Marketing

An Analysis of the Effects of Specific Promotion Types on Attendance at Major League Baseball Games Full Text
Vol. 21, No. 2, p. 21
Thomas C. Boyd, California State University, Fullerton
Timothy C. Krehbiel, Miami University

Professional and collegiate sports face an ever increasing challenge from competition for sport fans’ attention and dollars as available alternatives proliferate. Teams are looking for new ways to make games more attractive in order to fill their seats. While true to some degree for all sports, Major League Baseball (MLB) has attracted the greatest attention from researchers and practitioners interested in increasing game attractiveness. The current study demonstrates a method that can be applied in many retail settings and reports on the most comprehensive research to date, examining every game played in the 2002 season for all MLB teams. Multiple regression analysis is performed using both promotion type and relevant timing variables to determine when promotions will be most successful at increasing attendance. Bobblehead giveaways and two combinations of promotions; a giveaway and special event or two special events, are found to have the greatest impact. Promotions during night games are also found to result in the greatest increase in attendance.

Adaptive Selling Behavior: Adding Depth and Specificity to the Range of Adaptive Outputs Full Text
Vol. 21, No. 1, p. 31
James A. Eckert, Western Michigan University

Working from the expanded model of adaptive selling behavior offered by Eckert and Plank (2004), this paper attempts to add greater depth and specificity to the adaptive output categories making them more useful for research advancement and for both the teaching and execution of an adaptive selling approach. Relevant literature is identified, organized, and offered as theory sources to support and expand the adaptive selling model.

Building a Market-Oriented Organizational Environment: An Implementation Framework for Small Organizations Full Text
Vol. 20, No. 2, p. 44
Beth Ann Martin, John Carroll University
James H. Martin, John Carroll University

The strong link between a market orientation and per-formance in small organizations rests on the organization�fs ability to use its market-oriented culture to create a sustain-able competitive advantage. To do this requires the firm to build and maintain a strong market orientation. Using an internal customer-internal supplier perspective, this paper identifies a framework for implementation that an organiza-tion can undertake to create a market-oriented workforce. The foundation for the framework is the development of dyadic relationships between internal customers and suppli-ers. The implementation structure relies on a performance management system that rewards behaviors appropriate for the establishment of a market-oriented culture.

Global Account Management: A Literature-Based Conceptual Model Full Text
Vol. 19, No. 1, p. 13
Kevin Wilson, The Sales Research Center, U.K.
Dan Weilbaker, Northern Illinois University

Global Account Management (GAM) is not a recent phenomenon. Xerox first appointed global account managers in 1988 and Citicorp has a history of using GAM processes that go back over twenty-five years. What is new is that GAM has emerged as one of the major strategic issues facing multinational companies operating markets that are thinking globally. As a consequence GAM has stimulated growing interest among academics and a flurry of experiential articles in practitioner journals and “How we did it” presentations at conferences. Over the past few years a number of major research initiatives have produced papers that attempted to build upon the rather fragmented outputs addressing GAM related issues that began to emerge during the middle of the 1990s. Three of the recent studies of particular interest are: The SRT/SAMA Global Account Management Study; The GAM Contingency Model; and The St.Gallen GAM Study. Even though each has provided valuable insights into the GAM process the new conceptual model provided in this paper is the first attempt to integrate all of the individual findings. A number of propositions are offered in an attempt to stimulate research in the area.

Subscription Supply Chains: The Ultimate Collaborative Paradigm Full Text
Vol. 17, No. 2, p. 37
Robert L. Cook, Central Michigan University
Michael S. Garver, Central Michigan University

Supply chain practitioners have made great strides in forming collaborative partnerships, yet the end consumer is often left out of these plans. Being an important member of the supply chain, we propose that supply chains need to get closer to the end consumer – forming collaborative relationships that center around demand planning. Developing subscription relationships with end consumers will lead to increased planning time which will result in dramatic cost reductions and superior consumer value and satisfaction through lower costs, increased convenience, and improved availability of supply. Being a new and unique strategy, not all consumers will adopt subscription supply chains. However, we argue that some consumer segments will receive tremendous value and satisfaction purchasing certain types of products and services through subscriptions. Tremendous opportunities await those supply chains who target the right consumers, marketing the right products and services through a subscription supply chain.

Postcard Prenotification in Industrial Surveys: Further Evidence Full Text
Vol. 17, No. 1, p. 51
Paul R. Murphy, John Carroll University
James M. Daley, John Carroll University

While mail surveys continue to be a widely used research technique, relatively little empirical research exists that assesses their effectiveness among industrial (commercial) organizations. To address this literature void, the present paper reports the findings from a mail survey of international freight forwarders. More specifically, this paper investigates the influence of postcard prenotification with respect to response rates, response speed, response quality, response bias, and response cost effectiveness. The paper also discusses implications of the results and offers suggestions for further research.

