Showing papers in "Journal of Marketing in 2000"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the results of a critical incident study based on more than 800 incidents involving self-service technologies solicited from customers through a Web-based survey, and present a discussion of the resulting critical incident categories and their relationship to customer attributions, complaining behavior, word of mouth, and repeat purchase intentions.
Abstract: Self-service technologies (SSTs) are increasingly changing the way customers interact with firms to create service outcomes. Given that the emphasis in the academic literature has focused almost exclusively on the interpersonal dynamics of service encounters, there is much to be learned about customer interactions with technology-based self-service delivery options. In this research, the authors describe the results of a critical incident study based on more than 800 incidents involving SSTs solicited from customers through a Web-based survey. The authors categorize these incidents to discern the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with SSTs. The authors present a discussion of the resulting critical incident categories and their relationship to customer attributions, complaining behavior, word of mouth, and repeat purchase intentions, which is followed by implications for managers and researchers.
2,721 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the ways a firm may signal the unobservable quality of its products through several marketing-mix variables, and develop a typology that classifies signals and discuss the available empirical evidence on the signaling properties of several marketing variables.
Abstract: Recent research in information economics has focused on signals as mechanisms to solve problems that arise under asymmetric information. A firm or individual credibly communicates the level of some unobservable element in a transaction by providing an observable signal. When applied to conveying product quality information, this issue is of particular interest to the discipline of marketing. In this article, the authors focus on the ways a firm may signal the unobservable quality of its products through several marketing-mix variables. The authors develop a typology that classifies signals and discuss the available empirical evidence on the signaling properties of several marketing variables. They consider managerial implications of signaling and outline an agenda for future empirical research.
1,714 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the original and emergent conceptualizations of opportunism and illustrate them using actual industry cases and develop a conceptual framework of governance strategies that can be used to manage different forms of opportunisms.
Abstract: Much of the recent literature on interfirm relationships has focused on strategies for controlling opportunism. Somewhat surprisingly, little attention has been paid in this literature to the opportunism construct itself. Specifically, prior research has failed to recognize the different types of behavior that are hidden behind the general opportunism label. As a consequence, the knowledge of strategies for managing opportunism remains incomplete. The authors review the original and emergent conceptualizations of opportunism and illustrate them using actual industry cases. The authors also develop a conceptual framework of governance strategies that can be used to manage different forms of opportunism.
1,337 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the differences among internal customer groups in a service industry and found that customers who switched service providers because of dissatisfaction seem to differ significantly from other customers in satisfaction and loyalty behaviors.
Abstract: Creating and maintaining customer loyalty has become a strategic mandate in today’s service markets. Recent research suggests that customers differ in their value to a firm, and therefore customer retention and loyalty-building efforts should not necessarily be targeted to all customers of a firm. Given these sentiments, it is becoming increasingly necessary for firms to have a thorough understanding of their customer base. Yet current knowledge is limited in providing insights to firms regarding the differences within their customer base. This research comprises two studies in which the authors examine the differences among internal customer groups in a service industry. As theory suggests and as is empirically validated here, customers who have switched service providers because of dissatisfaction seem to differ significantly from other customer groups in their satisfaction and loyalty behaviors. The findings offer some interesting implications for both marketing theory and practice.
1,326 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether there exists a strong positive customer lifetime-profitability relationship, profits increase over time, costs of serving long-life customers are less, and long-lifetime customers pay higher prices.
Abstract: Relationship marketing emphasizes the need for maintaining long-term customer relationships. It is beneficial, in general, to serve customers over a longer time, especially in a contractual relationship. However, it is not clear whether some of the findings observed in a contractual setting hold good in noncontractual scenarios: relationships between a seller and a buyer that are not governed by a contract or membership. The authors offer four different propositions in this study and subsequently test each one in a noncontractual context. The four propositions relate to whether (1) there exists a strong positive customer lifetime-profitability relationship, (2) profits increase over time, (3) the costs of serving long-life customers are less, and (4) long-life customers pay higher prices. The authors develop arguments both for and against each of the propositions. The data for this study, obtained from a large catalog retailer, cover a three-year window and are recorded on a daily basis. The empi...
