Relational marketing throughout the history of commercial exchange: Blind spots in marketing’s origin story

Abstract

Although marketing is commonly theorized to have originated at the dawn of exchange itself, few scholarly articles explore the history of marketing beyond this cursory recitation of the commonly accepted origin story of the field. The evolution of complex commercial exchange is presented as a natural outgrowth of the development of human society as opposed to the willful and intentional efforts of early merchants. Using disparate and archaic sources, this article synthesizes historical accounts and archival information to show that entrepreneurs have always practiced relational marketing from prehistoric eras and continued to do so throughout pre-industrial and post-industrial eras when the bulk of the literature claims that the scale of modern production rendered relational marketing ineffective and nearly obsolete. In doing so, we add to the virtually non-existent literature documenting entrepreneurial marketing in the early, pre-industrial history of commerce.     

Sales to centre stage! Determinants of the division in strategic sales decisions within the MNE

Extant international business (IB) literature on Headquarter (HQ)-subsidiary relationships has established that where decision-making occurs, it influences a firm’s performance. Existing studies propose that the degree of autonomy in decision-making at subsidiary level is not the same for all value chain activities, paying more attention to upstream activities. This paper contributes by exploring decision-making autonomy in downstream strategic sales activities. Sales has rarely been centre stage in IB investigations and we therefore lack thorough understanding of its role and importance within the MNE decision-making processes. Conducting a mixed methods exploratory study in the fast-moving consumer goods sector in Germany, we test for antecedents and outcomes of subsidiaries’ strategic sales decision-making autonomy. Results confirm external and internal embeddedness as antecedents, and the dominant role played by the local context, but provide insights into potential risks of internal embeddedness. Results challenge existing theory inasmuch as subsidiary importance is not a significant driver. A critical implication of this finding is that, compared to upstream activities, the HQ may not have the option of mandating a subsidiary to transfer sales strategy skills and knowledge across the network. Our results show that, in an era of globalisation of sales, and internationalisation of retailers, HQ managers must pay heed to directly interacting with subsidiaries and to sharing strategic sales decision-making across the network to consolidate the MNE’s global sales strategy.     

Is intraregional trade an opportunity for industrial upgrading in East Africa?

Regional integration has been promoted in Africa for decades. However, the potential effects of regional integration on Africa are still contested. To analyse whether intraregional trade can be an opportunity to stimulate product or intersectoral upgrading in East Africa, this paper compares the technological level of goods in intraregional and extra-regional trade of five East Africa countries. It finds that the five East Africa countries have performed better in exporting technology-based products to intraregional trading partners than to extra-regional ones. This result suggests the continued expansion of intraregional trade will be helpful for these nations to upgrade their existing industrial base through the growth of technology-based sectors. In addition, because they import larger amounts of technology-based products from extra-regional partners, gradual import substitution could be also an effective strategy to further diversify and upgrade industries.     

Two tales of earnings management with short sales deregulation

We study the impact of short sales on accrual-based and real earnings management (EM). Based on the costs and benefits of using EM to hide negative information, we derive an analytical model showing that there are two possibilities: (1) a firm engages in less accrual-based and real EM when facing short-seller scrutiny (the informational efficiency hypothesis), or (2) a firm switches from accrual-based EM (a less sophisticated method) to real EM (a more sophisticated method), which we call the sophisticated information-hiding hypothesis. That is, there is a tradeoff between accrual-based and real EM in the presence of short sales. Using a natural experiment of the recent short sales deregulation in China, we show findings consistent with the latter reaction. Additional analysis suggests that the decrease in accrual-based EM and increase in real EM are driven primarily by firms with non-Big 10 auditors or firms not under shareholder or regulatory scrutiny. We interpret the findings as being consistent with the model prediction that for firms with weak inside and outside monitoring, the probability of detecting real EM is low, and thus the tradeoff between accrual-based and real EM prevails in the presence of short sales.     