Enhancing the Emotional Intelligence of Salespeople Full Text
Vol. 17, No. 1, p. 43
Janee Z. Sojka, Ohio University
Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz, Ohio University

In today’s rapidly changing sales environment, successful salespeople must acquire skills that give them a competitive advantage. Emotional intelligence (EI), defined as perceiving, interpreting, and reacting to one’s own and others’ emotions, is offered as one critical skill that will allow salespeople to guide their behavior and think in ways that can enhance their sales performance. In this paper, we review emotional intelligence and discuss how it is related to existing theories of sales performance. Research propositions are then developed based on the Walker, Churchill, and Ford (1977) sales performance model. Strategies for sales practitioners are proposed, and additional opportunities for future research are identified.

Listening to Customers Full Text
Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 41
Michael S. Garver, Central Michigan University

While most practitioners are familiar with traditional customer satisfaction surveys, research findings suggest that best practice companies use multiple tools to bring the voice of the customer inside the organization. The purpose of this study is to examine how best practice companies use various tools to listen to customers. The primary contribution of this article is in discussing a variety of different customer listening tools used by practitioners, along with introducing new customer listening tools to the literature. Furthermore, this article puts forth a framework that captures essential characteristics of each tool, depicting when their use is most appropriate. Finally, this article depicts how customer listening tools are linked together and synthesized into a customer performance model.

Managing Customer Value Full Text
Vol. 14, No. 1, p.13    
William B. Dodds, Fort Lewis College

This paper builds the framework for linking the established work of competitive advantage with the emerging discipline of value marketing. The outcome of this linkage is the concept of strategic value management. Strategic value management focuses on the right combinations of product quality, customer service and fair prices as the key to selling to today's value conscious customers. The core of the strategy stresses the firm's ability to combine and manage these dimensions of value in a way that a strategic value advantage is created and maintained. This advantage provides long-term profitability for the firm and satisfaction for the customer segment. Three companies that excel at strategic value management, Southwest Airlines, Hewlett-Packard, and Nordstrom, illustrate how this advantage provides long-term profitability for their firm and satisfaction for their customer segment. Value oriented actions have been developed to support a strategic value approach.

 

Forecasting for the Small Retail Business: Operational Recommendations  Full Text
Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 27  
J. Holton Wilson, Central Michigan University
Robert Miller, Central Michigan University

Often small business owners/managers feel they have inadequate time for formal forecasting and/or that they lack the expertise to do so. Since forecasting is an important decision-aiding tool, managers in small retail establishments can benefit by implementing a simple forecasting process. Doing so will enable them to better anticipate the firms future level of sales and lead to more successful operations. We suggest the use of relatively simple quantitative methods that have proven to work well in a wide variety of situations. Exponential smoothing, basic regression methods, and time series decomposition can be employed with relative ease in the context of a small retail business. Inexpensive computers and forecasting software make it possible for small retailers to utilize these forecasting methods in a cost effective and timely fashion.

 

Cross-functional Interface of Marketing and Accounting: Value Chain Analysis  Full Text
Vol. 13, No. 1, p. 31  
James A. Stephens, Emporia State University
Jeffrey Archambault, Clarkson University

For competitive reasons, many business organizations are becoming more flexible in their operation and cross-functional in design. Increased emphasis on satisfying the final consumer has led businesses to recognize that value contributions, from internal and external organizational members in the value-chain, are necessary to efficiently and effectively reach expected levels of customer satisfaction. This broadened cross-functional and networked perspective has placed greater emphasis on the role performed by all components in the value-chain. Several changes in marketing such as an emphasis on data-based marketing, a value-added focus, a market-response orientation, and accountability of marketing effort are critical components of this broadened perspective. Additionally, several changes in management accounting such as the use of activity-based-costing, focus on strategic cost management, and target-costing have come together to make this integrated perspective possible. This paper explores how integration of these trends, particularly the trends of data-based marketing and activity-based-costing, can improve customer satisfaction and lead to long-term competitive advantages.

Commercial Sales in Cable Television: An Overview and a Linear Model Full Text
Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 27 
Jagu P. Aiyer, University of Pittsburgh
Jayant Rajgopal, University of Pittsburgh

This paper deals with the sales of commercial advertisements in the cable television industry. It describes the dynamics of the process, and develops the notion of an audience loss function, the minimization of which is equally desirable to both networks as well as advertisers. A simple, yet robust delivery-efficient linear model is described for optimizing this loss function, subject to the constraints that are typically inherent in the process. This is followed by a numerical illustration that uses realistic data, and a discussion on the use of the model.

