Determinants of Prices for the Performing Arts

The performing arts constitute a significant share of demand in the public's arts consumption spending. Despite the growing volume of research in the marketing of the arts, research specifically focusing on the promotion and pricing of the performing arts is still in the development phase. In this study, we examine the impact of locational variables related to live music performances on ticket prices. Specifically, this research focuses on the relationships between ticket prices for classical concert seats and locational variables such as the distance of the seat from the front of the stage, its angle with respect to the center-line of the performance hall and the size of the town population where the concert is hosted are examined. Utilizing data from a leading intermediary of performing arts tickets the above relationships are empirically examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of pricing implications for promoters of the performing arts.     

Subculture as learning context: subcultural music consumption as language,channel and journey

ABSTRACT

Subcultures cultivate alternative and resistive discourses and practices as well as transcendental meanings, experiences and identities. Yet, current knowledge falls short in documenting the ways in which subcultures facilitate learning. Therefore, this study empirically investigates the ways in which music subcultures offer consumers a learning context and potentially transformative process. Via an extensive online and offline ethnographic research design, the findings show how music subcultures enable learning at both the individual and collective levels. Findings reveal that the language of music awakens, the channel of music engages, and the music as journey of experiences facilitates action, navigation from one subcultural scene to another, alternative ways of knowing and critical social learning. Subcultures of music therefore provide consumers with a highly informal and unstructured experience in a participative, (inter)active, creative learning context.     

Newsom,Doug and Alan Scott. This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1976

Abstract

The use of music and lyrics in commercials run in the United States is compared with their use in commercials run in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). The authors briefly review present theoretical perspectives on the role of music in advertising and address the need to conceptualize music as a culturally situated variable. They discuss the structure of Dominican TV media and examine the influence of U.S. media culture in the D.R., then develop a set of propositions about cross-cultural differences in the extensiveness of music and lyrics in commercials, the style of music used, and the product meanings conveyed in lyrics. The propositions are tested in a content analysis of commercials. The findings support the propositions and indicate a need for sociological and interpretive approaches to the study of the role of music in advertising.     

Meanings of the home in popular song lyrics: A feminist critique examining rock and country music

The paper examines the meanings of home as portrayed in the lyrics of popular country and rock songs. These two genres were selected because they loosely represent two American subcultural traditions. The home was chosen because of the central role that it plays in most people's lives and because it is commonly mentioned in the lyrics of popular songs. Because the main role of women in American society is integrally associated with their position and activities in the home, it is hard to separate the two. The authors use an interpretive approach and a feminist perspective to analyze the treatment of women's roles in the home in popular music lyrics. They conclude that, while some representations of women are being questioned by both the performers and the lyric writers, the popular music industry, with its many gatekeepers, continues to promote predominantly stereotypical and traditional images of women.     

An heretical consumer research perspective on music,culture and heritage

ABSTRACT

This special issue presents both empirical and conceptual papers on music, culture, and heritage as a discursive site of human action and social interaction. The theme of this special issue of music, culture, and heritage are aspects symbolically embedded throughout the market, as well as within cultural and ritualistic practice. The work featured in this special issue captures the essence of the 2015 Heretical Consumer Research Revival conference held 28–30 September in New Orleans, LA (partially funded by Association of Consumer Research). This diverse gathering of critical thinkers and consumer researchers considered various avenues to enrich future directions for consumer culture research. In line with that conference, this special issue is oriented towards generating innovative, radical, and even heretical schools of thought in consumer culture research surrounding markets, music, culture, and heritage in a nonconventional, nonconformist manner.     

A practitioner-led strategic place brand-management model

Abstract

As a relatively new field, research into place branding is predominately case-study based, focusing specifically on single place entities. This paper reports on an exploratory study that uses semi-structured interviews with place-branding practitioners working in various geographical locations (towns, cities, regions). The study tests the relevance of the components of strategic place brand management and elucidates their meaning and explores the relationships between these components. The research confirms the relevance of the components but suggests that relationships between components may be context dependent. The study makes both theoretical and managerial contributions by offering a refined, holistic, and new practitioner-led strategic place brand-management model along with structural meanings for each component that describe to those embarking on the process the key processes, activities, and success factors that are integral for an effective place-branding approach.     

