Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Marketing in 1985"

What's In An Image

Abstract: The concept of “image” can be applied to a political candidate, a product, a country. It describes not individual traits or qualities, but the total impression an entity makes on the minds of others. It is a most powerful influence in the way people perceive things, and should be a crucial concept in shaping our marketing, advertising, and communications efforts. Thus, more attention must be paid to the overall impression, the “melody,” of an advertising or marketing campaign, rather than to its specific claims. An image is not anchored in just objective data and details. It is the configuration of the whole field of the object, the advertising, and, most important, the customer's disposition and the attitudinal screen through which he observes. A politician who suddenly starts wearing glasses can radically change his impression on others. Wearing dark glasses will do so even more. Yet he remains the same person. It is his aura, his image, that people have reacted to. By the same token, repackaging a product that has been on the market for decades can make it seem “young” again. The product hasn't changed, but its image has.

Consumer Complaint Handling as a Strategic Marketing Tool

Abstract: Effective complaint‐handling by an organization can result in such benefits as consumer satisfaction, company / brand loyalty, favorable word‐of‐mouth publicity and decreased litigation. Therefore, organizations should consider the application of strategic marketing concepts when establishing complaint‐handling policies. Alternative strategies are proposed and a model for formulating a complaint‐handling strategy is described.

Segmenting the senior citizen market

Abstract: Senior citizens adjust to retirement living in distinctly different manners. These adjustment mannerisms could be used as a basis for market segmentation. Although some of the potential segments might be alienated by appeals aimed solely to the elderly, others might be successfully approached by appeals positioned specifically toward their needs.

Cynicism and alienation as marketing considerations: some new ways to approach the female consumer

Abstract: In this article we will report the results of a study that measured the degree to which cynicism and alienation, together with some related dimensions, were found among American women. The results of this study strongly suggest that, if cynicism and alienation are taken into account, many marketers may be positioning their offerings to reach only a minority of American women, perhaps as few as one‐third. We will also, therefore, discuss the larger marketing ramifications of these findings.

The voluntary simplicity consumer

Abstract: Most marketing executives are aware by now that some consumers believe that “small is beautiful” and “less is more.” Such executives may be surprised to find out that this type of voluntary simplicity consumer (VSC) is the fastest‐growing market segment in the U.S. Who the voluntary simplicity consumers are, how they came about, and how to cater to them profitably are the subjects of this article. The VSC is the outcome of a lifestyle trend toward voluntary simplicity (VS), but unlike any other market segment, the VSC prefers a lifestyle of low consumption, ecological responsibility, and self‐sufficiency. As a result, marketers are often puzzled as to how to market to the VSC.

Winning the battle for your customer

Abstract: The competition for the consumer's mind involves broadening the scope tools used to reach that consumer. Conventional marketing wisdom is that marketing strategy planning consists of two stages: 1. Determining the target market(s) and, 2. Determining the marketing mix to reach these target markets. Although the classic marketing mix of the right product, at the right place, at the right price, and with the right promotion is well known, it is target marketing that is the subject of this article. Through the use of three sophisticated concepts, the marketing manager can compete successfully for the consumer's mind. These three P's of marketing, which can be added to the well‐known four P's of the marketing mix—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—can enable the marketingmanager to have an easy‐to‐remember mnemonic devicefor the business marketing plan. These three P's are 1. Personality, which became noticeable in the early 1980s; 2. Psychographics, which first attracted attention in the middle to late 1960s; and, 3. Positioning, which has been around since the early 1970s. These three P's lend themselves to presenting products to your customers in a language that speaks directly to their minds.

Fantastic at forty! the new young woman consumer

Abstract: This article examines what women consumers mean when they define themselves as either “young” or “middle‐aged.” A survey of women 30 to 69 shows that they consider it acceptable to be young at any chronological age. This article provides evidence debunking five common fables about women and negative age stereotypes. The reality, supported by this survey, is that women deny their chronological age, consider themselves young well beyond forty, and typically identify with a state of ageless youth. The marketing implications involve product development embodying youthful images and advertising campaigns using mature models, rather than teenagers, to appeal to mature women who define themselves as young at heart.

Extended warranties, service contracts, and maintenance agreements—a marketing opportunity?