Relationship Selling: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality Full Text
Vol. 11, No. 1, p.5 
Thomas N. Ingram, Colorado State University

Professional selling is moving from a transaction basis to a long-term relationship basis. This article describes the driving forces behind this transition, including intensified competition, a growing appreciation for the value of knowledge and time, continuous improvement initiatives, ethical and legal considerations, the need to improve sales productivity, and trends in corporate purchasing. The fundamental changes in salespeoples' job roles and responsibilities are reviewed, and ideas for implementing relationship selling in an organization are offered.

The Role of Hispanic Acculturation on Media Exposure, Coupon Use, and Brand Loyalty Full Text
Vol. 10, No. 2, p.35 
Susan M. Petroshius, Bowling Green State University
Stephen J. Newell, Bowling Green State University
Steven J. Ross, NFO Research

The Hispanic population in the United States is rapidly increasing and is expected to be the largest minority group within the next decade. Consequently, a better understanding of this group of consumers is of great importance to marketers. This study investigates the role that acculturation plays on a number of consumer-related attitudes and behaviors. The results indicate that as acculturation increases, Hispanic consumers are frequently exposed to English language media, use coupons with greater frequency, and display less loyalty to specific brands.

Industrial Trade Shows: A Review of What We Know  Full Text
Vol. 10, No. 1, p.67 
Paul Herbig, Texas A&T International University
Brad O'Hara, Southeastern Louisiana University
Frederick Palumbo, Yeshiva University

Industrial trade shows are the second most widely used promotional tool in the marketing mix for industrial firms, ranking after personal selling but well ahead of advertising and direct mail. Use of this medium continues to grow in numbers of shows, number of companies exhibiting, and dollars spent by vendors. Yet, with few exceptions, little research has been performed on trade shows. This paper reports results of a study, discusses the value of trade shows to an industrial firm's performance, and offers recommendations.

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of International Print Advertising: The Case of the U.S.A., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan  Full Text
Vol. 9, No. 2, p.55 
Bob D. Cutler, Cleveland State University
Rajshekhar Javalgi, Cleveland State University
L. Craig Foltin, Cleveland State University
Martin J. Hornyak, Cleveland State University
D. Steven White, Cleveland State University

This paper investigates print advertising of the U.S. and the Pacific Rim countries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The study empirically analyzes whether components of print advertisements are similar or dissimilar among the four countries identified. The research offers valuable information and insight to international advertising practitioners and marketing academicians regarding the potential for regional standardization of advertising campaigns.

Responses from a corporate Mail Survey: Effects of Charitable Contributions and Personalization Full Text
Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 55 
Bob T. Wu, Bowling Green University
Susan M. Petroshius, Bowling Green University
Kenneth E. Crocker, Bowling Green University
James S. West, Bowling Green University

The effects of the manipulation of a promised contribution to a university and the personalization of a cover letter on response rate, response speed, and response quality were examined using a commercial population. The results indicate that both the promised contribution to a university and personalization increased response rate and response speed of returns. The influence of the manipulated variables on response quality was mixed. Specifically, only personalization was shown to influence response completeness while neither variable influenced respondents' willingness to respond to questions that could be regarded as sensitive. The study also revealed slight evidence of method-specific response bias.

Purchase Involvement of New Car Buyers: A Descriptive Study Full Text
Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 13
Joseph Abramson, Marshall University
Suzanne Desai, Marshall University

The purchase of a new automobile is often cited as the quintessence of a high involvement purchase decision; the financial risks and personal relevance of the purchase dictate that car buyers put forth much effort before making a decision. In this research such efforts as dealers shopped, brands shopped, and information sources used are studied in a large sample of new car buyers in West Virginia.
The purchase behavior of respondents in this study seems more like low-involvement than high-involvement. Little physical searching was reported and limited use of secondary evidence was evidenced. The authors suggest that for some purchases another category of involvement may apply, "ultra"-involvement, a term coined herein. Ultra-involvement centers on continuous attention to commucications for certain product categories that are extremely important to people. When such consumers begin an intentional search it may superficially resemble low-involvement because of previous on-going information processing in that product category.

Post-purchase satisfaction was also explored in this study. While conventional wisdom and most buyer behavior theory suggests that greater effort usually results in more satisfaction, the results of this study revealed no relationship between levels of effort and post-purchase satisfaction. This finding is consistent with most earlier new car buyer studies.

