Showing papers in "Journal of Marketing in 2009"
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles is studied. But the authors employ a vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling approach.
Abstract: The authors study the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations from existing members, outbound WOM can be precisely tracked. Along with traditional marketing, WOM can then be linked to the number of new members subsequently joining the site (sign-ups). Because of the endogeneity among WOM, new sign-ups, and traditional marketing activity, the authors employ a vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling approach. Estimates from the VAR model show that WOM referrals have substantially longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions and produce substantially higher response elasticities. Based on revenue from advertising impressions served to a new member, the monetary value of a WOM referral can be calculated; this yields an upper-bound estimate for the financial incentives the firm might offer to stimulate WOM.
2,322 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reveal the process of collective value creation within brand communities and identify 12 common practices across brand communities, organized by four thematic aggregates, through which consumers realize value beyond that which the firm creates or anticipates.
Abstract: Using social practice theory, this article reveals the process of collective value creation within brand communities. Moving beyond a single case study, the authors examine previously published research in conjunction with data collected in nine brand communities comprising a variety of product categories, and they identify a common set of value-creating practices. Practices have an “anatomy” consisting of (1) general procedural understandings and rules (explicit, discursive knowledge); (2) skills, abilities, and culturally appropriate consumption projects (tacit, embedded knowledge or how-to); and (3) emotional commitments expressed through actions and representations. The authors find that there are 12 common practices across brand communities, organized by four thematic aggregates, through which consumers realize value beyond that which the firm creates or anticipates. They also find that practices have a physiology, interact with one another, function like apprenticeships, endow participants ...
2,099 citations
TL;DR: Brand experience is conceptualized as sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a brand's design and identity, packaging, communications, and environments as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Brand experience is conceptualized as sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a brand's design and identity, packaging, communications, and environments. The authors distinguish several experience dimensions and construct a brand experience scale that includes four dimensions: sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral. In six studies, the authors show that the scale is reliable, valid, and distinct from other brand measures, including brand evaluations, brand involvement, brand attachment, customer delight, and brand personality. Moreover, brand experience affects consumer satisfaction and loyalty directly and indirectly through brand personality associations.
2,050 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the effects of communication strategies a firm can use to mitigate the impact of these inconsistencies on consumer perceptions of corporate hypocrisy and subsequent beliefs about the firm's social responsibility and attitudes toward the firm.
Abstract: Reports of firms' behaviors with regard to corporate social responsibility (CSR) are often contrary to their stated standards of social responsibility. This research examines the effects of communication strategies a firm can use to mitigate the impact of these inconsistencies on consumer perceptions of corporate hypocrisy and subsequent beliefs about the firm's social responsibility and attitudes toward the firm. Study 1 indicates that a proactive communication strategy (when the firm's CSR statements precede conflicting observed behavior) leads to higher levels of perceived hypocrisy than a reactive strategy (when the firm's CSR statements follow observed behavior). The inconsistent information in both scenarios increases perceptions of hypocrisy, such that CSR statements can actually be counterproductive. Study 1 also reveals how perceived hypocrisy damages consumers' attitudes toward firms by negatively affecting CSR beliefs and provides evidence for the mediating role of hypocrisy during inf...
958 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify a set of managerially relevant factors and test their power to alter customer perceptions of relationship marketing investments to increase customer gratitude, which can make relationship marketing programs more effective.
Abstract: Most theories of relationship marketing emphasize the role of trust and commitment in affecting performance outcomes; however, a recent meta-analysis indicates that other mediating mechanisms are at work. Data from two studies—a laboratory experiment and a dyadic longitudinal field survey—demonstrate that gratitude also mediates the influence of a seller's relationship marketing investments on performance outcomes. Specifically, relationship marketing investments generate short-term feelings of gratitude that drive long-lasting performance benefits based on gratitude-related reciprocal behaviors. The authors identify a set of managerially relevant factors and test their power to alter customer perceptions of relationship marketing investments to increase customer gratitude, which can make relationship marketing programs more effective. Overall, the research empirically demonstrates that gratitude plays an important role in understanding how relationship marketing investments increase purchase int...
807 citations
TL;DR: This article found that corporate culture is the strongest driver of radical innovation across nations; culture consists of three attitudes and three practices, and the commercialization of radical innovations translates into a firm's financial performance; it is a stronger predictor of financial performance than other popular measures, such as patents.
