The decision‐making process in viral marketing—A review and suggestions for further research

Viral marketing is used to widely distribute content. To achieve this goal, the basic decision‐making process from content reception to interaction must be clarified. This paper examines the decision‐making process of individuals in viral marketing using a new dynamic model. In addition, this work reviews the existing literature on viral marketing and structures to identify existing issues for further research. The decision‐making process is basically divided into two stages. In the first decision stage, individuals decide whether content should be considered. When individuals agree to view the content, they decide in the second stage whether they want to interact with it. These two decisions are influenced by three factors: the framework conditions, content, and interaction aims. With the help of the decision model, this paper summarizes the most important findings from viral marketing research over the last 20 years. In addition, this work provides new opportunities for further research in the field of viral marketing.     

Behavioral research and empirical modeling of marketing channels: Implications for both fields and a call for future research

Game theoretic models of marketing channels typically rely on simplifying assumptions that, from a behavioral perspective, often appear naïve. However, behavioral researchers have produced such an abundance of behavioral regularities that they are impossible to incorporate into game theoretic models. We believe that a focus on three core findings would benefit both fields; these are: first, beliefs that are held by the various players regarding profit consequences of different actions are incomplete and often biased; second, players’ preferences and optimization objectives are not commonly known; and third, players have insufficient cognitive abilities to achieve optimization objectives. Embracing these three findings shifts the focus from rational decision making to how decision makers learn to improve their decision-making skills. Concluding, we believe that greater convergence of game theoretic modeling and behavioral research in marketing channels would lead to new insights for both fields.     

The impact of individual and managerial factors on salespeople's contribution to marketing intelligence activities

Although salespersons represent a unique and important channel of information, few of them contribute efficiently to marketing intelligence. This research aims to understand how salespeople's motivation and effort to gather and transmit marketing intelligence to management may be influenced by individual (organizational commitment, desire for upward mobility) and managerial (control system, participation in decision making, feedback, recognition) factors. The test of the proposed model shows that desire for upward mobility is the only individual determinant of behavior. Other than participation in decision making, all the managerial factors play influential roles in structuring both motivation and behavioral effort toward marketing intelligence by salespeople. The authors also discuss the limits of the model, some managerial implications, and future research opportunities.     

Developing effective social media messages: Insights from an exploratory study of industry experts

As consumers are increasingly utilizing the social network and media platforms for prepurchase information, managers are confronted with producing effective social media messages that can favorably influence buyers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions towards brands. A qualitative, in‐depth, elite interview investigation with social media marketing experts was undertaken to develop awareness of the factors influencing the effectiveness of social media marketing. Adopting a thematic analysis approach, this study establishes the three overriding themes of interactivity, credibility, and infotainment as being valuable in determining how social media marketing can enhance brand performance. Attitude theory and the hierarchy‐of‐effects model is utilized to support understanding and explain the decision making of social media users in this context. Overall, this study provides managers with a thorough explanation of the effects of the identified core themes on social media attitudes and intentions. Implications for social media marketing theory and practice are presented based upon the depth and breadth of knowledge attained from the analysis of the expert interview data.     

论关系营销中的道德决策

本文在分析亨特和维特尔营销道德理论模型，探讨其在关系营销应用中出现的缺陷的基础上，试图构建一个关系营销中的道德决策模型作为补充，并结合现实环境对企业营销道德决策过程进行了分析。     

A Framework for the Examination of Relational Ethics: An Interactionist Perspective

Despite the widespread agreement that the ontology of the marketing discipline is exchange, marketing ethics researchers have largely adopted a monadic viewpoint of ethical decision making. In this research, an interactionist approach is adopted in order to introduce a dyadic perspective of un/ethical decision making. The dyadic model includes each channel member's individual, situational and decision process factors linked by relationalism, an emerging paradigm in marketing channels. Relationalism is represented as a discriminating variable between perceived ethical dilemma and decision behaviour. Finally, a number of theoretical propositions are presented and future research directions are discussed.     

