Pioneer brand advantage and consumer behavior: A conceptual framework and propositional inventory

What are the behavioral origins of pioneer brand advantage? This article provides an integrative conceptual framework and propositional inventory to help more fully understand this multifaceted phenomenon. It is proposed that there are three sources of entry-order information that work through various psychological processes and affect multiple decision process variables. The conceptual framework translates into eight testable propositions. New exploratory evidence is presented. Managerial implications are discussed.     

The role of relationship quality in the stratification of vendors as perceived by customers

Companies implement preferred supplier programs to reduce their vendor relationships to a reasonable few. Consequently, vendors who do not effectively manage their customer-based relationships are strong candidates for deletion from a customer’s list of long-term suppliers. The emergence of preferred supplier programs suggests that businesses are beginning to formally recognize and reward differences between their qualified vendors. Vendor stratification is proposed as a framework for understanding the evolution of preferred vendor programs. With the growing interest in relationship marketing, a study was conducted to empirically examine the extent to which businesses use relationship quality perceptions to differentiate their qualified vendors. The findings support the notion that relationship quality is a higher-order construct that can be used as a basis for developing vendor stratification systems. The article concludes with a discussion of the managerial and research implications of the study findings. Michael J. Dorsch (Ph.D., University of Arkansas) is an associate professor of marketing at Clemson University. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Business Research, and theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, among others. His research interests include issues concerning relationship marketing and marketing research methods. Scott R. Swanson (Ph.D., University of Kentucky) is an assistant professor of marketing at East Carolina University. He previously spent 9 years as a purchasing executive and his research interets include issues related to services marketing, atmospherics, and marketing ethics. His research has been published in theJournal of Business to Business Marketing, theInternational Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, AMA Educators’ Proceedings, andRetailing: Theories and Practices for Today and Tomorrow. Scott W. Kelley (D.B.A., University of Kentucky) is an associate professor of marketing. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Advertising, and theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, among others. His research interests include issues concerning services marketing and marketing ethics.     

Simple credibility tests of the ERM bands for the pound sterling and the Italian lira

This article presents evidence that the European Monetary System (EMS) bands for the Italian lira and the pound sterling were not credible for most of the period 1990–1992, and especially during the week prior to their withdrawal from the EMS system. Using a simple test, developed by Svensson, domestic interest rates for both Italy and the United Kingdom have been found to be mostly outside the rate-of-return bands implied by the official arrangements of the EMS target zone system. Furthermore, comparing implied forward rates for various maturities with the official EMS bands of both currencies, we again found that the followed monetary policies in both countries were not in general consistent with those needed to maintain an orderly functioning of the (EMS) system. The Svensson test can further be used as an indicator of potential speculative attacks on an EMS currency, and, in turn, as a signal of an emerging need to adjust the corresponding country's monetary policy.     

A theory of home currency preference

Zusammenfassung Eine Theorie der Pr?ferenz für die heimische W?hrung. - Das Modell, das in diesem Aufsatz entwickelt wird, bezieht sich auf ein System flexibler Wechselkurse und soll erkl?ren, warum die heimische W?hrung so stark bevorzugt wird. Die Ergebnisse sind:(i) Die heimische W?hrung wirkt als eine Sicherung dagegen, da\ der Wechselkurs nicht der Kaufkraftparit?t folgt,(ii) Letzten Endes bestimmen die Pr?ferenz-kurve und die Kovarianzen die absolute H?he der Pr?ferenz für die heimische W?hrung,(iii) Die Pr?ferenz für die heimische W?hrung nimmt zu, wenn erwartet wird, da\ deren Wert real ansteigt.

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Résumé Une théorie de préférence de la monnaie nationale. - Le modèle développé dans cet article se référe è un régime des taux de change flottants et s’occupe de la question pourquoi la monnaie nationale est si préférée. Les résultats sont:(i) La monnaie nationale sert de contrepartie contre le risque que le taux de change ne conforme pas avec sa valeur PPA.(ii) Dans l’analyse finale les préférences et les covariances déterminent le niveau absolu de la préférence pour la monnaie nationale.(iii) La préférence pour la monnaie nationale augmente si l’on attend que la monnaie nationale se revalorise en terme réel.

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Resumen Una teoría de la preferencia por la moneda nacional. - El modelo que se deriva en este trabajo se refiere a un régimen de tipos de cambio flexibles y sirve para explicar la preferencia por la moneda nacional. Se concluye(i) que la moneda nacional actúa como seguro contra el riesgo de que el tipo de cambio no se adhiera a la paridad del poder adquisitivo (PPA),(ii) que las preferencias y las covarianzas determinan el nivel absoluto de la preferencia por la moneda nacional en el análisis final y(iii) que la preferencia por la moneda nacional aumenta con la expectativa de que la misma sera revaluada en términos reales.

     

Evolutionary Business Information Systems

This article reflects on existing and emerging future challenges arising in the area of “evolutionary business information systems”, a class of systems that demand an evolutionary software development process and which support secondary design of various conceptual layers. We place both existing contributions and future research opportunities in context by referring to an idealized, preliminary system architecture. Finally, we emphasize our pluralistic perspective on the research object and the resulting need for methodological flexibility in the sense of interdisciplinary configurations of research methods.     

Vor der Europawahl: Wie lässt sich die demokratische Legitimität verbessern?

The EU suffers from a democratic deficit that arises not first and foremost from a lack of institutional competencies, but rather from the double weakness of politics vis-à-vis economics and law at the European level. This “functional democratic deficit” renders the existing mechanisms of democratic control increasingly ineffective. Especially for its citizens, a politically integrated Europen Union might be difficult to grasp, and it may only be reached gradually through a continuous process of dynamic development; however, “United in Diversity” seems to be the better alternative, and not only for historical reasons. The direct elections for the European Parliament, although not denying deficits of democratic legitimacy and participation at the Union level, should not be underestimated in their legitimising influence for the Union as an associated structure of members without obvious hierarchies.     

Structural models of complementary choices

This article reviews the rapidly growing literature on structural models of complementary choices. It discusses recent modeling developments and identifies promising areas for future research.     

Fußball-Bundesliga: Zentralvermarktung und Beihilfen fördern Dominanz einzelner Clubs

In order to maintain competitive balance and uncertainty of outcome, professional sports leagues have developed several kinds of distribution mechanisms. For example, in Germany one of these is the collective selling of television rights for football matches by the league organisation, which enables the league to share television revenues. In this article it is argued that central marketing and sharing of television revenues in German football does not enhance competitive balance among members of the Bundesliga but rather leads to a lesser degree of competitive balance and thus less uncertainty of outcome in the league. Because public broadcasting stations pay for television rights from which some clubs profit more than others, it can be seen as illegal state aid for these clubs.