Product Differentiation and Positioning: Confused Concepts  Full Text
Vol. 8, No. 1, p.51
Shaheen Borna, Ball State University
Joseph Chapman, Ball State University

This article examines two common marketing terms: product positioning and product differentiation. Many authors use these terms interchangeably, yet most marketing texts treat product positioning and product differentiation as two seperate concepts. This article attempts to identify the underlying concepts of both product differentiation and product positioning. Product differentiation is shown to be a special case of product positioning: therefore, it is suggested that marketers may want to abandon the concept of product differentiation in favor of product positioning.

Electronic Coupons: A Double-Barreled Sales Promotion Technique Full Text
Vol. 7, No. 1, p.42
Darvin R. Hoffman, Texas A&T University
Allen F. Ketcham, Texas A&T University
Frank A. Taylor III, Texas A&T University

The use of coupons as a sales promotion technique is not new; manufacturers have been offering cents-off coupons to customers for over a century. Now, electronic coupons may become the leading edge of a new wave of sales promotion techniques for the 90's. How much of an impact that wave will make when it hits the American marketplace can only be estimated, but it may indeed be very big.

Client Satisfaction in a Real Estate Business: A Survey Analysis Full Text
Vol. 6, No. 2, p.27
Sita C. Amba-Rao, Indiana University at Kokomo

In order to understand the service component in the real estate business, an exploratory study was conducted. A sample of clients of a real estate firm in a Midwestern city was surveyed by a mail questionnaire. Client perceptions of experienced service and their satisfaction with the service were examined. Five service factors were found to be related to client satisfaction: expectations, communications, relationship, effectiveness and knowledge. Of these, expectations had the most influence. Expectations refer to the role of the sales associate and the sale/purchase transaction. Analysis included implications for research and practice.

Implementation of Marketing: A Study of Various-Sized Banks Full Text
Vol. 6, No. 1, p.3
Erdogan Kumcu, Ball State University
Enar Tunc, Ball State University

The implementation of marketing among bank executives has been late and slow. In recent years, deregulation, and resultantly, a more competitive environment have motivated the retail banking industry to be exceedingly market oriented and to implement marketing more thoroughly. This study explores the implementation of marketing by various sized Indiana banks after two succeeding deregulation waves. Implications of findings for both public policy makers and bank executives are discussed.

A Manager's Interpretation of Cross Tabulation Survey Data Full Text
Vol. 5, No. 2, p. 49
N. Carroll Mohn, The Coca-Cola Company

This practitioner's guide is based on examples which highlight the usefulness of cross tabulation as a tool for investigating cause-effect relationships in the business environment. Although cross-tabulations are common in statistical analysis, many managers need a better understanding of the data being presented. We consider a soft drinks application where a third factor helps uncover an association not readily apparent, in addition to different cases where a third factor causes refinement of initial conclusions based on two-factor analysis. Because conclusions are always subject to modification with introduction of the "right" factors, we are always in the position of inferring only that an association exists.This is the rationale for why the accumulation of research studies, rather than a single result, supporting a single relationship is so important to understanding forces driving a business.

The Effect of a Gift-Upon-Entry on Sales: Reciprocity in a Retailing Context Full Text
Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 49
Hershey H. Friedman, Brooklyn College
Paul J. Herskovitz, College of Staten Island

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether providing shoppers with a gift upon entering a store would result in an increase in sales. An experiment was conducted in a pharmacy and a total of 200 subjects were used. The results showed that shoppers given a key chain and thanked for patronizing the store spent significantly more than a control group of shoppers who were not given any gift upon entry ($10.76 vs. $9.21). The results of this study are explained by reference to the literature on reciprocity and gift-giving.

 

Rebates: An Ethical Issue? Full Text
Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 41
Ramon A. Avila, Ball State University
Teresa K. Avila, Ball State University

Rebates are a form of sales promotions that have seen increased use over the past few years, with the difficulty in compliance increasing over time. To avoid fraudulent rebate claims, manufactures have established such stringent rebate requirements that many consumers are unable to satisfy them and realize the rebate. The issue has become one of ethics in that manufacturers are aware of these difficulties, and are relieved of their obligation concerning the offer. This paper analyzes the actions of manufacturers according to the ethical framework put forth by Laczniak (1983) and makes recommendations for change if rebates are to enjoy continued use free of regulation.

Further, the impact of rebate offers on the lower classes is explored. It is postulated that the less sophisticated shoppers will be more affected by the requirements of rebates and the difficulties associated with compliance than the better informed shopper.