppliers’ pessimistic predictions regarding reduced retailer effort are confirmed by retailers’ reduced investment in marketing effort in our experiments. Our results suggest that for suppliers and retailers to benefit from end-of-season payments contracts, retailers should publicize their demand-enhancing marketing practices.     

The influence of store environment on quality inferences and store image

The study reported here examines how combinations of specific elements in the retail store environment influence consumers’ inferences about merchandise and service quality and discusses the extent to which these inferences mediate the influence of the store environment on store image. Results show that ambient and social elements in the store environment provide cues that consumers use for their quality inferences. In addition, store environment, merchandise quality, and service quality were posited to be antecedents of store image—with the latter two serving as mediators—rather than components of store image (as they are typically treated in the store image literature). Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed, and future research directions are proposed. She received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her areas of interest include store environment, consumer behavior, and product/service quality. She has published articles in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing and theJournal of Retailing. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His areas of interest include pricing, consumer behavior, product/service quality, and customer satisfaction. He has published articles in a number of journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, andJournal of Retailing. He received his D.B.A. from Indiana University in 1975. His research interests focus on the measurement and improvement of service quality and on services marketing strategy. He is the recipient of several teaching and research awards. In 1988, he was selected as one of the ten most influential figures in quality by the editorial board ofThe Quality Review. His articles have appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Services Marketing, andBusiness Horizons, among other publications. He is the author ofMarketing Research, a college textbook, as well as coauthor ofMarketing Services: Competing through Quality andDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations. He is also an active consultant to a number of major corporations.     

Relationships among measures of retail salesperson performance

A lack of understanding of the relationships among measures of salesperson performance exists in practice and in the retailing/sales management literature. This article examines the relationships among three commonly used measures—one outcome (sales volume) and two judgmental measures (managerial evaluations and salesperson self-evaluations). We empirically demonstrate that not all judgmental measures are related to outcome measures; that is, salesperson self-evaluations are significantly related to sales volume, but managerial evaluations are not. The study also examines the efficacy of retailers using short outcome-measuring periods for evaluation purposes. The results suggest that outcome measure variance within salespeople for short periods is high and therefore these data should be used with caution. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from The Ohio State University. His research interests are in the areas of retailing, logistics, and sales management. He has published extensively in journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Retailing. He is co-author of Retailing Management. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in the area of sales management and organizational behavior. His has published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.     

Measuring physical distribution service quality

The quality of the physical distribution service industrial purchasers receive from suppliers has been shown to be an important consideration in industrial purchasing decisions. To better understand the criteria used to assess physical distribution service quality, the authors examined the literature on physical distribution and service quality and conducted interviews with purchasing managers. Based on the results of the literature reviews and interviews, plus a two-step data-gathering process, a valid and reliable measurement instrument for perceptions of physical distribution service quality (PDSQ) was developed and refined. She received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. Her research interests are in the areas of channels of distribution, logistics, service quality, and marketing strategy. She has published inThe Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior; Marketing Management; andJournal of Business Logistics. 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 and Logistics Review, Transportation Journal, Columbia Journal of World Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Research in Marketing, and other journals. He has published in numerous journals, including theJournal of Marketing.     

The integration of economic history into economics

In the USA today the academic field of economic history is much closer to economics than it is to history in terms of professional behavior, a stylized fact that I call the “integration of economic history into economics.” I document this using two types of evidence—use of econometric language in articles appearing in academic journals of economic history and economics; and publication histories of successive cohorts of Ph.D.s in the first decade since receiving the doctorate. Over time, economic history became more like economics in its use of econometrics and in the likelihood of scholars publishing in economics, as opposed to, say, economic history journals. But the pace of change was slower in economic history than in labor economics, another subfield of economics that underwent profound intellectual change in the 1950s and 1960s, and there was also a structural break evident for post-2000 Ph.D. cohorts. To account for these features of the data, I sketch a simple, overlapping generations model of the academic labor market in which junior scholars have to convince senior scholars of the merits of their work in order to gain tenure. I argue that the early cliometricians—most notably, Robert Fogel and Douglass North—conceived of a scholarly identity for economic history that kept the field distinct from economics proper in various ways, until after 2000 when their influence had waned.     