1,288 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors build a framework of the multiple consumer benefits of a sales promotion and find that monetary and non-monetary promotions provide consumers with different levels of hedonic benefits (opportunities for value expression, entertainment, and exploration) and three utilitarian benefits (savings, higher product quality, and improved shopping convenience).
Abstract: Are monetary savings the only explanation for consumer response to a sales promotion? If not, how do the different consumer benefits of a sales promotion influence its effectiveness? To address the first question, this research builds a framework of the multiple consumer benefits of a sales promotion. Through a series of measurement studies, the authors find that monetary and nonmonetary promotions provide consumers with different levels of three hedonic benefits (opportunities for value expression, entertainment, and exploration) and three utilitarian benefits (savings, higher product quality, and improved shopping convenience). To address the second question, the authors develop a benefit congruency framework, which argues that a sales promotion’s effectiveness is determined by the utilitarian or hedonic nature of the benefits it delivers and the congruence these benefits have with the promoted product. Among other results, two choice experiments show that, as predicted for high-equity brands, ...
1,103 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conceptualize and empirically examine professional associations' relationship-building efforts (core services performance, rewards for contributions, dissemination of organizational knowledge, member interdependence enhancement activities, and reliance on external membership requirements) that are theorized to enhance their membership's commitment to the relationship as well as the membership's relationship behaviors.
Abstract: The authors conceptualize and empirically examine professional associations’ relationship-building efforts (core services performance, rewards for contributions, dissemination of organizational knowledge, member interdependence enhancement activities, and reliance on external membership requirements) that are theorized to enhance their membership’s commitment to the relationship as well as the membership’s relationship behaviors. Three components of commitment—affective, continuance, and normative—are theorized to mediate differentially the correlation between the associations’ relationship-building efforts and their members’ relationship behaviors (membership retention, exchange-based participation, and cooperatively based coproduction). Confirmatory factor analysis validates the commitment measures, and structural equations analysis indicates that normative and affective commitment partially mediate the effects of selected relationship-building efforts on coproduction and member participation. ...
1,098 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a construct called cooperative competency derived from related concepts of mutual adjustment, absorptive capacity, and relational capability is proposed as the key factor affecting new product development success, regardless of whether it is an intra- or interfirm endeavor.
Abstract: New products provide increased sales, profits, and competitive strength for most organizations. However, nearly 50% of the new products that are introduced each year fail. Organizations thus find themselves in a double bind. On the one hand they must innovate consistently to remain competitive, but on the other hand innovation is risky and expensive. Many organizations are forming business alliances to quicken the pace of and reduce risks associated with innovation. Yet by some estimates, 70% of these alliances fail. Many of the prescriptions for successful alliance management clash with recommendations for effective innovation management. The authors develop testable hypotheses by integrating the new products and alliance literature. A construct—cooperative competency—derived from related concepts of mutual adjustment, absorptive capacity, and relational capability is posited as the key factor affecting new product development success, regardless of whether it is an intra- or interfirm endeavor....
1,079 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the literature suggests that the evidence for the incumbent's curse is based on anecdotes and scattered case studies of highly specialized innovations, and it is not clear if it applies widely across several product categories.
Abstract: A common perception in the field of innovation is that large, incumbent firms rarely introduce radical product innovations. Such firms tend to solidify their market positions with relatively incremental innovations. They may even turn away entrepreneurs who come up with radical innovations, though they themselves had such entrepreneurial roots. As a result, radical innovations tend to come from small firms, the outsiders. This thesis, which we term the “incumbent’s curse,” is commonly accepted in academic and popular accounts of radical innovation. This topic is important, because radical product innovation is an engine of economic growth that has created entire industries and brought down giants while catapulting small firms to market leadership. Yet a review of the literature suggests that the evidence for the incumbent’s curse is based on anecdotes and scattered case studies of highly specialized innovations. It is not clear if it applies widely across several product categories. The authors r...
1,049 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a structural model that explains how service firms can disseminate their customer-oriented strategy by aligning the strategy with specific management and employee-initiated control mechanisms that lead to increased commitment and shared values on the part of customer contact employees.