Abstract: Radical innovation is an important driver of the growth, success, and wealth of firms and nations. Because of its importance, authors across various disciplines have proposed many theories about the drivers of such innovation, including government policy and labor, capital, and culture at the national level. The authors contrast these theories with one based on the corporate culture of the firm. They test their theory using survey and archival data from 759 firms across 17 major economies of the world. The results suggest the following: First, among the factors studied, corporate culture is the strongest driver of radical innovation across nations; culture consists of three attitudes and three practices. Second, the commercialization of radical innovations translates into a firm's financial performance; it is a stronger predictor of financial performance than other popular measures, such as patents. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.
754 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the effects of time and relationship strength on the evolution of customer revenge and avoidance in online public complaining contexts, and found that strong relationships with a firm's best customers have the longest unfavorable reactions (a longitudinal love-becomes-hate effect).
Abstract: This article explores the effects of time and relationship strength on the evolution of customer revenge and avoidance in online public complaining contexts. First, the authors examine whether online complainers hold a grudge—in terms of revenge and avoidance desires—over time. They find that time affects the two desires differently: Although revenge decreases over time, avoidance increases over time, indicating that customers indeed hold a grudge. Second, the authors examine the moderation effect of a strong relationship on how customers hold this grudge. They find that firms' best customers have the longest unfavorable reactions (i.e., a longitudinal love-becomes-hate effect). Specifically, over time, the revenge of strong-relationship customers decreases more slowly and their avoidance increases more rapidly than that of weak-relationship customers. Third, the authors explore a solution to attenuate this damaging effect—namely, the firm offering an apology and compensation after the online com...
700 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that consumers spend similar amounts of time online gathering information for both search and experience goods, but there are important differences in the browsing and purchase behavior of consumers for these two types of goods.
Abstract: By lowering the costs of gathering and sharing information and offering new ways to learn about products before purchase, the Internet reduces traditional distinctions between search and experience goods. At the same time, differences in the type of information sought for search and experience goods can precipitate differences in the process through which consumers gather information and make decisions online. A preliminary experiment shows that though there are significant differences in consumers' perceived ability to evaluate product quality before purchase between search and experience goods in traditional retail environments, these differences are blurred in online environments. An analysis of the online behavior of a representative sample of U.S. consumers shows that consumers spend similar amounts of time online gathering information for both search and experience goods, but there are important differences in the browsing and purchase behavior of consumers for these two types of goods. In ...
645 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a theoretical framework that predicts the impact of corporate social performance (CSP) on firm-idiosyncratic risk and the role of two strategic marketing levers, advertising and research and development (R&D), in explaining the variability of this impact among different firms.
Abstract: Marketers and investors face a heated, provocative debate over whether excelling in social responsibility initiatives hurts or benefits firms financially. This study develops a theoretical framework that predicts (1) the impact of corporate social performance (CSP) on firm-idiosyncratic risk and (2) the role of two strategic marketing levers, advertising and research and development (R&D), in explaining the variability of this impact among different firms. The results show that higher CSP lowers undesirable firm-idiosyncratic risk. Notably, although the salutary impact of CSP is greater in firms with higher (versus lower) advertising, a simultaneous pursuit for CSP, advertising, and R&D is harmful with increased firm-idiosyncratic risk. For theory, the authors advance the literature on the marketing–finance interface by drawing attention to the risk-reduction potential of CSP and by shedding new light on some critical but neglected roles of strategic marketing levers. They also extend CSP researc...
612 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a complementary SPC that is built on both a conventional path and a social identity-based path is introduced, which centrally builds on customer and employee identification as a core construct.
Abstract: The conventional service–profit chain (SPC) proposes that a firm's financial performance can be improved through a path that connects employee satisfaction, customer orientation, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. In this article, a complementary SPC that is built on both a conventional path and a social identity–based path is introduced. The latter SPC path centrally builds on customer– and employee–company identification as a core construct. Using a large-scale triadic data set that includes data from employees, customers, and firms, the authors find strong support for the extended SPC, which accounts for important customer (loyalty and willingness to pay) and firm (financial performance) outcomes. In addition, the effects of company identification exist incrementally beyond the effects of the conventional SPC path.
574 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the role of hubs (people with an exceptionally large number of social ties) in diffusion and adoption and identify two types of hubs: innovative and follower hubs.