Product-, corporate-, and country-image dimensions and purchase behavior: A multicountry analysis

This research focuses on consumer perceptions that are developed on the basis of a firm’s advertising appeals as well as other factors. In conceptualizing brand-image perceptions, the authors extend the frequent use of productrelated images to include corporate and country images attached to brands. The authors report findings based on secondary economic and cultural data at the macro level and the results of a global brand-image survey conducted in the top 20 international automobile markets at the individual level. The findings suggest that while consumers’ attitudes toward corporate image and country image exert main effects on their brand purchase behavior, the effects of certain product-image appeals are moderated by sociodemographics and national cultural characteristics. The empirical results are broadly supportive of the proposed hypotheses and provide a consumer-based extension of Roth’s work on global brand image. Ming-Huei Hsieh (hmh@saturn.yzu.edu.tw), Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of International Business, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan. She has obtained her Ph.D degree (2002) from Warwick Business school of the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Prior to her Ph.D. study, she conducted several market research projects for major multinationals, including General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, and Prudential in Taiwan. She is currently studying a variety of topics in cross-national consumer research. Specifically, she is exploring topics in brand management. She is also interested in the areas of Internet marketing and customer relationship management (CRM). She has articles published in theJournal of International Marketing, theJournal of Product and Brand Management, and theJournal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce. Shan-Ling Pan (pansl@comp.nus.edu.sg), Ph.D., is an assistant professor and the coordinator of the Knowledge Management Laboratory (http://kmlab.comp.nus.edu.sg) in the Department of Information Systems of the School of computing at the National University of Singapore. He received his MBA degree (1993) from the University of Texas at San Antonio, his MA degree (1996) from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and his Ph.D. degree (2000) from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. His primary research focuses on the recursive interaction of organizations and information technology (enterprise systems), with particular emphasis on organizational issues such as work practices, cultures, structures, decision making, change, and strategy implementation. His research work has been published inInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transaction on Engineering Management, theJournal of the American Society for Information Systems and Technology Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, Information and Organization, theJournal of Strategic Information Systems, theEuropean Journal of Information Systems, andDecision Support Systems. Rudy Setiono (rudys@comp.nus.edu.sg) received his Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984, 1986, and 1990, respectively. He has been with the National University of Singapore since 1990 and he is currently an associate professor in the School of Computing. His research interests include linear programming, nonlinear optimization, and neural networks. He is a senior member of IEEE and serves as an associate editor ofIEEE Transactions on Neural Networks. His publications have appeared in theSIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, theEuropean Journal of Operational Research, theJournal of Optimization Theory and Applications, IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, IEEE Transactions on Data and Knowledge Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics, Neural Computation, Neurocomputing, Connection Science, Management Science, and many other reputable journals.     

零供关系研究最新发现

本文通过对24家国际著名的零售商、供应商以及国内两家大型零售商的财务数据的比较分析发现,供应商的赢利水平远高于零售商,我国大型零售商向供应商收费约占其综合收益的35%~50%,零售商占用消费者资金,银行占压零售商资金。本文认为：零供矛盾在领导批示与媒体渲染的过程中被人为放大,各方都存在过激反应;在判断偏离事实的情况下,制定政策法规的流程趋于官僚;在法规严重失效的情况下提高管制级别,不仅会增大管理成本,而且也不一定能产生更好的效果,零供关系立法需谨慎对待。     

Shoplifting: Can it be prevented?

As an exploratory study the survey raised more questions than it answered and a few suggestions for further research have been noted. Most retailers surveyed admitted a shoplifting problem and half of them saw the problem increasing. Although many retailers use preventive techniques, apparently none of the techniques have been totally successful. Most retailers seemed willing to prosecute shoplifters and the adverse publicity to shoplifters alone may act as a deterrent torce (10). Few retailers had any new preventive techniques in mind although most felt that increased convictions would help. A demographic profile of shoplifters could not be identified.     