Abstract: AB Product warranties, in general, have not been employed by marketers as an important strategic tool, yet the business in extended warranties, service contracts, and maintenance agreements appears to be booming. But why? This article examines current practices, discusses critical issues raised in prior studies and the authors' recent research, and presents suggestions for the marketing of service and maintenance agreements. There is evidence to suggest that the long‐term market potential of many current offerings may be limited; however, careful consideration in defining the prime target markets and designing new types of agreements can help ensure success. The purpose of this article is threefold: first, to offer a brief review of current practices, which profiles the diversity of offerings and corporate philosophies; second, to discuss critical issues raised in prior studies and in our research; and finally, to present suggestions for the marketing of such offerings.

Flawed products: consumer responses and marketer strategies

Abstract: In a story called “The Birthmark,” Nathaniel Hawthorne tells about an extraordinarily lovely woman whose beauty was perfect except for a small birthmark on her cheek. This flaw would not have mattered if found on the face of an ordinary woman, but because of this woman's near perfection, the birthmark could never be ignored. Her husband, a brilliant natural scientist, grieved over the one imperfection and took up research to discover a cure. He finally developed a potion and the birthmark began to disappear. At the moment when the birthmark completely vanished from her skin and she was perfect, she died.

Timing—the key to market entry

Abstract: Increasing rates of change in technologies, markets, and other environmental factors make time a valued resource in marketing decisions. When decisions are made and implemented requires explicit managerial attention. Increased pressures on managers to develop profitable streams of new products make new product entry one of the more important marketing decisions affected by timing—especially in a rapidly changing environment. To improve the management of this decision, time‐based competitive entry strategies are considered, along with an approach for making the timing decision. The approach is based on a case study. Implementation aspects of the market entry timing decision are also considered.

Can we be consumer‐oriented in a changing financial service world?

Abstract: Most CEO's sincerely want to be close to the customer. Marketing executives spend a great deal of time striving to be consumer‐oriented. Even so, a lot of marketers approach consumer orientation the wrong way. They manage it superficially and, ultimately, fail to serve consumers' real needs.

The challenges of professional services marketing

Abstract: Many well‐qualified professionals feel that the quality of their services should be high enough to permit them to “hang out a shingle” and wait for clients to come. In doing so, the professional is exerting no control over his or her type of practice. The controversy surrounding the issue of advertising in the professions has clouded the large issue of professional services marketing. The article describes in depth the challenges of one profession, law, in order to demonstrate the perspective and challenges for marketing. Lawyers have been selected since they deal with many changes—the impact of redefinition caused by changes in the regulatory environment, the overabundance in the field, new methods of competition, the consumerism movement, and a poor public image. Practical methods are described to help the professionals understand their business better. By recognizing their practice as both a profession and a business, professionals can develop an ethical, dignified marketing plan—which may or may not include advertising—in order to place themselves in a better position to utilize their unique expertise with clients who can best appreciate their talents.

Comparative advertising's dilemma: how to attack the competition without alienating his customer

Abstract: Although many advertisers are reluctant to use Comparative Advertising, it is obviously increasing in popularity. One difficulty with comparative advertising is that the intended buyers may perceive it as threatening their self‐image because they view the comparison as an attack on their presently preferred brand. The purpose in writing this paper is to recognize and discuss this potential problem and to show how comparative advertisements may be structured to support the customers' previous decisions while inducing them to switch.

A view of marketing and advertising practices in asia and its meaning for marketing managers

Abstract: Asia, as a market, offers a great deal of opportunity for those who are willing to understand its cultural characteristics and marketing systems. This article investigates the use of media and the practice of marketing in Asia. Some marketing guidelines are offered and their managerial implications are discussed.

Instrumental learning: its application to consumer satisfaction

Abstract: When modern‐day students of marketing turned from the economic explanation of consumer behavior, learning theory was one of the first resources in which they sought more useful alternative concepts. This was a logical move for two reasons: because of the abundance of research conducted in psychology and social psychology; and because learning is close to the central interest of many of those concerned with consumer behavior. However, marketing scholars have given little consideration to one of the most influential perspectives developed in psychology‐the instrumental‐learning approach stimulated by the work of B. F. Skinner. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of instrumental learning and demonstrate its application in a marketing situation.