Abstract: The authors explore the role of hubs (people with an exceptionally large number of social ties) in diffusion and adoption. Using data on a large network with multiple adoptions, they identify two types of hubs—innovative and follower hubs. Contrary to recent arguments, hubs tend to adopt earlier in the diffusion process, even though they are not necessarily innovative. Although innovative hubs have a greater impact on the speed of the adoption process, follower hubs have a greater impact on market size (total number of adoptions). Importantly, a small sample of hubs offers accurate success versus failure predictions early in the diffusion process.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conduct two studies in which they find that products customized on the basis of expressed preferences bring about significantly higher benefits for customers in terms of willingness to pay, purchase intention, and attitude toward the product than standard products.
Abstract: Recently, researchers have paid increasing attention to the marketing strategy of customization. A key assumption is that customized products create higher benefits for customers than standard products because they deliver a closer preference fit. The prerequisite for this effect is the ability to obtain precise information on what customers actually want. But are customers able to specify their preferences that precisely? Several theoretical arguments raise doubts about this, implicitly challenging the value of customization. The authors conduct two studies in which they find that products customized on the basis of expressed preferences bring about significantly higher benefits for customers in terms of willingness to pay, purchase intention, and attitude toward the product than standard products. The benefit gain is higher if customers have (1) better insight into their own preferences, (2) a better ability to express their preferences, and (3) greater product involvement. This suggests that c...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the interplay between in-store and out-of-store factors on consumer attention to and evaluation of brands displayed on supermarket shelves and find that the number of facings has a strong impact on evaluation that is entirely mediated by its effect on visual attention.
Abstract: Recent trends in marketing have demonstrated an increased focus on in-store expenditures with the hope of “grabbing consumers” at the point of purchase, but does this make sense? To help answer this question, the authors examine the interplay between in-store and out-of-store factors on consumer attention to and evaluation of brands displayed on supermarket shelves. Using an eye-tracking experiment, they find that the number of facings has a strong impact on evaluation that is entirely mediated by its effect on visual attention and works particularly well for frequent users of the brand, for low-market-share brands, and for young and highly educated consumers who are willing to trade off brand and price. They also find that gaining in-store attention is not always sufficient to drive sales. For example, top- and middle-shelf positions gain more attention than low-shelf positions; however, only top-shelf positions carry through to brand evaluation. The results underscore the importance of combinin...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the influence of the marketing department within firms and found that the accountability and innovativeness of marketing departments represent the two major drivers of its influence.
Abstract: Increasing debate centers on the decreasing influence of the marketing department within firms. This study investigates such influence and assesses its determinants and consequences. The results show that the accountability and innovativeness of the marketing department represent the two major drivers of its influence. However, the results do not indicate that the customer-connecting role of the marketing department increases its influence, though this role is important for shaping the firm's market orientation. A marketing department's influence is related positively to market orientation, which in turn is related positively to firm performance. This study also suggests a dual relationship between the marketing department's influence and market orientation. A key implication of this study is that marketers should become more accountable and innovative to gain more influence.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore product category and customer characteristics that affect consumers' likelihood of engaging in unplanned purchases and examine consumer activities that can exacerbate or limit these effects using a hierarchical modeling approach.
Abstract: The authors explore product category and customer characteristics that affect consumers' likelihood of engaging in unplanned purchases. In addition, they examine consumer activities that can exacerbate or limit these effects. The authors employ a hierarchical modeling approach to test their hypotheses using a data set of in-store intercept interviews conducted with 2300 consumers across 28 stores. The results show that category characteristics, such as purchase frequency and displays, and customer characteristics, such as household size and gender, affect in-store decision making. Moreover, although the analysis reveals that the baseline probability of an unplanned purchase is 46%, the contextual factors can drive this probability as high as 93%. The results support the predictions that list use, more frequent trips, limiting the aisles visited, limiting time spent in the store, and paying by cash are effective strategies for decreasing the likelihood of making unplanned purchases.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the mechanisms by which brand-specific transactional and transformational leaders influence employees' brand-building behavior. And they show that both processes are mediated by employees' perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with regard to their work roles as brand representatives.
Abstract: This article reports two studies on how managers can elicit brand-building behavior from frontline employees. Study 1 examines the mechanisms by which brand-specific transactional and transformational leadership influence employees' brand-building behavior. The results from a survey of 269 customer-contact employees show that brand-specific transactional leaders influence followers through a process of compliance, leading to an increase in turnover intentions and a decrease in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In contrast, brand-specific transformational leaders influence followers through a process of internalization, leading to a decrease in turnover intentions and an increase in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In turn, both processes are mediated by employees' perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with regard to their work roles as brand representatives. Moreover, the results show that brand-specific transactional leadership moderates the influenc...
