The Marketing Concept in an Academic Setting

ABSTRACT

During the past twenty years, marketers of the educational product have seen significant growth in the percentage of minority students enrolled at colleges and universities across the United States. Those minority consumers of the educational product bring vastly different cultural values, norms, and experiences to the marketing exchange. Such cultural differences present compelling concerns for marketers of the educational product. This paper presents the application of the marketing concept and the marketing lens as a philosophical and empirical approach to more accurately determine and subsequently satisfy the needs of the culturally diverse consumers of the educational product. Results of the study indicated that Asian/Pacific Islander and Anglo students differed in the selection and weighting of evaluative criteria for the quality of the educational institution. Further, the two consumer groups possessed distinct antecedents of satisfaction with that product.     

Political Marketing Segmentation–The Case of UK Local Government

SUMMARY

This article considers the nature and use of segmentation in political marketing. The importance of an awareness of political marketing at a more local level will become particularly important with the onset of regional government. The article particularly concerned with segmentation in local government where there has been little empirical research. The results of a survey amongst local government officers are presented. The article concludes that a significant minority of local government officers use segmentation. The key factors facilitating the use of segmentation were found to be education, experience, the role of the chief executive and central government pressure.     

Culturally Customizing Websites for Immigrant Communities in the United States

Recent research suggests that the customization of online marketing messages to meet the cultural preferences of immigrant communities increases preferences for those messages. Level of acculturation may be used as a segmentation variable that accounts for this effect, with lower levels of acculturation matching the preference for the home country's culture in marketing messages. Comparisons between Asian- and Hispanic-American preferences across levels of acculturation are made, and possible convergences in preferences through acculturation are examined. The results indicate that Taiwanese-Americans have culturally-rooted preferences for web content based on their acculturation levels. Furthermore, the study shows that the web content preferences of Taiwanese- and Hispanic-American consumers converge as members of these groups acculturate.     

Theoretical and Applied Relevance of Consumer Limits to Processing Advertising

Abstract

This study investigates (1) how immigrant consumers change their media consumption when they move across cultural boundaries and (2) whether media exposure relates to consumers' acculturation of the new social norms. A total of 938 respondents from four sample groups including Hong Kong residents, long-time and new Hong Kong immigrants to Canada and English-speaking Caucasian Canadians responded to a predesigned questionnaire. It was found that while the immigrant groups did not increase their total media consumption, their consumption across different media types followed both assimilation and ethnic affirmation models. This acculturation process seemed to be affected by immigrants' original media consumption behavior and language ability. Media exposure was found to relate significantly to immigrants' acculturation of the new social norms after influences due to personal characteristics were removed.     

Homeownership as a Sign of Immigrants’ Consumer Acculturation: The Role of Region of Origin

ABSTRACT

One of the limitations highlighted by the consumer acculturation literature is the lack of empirical research to identify better constructs or indicators of consumer acculturation. In this article, the use of homeownership by immigrants in the host society is proposed as an indicator of advanced consumer acculturation. The decision to own a home by a minority group, such as immigrants, represents a key landmark in the process of adaptation to the new culture and a commitment with the host country's values and culture. The empirical case used is the immigrant population of Spain. The sharp rise in its foreign-born population during the last decade and the significantly higher homeownership rates of natives in comparison with other countries makes the Spanish scenario a relevant case study. The results obtained show homeownership is linked to features associated with highly acculturated consumers. Moreover, the analysis conducted reveals important differences in the way immigrants from different origins advance in their consumer acculturation processes and suggest distinct approaches when marketing to these groups.     

Does Cultural Background Affect Volunteering Behavior?

The purpose of this qualitative investigation is to help nonprofit organizations which rely heavily on the support of volunteers increase the effectiveness of their marketing by accounting for differences in cultural background among community members. It was conducted in the multi‐cultural Australian context and included 79 participants from different cultural backgrounds. Findings indicate that as a whole, cultural groups differ significantly with respect to their attitudes, social norm and perceived behavioral control over volunteering. Nonprofit organizations are unlikely to be successful in attracting volunteers from a range of different cultural backgrounds unless they account for heterogeneity among volunteers and customize marketing messages. To the authors' knowledge this is the first study that investigates differences in attitude, social norm and perceived behavioral control regarding an important social marketing issue: changing the volunteering behavior of individuals in a multi‐cultural society.     