The right metrics for marketing-mix decisions

This study addresses the following question: For a given managerial, firm, and industry setting, which individual metrics are effective for making marketing-mix decisions that improve perceived performance outcomes? We articulate the key managerial takeaways based on testing a multi-stage behavioral framework that links decision context, metrics selection, and performance outcomes. Our statistical model adjusts for potential endogeneity bias in estimating metric effectiveness due to selection effects and differs from past literature in that managers can strategically choose metrics based on their ex-ante expected effectiveness. The key findings of our analysis of 439 managers making 1287 decisions are that customer-mindset marketing metrics such as awareness and willingness to recommend are the most effective metrics for managers to employ while financial metrics such as target volume and net present value are the least effective. However, relative to financial metrics, managers are more uncertain about the ex-ante effectiveness of customer-mindset marketing metrics, which attenuates their use. A second study on 142 managers helps provide detailed underlying rationale for these key results. The implications of metric effectiveness for dashboards and automated decision systems based on machine learning systems are discussed.     

Choosing among alternative new product development projects: The role of heuristics

The initial screening decision that marketing managers make is critical. It requires the selection of what innovation project to invest in, which is fundamental to marketing success. However, our knowledge of how managers make these decisions and how this impacts performance is limited. By drawing upon cognitive psychology and the managerial decision-making literature, we address two critical questions. The first question focuses on identifying specific decision-making types (e.g., specific heuristics, intuition) used when making an innovation screening decision. Based on this analysis and prior research, we develop specific decision-maker profiles about how an individual manager decides. The second research question is about connecting these profiles with performance. Specifically, it addresses what the consequences of different decision-maker profiles are on the perceived accuracy and speed of decision-making? Data were collected from 122 senior managers in these industries. We find that when heuristics are used alone, or concurrently with intuition, managers make decisions that are as accurate as when they rely on analytical decision-making. However, the process is significantly faster. The findings provide an important step toward a more comprehensive understanding of decision-making at the front-end of innovation.     

Differences in Marketing Managers' Decision Making Styles Within the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

Marketing managers around the world are being asked to work with foreign counterparts as never before, but with limited success. This requires integration of decision making styles. The purpose of this study is to apply a management style of decision making measurement technique to selected countries of the Asia-Pacific region to determine the extent of differences in decision-making style among marketing managers.

This study surveys marketing managers within Australia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand, and China. Within each country different sampling processes and modes of data collection were used by locally-based associates of the researchers, as appropriate for the country.

The study results indicate that substantive differences do exist between marketing managers from different cultural/national backgrounds within the Asia-Pacific region and these managers differ in their decision-making styles from managers in other parts of the world. doi:10.1300/J042v21n01_06     

The interrelationships between brand and channel choice

We propose a framework for the joint study of the consumer’s decision of where to buy and what to buy. The framework is rooted in utility theory where the utility is for a particular channel/brand combination. The framework contains firm actions, the consumer search process, the choice process, and consumer learning. We develop research questions within each of these areas. We then discuss methodological issues pertaining to the use of experimentation and econometrics. Our framework suggests that brand and channel choices are closely intertwined, and therefore studying them jointly will reveal a deeper understanding of consumer decision making in the modern marketing environment.     

Ethical decision-making in business: Behavioral issues and concerns

This article examines selected behavioral aspects of ethical decision making within a business context. Three categories of antecedents to ethical decision behaviors (individual differences, interpersonal variables, and organizational variables) are examined and propositions are offered. Moral development theory and expectancy theory are then explored as possible bases for a theory of ethical decision making. Finally, means of improving ethical decision making in firms are explored.Stephen B. Knouse is Professor of management at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. His research interests are in behavioral aspects of business ethics, employment selection, and impression management in organizations. His work has appeared in a number of journals includingJournal of Business Ethics, Personnel Psychology, andPersonnel.Robert A. Giacalone is Associate Professor of Management Systems at the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, University of Richmond. His work has appeared inHuman Relations, Business and Society Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Group and Organization Studies, Journal of Social Psychology, as well as in a variety of other journals and books.     

A perspective of marketing in central and Eastern Europe

The transition of Central and Eastern Europe toward a market economy affords new opportunities but also new risks to international marketers. Based on the work of the authors in the region, this article presents a perspective of the economic shifts which have taken place in these countries. A review of the available international marketing options is offered and a framework for the evaluation of market entry and marketing mix strategies which accommodate these shifts is developed. Emphasis is placed on the need for marketers to go beyond purely commercial criteria in their decision making, by considering the long-term social and economic repercussions of their actions. 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Toward an Understanding of Religiousness and Marketing Ethics: An Empirical Study

This study examines the influence of religiousness on different components of marketing professionals' ethical decision making: personal moral philosophies, perceived ethical problem, and ethical intentions. The data are from a national survey of the American Marketing Associations' professional members. The results generally indicate that the religiousness of a marketer can partially explain his or her perception of an ethical problem and behavioral intentions. Results also suggest that the religiousness significantly influences the personal moral philosophies of marketers.     

