Journal of Business to Business Marketing Part III: JBBM Book Reviews

ABSTRACT

A total of 131 books were reviewed over the period, 1993–2003 in the Book Review Section of the Journal of Business to Business Marketing. The books encompassed a broad array of topics, including the basic marketing mix elements of business-to-business marketing, purchasing, buyer-seller relationships, global marketing, Internet and e-commerce, organization studies, research methodology, strategy and general management and education. During this period, 5 review essays provided thematic and comparative evaluation of a set of books.

This cumulative index is divided into two sections. The first provides a subject listing of books reviewed and the second is a chronological listing. All book reviews are located at the end of each issue of the journal.     

Publishing in an Environment of Predation: The Many Things You Really Wanted to Know,but Did Not Know How to Ask

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research note is to define and review the extent of “predatory¹1. Predatory an adjective of, relating to, or practicing plunder, pillage, or rapine; inclined or intended to injure or exploit others for personal gain or profit as in predatory pricing practices; living by predation, predaceous; adapted to predation. Source: (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predatory#synonyms) To avoid connotative inaccuracies the authors intend to convey the construct predatory in its broader sense thereby striving toward denotative accuracy.” publishing process practices in academic journals in recent years. In addition, ascertaining what, if any, substantive damage can result from these practices. And to derive “warnings signs” for those embarking on the road to creating/distributing what they have learned. “Predatory publishing” is the charging of a fee or proving value in exchange for the publication of research material without providing the publication services an author would have reasonably expected such as peer review and editing to mention only a few. There is evidence that this “practice” has sadly grown in prevalence in recent years. Following a review of the literature and using case study methodology, it was found that damages in the case of one large publisher were estimated to be over $50 m, as per a court adjudication in the US. With open access publishing becoming more popular as a result of institutional, funder and national mandates, it is likely more authors could be tempted or even baited into making poor decisions and publishing their research articles in illegitimate journals, wasting funding resources and damaging their research reputations. These and other implications are considered, as well as enumeration of such behaviors with an eye toward fostering deterrence. Further research and actions that could mitigate the problems are outlined.     

Fast Food Television Advertisement Formats

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to examine favorite formats in hamburger television advertisements in order to assist companies in effectively communicating with their target audiences and to motivate those audiences to purchase products. The main findings of the study are that college students appear to prefer the special-effects format for presenting hamburgers in television advertisements. In addition, the testimonial format in television advertisements seems to motivate college students' purchase intentions for hamburgers more than other formats. Implications of the study regarding segmentation information usage, establishment of business image and individual purchase motivation, and the relationship between brand and format effects are discussed.     

Use of the Customer Value/Mission (CV/M) Matrix in Strategic Nonprofit Marketing Analysis

ABSTRACT

Application of traditional portfolio methods to nonprofit marketing situations is difficult, to say the least. For the most part, they require detailed market share, market strength, market growth, market attractiveness, and cost and profit accounting information that many nonprofits do not have and may not be able to acquire given the nature of products typically offered by nonprofits, e.g., services and/or social behavior programs. We suggest use of a recently proposed product portfolio model, the customer value/mission (CV/M) matrix as a method that can help nonprofits in then-product planning endeavors. The CV/M matrix better serves the needs of marketing strategists not only in for-profit organizations but in nonprofit ones as well. This is because it reflects on customer value and differential advantage in the eyes of an organization's consumers. This paper directly compares the use of an older portfolio matrix that has been suggested for use in nonprofit organizations with use of the new matrix and discusses some advantages and disadvantages of each.     

Promotional Products as Internal Marketing Communication Vehicles

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the impact of using promotional products as internal communication vehicles in the context of a national insurance company's sales contest. It was expected that the frequent use of promotional products would not only increase salesperson performance, but would also result in a more positive attitude of both the communications and the contest.

As expected, the results indicate that the use of this type of internal communication can dramatically increase sales. Those salespeople receiving the promotional products each week generated 40% more new applications than the other groups. However, there was no appreciable difference between the group receiving occasional promotional products and the group receiving no promotional products. This suggests that a certain level of frequency must be achieved in order to affect behavior. Finally, contrary to expectations, attitudes among those receiving the promotional products were more negative than among the other groups. Possible theoretical and situational explanations for this outcome are discussed.     