Migration and materialism: The roles of ethnic identity, religiosity, and generation

Culture is the most complex and powerful influence on consumer behavior. Within culturally heterogeneous societies, marketing managers must consider the psychological and behavioral effects that emanate from ethnic identity. Of the many values that immigrants bring to their adopted home, some have their basis in religious beliefs. Most migration occurs from the developing to the developed world, where the acquisition of and devotion to material possessions typify post-industrial society. A largely unanswered question concerns how members of immigrant communities cope with the conflicting values associated with materialism, and those associated with ethnic communal ties and religious fulfillment. This research focuses on materialism as manifested among first- and second-generation Korean-Canadians, as a function of both ethnic identity and religiosity. The researchers uncover generational differences on the interrelationships of these three constructs.     

Customer Lifetime Value as the Basis of Customer Segmentation

SUMMARY

In this article, we examine current trends in customer life-time value and customer segmentation models and identify key issues for future research. CLV-based segmentation is a segmentation approach that groups customers into meaningful segments based upon customer lifetime value and (potentially) other factors. In the article, we discuss the extent to which CLV-based segmentation meets the criteria for effective segmentation. We also identify six areas for future research: (1) models and management of “micro-segments,” (2) using CLV-based segmentation to improve the efficiency of marketing programs, (3) the need for more dynamic CLV-based segmentation models, (4) applying CLV-based customer segmentation to new products and new customers, (5) challenges associated with implementing CLV-based segmentation, and (6) the need for new models that enable firms to segment customers by response to marketing activities and CLV at different points in the customer decision process.     

Social marketing: an approach to planned social change

This article examines the applicability of marketing concepts to social causes and social change. Social marketing is defined as the design, implementation, and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution and marketing research. Wiebe examined four social advertising campaigns and concluded that their effectiveness depended on the presence of adequate force, direction, adequate and compatible social mechanism, and distance (the "cost" of the new attitude as seen by message's message"s recepient). A marketing planning approach is not a guarantee for the achievement of social objectives; yet, it represents a bridging mechanism linking the knowledge of the behavioral scientist with the socially useful implementation of that knowledge.     

The logic of being illogical in strategic marketing planning

This article challenges the validity and usefulness of a conventional model of the sequence of stages in strategic marketing planning. Quite simply the conventional model ignores the organisational and human realities facing the planner. This paper proposes an “illogical” but iterative model of strategic marketing planning which is driven by the managerial understanding of the environment and knowledge of what tactical imperatives exist and constrain implementation. The advantages of explicitly recognising this “illogical” aspect of the planning process lie in: coping better with information demands made by executives in planning; allowing for psychological planning constraints and the obstacles created by the real nature of the manager's job; and in gaining the implementation of strategic marketing plans, with all that this implies for organisational and cultural change. The argument leads to an agenda of issues to be considered by the executive responsible for managing the strategic marketing planning process.     

Using Social Marketing Strategies to Reform Social Policy: A Lesson from British History

ABSTRACT

This article presents a general framework for the social marketing process. An example from British history is used to demonstrate an effective model for gaining public and government support for a social marketing initiative. The historical analysis illustrates a key issue: public interpretation of the importance of the social marketing cause is dependent upon its core values and that its values may differ from the group advocating social action. The advocacy group's effectiveness in obtaining support for its cause will hinge upon its ability to strike a resonant chord with the social values of society and its cause.     

Revisiting the substantiality criterion: From ethnic marketing to market segmentation

This paper examines the meaning and application of the concept of substantiality for consumer market segmentation and target selection with a focus on ethnicity and minority ethnic groups. In contrast with interpretations of segment substance anchoring on some sufficient potential size to justify time and effort involved in planning, the objective is to consider key group dimensions to ascertain potential substantiality. Common criteria proposed to assess substance are essentially an exhortation to assess the value of the segmenting opportunity. An increase in producer surplus meets this requirement but this consideration is done post hoc. The challenge for market segmentation is to assess substantiality a priori. This paper presents a screening approach based on appraising minority ethnic group resources that enables such an assessment and has potential applicability to other consumer subcultures.     

Ethnic minority consumers' responses to sales promotions in the packaged food market

Many scholars have stressed the significance of understanding ethnic minority subcultures and the associated cultural dimension for marketing. Most of the previous research involving ethnic minority consumers has largely focused on coupon usage and remains North American in origin and application. Also, previous research emphasises the short-term nature of sales promotions, ignoring their dynamic effects in specific consumption settings such as the family. The paper explores ethnic consumers' responses to different sales promotional formats for packaged food products in family settings. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in original settings involving ethnic participants who regularly shopped at mainstream supermarkets, and who were the principal grocery shoppers for the family. Findings suggest that sales promotions have the potential to make consumers more responsive, less responsive or even hostile to sales promotional offers and while some promotions are better perceived than others, their overall effectiveness is largely determined by their “net-worth” as perceived by ethnic consumers in a given shopping situation. The paper discusses implications for retailers, particularly for those having store locations in market areas with high concentrations of ethnic consumers.     

