The effect of dynamic retail experiences on experiential perceptions of value: an internet and catalog comparison

The authors introduce cognitive continuum theory (CCT) as a theoretical framework to examine the effect of consumer shopping tasks and retail information display properties on consumer perceptions of experiential value. In this empirical investigation, the nature of a consumer’s shopping task is found to exert a direct influence on consumer perceptions of efficiency, economic value, and shopping enjoyment, all active dimensions of value. In addition, congruent interactions between shopping task and retail information display properties exert an enhancing effect on the reactive dimensions of value, as evidenced by perceptions of visual appeal, entertainment value, and service excellence. Future application of CCT is outlined and managerial implications are discussed.     

Explaining employee turnover in an Asian context

Employee turnover is giving sleepless nights to HR managers in many countries in Asia. A widely‐held belief in these countries is that employees have developed ‘bad’ attitudes due to the labour shortage. Employees are believed to job‐hop for no reason, or even for fun. Unfortunately, despite employee turnover being such a serious problem in Asia, there is a dearth of studies investigating it; in particular studies using a comprehensive set of variables are rare. This study examines three sets of antecedents of turnover intention in companies in Singapore: demographic, controllable and uncontrollable. Singapore companies provide an appropriate setting as their turnover rates are among the highest in Asia. Findings of the study suggest that organisational commitment, procedural justice and a job‐hopping attitude were three main factors associated with turnover intention in Singapore companies.     

Virtual Reality and Innovation Potential

This article examines how companies can harness virtual reality (VR) technology to help make themselves more innovative. VR has some unique characteristics which, taken together, can help companies to develop three features common to many innovative organisations: a capacity to experiment in depth; involvement of all in the innovation process; and an ability to capture ideas generated in the innovation process. However, some obstacles need to be overcome before VR fulfils this potential.     

Formal Rehabilitation Procedures and Insolvent Firms: Empirical Evidence on the British Company Voluntary Arrangement Procedure

The British Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is a relatively new debtor rehabilitation process intended to help financially troubled companies, particularly SMEs, resolve their difficulties without being forced into liquidation by secured creditors anxious to recover their funds. This paper is based on a survey conducted by Milman and Chittenden for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants that is the largest and most comprehensive on the subject of British CVAs. It has three principal objectives: (i) to outline the defining characteristics of CVAs; (ii) to analyse the relationships between CVA performance and contextual factors; (iii) to provide policy recommendations based on those findings. Among other things we find that CVA success is most closely associated with sound fundamental prospects for recovery and supportive creditors. Our principal recommendation is that ways should be found of lowering the fixed costs of CVAs to make the procedure feasible for a larger number of small firms.     

Affective and Cognitive Components of Attitudes in High‐Stakes Decisions: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Hormone Replacement Therapy Use

Consumers are increasingly encouraged to take charge of high‐stakes decisions such as those regarding medical treatments. However, the important inputs into overall evaluations of risky and important behaviors, such as undergoing medical therapy, are not well understood. The purpose of this research is to study the interplay of cognitive and affective factors in determining consumer attitudes and intentions toward high‐stakes decision behaviors. This is done in the context of consumer choices regarding medical treatments, and specifically, the decision to use (or not to use) hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Overall, both affective and cognitive responses are found to be independent significant predictors of attitude toward HRT use. Moreover, the results support an extended version of the theory of planned behavior model that is useful in predicting consumer's intentions to engage in high‐stakes decision behaviors, such as using HRT. These findings have implications for the design of decision support systems and behavioral change interventions.     

Managing human resource for competitive advantage: a study of companies in Singapore

We see two major streams of research in the strategic human resource management literature: (1) the link between strategy and human resource (HR) practices and (2) the link between HR practices and firm performance. There is a plethora of theoretical perspectives on the first link. Unfortunately, there is not much empirical work. The second link has seen a spate of empirical studies. However, most of them embrace the universal perspective and the role of strategy as a contingency has not been adequately addressed. This could potentially result in the underestimation of the impact of HR practices on organizational performance. This study addressed the above two weaknesses in previous research in the strategic HR management field. Using a sample of about 200 of the largest companies representing all major industries in Singapore, we found that organizational strategy affects HR practices. Moreover, findings suggest that the strategy-HR interaction accounts for more variation in firm performance than the main effect of HR. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Multi-stage information processing behavior: An experimental investigation

This paper presents an operationalization of Srinivasan's model for examining multi-stage information processing behavior. Based on theoretical considerations, specific hypotheses regarding multi-stage information processing behavior are posited. An experimental investigation undertaken to test these hypotheses is described.     

Some observations on the state of the art in marketing research

This paper provides some observations on the state of the art in marketing research. The primary and secondary thrust of the articles published in the Journal of Marketing Research during 1980–1986 is briefly reviewed to identify important areas of inquiry. In each of these areas, we summarize recent developments, highlight the state of the art, offer some critical observations, and identify directions for future research. A cross-classification of various techniques and problem areas is also presented and some observations are made on the application of these techniques to address specific substantive and methodological issues in marketing research.     

Emerging issues in sales forecasting and decision support systems

There are two distinct groups of emerging issues in the area of sales forecasting and decision support systems: methodological issues and implementational issues. This paper discusses each of them. The discussion of implementational issues includes some results of a survey of forecasting practice. The paper serves as a preface to the special section on sales forecasting and decision support systems and introduces the papers included in the special section.