Celebrating Jackie Robinson? Major League Baseball Sees the Limitations of Promotions

Abstract

Major League Baseball officials coordinated a celebration in 1997 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the game' color barrier. Some sportswriters calling attention to the lack of minority executives in the game, however, tempered the goodwill this event should have generated. The lesson learned is to ensure the image the promotional campaign should generate or reinforce matches the reality of the organization' actions.     

The British house magazine 1945 to 2015: The creation of family,organisation and markets

Abstract

This article examines the history of British house magazines from 1945 to 2015. It discusses their content, audience and function within companies. From tools of internal public relations, house magazines switched to being used as mediums of industrial relations in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the late 1980s were increasingly applied to the creation of corporate identity, organisational culture and internal marketing. They were also forced to accommodate the rise of internal communications and electronic media. The article discusses the rise and relative decline of the British house magazine, and ends by asking whether it has a future.     

Celebrity Endorsements in U.S. and Thai Magazines: A Content Analysis Comparative Assessment

SUMMARY

Celebrity endorsements have become a prevalent form of advertising. Hence, the purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the use of celebrities and the types of products endorsed. Advertisements from one popular magazine in the U.S. and 2 popular magazines in Thailand were used. Results indicated that U.S. advertisements of beauty, dietary and health services, hospitals, and weight loss clinics categories utilized celebrity endorsements more often than other categories. In Thai advertisements, supplementary foods and medicines used celebrity endorsers more often than other categories. Results further support that a significant relationship exits between celebrity endorsers and product types.     

Classifying Services by Tangibility/Intangibility of Attributes and Benefits

ABSTRACT

This study involved two primary objectives. First, since no multi-item measure of perceived tangibility/intangibility of service offerings has emerged in the services literature, one is proposed. Second, the measure is used to classify service offerings according to the level of perceived tangibility/intangibility of their salient attributes and desired benefits. The resulting services taxonomy is intended to help guide services marketers with their positioning and promotional decisions relating to the need for overcoming the problem of service intangibility.     

From Publishers to Self-Publishing: Disruptive Effects in the Book Industry

Abstract

This paper explores the structure of the book publishing industry post digitalisation, analysing the choices of the publishers and authors. The introduction of successful e-book readers has belatedly given digitalisation the characteristics of a disruptive technology by making self-publishing a serious option for authors. This has been supported by the entry of new types of intermediaries and the strengthening of others. These changes have reduced the general requirements for an author to get a book self-published. As a result, a larger share of the surplus from the book industry is likely to go to authors, explaining the significant increase in the supply of books. The potential oversupply of books has created a new problem by increasing competition and making consumer searches more difficult. We argue that digitalisation has shifted the potential for market failure from an inadequate supply of books to asymmetric information about quality. It remains to be seen whether the market will provide appropriate intermediaries to solve the asymmetric information problem.     

Consumer Shows in the Promotion Mix

Abstract

Consumer shows present a unique promotional opportunity by presenting a forum for attracting consumers with a specific interest in the products featured at the show. In this study we examine auto show attendees' perceived differences and similarities between attendance at an automobile consumer show and the traditional showroom visits made by automobile shoppers. Results of the study indicate that the promotional value of the show had a modest but positive impact on vehicle buying and leasing, a considerable positive influence on brand and model selection, but little influence on choice of dealer. We discovered that attendees perceive sales personnel they met at the show to be more knowledgeable, trustworthy and friendly than those they met at a dealership (even though the sales personnel at the show work at dealerships). Finally, we found that among the group from which most incremental purchases would be expected-those who came to the show with negative intentions but who then purchased a vehicle-the show is viewed more as a substitute for entertainment than for other shopping activities. The promotional implications of these results are then explored.     

Creating and marketing Distinctive Competency in Small Public Accounting Firms

ABSTRACT

Small public accounting firms face fierce competition on a crowded and homogeneous playing field. A framework is available to help accounting firms stand out from the crowd and gain a competitive advantage. Distinctive competencies are skills, activities or capacities that a business is uniquely good at in comparison to its competitors. This article discusses the various kinds of distinctive competencies and the primary competencies suitable for small public accounting firms. The discussion includes the requirements for creating a competitive advantage, steps to creating distinctive competencies, and marketing implications. The conclusion includes suggested research needs.     

A Reconceptualization of Manufacturers' Service Strategies

Purpose: As part of service infusion, manufacturers use services to differentiate their products and provide growth. Although several attempts have been made to classify manufacturers' service strategies and offerings, most have been based on small purposive samples. The purpose of this article is to create a generic typology of manufacturers' service strategies.

