The Conceptualization and Measurement of Suppliers' Reputation Display in Asymmetric Marketing Relationships

In asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships, suppliers typically possess more information about the object of an exchange. To ameliorate customers' evaluation problems, suppliers use signals to promise the delivery of a certain quality level to the market. A commonly used supplier signal in asymmetric markets is the manner in which reputation is displayed to buyers. While the marketing literature recognizes the role of reputation in structuring such asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships, relatively little research effort has been directed at the conceptualization and measurement of suppliers' reputation display. To address this gap, I adopt an interdisciplinary perspective and conceptualize suppliers' reputation display as a multi-dimensional construct. Specifically, I argue that suppliers' reputation display represents a latent consisting of three distinct dimensions; (i) specific investments, (ii) advertising intensity, and (iii) certification. The preceding conceptualization implies that reputation display signals a suppliers' past and future conduct to the marketplace. For example, by displaying certification, suppliers expect the market to infer certain firm attributes based on past actions. Likewise, suppliers' investments in advertising and specific assets may provide a signal of future honest behavior to the marketplace. I empirically validate this three factor conceptualization of reputation display by utilizing the technique of Latent Variable Structural Equations Modeling (LVSE). Empirical tests conducted on data obtained from 287 automotive service managers via mail survey support the three factor model of reputation display.     

The determinants of foreign giving: An exploratory empirical investigation of US manufacturing firms

To date, there is ample evidence on the determinants of domestic charitable contributions made by US firms. However, to the best of our knowledge, no one has investigated the determinants of foreign charitable contributions made by US firms. Using the Socrates KLD database and the US M&A data for the 2004–2010 period, we find evidence that foreign giving by US manufacturing firms is linked to certain key variables. Specifically, we find evidence that variables found significant in the domestic giving literature (pre entry return on assets, size, debt to asset ratio, market to book ratio, and research and development expense as a function of sales) are also found significant for foreign giving. However, and notably, cultural distance and foreign sales percentage have been found to be important discriminators between manufacturing firms who give abroad and those who do not. It appears that high international business experience (proxied by the foreign sales ratio) and operations in culturally distant countries motivate foreign giving. Finally, subsample analysis involving developed and developing countries suggests that cultural distance matters for developing countries, but does not for the developed country subsample. Firm level profitability matters for developed countries, but not for developing countries. Future research may be expanded to include the dollar amounts of giving and a bigger sample size. Differences in foreign giving patterns between manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms, and by firms in countries other than the US, may also be explored.     

Comparing adolescent-focused obesity prevention and reduction messages

Drug abuse, smoking, and disordered eating literature reveal that some health promoting messages can induce unintended or harmful effects on the target audience. Scholars recommend careful messaging in social marketing campaigns, by shifting the focus away from health outcomes. This study tests the effects of adolescent-targeted obesity prevention messages (body-image, health benefit) with positive experience and unrelated messages on health behavior intentions and unintended effects. A pre-post experiment (N = 95) reveals that body-image public service advertisements (PSAs) may increase anxiety when compared to unrelated PSAs (no main effect, significant planned comparisons are found). Health benefit PSAs are more readable (F = 4.59, p < .05) than all other PSA groups and show higher healthy eating planning (F = 3.19, p < .05) compared to unrelated ones. No significant weight attitudes, self-esteem, and stages of change differences are found by message type. Overall, health benefit messages are not less effective.     

Optimal freeware quality in the presence of network externalities: an evolutionary game theoretical approach

New software products often face difficulty in achieving market penetration. A potential remedy is to offer a freeware version of the software to encourage initial adoption and establish a larger user base for the software, thereby increasing the commercial version's value to adopters in future periods. However, to avoid complete cannibalization of the commercial version, the freeware version's quality must be sufficiently low and the price of the commercial version must not be too high. We model the effect of these two decision variables, price and freeware quality, on the adoption of software using static and evolutionary game theory.     

Cause‐Related Marketing from the Nonprofit's Perspective: Classifying Goals and Experienced Outcomes

This research examines the cause‐related marketing (CRM) experience from a nonprofit (NPO) perspective, using qualitative and quantitative methods. U.S. NPO managers with direct CRM experience (n = 154) participated. Results demonstrate that NPOs have both first order (immediate financial support) and second order (less tangible, longer term) goals when undertaking CRM, and that they generally realize these outcomes, though not always. NPOs primarily seek event support, networking opportunities and public awareness, followed by funding opportunities, with less emphasis on gaining business expertise. This research extends the framework of Gourville and Rangan (2004 Gourville, J. T. and Rangan, V. K. 2004. Valuing the cause marketing relationship.. California Management Review, 47: 38–57. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by offering a more precise, differentiated model.     

In the Name of the Practical: Unearthing the Hegemony of Pragmatics in the Discourse of Environmental Management*

abstract A prominent feature of the rapidly growing field of Environmental Management (EM) is its strong emphasis on pragmatic considerations. Much of EM's legitimacy stems from its own identity as having practical relevance in resolving contemporary environmental problems. With the help of Critical Discourse Analysis, our paper engages closely with the language of practicality in Environmental Management. We show how the message of practicality emerged through three core messages in the discourse, viz. economic utilitarianism, compromise and inter‐organizational collaboration. We further contend that in the actual material context of the complex biospheric environment, these messages may have less than pragmatic implications. We conclude with a discussion of ecological rationality in redefining the discourse of pragmatics in Environmental Management.     

Randomized Stopping Times and American Option Pricing with Transaction Costs

In a general discrete-time market model with proportional transaction costs, we derive new expectation representations of the range of arbitrage-free prices of an arbitrary American option. The upper bound of this range is called the upper hedging price, and is the smallest initial wealth needed to construct a self-financing portfolio whose value dominates the option payoff at all times. A surprising feature of our upper hedging price representation is that it requires the use of randomized stopping times (Baxter and Chacon 1977), just as ordinary stopping times are needed in the absence of transaction costs. We also represent the upper hedging price as the optimum value of a variety of optimization problems. Additionally, we show a two-player game where at Nash equilibrium the value to both players is the upper hedging price, and one of the players must in general choose a mixture of stopping times. We derive similar representations for the lower hedging price as well. Our results make use of strong duality in linear programming.     

Patterns of ‘Mock Bureaucracy’ in Mining Disasters: An Analysis of the Westray Coal Mine Explosion

Recent studies on the antecedents of industrial crises have tended to focus on disasters in high-risk systems involving complex technologies and tightly-knit processes. This paper examines events leading up to mining disasters which past research has characterized as being typically more foreseeable and avoidable. We discuss how many mining disasters are likely to be the result of ‘mock bureaucracies’ or situations characterized by overt violation of safety rules at the workplace. Using the Westray mine explosion as an illustrative case, the paper traces the development and institutionalization of a mock bureaucracy in an organization. Implications for further research and understanding of industrial crises are drawn.