Abstract: It is widely held that a customer-oriented firm is more likely to deliver exceptional service quality and create satisfied customers. However, little research has addressed the question of how the orientation can be disseminated among employees throughout the firm. This dissemination is especially important in service firms in which frontline, customer contact employees are responsible for translating a customer-oriented strategy into quality service. The authors propose a structural model that explains how service firms can disseminate their customer-oriented strategy by aligning the strategy with specific management- and employee-initiated control mechanisms (i.e., formalization, empowerment, behavior-based employee evaluation, and work group socialization) that lead to increased commitment and shared values on the part of customer contact employees. The findings indicate that there are three “corridors of influence” between customer-oriented strategy and shared employee values. The dominant co...
822 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an extended role theory-based model for mapping the influence of key antecedents and consequences of FLE productivity and quality was proposed, and the effects of coping resources (boss support and task control) in helping employees cope with the inherent productivity-quality tension in frontline jobs were examined.
Abstract: To understand mechanisms that govern the productivity and quality of frontline employees (FLEs), this study (1) provides a conceptual distinction between frontline productivity and quality, (2) proposes an extended role theory-based model for mapping the influence of key antecedents and consequences of FLE productivity and quality, and (3) examines the effects of coping resources—boss support and task control—in helping employees cope with the inherent productivity-quality tension in frontline jobs. Using data from 159 customer service and 147 bill collection representatives, the author examines proposed hypotheses through multiple-group path analysis. The results indicate support for the distinction between productivity and quality. Moreover, with increasing burnout levels, FLEs are found to maintain their productivity levels while their quality deteriorates directly. Relative to boss support, task control emerges as a more powerful resource in aiding FLEs in coping with role tension. Key implic...
TL;DR: The authors empirically examined the role of business strategy type as an alternative, potential moderator of the market orientation-performance relationship and found evidence that support the moderating effects of business strategies type on the strength of the relationship between market orientation and business performance.
Abstract: Prior research has been equivocal on the role that competitive environment plays in moderating the relationship between market orientation and a firm’s business performance, even though such a moderating effect is conceptually quite plausible (Slater and Narver 1994). In this article, the authors empirically examine the role of business strategy type as an alternative, potential moderator of the market orientation-performance relationship. By using an improved version of Kohli and Jaworski’s market orientation scale (Jaworski and Kohli 1993; Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar 1993), the authors find evidence that supports the moderating effects of business strategy type on the strength of the relationship between market orientation and business performance. The authors also offer implications and future research questions based on the findings.
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of three alternative strategic orientations (customer orientation, competitor orientation, and product orientation) on a variety of subjective and objective measures of performance in the nonprofit professional theater industry.
Abstract: Conventional marketing wisdom holds that a customer orientation provides a firm with a better understanding of its customers, which subsequently leads to enhanced customer satisfaction and firm performance. However, there are cautions that being too customer focused can lead to inertia, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it may be better to “ignore your customer” when developing new products. Building on the market orientation research stream, the authors examine the impact of three alternative strategic orientations—customer orientation, competitor orientation, and product orientation—on a variety of subjective and objective measures of performance in the nonprofit professional theater industry, which is marked by high rates of artistic innovation and largely unpredictable customer preferences. The results indicate that the association between strategic orientation and performance varies depending on the type of performance measure used. However, the most unambiguous result is that a customer ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined three governance mechanisms according to how well they mitigate opportunism in marketing channels, including ownership, investment in transaction-specific assets, and norms of relational exchange.
Abstract: The authors examine three governance mechanisms according to how well they mitigate opportunism in marketing channels. Using the U.S. hotel industry as the research context, the authors investigate how opportunism is limited by (1) ownership, (2) investment in transaction-specific assets, and (3) norms of relational exchange. They also investigate how various combinations of these governance mechanisms affect opportunistic behavior in hotel channels. Overall, the results generally support emphasizing relational norms in managing opportunism in marketing channels. The results also indicate that opportunism can be exacerbated when ownership or investments in transaction-specific assets are accentuated as governance mechanisms.
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of hypotheses regarding how new product quality is affected by team characteristics (functional diversity and information integration) and contextual influences (time pressure, product innovativeness from the firm's perspective, customers' influence on the product development process, and quality orientation in the firm).
