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Purpose: Sales organizations embrace technological innovation. However, salespeople's willingness to use new technology influences a firm's return on investment, representing a significant concern for the organization. These concerns highlight tensions regarding the tradeoffs associated with technology implementations. The purpose of this study is to offer insights that help reduce the complexities of sales technology (ST) by exploring the changing dynamics of contemporary business relationships. Design/methodology/approach: This paper synthesizes the ST literature using the service ecosystem perspective to propose the sales techno-ecosystem (STE) framework, providing new insights into organizational decision-making related to the ongoing digital transformation of sales tasks. Findings: This synthesis of the ST literature with the service ecosystem seeks to clarify the impact of technology within the evolving nature of buyer–seller relationships by providing four unique perspectives. Research limitations/implications: Perspective 1 reviews the sales-service ecosystem framework and develops the theoretical underpinnings and relevant terminologies. Perspective 2 summarizes critical aspects of the ST literature and provides foundations for future research in the STE. Perspective 3 offers a more granular view, explicating roles and contexts prevalent in buyer–seller–technology interactions. Perspective 4 provides a set of tenets and advances research questions related to each tenet. Practical implications: The culmination of these four perspectives is the introduction of five key tenants designed to help guide strategy and research. Originality/value: The paper advances Hartmann et al. (2018) service ecosystem paradigm by explicating critical aspects of its ST domain to generate insights for theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of resource orchestration in inter-firm partnerships that appropriately configure and align strategic cross-firm supply chain resources and capabilities generating synergies to deliver superior performance. Design/methodology/approach: Applying the resource orchestration logic, supported by the relational view of competitive advantage, the study draws from an empirical analysis of survey data from 152 top-level executives of US manufacturing firms to investigate the effect of leveraging and coherently combining cross-firm supply chain resources with capabilities on operational performance. Findings: The study underscores the view that appropriately orchestrated combinations of key partnership resources and capabilities as mechanisms for marketing strategy implementation, enhance performance. Specifically, research results suggest that complementary inter-firm resources and lean align, and similarly idiosyncratic resources and agility align synergistically to deliver superior operational performance outcomes. The results also accent partnership responses to intense competition, enabling enhanced operational performance. The findings thus enrich the understanding of the resource orchestration logic and strategy, making important theoretical contributions. Research limitations/implications: As is typical in marketing and strategy research, the study research design has a cross-sectional framework, thus limiting insights on the resource orchestration dynamics that can otherwise be generated using a longitudinal design. Also, the resource orchestration stream is still nascent. Further research is needed to delineate the orchestration mechanisms that deliver on performance outcomes, especially in supply chains. Practical implications: A key insight for supply chain and marketing managers is that close-knit inter-firm partnerships are critical for accessing idiosyncratic and complementary resources that can be configured and symbiotically aligned with market-facing agility and lean capabilities, respectively, to deliver market value. Proactive partnerships, especially in highly competitive and disruptive environments, enable mobilizing cross-firm resources and building appropriate matching combinations with capabilities to deliver on operational performance. Originality/value: The study, guided by theory, advances the understanding of how key cross-firm resources and capabilities deliver performance gains. The key to competitive advantage and enhanced performance outcomes may lie in acquiring, leveraging and deploying appropriately matched resource-capability combinations. The present study investigates this proposition within the context of supply chain partnerships, focusing on cross-firm resources and capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to offer practical, data-led guidance for the decolonisation of marketing strategy, especially as it relates to customer engagement. It does so with an acute understanding of the constraints of brand legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach: The findings of this paper are informed both by a conceptual unpacking of institutional, decolonisation and customer engagement literature, as well as an empirical methodology that presents an embedded single case study of a top-ranking banking brand, using in-depth qualitative interviews as well as content analyses of brand communications. Findings: The paper examines the notion of institutional brand legitimacy alongside the decolonisation of customer engagement. It offers five empirically driven decisions that marketers must consider when they attempt to decolonise their customer engagement strategies. These revolve around a decolonised bottom-up approach; establishing new biases for customer insights; the management of opposing forces; being strategically transformative; and going beyond diversity. Research limitations/implications: A single brand case study is offered that uses a relatively small sample of interviewees and does not include customers of the brand. Further research is therefore needed to reflect other organisational contexts and stakeholders. Just so, the paper specifically looks at the ways in which decolonisation and institutional legitimacy intersect for customer engagement. Further studies that focus on other organisational concepts impacted by decolonisation would be thought-provoking. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first empirical investigation that offers practical guidance for the decolonisation of marketing strategies – as it relates to customer engagement or any other facets of marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify religiosity scale usage in academic marketing articles and compare the effectiveness of different religiosity scales in predicting marketing and consumer behavior outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: Articles (n = 397) in the top 20 marketing journals are reviewed and a follow-up study is conducted that compares 22 religiosity scales in predicting 18 marketing variables. Findings: Most scales are from preexisting sources (64.3%), only 20% are multi-dimensional and over 58% are used in only one journal article. Only 22.5% of possible regressions in the follow-up study predicting marketing variables from religiosity scales were significant. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited by the journals and dependent variables chosen. Implications include diversify research topics, expand publication outlets, decrease use of author-generated scales, increase use of multi-item and multi-dimensional measures, replicate findings methodologically and conceptually and make cultural context adaptations. Practical implications: Marketers would benefit from using preexisting scales, ensuring that religiosity is measured using a multi-item measure that contains appropriate items for the dominant religious beliefs of the sample, as well as consider multi-dimensional measures to best guide marketing strategy decisions, such as target market definition. Originality/value: This is the first research study to compare the use of religiosity scales in marketing. This offers key value to the marketing literature by highlighting tactics to take to improve consistency in research practices to increase the comparability and accuracy of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore how cocreated brand meaning builds and affects dynamic brand positioning in a hyperconnected world. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a qualitative study of Casarte, a high-end appliance brand, as an instrumental case for conceptualizing and theorizing. This study constructs a matrix of dynamic brand positioning as the key analysis framework using in-depth interview data, firm materials and user-generated content from online brand communities. Findings: The matrix of dynamic brand positioning has two dimensions: brand core and peripheral meaning, and firm- and customer-led orientation. The interaction between the firm and its customers strengthens the understanding of a brand's core meaning and consistency perception, expands the scope of brand peripheral meaning and improves the perception of brand meaning diversity. The mutual transformation of the ambidexterity of core and peripheral meanings facilitates the dynamic positioning of brands. Research limitations/implications: This study is a qualitative case study; the relevant conclusions have not been tested empirically. If longitudinal data of actual tracking support the effect of dynamic brand positioning, the theory's reliability can be more rigorously tested. Practical implications: It provides managerial logic and a tool for firms to practice dynamic brand positioning in a hyperconnected world, which contributes to the implementation of the emerging firm-customer synergistic strategy. Originality/value: This study proposes a construct of dynamic brand positioning supported by qualitative evidence. It disputes the traditional view that brand positioning is determined by the perception of core meaning consistency and creatively puts forward the view that brand positioning evolves dynamically with the mutual transformation of the ambidexterity of brand core meaning and peripheral meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to move beyond previous investigations juxtaposing the performance of global versus domestic brands, where domestic is referred to as "localness" in the literature, conceptualizing and developing two measures of "within-country brand or product localness." In doing so, it uses objective localness measures, rather than consumer perceptions of brand localness, as have been primarily used previously. Then, by leveraging established theory on brand authenticity and corollary literatures on brand identity and country-of-origin effects, this research develops and empirically tests key hypotheses about how these within-country, more geographically local products or brands (referred to as simply "localness" hereafter, for brevity), influence sales outcomes through increasing perceptions of brand and product authenticity. Design/methodology/approach: Two empirical studies using different archival data sets are conducted to test the hypotheses. Study 1 focuses on new product sales from 2002 to 2011 for 31 categories of consumer packaged goods US product launches initiated in 2002–2005, whereas Study 2 investigates online consumer review and retail sales data in the US craft beer industry from 2001 to 2011. Localness is operationalized as two different objective measures: in Study 1, local distribution is measured, and in Study 2, firm headquarters denotes the geographic bounds of localness. These two measures are motivated by prior consumer perceptual studies of Locavores (consumers who strongly prefer local products), which identify that local systems of production and/or distribution are the key signals of localness. Using two measures allows the localness construct to be tested for the potential firm-side boundaries of its scope and provides two empirical measures that future researchers can leverage. Findings: Brand (or product) localness gives performance advantages over national brands in the form of increased sales across both studies. The second study, focused on craft beer, dives more deeply into the theoretical mechanism (localness operates through increased perceptions of brand authenticity) and shows that while brand authenticity directly translates into higher sales, as anticipated, localness fully mediates this relationship. When coupled with supporting marketing tactics (high price and/or product variety), the link between localness and brand authenticity grows stronger. Local brands with low prices and/or limited product variety are deemed inauthentic by consumers, so it is important for brand managers to use marketing tactics that reinforce brand authenticity to support localness as a strategy. Research limitations/implications: Future research could extend this inquiry in a number of ways. These include combining both empirical measures of localness into a single empirical inquiry, investigating additional product categories and further integrating aspects of strategy such as market positioning and innovation strategy. Newer data could also reveal how these phenomena are continuing to evolve. Practical implications: Based on this study, managers can benefit by leveraging localness as a key brand or product attribute to achieve a sales advantage, but they must do so by using marketing tactics consistent with an authentic brand positioning. Efforts to expand a brand's geographic reach over time should likely be conducted very locally at first, before extending to regional markets and then to a global footprint. It is also posited that retail store managers can benefit from allocating some shelf space to local brand and product offerings. Originality/value: This paper conceptualizes and measures localness in new ways compared to the previous literatures. It develops objective measures of within-country localness instead of using consumer perceptions of localness and/or considering domestic brands as being "local" compared to global brands; builds key linkages between concepts of localness, authenticity and sales performance; and uncovers when and how within-country localness is a key brand or product attribute associated with increased sales success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Management response to consumer comments has become a widely adopted marketing strategy to address the undesirable effects caused by negative remarks. Yet, when and what management response is more effective and under what circumstances remains under-researched. This study aims to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach: In three experiments using five different products, the authors manipulate psychological construal level (psychological distance: distant vs proximal) and management response (response of primary vs secondary features) and thereafter assess their bearings on consumer psychological and behavioral reaction toward products of two distinctive natures (hedonic vs utilitarian). Findings: At a psychological distance, consumers show a preferable reaction to management response of primary over secondary features. In contrast, when the psychological distance is proximal, consumers react more positively to management response of secondary than primary features. In addition, these effects vary as a function of product nature, hedonic vs utilitarian. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this research bring a significant contribution to marketing communication literature and extend the construal level theory. Practical implications: A better understanding of the relative effectiveness of distinct types of management response to negative consumer comments is essential for more targeted and effective marketing strategies. Originality/value: Little research has documented the effects of distinct types of management response. How psychological distance might underpin these effects has not been explored. In addition, whether the interaction effect of management response and psychological distance varies with differences in product nature, namely, hedonic and utilitarian, remains unanswered until this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Process innovation is a key determinant of performance. While extant literature paints a clear picture of the drivers of process innovation, the effect of process innovation on performance has received little attention. This paper aims to examine how the divergence of process innovation impacts performance. Divergence concerns the extent to which the observed level of process innovation diverges from the expected level of process innovation. Positive divergence occurs when the observed level of process innovation is higher than expected while for negative divergence the opposite occurs. In turn, the authors consider how divergence acts as a driver of performance. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use survey and archival data from 5,594 firms across 15 countries. The authors analyze the data using an advanced two-step random-effects estimator that accounts for the multi-level data used. Findings: The authors find negative divergence to reduce performance under high competitive intensity, whereas positive divergence is detrimental under high environmental uncertainty. Research limitations/implications: The authors present new and unique insights into the relationship between divergence and performance. The authors argue that each firm has an "ideal" level of process innovation, based on their resources and business environment, relative to which performance diminishes. Specifically, the authors argue that divergence from the firm's expected level of process innovation is associated with the reduced performance during high environmental uncertainty or high competitive intensity. Furthermore, the authors argue that there can be "too much" process innovation. This nuance of the majority of prior empirical studies in this area suggests that more innovation is always better for firms. The more nuanced approach reveals that the process innovation-performance debate should not focus on more or less innovation per se, but on how innovation is constructed and supported. Practical implications: Some argue the existence of an academia-practitioner gap, with both living in different worlds (Reibstein et al., 2009). The findings suggest that theory is not only useful to practitioners but also has a crucial and central role regarding decisions relating to efficiency and effectiveness of scarce resources, in the field of process innovation. More specifically, the authors demonstrate that the prior study on process innovation seems to be useful in that relative to a theory-predicted level, divergence diminishes performance in the global sample of companies across a wide range of industries. In addition, the authors suggest that firms should not strive for more innovation per se. The findings suggest that positive divergence or too much innovation is detrimental for performance under environmental uncertainty, while negative divergence or too little innovation is harmful to performance under competitive uncertainty. Moreover, the divergence approach is also useful for comparing performance to that of other firms, typically referred to as benchmarking. Originality/value: This paper is useful and important for managers and theory development as it provides insight into situations where a firm may have "too little" or "too much" process innovation. Thus, divergence advances understanding as, in contrast with the previous study, the authors do not suggest that more innovation is always better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the consequences of the heritage experience in brand museums on the consumer–brand relationship. By highlighting its heritage within a museum, the brand proposes a specific experience that deserves attention because it is based on memory and communal identity, thus creating or strengthening a relationship with consumers. Design/methodology/approach: Ethnographic case studies were conducted through direct observation and extensive interviews with 72 visitors at two brand museums, the Fallot Mustard Mill and the House of the Laughing Cow. Findings: The results highlight the emergence/strengthening of the relationship between consumers and the brand through the development of intimacy with the brand and the emergence of supportive behaviors toward the brand in the form of commercial support, ambassadorship and volunteering. Research limitations/implications: By characterizing and articulating the different relational consequences of visiting a brand museum, this research contributes to the literature dedicated to heritage experiences in consumption contexts and to the literature dedicated to consumer–brand relationships in servicescapes. Practical implications: The study shows the necessity of grounding "heritage" in the physical setting of the brand museum to create a meaningful experience for visitors and, in turn, a deep relationship. Managers should treat brand museums as a relational tool in the marketing strategy of the brand and approach them from the perspective of long-term profitability. Originality/value: While the literature has examined the spectacular and esthetic experiences brand museums offer, this study is the first to characterize the heritage experience and to document its consequences in terms of the consumer–brand relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Advergames, or integrated brand messages within digital games, have received considerable attention from researchers and practitioners. Despite increased use of advergames as a brand promotion strategy by a range of well-known