An alternative to new product development—business products for consumer markets

Abstract: Theodore Levitt's classic article “Marketing Myopia” pointed up the potentially catastrophic results possible when companies and industries view their products too narrowly. This piece discusses an extension of that concept: companies making products for the industrial, business, and commercial market frequently obtain fewer benefits (revenue, profitability, market share) than they might because they have defined their customer too narrowly. In many cases, a company can profitably look beyond the relatively few business users of a product.

Price inelasticity: not all that meets the eye

Abstract: Managers often do research to help them determine the optimum price for a new product. Several different price‐points are ordinarily tested in order to determine the impact of price on sales of the product. Aside from its impact on demand, price also has been studied for its effect on consumers' perceptions of products. For example, research has indicated that people use price as a cue for evaluating the quality of a complex product such as stereophonic equipment for the home. That is, price is used in lieu of knowledge of the technical aspects of the product. Research presented in this paper reveals a yet deeper aspect of price's effect on perception. In this case, variation in price was associated with changes in the way people perceived a new product's function, perceptions that differed from the manufacturer's intended positioning for the product.

Do‐it yourself consumers: segmentation insights for retailers

Abstract: Over the last 40 years Do‐It‐Yourself (DIY) consumers have evolved from relative obscurity to a major multibillion dollar per year market. Research findings based on 403 DIY cases were used to develop insights for the formulation of retailer strategy. Types of projects undertaken and annual activity rates formed the basis of the investigation. Nine project categories were identified: carpentry, vehicle, painting, electrical, lawn and garden, plumbing, sewing, wall and floor covering, and masonry. Annual activity rates of the sample DIYers were used to identify three major groups: light doers, average doers, and heavy doers. The type of retail outlet preferred (e.g., department store, hardware store) depended primarily upon the project category the DIYer was considering. However, the mix of a retailer's product, price, promotion, and place elements desired by DIYers was related to activity levels. This led the authors to suggest that retail strategies might appropriately be developed along these two lines. First, consider which project categories retailer wishes to enter. Second, adjust the merchandising offering to best serve DIYers according to their activity levels.

Coping with rapid retail evolution

Abstract: A blurring of distinctions among stores and consumers in a changing market‐place has broad ramifications for retailers, manufacturers, and wholesalers. In this paper we will first examine how stores are becoming alike, using a strategic tool to identify problems and anticipate competitive response. Second, we will see how several retail leaders have not fallen into a mold but have been able to differentiate, diversify, and grow. Next, we will consider the implications of the wholesale/warehouse club as a new stage in the evolution of retailing and wholesaling. Finally, we will examine manufacturers' concerns in coping with rapid retail evolution.

Two questions almost everyone forgets to ask their advertising agency

Abstract: Principles cannot improve a creative product. Only increased creativity can improve a creative product. Adherence to certain principles can, however, help increase creativity and insure that the creative people get the information they need in a form they can use. Principles can provide afunctional set of parameters within which the creative process can most productively occur. And by identifying generally agreed upon evaluative criteria, the ability to recognize good creativity is increased and protection is provided against good creativity being dismissed arbitrarily.

Telemarketing as a promotional tool—its effects and side effects

Abstract: Telemarketing has added a new medium to the marketer's bag of tricks. This article briefly discusses the benefits and limitations of telemarketing as part of an overall marketing campaign. It then proceeds to discuss (via some new findings) the potential side effects that telemarketing may have on the image of the firm using it.

Putting strategy into promotion mix decisions

Abstract: The promotion mix is the combination of personal selling, advertising, and sales promotion used to achieve marketing objectives. The objective‐and‐task method is used in practice to develop a single promotion mix plan. This is practical but has drawbacks: (1) only one promotion strategy and mix is considered, and (2) decision making is taken out of the hands of senior marketing management. This paper sets forth a decision‐making process by which alternative promotion strategies and mixes are generated so that senior marketing management can choose the one that is most promising.

How marketers of intangibles can raise the odds for consumer satisfaction

Abstract: Herzberg's theory of worker satisfaction suggests that while the context of a job may cause dissatisfaction, the basic factor behind positive satisfaction is the content of that job — the pleasure of achievement. There is evidence that in some situations the same kind of dichotomy might apply to consumer satisfaction: that is, consumers may be dissatisfied by the setting, or peripheral factors surrounding goods or services, but the likeliest route to positive satisfaction is to let them accomplish something with their purchase. This idea can applied specifically to services.