TL;DR: This paper found that self-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers' responses are private in nature; in contrast, other-benefit messages are publicly accountable for their responses, which is related to a desire to manage impressions by behaving in a manner consistent with normative expectations.
Abstract: Despite the growing need, nonprofit organization marketers have not yet fully delineated the most effective ways to position charitable appeals. Across five experiments, the authors test the prediction that other-benefit (self-benefit) appeals generate more favorable donation support than self-benefit (other-benefit) appeals in situations that heighten (versus minimize) public self-image concerns. Public accountability, a manipulation of public self-awareness, and individual differences in public self-consciousness all moderate the effect of appeal type on donor support. In particular, self-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers' responses are private in nature; in contrast, other-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers are publicly accountable for their responses. This effect is moderated by norm salience and is related to a desire to manage impressions by behaving in a manner consistent with normative expectations. The results have important managerial implications, suggest...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use protocol analysis to evaluate how 27 expert entrepreneurs approach marketing in the face of uncertainty, when the product, the market, and the traditional details involved in market research are unknowable ex ante.
Abstract: How do people approach marketing in the face of uncertainty, when the product, the market, and the traditional details involved in market research are unknowable ex ante? The authors use protocol analysis to evaluate how 27 expert entrepreneurs approach such a problem compared with 37 managers with little entrepreneurial expertise (all 64 participants are asked to think aloud as they make marketing decisions in exactly the same unpredictable situation). The hypotheses are drawn from literature in cognitive science on (1) expertise in general and (2) entrepreneurial expertise in particular. The results show significant differences in heuristics used by the two groups. While those without entrepreneurial expertise rely primarily on predictive techniques, expert entrepreneurs tend to invert these. In particular, they use an effectual or nonpredictive logic to tackle uncertain market elements and to coconstruct novel markets with committed stakeholders.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of these strategic alternatives on firm value using Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls during a 12-year period from 1996 to 2007, and found that proactive strategies have a more negative effect on the firm value than more passive strategies.
Abstract: Product-harm crises often result in product recalls, which can have a significant impact on a firm's reputation, sales, and financial value. In managing the recall process, some firms adopt a proactive strategy in responding to consumer complaints, while others are more passive. In this study, the authors examine the impact of these strategic alternatives on firm value using Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls during a 12-year period from 1996 to 2007. Using the event study method, the authors show that regardless of firm and product characteristics, proactive strategies have a more negative effect on firm value than more passive strategies. An explanation for this surprising result is that the stock market interprets proactive strategies as a signal of substantial financial losses to the firm. When a firm proactively manages a product recall, the stock market infers that the consequence of the product-harm crisis is sufficiently severe that the firm had no choice but to act swiftly to red...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether the characteristics of a firm's network of alliances affect the firm value created from the announcement of a new marketing alliance, and found that network centrality, network density, network efficiency, network reputation, and marketing alliance capability influence firm value creation.
Abstract: Prior research has found that the announcement of marketing alliances tends to produce no effect on firm value creation in a high-tech context. This article reexamines this issue and investigates whether the characteristics of a firm’s network of alliances affect the firm value created from the announcement of a new marketing alliance. The authors investigate whether network centrality, network density, network efficiency, network reputation, and marketing alliance capability influence firm value creation. They examine this question using an event study of 230 announcements for marketing alliances in the software industry. The results indicate that, in general, marketing alliance announcements create value (i.e., abnormal stock returns) for the firm in the announcement period event window. Furthermore, network efficiency and network density have the strongest positive impact when they are moderate; network reputation and network centrality have no effect. These results point to the greater role of relational network characteristics than size-/status-based benefits. Finally, marketing alliance capability, which reflects a firm’s ability to manage a network of previous marketing alliances, has a positive impact on value creation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose that internal marketing is fundamentally a process in which leaders instill into followers a sense of oneness with the organization, formally known as "organizational identification" (OI).