The Effects of Background Music on Consumer Responses in a High-end Supermarket

Abstract

This study examines the effects of in-store background music valence (liking) and music fit with the overall store image on consumer evaluative and behavioural responses in the context of a high-end supermarket chain. Based on the previous body of work, a conceptual model is developed to examine music valence on customer appraisal of store offering and personnel, and on the length of shopping time and the value of purchase. The influence of the perceived music fit with the overall store image on shopping time is also assessed in the model. The hypothesized relationships are examined via covariance analysis using store-intercept consumer data. Implications of the structural analyses results for management of retail store brands and for future research on music as an element of store atmospherics are discussed.     

Customer Satisfaction with Consumption Systems

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This research examines how satisfaction toward a product and its associated services offered together by a single provider jointly affects behavioral intentions toward the provider.

Design/methodology/approach: In this study, empirical tests were conducted using longitudinal data spanning 5 years from a multinational company that offers both products and associated services as part of a consumption system to their customers.

Findings: Results show a joint congruent effect of product and services satisfaction on behavioral intentions is linear and positive. It appears that offering great service cannot compensate for less-than-adequate satisfaction toward the product. The results further highlight decreasing customer sensitivity to improvements in both sources of satisfaction and imply that focusing on too high levels of one type of satisfaction for their customers can actually be counterproductive for firms.

Research Limitations: Our model was tested using the data obtained from a single firm. Future research could test this model with data from multiple firms in various different industries and establish broader generalizability to the findings.

Practical Implications: Findings provide managers with insights on how to allocate resources across product and service spaces and to manage product and services revenues over time. Results also indicate that customer behavioral intention ratings are more weighted on product quality over the service received by them. However, mere improvements in the product cannot provide the highest desired results and therefore quality improvements in the product need to be complemented by improvements in service quality.

Originality/Value: There is a rapid emergence of the phenomenon of manufacturers providing both products and services as an integrated consumption system to their customers. While the provision of both product and service subsystems by the same firm leads to certain synergies, there are obvious costs to the development of new service capabilities and coordination with existing product capabilities. Our research intends to address this issue.     

Researching taste: an interview of Antoine Hennion

ABSTRACT

Antoine Hennion is a Professor of Sociology at the Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation (Mines-Paris Tech, PSL/CNRS). He has been researching taste and cultural practices through a pragmatic lens for three decades. He has developed an original and impactful theoretical framework bridging the Actor-Network Theory to Cultural Studies. More precisely, he reconceptualized the notions of mediation and attachment. Antoine Hennion has explored various empirical settings, including music, wine, and sports. More recently, he has contributed to a large research project on migration. His books and academic articles have had an impact on Sociology, and are getting greater attention in consumer research.     

Understanding recreational shopping: A new approach

Abstract

In this article recreational shopping is of concern, the course of action whereby individuals experience enjoyment from shopping. The article reviews previous research in the area and suggests directions for further research. It is suggested that research in the area would benefit from drawing more upon research that focuses on the sociocultural, experiential, and symbolic aspects of consumption, such as, for instance, consumer culture theory (CCT). Thus, it is argued that recreational shopping needs to be acknowledged as a multifaceted activity that may be performed in various ways and embody different types of consumer meanings. It is also argued that there is a need to focus more on the influence of retail environments on individuals engaged in recreational shopping.     

Creating a Sustainable Supply Chain Network by Adopting Relationship Management Strategies

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This paper develops a conceptual framework to analyze the impact of a supply chain network (SCN) structure on relationship management strategies (RMS) that focal firms apply to manage sustainability issues within the SCN.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a comprehensive review and analysis of the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP), sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), and SCN literature.

Findings: The conceptual framework expands the network perspective in the SSCM context by considering the important role of the SCN structure in the firm’s decision-making process. Four factors (dependency, distance, power, and transparency) were found that are useful in conceptualizing the SCN structure. The conceptual framework also categorizes various sustainability practices into four RMS (noncompliance, transactional, dictatorial, and collaborative), which are needed to make an SCN more sustainable. In addition, 16 propositions are developed based on how firms may identify the most effective RMS to implement appropriate sustainability practices through examining their SCN structure.