Abstract: New product quality has been found to have a major influence on the market success and profitability of a new product. Firms are increasingly using cross-functional teams for product development in hopes of improving product quality, yet researchers know little about how such teams affect quality. The author proposes and tests a series of hypotheses regarding how new product quality is affected by team characteristics (functional diversity and information integration) and contextual influences (time pressure, product innovativeness from the firm’s perspective, customers’ influence on the product development process, and quality orientation in the firm). The findings reveal that quality is positively related to information integration in the team, customers’ influence on the product development process, and quality orientation in the firm. New product quality is negatively influenced by the innovativeness of the new product from the firm’s perspective. However, information integration mitigates th...
TL;DR: An approach to marketing planning for radically new products, disruptive or discontinuous innovations that change the dimensionality of the consumer decision is outlined and a historical case regarding the introduction of videotape recorders by Sony and JVC is illustrated.
Abstract: In this article, the author outlines an approach to marketing planning for radically new products, disruptive or discontinuous innovations that change the dimensionality of the consumer decision. The planning process begins with an extensive situation analysis. The factors identified in the situation analysis are woven into the economic webs surrounding the new product. The webs are mapped into Bayesian networks that can be updated as events unfold and used to simulate the impact that changes in assumptions underlying the web have on the prospects for the new product. The author illustrates this method using a historical case regarding the introduction of videotape recorders by Sony and JVC and a contemporary case of the introduction of electric vehicles. The author provides a complete, numerical example pertaining to a software development project in the Appendix.
TL;DR: This article developed and tested a cross-cultural conceptual model of the organizational-based antecedents and consequences of marketing managers' conflict-handling behaviors during the new product development process.
Abstract: In this study, the authors develop and test a cross-cultural conceptual model of the organizational-based antecedents and consequences of marketing managers’ conflict-handling behaviors during the new product development process. The hypotheses were tested using data collected from 968 companies in Japan, China (Hong Kong), the United States, and the United Kingdom. The results provide some interesting insights regarding the varying role of conflict management among diverse cultures.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze vertical coordination as a response to external uncertainty and show that its effectiveness is highly contingent on the magnitude of the safeguarding problem present Indeed, its beneficial effects can be overwhelmed by the consequential increase in trading hazards.
Abstract: Vertically coordinated ties are purportedly effective responses to the uncertainties of fast-changing purchasing environments Building on transaction costs arguments and related work in marketing, the authors analyze vertical coordination as a response to external uncertainty and show that its effectiveness is highly contingent on the magnitude of the safeguarding problem present Indeed, its beneficial effects can be overwhelmed by the consequential increase in trading hazards The authors use survey data from a sample of 161 industrial buyers to test the hypotheses When specific investments are modest, greater vertical coordination diminishes transaction difficulties in adapting to high environmental uncertainty Conversely, vertical coordination increases transaction difficulties when firms adapt to high environmental uncertainty and specific investments are substantial The authors discuss the importance of these results for transaction cost theory and develop the results into a managerial
TL;DR: This paper examined marketers' processes of producing cultural meanings at a western stock show and rodeo and found that these meanings and values of freedom, naturalism, competition, and family values are produced by marketers in attracting a non-ranch audience; juxtaposing business, education, and entertainment; and using business activity as the basis for claims of authenticity.
Abstract: The author employs critical ethnographic methods to examine empirically marketers’ processes of producing cultural meanings at a western stock show and rodeo. Western cultural meanings and values of freedom, naturalism, competition, and family values are produced by marketers in attracting a nonranch audience; juxtaposing business, education, and entertainment; making ample references to historical tradition; and using business activity as the basis for claims of authenticity. Marketing implications center on tapping into rich sources of cultural meaning by (1) attending to the cultural dimensions of economic activity, (2) taking industry as the unit of analysis through an examination of representations of production in market discourses and practices, (3) expanding history from a research method to a source of market meaning, and (4) considering the marketplace as a lived tradition.