brands, limited understanding exists about a number of issues related to the effective use of such games. This paper aims to critically review the literature on advergames by performing a detailed analysis of existing research in this area and propose an organizing framework. Based on this framework, the authors discuss key issues with current understanding and propose important questions for future research. Design/methodology/approach: This literature review follows Webster and Watson's (2002) concept-driven systematic review methodology elaborating on the key antecedents and consequences identified in advergame studies (what we know: current knowledge), followed by the discussion of key factors that should be investigated as antecedents and consequences (literature gaps). Findings: This paper presents a review and synthesis of advergame studies based on Terlutter and Capella's (2013) integrated marketing communication framework. It identifies game, individual and social factors and suggests how these factors could affect a consumer's brand-related cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral responses. The authors further propose an advergame framework that identifies two different "unit of analysis" (antecedents and consequences of game factors and antecedents and consequences of individual and social factors), which can be used by scholars to center their research efforts in a more detailed fashion. Research limitations/implications: Research questions posed in this literature review indicate that future research in the area of advergames should focus on investigating the effects of various game, individual and social factors on consumers' cognitive, affective and behavioral responses. Practical implications: The advergame framework provided here provides firms with a guide to the factors that may affect their consumers' cognitive, affective and behavioral responses and helps them in developing effective advergames. Originality/value: The paper provides a comprehensive review of the advergame literature that has not been done before and develops a general advergame framework that can be applied in all contexts and will guide future studies in the area. Overall, the study helps the researchers to identify critical issues and concepts related to advergames and shapes future research in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to identify the archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries and to examine the relationships between MNC subsidiary strategy, environment and performance through the theoretical lenses of fit and equifinality.Design/methodology/approach The authors use a mail survey to collect data from MNC subsidiary business units located in multiple countries. They apply a novel archetypal analysis method to identify the diverse archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries. Finally, through cross-tabulation and regression analysis, they examine the relationships between MNC strategy, environment and performance.Findings They identify four archetypes of MNC subsidiary standardization-adaptation including a new archetype that is not recognized in the literature. This analysis finds partial support for both fit and equifinality, suggesting complementarity between the two theories.Research limitations/implications The study could be extended with longitudinal data to examine the dynamics in MNC marketing mix strategy and performance in response to the changing business environment.Practical implications The findings suggest that MNC subsidiary managers could deploy a broader set of international marketing strategy configurations than those currently prescribed to enhance performance.Originality/value The authors use a novel configuration-based archetypal analysis method and extend the theoretical typology of international marketing strategies pursued by MNC subsidiaries. The partial support for both fit and equifinality expands the theoretical lens through which we can examine the relationships between MNC marketing strategy, environment and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Marketing researchers currently lack a systematic and empirical understanding of digital social viewing strategies. Drawing on social impact theory, this study aims to investigate if and how firm-initiated digital social viewing strategies (livestreaming vs pre-recorded) influence consumer viewing experiences and consequential behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 462 participants. The study involved social viewing strategies in a new product launch context. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings This study demonstrates that social influence cues (social presence and synchronicity) inherent in a livestreaming strategy induce a more authentic consumer viewing experience than a pre-recorded strategy, which in turn increases consumers’ searching and subscribing intention. However, a company’s social viewing strategy does not moderate the effect of search and subscribe intention on purchase intention.Research limitations/implications This study extends the application of social impact theory by showing that social presence and synchronicity impact authentic consumer viewing experiences, which influence consumers’ searching, subscribing and purchasing intention.Practical implications This study validates the importance of using social viewing as a viable digital marketing strategy for practitioners. The paper provides marketers ways to increase consumer purchase intention via livestreaming marketing content, particularly for new products.Originality/value This study extends the traditional research on social viewing into the realm of digital social viewing. It is among the first to delineate the advantages of both livestreaming and pre-recorded social viewing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to examine a core member-customer threat in co-operatives (co-ops) by drawing from ostracism research, assessing co-op ostracism’s impact on critical membership and relational exchange outcomes and discussing why relationship marketing research needs to pay more attention to the overlooked role of implicit mistreatment forms in customer harm-doing.Design/methodology/approach Three studies were conducted. In Study 1, ostracism in co-ops was explored, and a measurement scale for co-op ostracism was developed. In Study 2, the core conceptual model was empirically tested with data from members of three different co-ops. In Study 3, a coping strategy was integrated into an extended model and empirically tested with a new sample of co-op members.Findings Ostracism is present in co-ops and “poisons” crucial relational (and membership) outcomes, despite the presence of other relationship-building or relationship-destroying accounts. Coupling entitativity with cognitive capital attenuates ostracism’s impact.Research limitations/implications Inspired by co-ops’ membership model and inherent relational advantage, this research is the first to adopt a co-op member-customer perspective and shed light on an implicit relationship-destroying factor.Practical implications Co-op decision makers might use the diagnostic tool developed in the paper to detect ostracism and fight it. Moreover, a