Research limitations/implications: The conceptual framework, developed as a result of a comprehensive review of the literature, led to the development of 16 propositions, which can assist in furthering a research agenda on RMS to diffuse various sustainability practices within SCN structures.

Originality/value: The relationship between SCN structure and RMS in the sustainability context remains an under-researched but emerging area of interest. This paper leverages existing research to develop a conceptual framework suitable for empirical testing.     

Customers’ everyday understanding of ‘value’ from a second-order cybernetic perspective

ABSTRACT

Value is in the centre of service and marketing. However, what does value mean to customers? The purpose of the paper is to contribute to an understanding of value from a customers’ perspective using a second-order cybernetics approach. We found that the word ‘value’ is recursively linked to 13 different ‘meanings’ indicating a variety of understandings of the term ‘value’. Furthermore, the findings support service-dominant logic where customers integrate their own resources (skills and knowledge) in the value co-creation process. Future research has to be aware of the different meanings, which are associated with value. Marketing managers need to understand, on the one hand, that value has a different meaning to their customer and on the other hand, what value means to their specific target groups.     

How are young music artists configuring their media and sales platforms in the digital age?

Abstract

Research on how music artists generate sales from their content through different platforms is scant. In this study, configuration theory is used to show that different market access configurations are viable simultaneously and that young musicians differ significantly in how they generate revenues. Using data on the media and sales performance of 338 young musicians in the Netherlands, we show that there is an ‘Emerging Star’ group (7–13% of artists depending on regional scope) and that record labels play an important role in this configuration providing broad media access on all platforms, both old and new. Digital age ‘Independents’ (14% of young artists), mostly without a record label, seem to benefit from the use of social media while exploiting synergies around live music. All artists in the remaining groups ‘Question Marks’ and ‘Hobbyists’ experience low to very low performance on all platforms. This study shows that configuration theory can provide detailed insight into viable and unviable marketing strategies. In particular, it shows that the globally declining music CD platform can still be very important for specific artists that exploit synergies between live performances, on-site CD sales and social media fan relationship management. The implications for marketing theory and young music artists are discussed.     

The brand personality dimensions of business-to-business firms: a content analysis of employer reviews on social media

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand personalities that employees are creating of their employer brands, in particular business-to-business (B-to-B) brands, when describing these brands on social media. We examine how the brand personalities, based on written online reviews, differ between high- and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Methodology/Approach: 6,300 written employee reviews from a social media platform, Glassdoor, are used for content analysis in DICTION, to determine the brand personality dimensions they communicate (J. L). An independent B-to-B brand ranking data source, Brandwatch, is used as a reference to various brands’ level of ranking, while an ANOVA test is used to determine whether there is a difference in the brand personality trait means when comparing high and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Findings: Our findings suggest that a strong social media presence does not equate to a strong employer brand personality perception among employees, since there are no significant differences between B-to-B firms based on their rankings.

Research Implications: Extant literature has mostly explored the impact of either critical reviews or favourable customer ratings and reviews on company performance, with very little research focusing on the B-to-B context. In addition, research employing DICTION for the purposes of content analysis of reviews is sparse. The methodology used in this study could thus be employed to further compare and contrast the reviews from a single company, dividing top and low starred reviews to compare discrepancies.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show how online shared employee experiences of employer brands contribute to the formation of a distinct employer brand personality. From a managerial viewpoint, engaging with current and past employees and being cognizant of the online narratives that they share on social media, may be an early indicator of where the firm is lacking (or showing strength) in its’ employee engagement. This would offer a way for firms to both understand their employer brand personality as well as gauge how they compare to top employers in a specific sector or industry.

Originality/Value/Contribution: The study attempts to grow the literature of employee brand engagement in a B-to-B context, by recognizing the important role that employees play in engaging with their employer brand online. Two main contributions are offered. The first contribution relates to the finding that employees perceive highly-rated B-to-B brands as being more competent, exciting, sincere and sophisticated than low-rated B-to-B brands. Second, the methodology used in this study proves to be a novel and accurate way of comparing employee reviews and perceived employer brand personality, with the employer-created intended brand image.     

