Who we are and what we do: A profile of marketing academics in UK universities

This paper explores the professional identity of marketing academics in UK universities by focusing on two aspects, i.e. (1) their background characteristics and (2) the activities typically pursued by them. Specifically, the characteristics of marketing academics are explored in terms of demographic profiles, educational background and career structures, while activity patterns provide insights into the composition and length of the working week, research record and the relative importance of outside sources of income.     

Measuring experienced emotions during service recovery encounters: construction and assessment of the ESRE scale

The role of emotions is increasingly gaining attention as a central element in understanding customer evaluations of service failure and recovery experiences. Despite the importance of emotions for service organizations, however, empirical investigations of customers’ emotional response to service recovery encounters remain scarce. A reason for this has been the absence of a valid and reliable measurement instrument for analyzing and comparing the emotions associated with different recovery experiences. Addressing this issue, the current paper presents the development and validation of a new scale specifically designed to measure experienced emotions during service recovery encounters (ESRE). The results show that the ESRE scale is a valid and reliable instrument, which should be helpful for empirically studying the role of emotional responses to service failure and recovery encounters.

Determinants of industrial mail survey response: A survey‐on‐surveys analysis of researchers' and managers' views

This paper compares the perceptions of marketing research executives and industrial respondents regarding factors impacting on industrial mail survey response. Following a review of the different research traditions to the study of mail response rates, a “survey‐on‐surveys “ approach is introduced and used to study the potential impacts of different design and implementation factors on survey response. The results of the study provide empirical evidence on the perceived influence of a wide variety of response‐inducing factors in industrial mail surveys, and are used to generate managerial recommendations for the conduct of the latter. Directions for future research are also identified.     

Research Productivity in Business Economics: The Case of Marketing

Abstract. The German Economic Review ( GER ) recently published a paper by Fabel, Hein and Hofmeister about research productivity in Austrian, German and Swiss universities. The authors derive the rankings of institutions and subject areas by analyzing an impressive and comprehensive dataset, which captures the research output of business administration departments. While these rankings might hold at an aggregate level, they lack face validity at a subject-specific level. This lack of validity is demonstrated in the case of marketing by analyzing the research output of the top-ranked institutions in top-ranked journals. A number of proposals to overcome these kinds of problems are provided.     

Advancing formative measurement models

Formative measurement models were first introduced in the literature more than forty years ago and the discussion about their methodological contribution has been increasing since the 1990s. However, the use of formative indicators for construct measurement in empirical studies is still scarce. This paper seeks to encourage the thoughtful application of formative models by (a) highlighting the potential consequences of measurement model misspecification, and (b) providing a state-of-the art review of key issues in the formative measurement literature. For the former purpose, this paper summarizes findings of empirical studies investigating the effects of measurement misspecification. For the latter purpose, the article merges contributions in the psychology, management, and marketing literatures to examine a variety of issues concerning the conceptualization, estimation, and validation of formative measurement models. Finally, the article offers some suggestions for future research on formative measurement.     

Book reviews

MARKETING BUDGETING by Nigel Piercy (Croom Helm, 1986) 522 pages, £27.50 hb. ISBN 0–7099–2092‐X.

STATISTICS FOR MARKETING by Leslie W. Rodger (McGraw‐Hill, London, 1984), 280 pages, £10.95. ISBN 0–07–084728–2.

ANALYSIS FOR STRATEGIC MARKET DECISIONS by George S. Day (West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota, 1986), ISBN 0–314–85227–1.

MARKETING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY by Norman Fisher (Longman, Harlow, Essex, 1986), 270 pages, £19.95 HB. ISBN 0–582–503302.

SOURCES OF UNOFFICIAL UK STATISTICS by David A. Mort and Leona Siddall (Gower Publishing Co., 1985), 457 pages, £45.00. ISBN 0–566–02620–1.

HOTEL & FOOD SERVICE MARKETING by Francis Buttle (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, London, 1986) 406 pages, £9.95. ISBN 0–03–910682–9.

POSITIONING: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND by Al Ries and Jack Trout, first edition revised (McGraw‐Hill, New York, 1986), 213 pages, £17.95 hardcover. ISBN 0–07–065264–3.

BUSINESS WARGAMES by Barrie G. James (Abacus Press, Tunbridge Wells, 1984), 254 pp., £14.95. ISBN 0–85626–441–5.     

Guidelines for choosing between multi-item and single-item scales for construct measurement: a predictive validity perspective

Establishing predictive validity of measures is a major concern in marketing research. This paper investigates the conditions favoring the use of single items versus multi-item scales in terms of predictive validity. A series of complementary studies reveals that the predictive validity of single items varies considerably across different (concrete) constructs and stimuli objects. In an attempt to explain the observed instability, a comprehensive simulation study is conducted aimed at identifying the influence of different factors on the predictive validity of single versus multi-item measures. These include the average inter-item correlations in the predictor and criterion constructs, the number of items measuring these constructs, as well as the correlation patterns of multiple and single items between the predictor and criterion constructs. The simulation results show that, under most conditions typically encountered in practical applications, multi-item scales clearly outperform single items in terms of predictive validity. Only under very specific conditions do single items perform equally well as multi-item scales. Therefore, the use of single-item measures in empirical research should be approached with caution, and the use of such measures should be limited to special circumstances.     

Export marketing research in practice: A comparison of users and non‐users

Following a review of the literature, this paper analyses the differences between users and non‐users of export marketing research. The study was conducted on a sample of small and medium‐sized Finnish design companies, exhibiting a range of different export characteristics. Contrary to prior expectations, the results show only a few significant differences between users and non‐users of export marketing research. The implications of these findings are discussed and avenues for future research on the topic are outlined.     

The impact of perceived brand globalness, brand origin image, and brand origin–extension fit on brand extension success

This research investigates perceived brand globalness, brand origin image, and brand origin–extension fit as drivers of brand extension success that are mediated through parent brand quality and brand–extension fit. The authors present two complementary studies based on consumer samples from a mature and an emerging market respectively. In both studies, out of all drivers examined, the brand origin–extension fit has the strongest effect on brand extension success both in terms of quality evaluations and purchase intentions. The findings further indicate that extension success is more influenced by consumers’ perceptions of the country from which the focal brand originates than by their perceptions of the brand’s global availability and reach. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are considered and future research directions identified.