Social Collective Decision Making among Adolescents: A Review and a Revamp

This article revamps the work of Ward and Reingen ( 1990 ) to examine adolescent normative behavior in a social collective decision‐making group. This is of particular importance as it will enhance an understanding of the youth market both through the social context employed here as well as the social interaction that occurs when adolescent decisions are made. Employing a diachronic qualitative methodology, this research explores collective decisions made by adolescents on a high school prom organizing committee and reveals influencing strategies (e.g., coalition formation, bargaining) as well as approaches to managing conflict and conflict resolution. A model is proposed, which examines the role of both intra‐ and intercoalition formation and subsequent influence on decision making. Identification of conflict resolution strategies (e.g., yielding, dominating, and disassociation), employed at different stages of preparation for this event, are recognized as having both theoretical and practical marketing managerial implications.     

Ethical Ideology and the Ethical Judgments of Marketing Professionals

The present study extends the study of individuals' ethical ideology withinthe context of marketing ethics issues. A national sample of marketing professionals participated. Respondents' ethical ideologies were classified as absolutists, situationists, exceptionists, or subjectivists using the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980). Respondents then answered questions about three ethically ambiguous situations common to marketing and sales. The results indicated that marketers' ethical judgments about the situations differed based on their ethical ideology, with absolutists rating the actions as most unethical. The findings are consistent with those of two earlier studies that utilized samples of business students (Barnett et al., 1994, 1995). The results suggest that personal moral philosophy is an important influence on ethical decision making that should be considered in empirical studies of business ethics. The results also support the utility of the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980) as a means for researchers and practitioners to assess individuals' ethical ideology.     

Simulated Attention-Tracking Methodologies: An Examination of Measurement Efficacy

This study introduces and examines a simulated attention-tracking methodology as an emerging technique to improve the study of in-store shopper behavior and decision making. To assess the viability of this new methodology, we examine its efficacy in producing consumer behavior data consistent with results predicted by the marketing literature. Empirical data across five grocery categories are used to examine the influence of personal, product, and situational differences on external information search. Findings show that the attention-tracking methodology is able to demonstrate expected results in almost all cases. The methodology is also able to provide a more complete view of external information search through tracing the observed search behavior preceding decision making. This proof of methodology responds directly to calls in the marketing and retailing literature to test new and emerging methodologies in support of research on in-store marketing and shopper behavior. Findings also provide managers with a methodology to examine the actual impact of marketing actions intended to capture shoppers’ attention at the retail shelf and to influence behavior.     

Effects of Country-of-Manufacture and Brand Image on Korean Consumers' Purchase Intention

ABSTRACT

In this study, a theoretical framework is developed to explain the differential effects of country-of-manufacture (COM) and brand image on the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of Koreans' consumer decision making. Although effects are product specific, findings, overall, indicate that brand image has a stronger effect than COM on Koreans' perceptions of hybrid global products. Moving the production of an electronic product (TV) to a developing country, however, negatively affected Koreans' evaluation of product performance, prestige (brand and technical), and purchase attitudes. The findings have interesting marketing implications for hybrid global brands and contribute to building a theory of COM.     

Moral Development in Business Ethics: An Examination and Critique

The field of behavioral ethics has seen considerable growth over the last few decades. One of the most significant concerns facing this interdisciplinary field of research is the moral judgment-action gap. The moral judgment-action gap is the inconsistency people display when they know what is right but do what they know is wrong. Much of the research in the field of behavioral ethics is based on (or in response to) early work in moral psychology and American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg’s foundational cognitive model of moral development. However, Kohlberg’s model of moral development lacks a compelling explanation for the judgment-action gap. Yet, it continues to influence theory, research, teaching, and practice in business ethics today. As such, this paper presents a critical review and analysis of the pertinent literature. This paper also reviews modern theories of ethical decision making in business ethics. Gaps in our current understanding and directions for future research in behavioral business ethics are presented. By providing this important theoretical background information, targeted critical analysis, and directions for future research, this paper assists management scholars as they begin to seek a more unified approach, develop newer models of ethical decision making, and conduct business ethics research that examines the moral judgment-action gap.