novel coping strategy for how co-ops (or other firms) might fend off ostracism threats is offered in the article.Originality/value The present study illuminates a dark side of a relationally profuse customer context, painting a more complete picture of relationship marketing determinants. Little attention has been given to ostracism as a distinct and important social behaviour in marketing research and to co-ops as a research context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The endowment effect is well-established in economics, psychology and marketing where sellers place a higher value on a good than buyers. One potential moderator, namely, power is explored. The authors predicted that feeling powerful can reverse the effect, making buyers place a higher value on a good than sellers.Design/methodology/approach The authors manipulated power to assess the effects on the valuation of three different products (keychain, gift card and iPhone case). They also assessed participants’ focus on parting with the good (money), which is a loss, and receiving money (the good), which is a gain, for sellers (buyers).Findings Feelings of power reduced sellers’ prices but they increased buyers’. Crucially, the authors observed the endowment effect, but only under conditions of low power. When participants had high power, the effect reversed, with buyers placing a higher value on the good under transaction than sellers. Process data indicated that powerful buyers and sellers focused on what they gained and less on what they lost, compared to powerless buyers and sellers.Research limitations/implications The authors link the construct of power with the endowment effect, showing that the former can moderate the latter. Certainly, the endowment effect is well-established, but there are moderators and boundary conditions that warrant consideration.Practical implications The results suggest a case where the market may clear, where buyers value a consumer product more than sellers, and thus buyers would likely accept the offer made by sellers.Originality/value The authors are the first to link the power literature with the endowment effect. They also show a possible moderator for the well-established endowment effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The branding of universities is increasingly recognized to present a different set of challenges than in corporate, for-profit sectors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how faculty make sense of branding in the context of higher education, specifically considering branding initiatives in business schools.Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on qualitative interviews with faculty regarding their responses to organizational branding at four business schools. Discourse analysis was used to analyze the interview data.Findings The study reveals varied, fluid and reflexive faculty interpretations of organizational branding. Faculty interviewed in the study adopted a number of stances towards their schools’ branding efforts. In particular, the study identifies three main faculty responses to branding: endorsement, ambivalence and cynicism.Originality/value The study contributes by highlighting the ambiguities and ambivalence generated by brand management initiatives in the higher education context, offering original insights into the multiple ways that faculty exploit, frame and resist attempts to brand their organizations. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for branding in university contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the indirect relationship between dynamic capabilities (DCs) and organizational outcomes through matching and creating market change. In addition, the research aims to gain a deeper understanding of the role of marketing in DCs and to extend beyond a simplistic discussion of DCs by studying proactive market orientation and value innovation as specific DCs.Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed and data were collected from 270 senior executives. After ensuring reliability and validity, the hypotheses were examined by applying structural equation modeling and Monte Carlo simulation.Findings The findings indicate that dynamic marketing capabilities (DMCs) are critical in the reconfiguration of operational marketing capabilities, which in turn lead to enhanced organizational performance. The results also suggest that organizations with enhanced DMCs are able to initiate market disruption and achieve superior performance by out-competing their rivals.Practical implications The research provides guidelines for managers wanting to exploit their DMCs by showing that organizations can match the environment, create market turbulence or combine both strategies to fully exploit their DMCs. This study also provides managers with actionable tools that are specific, robust and easily applied.Originality/value This study is one of the few to incorporate induced market turbulence into the DC literature and conceptualize, develop and validate scales to measure it. The study provides empirical evidence for the claim that operational marketing capabilities are necessary to utilize the benefits of DMCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to advance research and practice on value, and more specifically value-in-use, by enhancing knowledge of not only positive but also negative value-in-use facets in a complex relational context, developing a psychometrically sound measure of these facets and evaluating their effect on various outcome measures across different customer segments.Design/methodology/approach A three-stage study was undertaken in the professional service context of financial planning. Following a qualitative stage identifying positive and negative facets of value-in-use, a measurement scale was developed and tested, and extended analysis was undertaken through two quantitative stages.Findings The findings provide converging evidence that clients in the study context realise value-in-use, defined in this study at a benefit rather than outcome level, through nine core facets, four positive (expertise, education, motivation, convenience) and five negative (monetary, time and effort, lifestyle, emotional [financial planner], emotional [situation]). While all nine facets impact on at least one of the investigated outcomes, results show that, overall, positive value-in-use facets outweigh the negative ones, with the impact of facets varying depending on client factors (such as customer participation and time to retirement).Originality/value The primary contributions of this paper lie in the conceptualisation and measurement of both positive and negative value-in-use facets and their interplay in generating customer outcomes, as well as in the development of a psychometrically sound measure of this construct. Negative value-in-use facets have not been explored to date, despite consumers being sometimes more concerned with risks than gains. Furthermore, the research offers novel insight into the impact of both positive and negative value-in-use on relevant outcomes, while also offering evidence as to the importance of segmentation dimensions in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between brand attachment and consumers’ positive and negative behaviours. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effects of attachment styles on these relationships.Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey of 432 respondents, and the data are analysed using the structural equation modelling approach.Findings This study empirically supports that brand attachment and attachment styles (i.e. anxiety attachment and avoidance attachment) are distinct. Brand attachment influences consumers’ not only positive behaviour (i.e. brand loyalty) but also negative behaviours, such as trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions. The findings of the study suggest that only avoidance attachment style moderates the relationships between brand attachment and these consumer behaviours. The link between brand attachment and brand loyalty is attenuated for high-attachment-avoidance consumers. In contrast, the links between brand attachment and trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions are strengthened.Practical implications This study assists marketing managers in understanding that a strong brand attachment may result in negative behaviours that can harm a company’s brand image. Thus, building a strong relationship with consumers will not always be beneficial. Companies should be aware of the consequences of building relationships with consumers who have a high level of attachment anxiety and/or avoidance.Originality/value This paper highlights that brand attachment not only influences brand loyalty behaviour but also three negative behaviours: trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions. Moreover, the links between brand attachment and negative behaviours are strengthened when consumers have a high level of attachment avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Resource integration is a central idea within service-dominant logic (S-D logic), but there has been little scholarly research on this aspect of theory. This paper aims to explore resource integration between marketing agencies and their clients.Design/methodology/approach In total, nine case studies have been developed using a dyadic approach of interviewing clients and members of their agency teams. This is followed-up with presentations and workshops with over 200 practitioners who validated the findings and added new perspectives.Findings The key operant resources in the client/agency context have been identified. The ways the operant resources of the actors developed during the course of resource integration, building potential resources for future co-creation are shown. The differing perspectives of the actors to each other’s contribution are highlighted.Research limitations/implications This study suggests that resource enhancement and development, as a result of integration, is important. For agency/client research, resource integration and development brings new perspectives complementing existing relationship approaches to research. The findings have implications for relationship marketing theory across business-to-business (B2B) contexts.Practical implications The findings suggest a resource integration approach that could be jointly addressed between agency and client in improving the way they work together. The discourse of co-creation suggests a way for them to talk about how to work together effectively. Suggestions are made for teaching.Originality/value This study develops the S-D logic theory through exploring resource enhancement and development in a B2B co-creation context. The dyadic nature of the research is novel in studying how marketing agencies and clients work together and new perspectives emerge from the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to develop and test a method of automating, for online retailers, the practice of adaptive selling, which is typically used by salespeople in face-to-face interactions. This method customizes persuasive messages for individual customers as they navigate a retailer’s website.Design/methodology/approach This paper demonstrates a method for the online implementation of automated adaptive selling using sales influence tactics. Automated adaptive selling is compared to nonadaptive selling in three e-commerce field studies.Findings The results reveal that adaptive selling is more effective than nonadaptive selling. The click-through rates increased significantly when adaptive selling was used.Research limitations/implications This paper highlights the effectiveness of existing theories concerning adaptive human-to-human selling and their utility to online selling. The authors demonstrate the added value of adaptive selling in e-commerce, thereby opening up a novel area of research into adaptive selling online. While the paper focuses on the adjustment of sales influence tactics, other factors could be investigated for adjustment in future research (e.g. prices).Practical implications The methods, described in detail, are readily available for implementation by online retailers. The implementations are timely and increasingly valuable as e-commerce expands into interpersonal channels (e.g. instant messengers and social media).Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to formally implement automated adaptive selling as described in the ISTEA model in an e-commerce setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Marketers often assume that functional, hedonic and socially conspicuous utilities in choosing a brand differ for men and women, thus different marketing strategies are required for each gender. To date, most of the research studies have used self-reported measures when shopping in general or in regard to a single product. The purpose of this research is to examine this question using two different contexts of brand choice: single choice evaluation (SCE) and brand selection context (BSC). This assessment will clarify whether male and female utilities when choosing a brand are indeed inherent and consistent.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using surveys in three studies (N = 923). Conjoint analysis and ICLV (integrated choice and latent variables) models were examined.Findings BSC analysis that more closely mimics real-life contexts revealed that the consideration of these utilities is generally similar for men and women, while the SCE analysis showed significant gender differences.Practical implications In the context of choosing between brands, stereotypical gender targeting may be ineffective and might not be the best allocation of resources for marketers.Social implications Gender stereotypes in advertising seem to reconstruct differences that are not significant in a realistic brand selection context.Originality/value The context of choice was found to be a condition boundary for gender differences in brand choice considerations. Gender differences are not evolutionary or inherent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to propose user experience sharing (UES) as a customer-based initiation of value co-creation pertaining to service provision, which represents customers’ level of effort made for the direct benefit of others in their service network. The authors propose and empirically examine a user experience sharing model (UESM) that