TL;DR: This paper showed that repeated exposure to those advertisements influence consumer reactions to incongruent extensions, and that consumers who viewed brand extension advertisements five times evaluated them more positively, expressed higher usage intentions, indicated more favorable consistency judgments, and exhibited increased elaboration and more positive elaboration than did participants who viewed the advertisements only once.
Abstract: The author challenges the view that incongruent extensions are doomed to fail and demonstrates that brand extension ad content and repeated exposure to those advertisements influence consumer reactions to incongruent extensions. In a study of four highly regarded brands, participants who viewed brand extension advertisements five times evaluated incongruent extensions more positively, expressed higher usage intentions, indicated more favorable consistency judgments, and exhibited increased elaboration and more positive elaboration than did participants who viewed the advertisements only once. This relationship was attenuated for highly incongruent extensions, for which the advertisement evoked primarily peripheral brand associations instead of benefit brand associations. However, for moderately incongruent extensions, advertisements that evoked either peripheral or benefit associations were equally effective. Process measures indicate the importance of the extent and nature of elaborative processing.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the views of managers toward slotting fees through a large-scale survey of manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer grocery institutions and find that slotting fee shift the risk of new product introductions and help apportion the demand and supply of new products.
Abstract: Slotting allowances and fees have attracted considerable attention and controversy since their introduction in the mid-1980s. Currently, two schools of thought dominate the debate on these fees. One considers them a tool for improving distribution efficiency, whereas the other proposes that the fees operate as a mechanism for enhancing market power and damaging competition. Managers and public policymakers are uncertain as to the effects of slotting fees and the appropriate strategy to adopt. The current study attempts to inform the debate surrounding slotting fees and provide guidance to managers and policymakers. The authors summarize the arguments of the two schools and investigate the views of managers toward them through a large-scale survey of manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer grocery institutions. Though exploratory, the findings suggest that slotting fees shift the risk of new product introductions and help apportion the demand and supply of new products. The authors find that slotti...
TL;DR: Using a two-channel model, the authors derive the optimal time to enter the second channel and then obtain a specific parametric solution for movie distributors regarding theater attendance and subsequent sales to video stores.
Abstract: This article focuses on the sale of a product across channels that are entered sequentially. Using a two-channel model, the authors derive the optimal time to enter the second channel and then obtain a specific parametric solution for movie distributors regarding theater attendance and subsequent sales to video stores. Using data from 35 movies, the authors estimate exponential sales curves for both theater attendance and video rentals and demonstrate how knowledge of the sales parameters in the first channel (theaters) helps predict sales in the second channel (video rentals). Finally, from the movie distributor’s perspective, the authors calculate optimal release times based on the model and its estimated parameters. The results suggest that profits would increase if movies were released to video sooner than is the current practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed and tested a conceptualization of sales call anxiety (SCA) on the basis of current insights from the cognitive approach to social anxiety and found that SCA consists of four components: negative self-evaluations, negative evaluations from customers, awareness of physiological symptoms (e.g., a queasy stomach, shaky voice, blushing), and protective actions such as avoiding eye contact, fiddling with the hands, shunning self-disclosures).
Abstract: The goal of this study is to develop and test a conceptualization of sales call anxiety (SCA) on the basis of current insights from the cognitive approach to social anxiety. Sales call anxiety is an irrepressible fear of being negatively evaluated and rejected by a customer, and it is coupled with a desire to avoid undertaking specific functional actions in selling situations. The authors present and test a model of SCA in two selling situations known to have threatening consequences for salespeople: canvasing and closing. The authors find that SCA consists of four components: negative self-evaluations, negative evaluations from customers, awareness of physiological symptoms (e.g., a queasy stomach, shaky voice, blushing), and protective actions (e.g., avoiding eye contact, fiddling with the hands, shunning self-disclosures). The authors show that these dimensions are functions of negative affectivity and anxiety-provoking contextual cues and that they negatively influenced the performance of 189 mortgage salespeople.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effects of three firm-specific factors (first-mover predisposition, firm information interactivity, and competitive equity building) and one environmental construct (industry dynamism) on a firm's propensity to preannounce its future intended actions.