Methodology/approach: The unit of analysis was the manufacturer or strategic business unit. The data collection was based on a survey of 145 B2B manufacturers in the United Kingdom.

Findings: Three categories of service offerings were identified: product-attached services, operations services on own products, and vendor independent operations services. These categories are used to specify three generic service strategies: Services Doubters, for whom services are not a strong differentiator with no focus on any category of service offerings; Services Pragmatists, for whom product-attached services are a key differentiator; Services Enthusiasts, for whom services are both a product differentiator and an enabler of growth, with all three categories of service offerings important.

Research implications: Whereas prior studies tend to use the concepts of service strategies and categories of service offerings interchangeably, we find empirical support for the importance of making a clear distinction between the two concepts.

Practical implications: Manufacturers can be classified according to their services strategies. For Services Doubters service infusion is unlikely to be an appropriate approach to creating differentiation. For Services Pragmatists services play a crucial role in creating product differentiation. Services Enthusiasts use services to both differentiate their own products and also develop services-led growth.

Originality/value/contribution: The paper exposes an ambiguity in the extant literature, with a manufacturer's categories of service offerings used as proxies for service strategies. A new typology of service strategies is presented based on categories of service offerings, which provides insight into how manufacturers infuse services.     

Market segmentation strategies for complex automotive products

ABSTRACT

With the advent of ‘big data’, the purpose of this empirical study was to take the opportunity to rethink conventional market segmentation strategies. This is particularly relevant for the automotive industry which is going through a period of rapid change with advanced technologies such as electric powered and autonomous vehicles, creating increased concerns as to how this complexity is communicated effectively.

A mixed methods approach was utilised to collect data from multiple sources, incorporating in-depth discussion groups, semi-structured interviews, an online survey, and data collection of communication processes through the attendance of new car product launches.

The results suggest that marketing departments should rethink their data capture methods to collect more relevant consumer information, not the contemporary trend of needs, attitude, and motivation variables that are difficult to identify and collect, but basic information on their level of familiarity with products through previous experience and exposure. The basic dimensions identified are characterised by a consumer’s expertise, involvement, and familiarity with a product. The findings are synthesised into a theoretical framework to define differing levels of product complexity, which would enable manufacturers to provide more closely defined market segmentation strategies when communicating new product information.     

Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix

The emergence of Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them. Thus, the impact of consumer-to-consumer communications has been greatly magnified in the marketplace. This article argues that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a nontraditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. The content, timing, and frequency of the social media-based conversations occurring between consumers are outside managers’ direct control. This stands in contrast to the traditional integrated marketing communications paradigm whereby a high degree of control is present. Therefore, managers must learn to shape consumer discussions in a manner that is consistent with the organization's mission and performance goals. Methods by which this can be accomplished are delineated herein. They include providing consumers with networking platforms, and using blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools to engage customers.     

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.     

Multi-Attribute Dimensions of Service Quality in the Fast Food Restaurant Industry

Abstract

As the fast food restaurant industry grows in the Western industrialized world, it has also become increasingly competitive. In such an environment, marketers are concerned about how to increase or maintain market share through better service quality and effective segmentation strategies. This paper reports a two-phase exploratory study conducted to determine the dimensions of service quality in the fast food industry, from the consumer's perspective. Factor analysis revealed 10 dimensions made up of 57 different attributes. The 10 dimensions were able to discriminate among three groups of fast food patrons, namely: frequent, less frequent, and more frequent patrons. Managerial implications of these findings, for market segmentation, targeting, positioning, and promotional strategies are discussed.     

Character Portrayal: Examining Gender Roles in Television Commercials Targeted at Children in India and the United States

ABSTRACT

Children's market has been growing steadily not only in the United States but also globally. Advertisers have been targeting this segment heavily in recent years. Given the impact of this segment having increased rapidly in recent years, it is imperative for the advertisers to understand and develop effective advertising messages to reach this segment successfully. One of the essential components of advertisement content includes decisions regarding the gender portrayal of the characters. This study examines the depiction of self-presentation behaviors of the characters in commercials shown during the times and on the channels that children watch in India and the United States. The findings indicate interesting similarities and differences between the two countries. Managerial implications and future research directions are offered based on the findings.