Abstract: There is little empirical research on internal marketing despite its intuitive appeal and anecdotal accounts of its benefits. Adopting a social identity theory perspective, the authors propose that internal marketing is fundamentally a process in which leaders instill into followers a sense of oneness with the organization, formally known as “organizational identification” (OI). The authors test the OI-transfer research model in two multinational studies using multilevel and multisource data. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses show that the OI-transfer process takes place in the relationships between business unit managers and salespeople and between regional directors and business unit managers. Furthermore, both leader–follower dyadic tenure and charismatic leadership moderate this cascading effect. Leaders with a mismatch between their charisma and OI ultimately impair followers' OI. In turn, customer-contact employees' OI strongly predicts their sales performance. Finally, both employees' ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of "customer need knowledge" (CNK), which describes the extent to which a frontline employee can accurately identify a given customer's hierarchy of needs.
Abstract: Although the identification of customer needs constitutes a cornerstone of the marketing concept, the accuracy of frontline employees' perceptions of customer needs has never been examined in a systematic manner. Following research in social cognition, this article introduces the concept of “customer need knowledge” (CNK), which describes the extent to which a frontline employee can accurately identify a given customer's hierarchy of needs. The results of two large-scale, multilevel investigations involving data from three different levels (customers, employees, and managers) demonstrate the importance of CNK for the provision of customer satisfaction and customer value. In particular, CNK fully mediates the influence of employees' customer orientation and cognitive empathy on these customer outcomes. Moreover, whereas the length of the relationship between an employee and a particular customer enhances CNK, a large age discrepancy in relation to the customer decreases employees' level of CNK.
TL;DR: Pay what you want (PWYW) as mentioned in this paper is a new participative pricing mechanism in which consumers have maximum control over the price they pay, which can even lead to an increase in seller revenues.
Abstract: Pay what you want (PWYW) is a new participative pricing mechanism in which consumers have maximum control over the price they pay. Previous research has suggested that participative pricing increases consumers' intent to purchase. However, sellers using PWYW face the risk that consumers will exploit their control and pay nothing at all or a price below the seller's costs. In three field studies, the authors find that prices paid are significantly greater than zero. They analyze factors that influence prices paid and show that PWYW can even lead to an increase in seller revenues.
TL;DR: There is an alarming and growing gap between the interests, standards, and priorities of academic marketers and the needs of marketing executives operating in an ambiguous, uncertain, fast-changing, and complex marketspace.
Abstract: There is an alarming and growing gap between the interests, standards, and priorities of academic marketers and the needs of marketing executives operating in an ambiguous, uncertain, fast-changing, and complex marketspace. This has gone beyond the familiar dilemma of academic research pitted against practical relevance. Our contention is that this widening divergence has become detrimental to the long-term health of the field. We share our concerns and offer proposals for better aligning the interests of marketing academics and practitioners to their mutual benefit. We are guided by the belief that the role of academic marketing is not just to advance theory and methods but also to have an impact on the practice of marketing.
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of the scope, competition, and positioning characteristics of brand portfolios on the marketing and financial performance of 72 large publicly traded firms operating in consumer markets over ten years (from 1994 to 2003).
Abstract: Most large firms operating in consumer markets own and market more than one brand (i.e., they have a brand portfolio). Although firms make corporate-level strategic decisions regarding their brand portfolio, little is known about whether and how a firm’s brand portfolio strategy is linked to its business performance. Using data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and other secondary sources, the authors examine the impact of the scope, competition, and positioning characteristics of brand portfolios on the marketing and financial performance of 72 large publicly traded firms operating in consumer markets over ten years (from 1994 to 2003). Controlling for several industry and firm characteristics, the authors analyze the relationship between five specific brand portfolio characteristics (number of brands owned, number of segments in which they are marketed, degree to which the brands in the firm’s portfolio compete with one another, and consumer perceptions of the quality and price of the brands in the firm’s portfolio) and firms’ marketing effectiveness (consumer loyalty and market share), marketing efficiency (ratio of advertising spending to sales and ratio of selling, general, and administrative expenses to sales), and financial performance (Tobin’s q, cash flow, and cash flow variability). They find that each of these five brand portfolio characteristics explains significant variance in five or more of the seven aspects of firms’ marketing and financial performance examined.
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) on firm risk using data covering 252 firms from EquiTrend, COMPUSTAT, and the Center for Research in Security Prices over the 2000-2006 period.