explicates customer-to-customer (C2C) UES and its impacts on firm-desired customer-based outcomes in online communities.Design/methodology/Approach Based on an extensive review, the authors conceptualize UES and UESM. By using online survey data collected from mobile app users in organic online communities, the authors performed structural equation modeling analyses by using AMOS 24.Findings The results support the proposed UESM, showing that C2C UES acts as a key driver of both firm-desired customer efforts and customer insights. The results also confirmed that service-dominant (S-D) logic-informed motivational drivers exert a significant impact on C2C UES. Importantly, C2C UES mediates the relationship between S-D logic-informed motivational drivers and firm-desired customer-based outcomes.Originality/value This study offers a pioneering attempt to develop an overarching concept, UES, which reflects customers’ initiation of value co-creation, and to empirically examine C2C UES. The empirical evidence supports the key contention that firms should proactively facilitate C2C UES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study aims to conceptualize and test the effect of consumers’ perceptions of complaint handling quality (PCHQ) in both traditional and social media channels.Design/methodology/approach Study 1 systematically reviews the relevant literature and then carries out a consumer and manager survey. This approach aims to conceptualize the dimensionality of PCHQ. Study 2 tests the effect of PCHQ on key marketing outcomes. Using survey data from a German telecommunications company, the study provides an explanation for the differences in outcomes across traditional (hotline) and social media channels.Findings Study 1 reveals that PCHQ is best conceptualized as a five-dimensional construct with 15 facets. There are significant differences between customers and managers in terms of the importance attached to the various dimensions. The construct shows strong psychometric properties with high reliability and validity, thereby opening up opportunities to treat these facets as measurement indicators for the construct. Study 2 indicates that the effect of PCHQ on consumer loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) communication is stronger in social media than in traditional channels. Procedural justice and the overall quality of service solutions emerge as general dimensions of PCHQ because they are equally important in both channels. In contrast, interactional justice, distributive justice and customer effort have varying effects across the two channels.Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the understanding of a firm’s channel selection for complaint handling in two ways. First, it evaluates and conceptualizes the PCHQ construct. Second, it compares the effects of different dimensions of PCHQ on key marketing outcomes across traditional and social media channels.Practical implications This study enables managers to understand the difference in efficacy attached to different dimensions of PCHQ. It further highlights such differences across traditional and social media service channels. For example, the effect of complaint handling on social media is of particular importance when generating WOM communication.Originality/value This study offers a comprehensive conceptualization of the PCHQ construct and reveals the general and channel contingent effects of its different dimensions on key marketing outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study was to test whether endorsements that show a low strength of association (bottom-up bias) benefit from increased attention and processing efforts. The current study also tested whether consumer involvement level (top-down bias) dynamically interacts with the bottom-up attention phenomena.Design/methodology/approach Through a series of pretests, 36 potential celebrity-product matches were identified using real athletes and product brands. Two experiments were conducted: 330 individual responses (110 participants × three conditions) were obtained in a within-subjects lab experiment, and 868 participants were recruited for a between-subjects online experiment. Linear mixed modeling and moderated mediation analysis were performed.Findings The relationships between the strength of image associations and attention time to endorsements and recall and choice consideration of endorsed brands were U-shaped and curvilinear. Attention largely mediated the relationship between the strength of association and recall/choice. Involvement effects were diluted by the strength of association effects, rejecting top-down attentional control.Practical implications Brand managers for both products and celebrities are recommended to search for corresponding not only image-matched partners but also endorsement partners with dissonant pre-existing images.Originality/value The majority of the existing endorsement literature has conventionally suggested that congruence between the endorser and the endorsed property, rather than incongruence, induces consumers’ positive endorsement evaluation. This study constructs important theoretical advancements to the existing literature by empirically proving that through an attentional process, an endorsement contract, conventionally perceived as mismatched, can also generate positive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of technology in customer relationship management (CRM) support capabilities by using an environmental contingency perspective. By examining the moderating effects of micro- and macro-environmental characteristics in which CRM support capabilities are used, the authors seek to extend the literature on CRM technology effectiveness in both customer commitment and overall firm performance. The authors also seek to advance managerial knowledge about CRM support capability technology utilization strategies in various market offering and dynamic market settings.Design/methodology/approach The authors utilized a questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 276 small business CRM managers across a wide range of industries. Measures were adapted from the existing literature, and these were largely multiple-item measures of latent variables. The hypotheses were tested using a combination of Ridge regression and a bootstrapping test of mediation. In addition, residual centering was used to reduce multi-collinearity in the interaction analysis.Findings The contingency/fit analysis performed in this research highlights the complex nature of the use of technology in CRM support capabilities. The benefits of a man vs a machine CRM support capability depend on the support function (whether marketing, sales, service, data access or data analysis), as well as upon the characteristics of the operating environment. Machine-based marketing support is positively related with customer commitment in turbulent markets, and machine-based service support is preferred in technologically turbulent markets. Sales support, on the other hand, is positively related to customer commitment in technologically turbulent markets when performed by man rather than machine.Practical implications CRM support capabilities differ across firms and markets, thus