The paradox of diminishing returns: Measurement and metrics for valuation of B2C sales professionals

Abstract

The realization of channel multiplicity is increasingly present in retail exchanges. Retailers understand that consumers may seek information in one channel and complete their purchases in another channel. Researchers have labeled this retailing concept as “showrooming.” Showrooming suggests that retail salespeople may provide information, services, and suggestions that generate retail sales revenues at another time in another place. While they likely mediate exchange value, retail salespersons’ contributions to building sales revenues and customer relationships may be difficult to measure. The degree of value engendered in the retail sales role set is associated with product and transaction complexity. As such, retail sales functions may range from highly transactional (i.e., facilitating a transaction) to highly relational (i.e., building retail patronage). This article proffers a taxonomy of retail salespeople based on sales role sets: Companions, Consultants, Clerks, and Closers. Managerial recommendations are provided for measuring retail salesperson performance in an omni-channel marketplace.     

买卖型担保中流质条款效力的证成与强化

审判实践不应僵化地援引禁止流质规则来无效化买卖型担保中的流质条款，以避免将买卖型担保重新装回典型担保的制度牢笼。禁止流质规则作为强制性预防措施有一定的合理性，在其立法目的必要性日渐丧失的情况下，扩张解释或者类推适用禁止流质规则均不可取，买卖型担保中的流质条款合法有效。对债权人课以清算义务，能够强化流质条款的正当性，从而彻底扫清买卖型担保中流质条款有效化的伦理障碍。担保人应负初步举证责任，只有价值差额超过“24%年利率上限”时才能启动清算，以确保流质条款的效率优势。尽管流质条款与以物抵债具有相似性，但不得以禁止流质规则束缚非买卖型担保中的以物抵债。     

Immediate or delayed! Whether various types of consumer sales promotions drive impulse buying?: An empirical investigation

In the present study we investigate whether various types of sales promotions together with hedonic shopping motivation (value shopping) and positive affect drive impulse buying. The study further explores the moderation impact of trait constructs viz deal proneness and impulsive buying tendency in impulse buying. In our research, sales promotion tools are classified into four categories namely, (a) monetary-immediate (MI), (b) non-monetary-immediate (NMI), (c) monetary-delayed (MD) and (d) non-monetary delayed (NMD) types of sales promotions. Data were analysed using SEM. Results revealed that out of the four categories of promotional tools only MI and NMI drive impulse buying. Each of MI, NMI, MD and NMD is found to be related to positive affect whereas MI, NMI and NMD impact value shopping but MD does not. The role of IBT and DP as moderators has been evident. The study has significant theoretical as well as managerial implications. Test of mediation confirmed the role of urge to buy as mediator.     

Women in sales in developing countries: The value of technology for social impact

Technology is an engine for growth with great potential to transform women’s self-efficacy and social capital. This article focuses on women in sales and sheds light on the intersection of technology, self-efficacy, and social capital in developing countries. The use of technology allows women to transform their social and economic lives by changing and reshaping processes that enable opportunities for growth and development—ultimately offering a bridge to close the many gaps in human socioeconomic development in developing countries. To this end, we offer several recommendations for saleswomen and organizations to expand their application of technological capabilities for product orders, market messaging, and training.     

Exploring the influence of online reviews and motivating factors on sales: A meta-analytic study and the moderating role of product category

Online reviews, which significantly influence product sales, have been a central research topic in the field of marketing. Meanwhile, some motivating factors related to online retailers have been linked to product sales. While several articles have examined the impact between online reviews and motivating factors on product sales, many of the conclusions drawn are contradictory. From 28 studies focusing on online reviews and sales, this study performs a meta-analysis to analyze the true impacts of six review-related factors (i.e., the number of reviews, star ratings, standard deviation of ratings, helpfulness, review length and sentiment), and two motivating factors (i.e., price discounts and special shipping) on product sales. Meanwhile, this paper also studies how one product-related factor (i.e., product age) and one reviewer-related factor (i.e., reviewer's reputation) influence the relationship between online reviews and product sales. In addition, to study the moderating effect of product category, we divide the selected literature into two subgroups which are search and experience products. The results indicate that only review length and special shipping have no significant impact on product sales, while product category has a valid and specific moderating effect on the relationship between these determinants and sales. The presented conclusions will have important implications for academic research and for future industry practice.     

浅谈电子商务在金银币销售中的应用

我国金银币收藏、投资行为和销售方式已悄然发生变化。本文就我国现代金银币网络销售的现状与发展,特别就电子商务在金银币销售中的应用进行了积极探讨。