Abstract: The authors examine preannouncements as strategic marketing communications aimed at influencing the perceptions and attitudes of industry stakeholders. The growth of the Internet points to the expanded importance of preannouncements. With an investigation of 265 chief executive officers (CEOs) and presidents from manufacturers of new products, the authors examine the effects of three firm-specific factors (first-mover predisposition, firm information interactivity, and competitive equity building) and one environmental construct (industry dynamism) on a firm’s propensity to preannounce its future intended actions. The results indicate that competitive equity building, defined as a firm’s tendency to pursue a high-profile leadership position within its industry, is the main driver of a firm’s propensity to preannounce. Future directions for research include the development of a normative preannouncement framework and investigation of the role of preannouncements within the context of CEO marketing...
TL;DR: The textbook effect refers to the embedding of old, defunct, unsubstantiated theories in textbooks and the effect such embedding has on practice and research as mentioned in this paper, which is called the textbook effect.
Abstract: Textbooks and Research Journals Conventional wisdom holds that marketing textbooks are based on established marketing concepts. Readers assume that the contents of these books reliably summarize research findings to provide foundational information for students. In what is assumed to be a virtuous and reciprocal relationship, knowledge is generated in research, published in journal articles, and then collected and summarized in textbooks. The process sometimes is reversed when journal articles appeal to textbooks for authority. However, the relationship between texts and research is not always virtuous. For example, in their study of marketing texts, Armstrong and Schultz (1993) collected 566 normative statements about pricing, communications, and product or distribution decisions that were not supported by empirical evidence. Nine of the statements were judged to be “nearly correct” when their wording was reversed! In this review, I explore the ambivalent and often perverse relationship between knowledge generating (research) and knowledge disseminating (textbooks) activities in a process I call the “textbook effect.” The textbook effect refers to (1) the embedding of old, defunct, unsubstantiated theories in textbooks and (2) the effect such embedding has on practice and research. Although my point is a general one, for the sake of illustration I take up a particular case of the impact of the textbook effect on the body of research referred to as “fear appeals.”
TL;DR: In this paper, the author responds to a recent article in which Stephen Brown compares the work of Ted Levitt and Morris Holbrook, casts the two into a precursor-ephebe relationship, and concludes that they are “father and son, one and the same.
Abstract: The author responds to a recent article in which Stephen Brown compares the work of Ted Levitt and Morris Holbrook, casts the two into a precursor-ephebe relationship, and concludes that they are “father and son, one and the same.” Although honored by this comparison, the author mentions certain ways in which Brown’s interpretations appear to distort his intentions as an author.
TL;DR: Brown is Professor of Retailing, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Ireland as discussed by the authors, and he is the author of the article "The Problem with Stephen Brown is that he is just like Shakespeare, the style is more important than the content".
Abstract: Stephen Brown is Professor of Retailing, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland Some years back, I wrote an article on the hoary “art or science” debate, arguing that it was time to give art a chance (Brown 1996) For some unfathomable reason, this admittedly amateurish overview antagonized an earnest marketing scientist from Australia In keeping with the objective, rigorous, and dispassionate precepts of proper scientific method, he dashed off a furious letter to the editor, demanding my immediate defenestration, or official denunciation at least After casting angry aspersions on my publication, professionalism, and parentage, he concluded with the show-stopping pronouncement: “The basic problem with Stephen Brown is that he is just like Shakespeare—the style is more important than the content” That’s correct, my antagonist was comparing me to Shakespeare, and he thought it was a criticism! I was reminded of this incident when I read the comments of Professors Levitt and Holbrook on my Journal of Marketing article, which argued for a literary approach to the marketing literature (Brown 1999) In it, I singled out their work as the very best that marketing has to offer—in a stylistic sense—and suggested that those of us who toil in thoroughly deserved obscurity have much to learn from their scintillating scholarly prose What’s more, I offered a comparative reading of their oeuvres in terms of Harold Bloom’s anxiety of influence thesis, a psychoanalytically inflected model of the often uneasy relationship between ambitious poets and their illustrious predecessors Yet, despite my attempted homage to their superlative academic achievements, both Levitt and Holbrook have taken exception to my contentions, albeit in very different ways I am grateful for this opportunity to respond to their comments