Up,up and away: social marketing breaks free

Abstract

The social marketing literature has been dominated by questions about the field’s legitimacy along with the ethical and other implications of its relationship with commercial marketing. In reviewing social marketing’s origins and considering its future, this paper acknowledges then moves beyond these concerns, enabling a focus on the opportunities created for this vibrant field in the current environment. Three thematic areas frame the paper’s discussion: the legitimacy of social marketing as a field in its own right; the broadening and deepening of the field and the consequences for social change; and the strengths and opportunities arising out of social marketing’s relationship with mainstream marketing. The paper reviews social marketing’s origins, before considering how the field might draw on the turbulent environment and the dynamic developments taking place within marketing to shape its future.     

Decision-making patterns among international vacationers: A cross-cultural perspective

While there is a tendency to define world subcultures in terms of geographic or sociocultural criteria, the present research suggests that life styles may have become more homogeneous across geographic boundaries and could provide alternative ways of defining world subcultures. The study addresses the research question using international travel behavior. The results suggest that life style segmentation could be used to supplement geocultural criteria for defining world subcultures and formulating marketing strategy.     

Attention All Shoppers,Queer Customers in Aisle Two: Investigating Lesbian and Gay Discrimination in the Marketplace

In this paper, drawing on epistemologies in social and behavioral sciences, we discuss the tenuous social-cultural climate of sexual minorities within markets. Discourses across disciplines address the socio-political and cultural evolution of sexual minorities, most notably self-identified and out lesbians and gay men. Yet, consumptive and marketing spheres offer mixed metaphors about the value and desirability of lesbians and gays, and often work to enact the homophobic at an institutional level. We review research on homonegative bias and heteronormativity within psychological and sociological domains, and then illustrate how homonegativity toward perceived lesbians and gays is structurally enacted within the marketplace. We posit four methodological strategies that may be used to further research queries in these domains, and comment on the ethical parameters of using deception to investigate discriminatory behavior against (perceived) lesbians and gay men.     

Applications of the behavioural homogeneity evaluation framework: The predictive ability of consumer involvement for international food market segmentation

Abstract

This article proposes a framework of alternative international marketing strategies, based on the evaluation of intra- and inter-cultural behavioural homogeneity for market segmentation. The framework developed in this study provides a generic structure to behavioural homogeneity, proposing consumer involvement as a construct with unique predictive ability for international marketing strategy decisions. A model-based segmentation process, using structural equation models, is implemented to illustrate the application of the framework.     

International Market Segmentation and Cross-Export Strategies Development Case Study: Iranian Furniture Industry

ABSTRACT

By developing an international market and significant differences between countries in this regard, segmentation becomes an increasingly important concept in marketing. In this article, the international market of Iranian furniture industry is segmented and cross-exporting strategies are developed to increase the market share of Iranian furniture in each segment. To achieve this, two distance functions are introduced based on correlation between export groups to cluster countries with k-means algorithm. After market segmentation for increasing sales in each segment, cross-exporting strategies are predicted by extracting association rules in each segment based on Apriori algorithm to set export baskets.     

Health Belief Model: Evaluating Marketing Promotion in a Public Vaccination Program

National health objectives are driven to increase participation rates. Individual health decisions are determined by attitudes, behavior, lifestyles, and government policies. This research, therefore, examined not just the development and delivery of a message targeting individual voluntary behavior change, but the intention of changes in social structures that will facilitate individuals reaching their potential; thus the purpose of this article is to shed light on the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization using the health belief model (HBM). Research was conducted with the use of focus groups by drawing on the framework of the HBM. This research approach is conceptual by nature, based on the virtue of marketing promotion and on HBM literature. Though offering the vaccine free to the general public provides additional evidence to certain groups on the intention to act or uptake of the vaccine, awareness levels were found to be poor despite increased efforts by the government trying to promote this vaccine. There was evidence that social capital and trust can produce effective communication message strategies that reinforce social bonds. This article provides an interesting basis for further investigation; however, as implausible as it seems the article also contributes to the concept of perceived benefits and of self-efficacy.     

North Carolina's Social Marketing Matrix Team: Using Social Marketing Concepts to Institutionalize Social Marketing Capacity in a State Health Department

SUMMARY

The North Carolina Division of Public Health has employed traditional marketing concepts to increase the capacity of its programs to use the social marketing process. A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Turning Point grant enabled this capacity building. During a three-year period there has been over a two-hundred-percent increase in programs attempting to use social marketing in the division. This article describes the division's application of social marketing concepts, reviews other theories useful to the incorporation of a social marketing approach in a social-change organization, makes suggestions for their application, and presents lessons learned.