Abstract: Investors and managers evaluate potential investments in terms of risk and return. Research has focused on linking marketing activities and resource deployments with returns but has largely neglected marketing’s role in determining risk. Yet the theoretical literature asserts that investments in market-based assets, such as brands, should lead to reductions in firm risk. Adopting risk measures that are well established in the finance literature, the authors use credit ratings to capture debt-holder risk and the standard deviation of stock returns to measure equityholder risk, which they then decompose into systematic and unsystematic equity risk. The authors examine the impact of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) on firm risk using data covering 252 firms from EquiTrend, COMPUSTAT, and the Center for Research in Security Prices over the 2000‐2006 period. They find that a firm’s CBBE is associated with firm risk and explains variance in the risk measures beyond that explained by existing finance models (i.e., it has “risk relevance”). They also find that CBBE has a stronger role in predicting firm-specific unsystematic risk than systematic risk but that it also has a particularly strong role in protecting equity holders from downside systematic risk. The results have clear economic significance and suggest that managers should make brand management part of the firm’s risk management strategy and protect or even increase CBBE investments during periods of economic uncertainty.
TL;DR: In this paper, a large-scale econometric analysis of product innovation and associated marketing mix in the automobile industry was conducted to examine how product innovations and marketing investments for such product innovations lift stock returns by improving the outlook on future cash flows.
Abstract: Under increased scrutiny from top management and shareholders, marketing managers feel the need to measure and communicate the impact of their actions on shareholder returns. In particular, how do customer value creation (through product innovation) and customer value communication (through marketing investments) affect stock returns? This article examines, conceptually and empirically, how product innovations and marketing investments for such product innovations lift stock returns by improving the outlook on future cash flows. The authors address these questions with a large-scale econometric analysis of product innovation and associated marketing mix in the automobile industry. They find that adding such marketing actions to the established finance benchmark model greatly improves the explained variance in stock returns. In particular, investors react favorably to companies that launch pioneering innovations, that have higher perceived quality, that are backed by substantial advertising suppor...
TL;DR: For instance, the authors describes an investigation of the American Girl brand that provides a more complete and holistic understanding of sociocultural branding, arguing that an emotionally powerful brand is best understood as the product of a complex system, or gestalt, whose component parts are in continuous interp...
Abstract: This article describes an investigation of the American Girl brand that provides a more complete and holistic understanding of sociocultural branding. Recent research on emotional branding, together with prior work on brands' symbolic nature and their role as relationship partners, represents a significant shift in the way marketers think about brands and brand management. However, a full understanding of powerful and emotionally resonant brands has been elusive, in part because sociocultural branding knowledge has accumulated in a piecemeal way and lacks coherence and integrity. In addition, powerful brands are extraordinarily complex and multifaceted, but in general they have been studied from a single perspective in a single setting. On the basis of a qualitative exploration of the American Girl brand that is both deep and broad, the authors posit that an emotionally powerful brand is best understood as the product of a complex system, or gestalt, whose component parts are in continuous interp...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a framework to link customer equity (CE) (as determined by the customer lifetime value metric) to market capitalization (MC) and test the framework in an empirical field experiment with two Fortune 1000 firms in the business to business and business to consumer contexts, respectively.
Abstract: Can a marketer drive the stock price of the firm? Yes, it should be possible. Toward this endeavor, the authors develop a framework to link customer equity (CE) (as determined by the customer lifetime value metric) to market capitalization (MC) (as determined by the stock price of the firm). The authors test the framework in an empirical field experiment with two Fortune 1000 firms in the business-to-business and business-to-consumer contexts, respectively. The findings show that (1) a CE-based framework can reliably predict the MC of the firm and (2) marketing strategies directed at increasing the CE not only increase the stock price of the firm but also beat market expectations. Furthermore, the results indicate that the relationship between CE and MC is moderated by risk factors in the form of volatility and vulnerability of cash flows from customers. By accounting for these factors, the authors improve the association between CE and MC. The findings broaden the scope and role of marketing whi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on how marketing communications affect customer buying behavior and, to some extent, how past buying behavior affects a firm's decisions to initiate future marketing communications, especially in relation to analyzing individual customer product return behavior.
Abstract: The firm–customer exchange process consists of three key parts: (1) firm-initiated marketing communications, (2) customer buying behavior, and (3) customer product return behavior.To date, the literature in marketing has largely focused on how marketing communications affect customer buying behavior and, to some extent, how past buying behavior affects a firm's decisions to initiate future marketing communications. However, the literature on product returns is sparse, especially in relation to analyzing individual customer product return behavior. Although the magnitude of the value of product returns is known to be high ($100 billion per year), how it affects customer buying behavior is not known because of a lack of data availability and understanding of the role of product returns in the firm–customer exchange process. Given that product returns are considered a hassle for a firm's supply chain management and a drain on overall profitability, it is important to study product return behavior. T...