What is digital possession and how to study it: a conversation with Russell Belk,Rebecca Mardon,Giana M. Eckhardt,Varala Maraj,Will Odom,Massimo Airoldi,Alessandro Caliandro,Mike Molesworth and Alessandro Gandini

ABSTRACT

The platformisation of digital consumption, means that increasingly many of the things that we call ours – our messages, photos, music, achievements – are entangled in complex socio-technical arrangements which require ongoing market mediation. In this context, refining our understanding of what digital possessions are and how to study them is vital. This requires refocusing research away from existing comparative analyses between digital and material possessions. To do so, we organised an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion with critical marketers and digital media scholars, consumer researchers, digital sociologists and researchers in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) at the 11^th Interpretive Consumer Research Conference held in Lyon in May 2019. The result of that discussion is this curation of comments which deal with theoretical, methodological and critical issues and a bold agenda for future research.     

Retail formations: tracing the fluid forms of an online retailer

ABSTRACT

Change has often been said to characterise retailing, and research on retail change is extensive. However, though much of that research has focused on retail formats, it has not sufficiently addressed the fluid nature of retailing and how its formats emerge. This paper offers a more dynamic conceptualisation of retail format change by introducing the concept of retail formation. Taking a constructivist market studies approach and drawing upon an ethnographic study of a Swedish consumer electronics retailer, the paper shows how retail formations are continually being made in a dynamic process that can be initiated by various actors, does not necessarily follow a logical order, and commonly produces unexpected results. The concept of retail formation allows us to better understand the increasing fluidity of retailing enabling us to trace complex market processes, examine multiple actors simultaneously, and taking into account the socio-historical and socio-cultural dynamics involved in shaping retail markets.     

Naming strategies as a tool for communication: application to movie titles

Abstract

Product naming is regarded as one of the most important communication decisions for firms to deliver information on their new products, particularly in the case of products with unobservable attributes, such as motion pictures, music, books, and games. Despite its importance, there has been little research on “how to name a product” as a communication decision. Hence, we propose a conceptual framework to describe naming decisions as two-stage strategic decisions. The first-stage decision involves “what kind of information to be communicated via product names,” which we call the “information choice” strategy. The second-stage decision is how to express this information through product names, which we call the “expression” strategy. We applied a two-level hierarchical Bayesian model to a data set consisting of opening weekend box-office sales, names, and release dates for 393 movies released in seven countries. Our empirical study provides useful findings on movie naming. First, the information choice for movie titles significantly impacts movies’ viewership. Second, the effects of “what to choose” depend on “how to express”. Third, significant interaction effects occur between information choice strategies and product characteristics, which implies that naming strategies depend on the product’s characteristics. One particularly noteworthy finding in this study is that although it is common sense to avoid negative wording in product names in most industries, negative content in movie titles positively impacts box-office sales.     

Encounters with Extreme Foods: Neophilic/Neophobic Tendencies and Novel Foods

This article examines how consumers determine what is edible through an analysis of people's experiences with “extreme,” or unusual, foods. Data from semi-structured interviews are analyzed to explore how people define “extreme” foods, the meanings that people derive from encounters with these foods, and the social contexts under which people are most likely to sample new foods. The findings underscore the influence of psychosocial forces on food tastes, with neophilic/neophobic tendencies and the formation, maintenance, and alterations of identities and relationships informing encounters with novel foods.     

On the marketing implications of place narratives

Abstract

Acknowledging that ‘locals’ are recognised as an important (yet neglected) dimension of place marketing and following critiques of places as ‘products’, the purpose of this paper is to give voice to ‘local people’. Drawing on local narratives of Santorini, Greece, we call attention to places as culturally significant and discursively produced and consumed. Local narratives provide multiple meanings constructed around the diverse and contested experiences of living and making a living in a place. Our analysis employs the metaphors of ‘harsh beauty’, ‘service business’ and ‘home’ to capture these perspectives. The paper has implications for the development of generative metaphors of ‘place’ and ‘local’ within place marketing and contributes to the dialogue over the continued relevance of our discipline to the public sphere.