Differentiating between the sexes: a focus on male‐female grocery shopping attitudes and behavior

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to study the nature and extent of differences, if any, between male and female grocery shoppers in terms of grocery shopping behavior and attitudes and with respect to those store criteria that are important in selecting a food store. The results suggest that the underlying constructs influencing grocery shopping behavior and attitudes are basically the same for the male and female shoppers; however, the findings indicated that the degree to which some of these behavior/attitude factors impact resulted in a difference in grocery shopping patterns between the sexes. Further, even though some differences were observed in the relative importance rankings of 22 store‐selection criteria, the overriding pattern was one of congruence between the two groups of respondents. The paper concludes with a discussion of the strategic implications of the findings for the food retailer.

Beyond social trend data

Abstract: In the first issue of this Journal, Florence Shelly states that the proper use of social‐trend data can help market‐ing managers in at least four areas by providing: 1. a future outlook for specific business units; 2. an input for brand / product strategy; 3. a basis for checking specific tactics; and, 4. an enriched understanding of market segments. Perhaps, the major point of that article is not just what it says, but what it implies‐the need for a marketing philosophy of “implementation based on anticipation.” In conceptualizing this philosophy, the correct use of social‐ trend data can be seen as the first step necessary in strategic‐marketing planning—the tip of the iceberg. However, the strategies adopted by American marketers over the past two decades do not demonstrate that the levels of marketing myopia which Levitt discussed in the 60's have diminished. What is even more disconcerting is that the tools for reducing marketing myopia are not obscure trade secrets; as a matter of fact, they can be found in most introductory marketing textbooks. Environmental scanning, the prime instrument available for this purpose, deserves a closer look in relation to its worth for managerial decision making.

Ready for a time guarantee

Abstract: Marketing Myopia—misperceiving markets—is a well‐known marketing management problem, and most marketing executives are alert to it. However, the problem seems now to be reasserting itself concerning the guarantees that are offered with products or services. This is the conclusion of one hypothetical consumer, Jim Reed, a marketing executive, as he reports on the time it took to get a new suit properly altered. Jim's story ends as he was walking out of the store, and the store manager was apologizing for the difficulties. “We are sorry that it took four fittings, but we have been having trouble in our alterations room—our head tailor has been going through a divorce. The next time you come in, I am sure that we will have the tailoring right on the first try. We always give our customers what they want, no matter how difficult the request.” Jim just muttered, “But you have stolen my time!” The comment meant nothing to the perplexed manager. However, Jim was angered over the loss of the business and personal time involved with the additional fittings.

“advertising/promotion budgets: how did we get here, and what do we do now?”

Abstract: I'd like to talk about an advertising and promotion allocation problem that I believe is widespread.

Television's new technology: hardware plus software equal segmentation research

Abstract: The necessity to assess television programming as programming (rather than merely as a vehicle to deliver advertising audiences) is discussed against the background of commercial television's rapidly changing technology, a principal effect of which has been to fragment formerly “mass” audiences. Traditional ratings data (because they lack adequate quantitative detail, contain no qualitative information, and measure programs only after they are aired) are becoming an insufficient basis for making either programming or advertising decisions. As audiences become increasingly segmented, the necessity to understand them (exactly who they are and why they watch particular programs) becomes apparent‐whether for purposes of developing programs, scheduling them, or ascertaining whether they constitute an efficient vehicle within which to place advertising messages. Audience understanding can come only from a considerably expanded base of systematic research.

Marketing consequences of inflationary pricing

Abstract: Currently, inflation seemingly has ceased to be a serious problem to several western economies. Yet, its potential threat is not necessarily over, and changes in overall economic policies may reactivate inflationary pressures. Furthermore, in many industrialized as well as less developed countries, inflation is still a central problem whose influences cannot he ignored especially for exporters. It is the purpose of this article to analyze the effect of inflationary pricing on various dimensions of marketing activity. At this stage the emphasis is mainly theoretical. Nevertheless, the time to prepare for inflation is before it occurs.

The development and marketing of new consumer products: some successes and failures

Abstract: New products are the life blood of a consumer products company, and The Quaker Oats Company is in the midst of accelerating the pace of new product introductions. For example, over the last two years we've launched more new products than at any comparable time in the company's history, mostly in U.S. Grocery Products and Fisher‐Price. Thirty‐five percent of Fisher‐Price's U.S. sales this year will come from products that didn't exist five years ago.