基于损失厌恶的绿色供应链博弈研究

考虑零售商存在损失厌恶心理,当制造商无环保意识和有环保意识时,分别建立零售商效用函数和制造商利润函数。基于博弈模型,得到制造商的最优定价策略和零售商的最优订货策略。通过数理模型与算例分析,得到如下主要结论：订货量和批发价格随着损失厌恶增加而减少;环保意识能够促使制造商降低批发价格,激励零售商增加订货,弱化损失厌恶对企业和供应链绩效带来的不利影响;且当损失厌恶程度较大时,环保意识对零售商发挥更大的激励作用。     

Effects of accountability on symbolic information search and information analysis by organizational buyers

Most studies of the organizational buying process assume that buyers acquire and use information “prosocially”—to make better decisions and promote their company’s welfare. The authors propose, however, that demands to account for their behavior causes organizational buyers to also gather and use information for political purposes—to protect their own self-interest. The authors present the results of an empirical study that investigates the extent to which four types of accountability—informal, official, process, and decision accountability—result in political (or symbolic) information search and prosocial information analysis by organizational buyers. Study findings suggest that buyers accountable to superiors and those accountable to subordinates or peers engage in more symbolic information search. Buyers accountable for their decision-making process analyze information more extensively. Surprisingly, buyers accountable for decision outcomes neither search for symbolic information nor analyze information more extensively. She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include industrial buying behavior, business-to-business relationships, and international marketing. She has published articles in theJournal of International Marketing and theJournal of Macromarketing, as well as various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His research interests are in the marketing strategy and public policy areas. His work has been published inJournal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Advertising Research, and several other journals.     

Assessing hierarchical differences in job-related attitudes and turnover among retail managers

A model of organizational turnover is expended from previously reported models to include an extraorganizational antecedent and comparison across two different hierarchical levels of management. Role ambiguity, role conflict, and work-family conflict were used as antecedents of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intent to leave, and actual turnover. The basic model of turnover was supported in both levels of management. In addition, several additional relationships that have been found in previous studies were tested. Implications of these results for retail managers are discussed. She received her Ph.D. from Oklahoma Stae University. Her research interests include retail turnover, socialization of entry-level management trainees, the role of social support in reducing employee stress, consumer distribution systems in Russian and Poland, and motivation of Russian and Polish employees. Her articles have appeared inJournal of Retailing, International Marketing Review, andMarketing Education Review. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. His research interests include attitude-behavior relationships, information processing, and the use of structural equations in marketing. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Journal of Advertising, andJournal of Business Research. He received his Ph.D. from University of Utah. He has extensive experinece in computer applications in marketing and business and has conducted research and seminars for a variety of companies. His major interests are in quantitative methods and sales manamgement. His articles have appeared inJournal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Business Horizons, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, andJournal of Business Logistics and Business.     

基于零售商优势地位的规制比较研究

随着零售店的普遍兴起和市场集中度的提高,零售商逐渐拥有垄断势力,他们凭借其优势地位,向生产商实施纵向约束,制约了公平竞争,这一现象逐渐引起政府的关注,如何规制零售商的行为,解决零供关系成为研究的重点。本文从零售商对供应商的纵向约束出发,介绍了对其规制的一些研究,在此基础上描述了各个国家的规制政策,并从我国的规制现状中看到我国规制政策的不足,强调借鉴国外经验制定相关政策法规的紧迫性。     

影响零售商与供应商信息共享意愿的行为因素分析

以北京市消费类lT产品零售商进行访谈与问卷调查为基础,对影响零售商与供应商信息共享意愿的行为因素进行了探索性研究和量化分析,验证了信任、渠道权力(强制性权力和非强制性权力)、私人关系、供应商地位和零售商感知等行为因素对零售商信息共享意愿具有明显影响,并辨别了各个因素的影响程度。针对上述行为因素,提出了提高零售商与供应商信息其享意愿的提高信任度,尽量使非强制性权力,慎用私人关系等具体策略。