a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate. This research shows under what conditions a machine-based approach to CRM can be effective for small businesses.Originality/value This research is the first to consider market offering and turbulence variables as moderators of the relationship between technology use in CRM support capabilities and customer commitment. Taking this contingency approach, the authors find that resource-based competitive advantage is obtainable based on the fit of the resources (e.g. CRM capabilities) to the environmental characteristics of the firm. Through this perspective that is unique to CRM research, the authors are able to provide both general and specific recommendations to managers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Past research on cause-related marketing (CRM) suggests that these socially beneficial initiatives are more effective when linked with hedonic than utilitarian products. Little is known, however, about the process underpinning this effect. This paper aims to investigate why and under what circumstances CRM enhances the appeal of hedonic products by testing the mediation of guilt and introducing the moderating role of cause-product fit.Design/methodology/approach The authors test a model of moderated mediation in two studies. Study 1 shows that the effectiveness of combining CRM with hedonic consumption is explained by the mediating role of feelings of guilt. Study 2 demonstrates that this mediation depends on the level of fit or congruency between the cause and the product.Findings Results suggest that CRM campaigns offer the opportunity to improve the consumption experiences of hedonic products by reducing the feelings of guilt intrinsically connected with these options. Moreover, fit moderates the emotional processes activated by CRM initiatives. When fit is high, CRM reduces guilt and improves consumers’ experiences when purchasing hedonic alternatives.Originality/value The study extends current understanding of how CRM can promote hedonic consumption and contributes further to research on guilt as an emotion able to promote responsible consumption decisions. Moreover, the study introduces and tests the impact of cause-product fit in predicting consumers’ ethical purchase intention. For managers of hedonic brands, the study offers important implications on how to deploy CRM campaigns to foster better customer experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the author’s decade-long tenure as the Editor of the European Journal of Marketing (EJM). The paper presents his thoughts on the past 10 years of marketing scholarship, his views on future directions and some advice for those looking to publish their research in academic journals.Design/methodology/approach The paper takes a reflective, discursive approach, and also reviews a wide range of topics relevant to marketing researchers.Findings The author finds that EJM has grown substantially on many levels in the past decade. He also finds that there are some concerns around marketing research, and social scientific scholarship in general, that marketing scholars may wish to consider and take into account in their ongoing work.Research limitations/implications The paper is partly a personal view, and does not rely on any empirical research. However, the views espoused are justified by theoretical review and conceptual argument.Practical implications The implications of this paper are relevant to marketing scholars, journal reviewers, readers of research, as well as those who manage scholarship (e.g. university administrators). The author suggests a number of directions that the research, publication and reward process could move in to improve practice.Originality/value The paper brings together a large number of different views and concepts relevant to further development of marketing research, and provides original summaries and extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Most research on branding highlights the role of associations for a single brand. Many firms, however, have multiple brands and/or different versions of one brand. The latter is largely the case for many corporate brands. This paper aims to broaden the understanding of corporate brand associations and their transfer within the firm's brand and product portfolio. In particular, this paper also examines the concept of corporate brand innovativeness and the influence of brand architecture as supportive and restrictive boundary conditions for its transfer. Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper explains the nature, benefits and challenges of corporate brand innovativeness within the context of a firm's brand architecture. On the basis of a literature review, the authors provide an overview of the domain and derive avenues for future research. Findings: Research and practice have not fully realised the importance of corporate brand images for supporting a firms' product portfolio. In particular, (corporate) marketing managers need to consider the potential value of favourable perceptions of corporate brand innovativeness across products and the moderating role of brand architecture. Research limitations/implications: More empirical research is needed to understand the reciprocal relationship and transfer between corporate and product brand associations and equity. Practical implications: A corporate marketing perspective allows firms to use corporate brand associations to support products and services for that brand. This paper discusses perceived corporate brand innovativeness as one particularly important corporate brand association. Originality/value: The authors discuss the use of corporate brand associations under the consideration of brand architectures and boundaries and draw on several research streams in the brand management literature. Much of the branding and innovation literature centres on the product level; research on corporate brand innovativeness has been relatively neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Brandfests are conceptualized as marketer-initiated events that facilitate consumers’ individual and social engagements with brands. After its inception in the late 1990s, the concept of brandfests was quickly folded into the concept of brand community, leaving conceptual and strategic opportunities untapped. The purpose of the paper is to suggest a broadened conceptualization of brandfests based on the play theory and the notion of ludic interagency.Design/methodology/approach This paper includes a longitudinal study and ethnographic method.Findings Unlike previously studied brandfests, this context entails a low-involvement product, a brand that is not the focal point for participants, a broad range of market-facing enactors, shifting roles and the realization of multiple meanings and values for multiple enactors. The findings demonstrate that brand meaning and value can be constituted through ludic engagement of a broad range of market-facing enactors through a ludic spectacle such as a brandfest. Moreover, the authors find that this can go on outside the established spatial and temporal frames normally considered by the marketing literature.Research limitations/implications This has implications for theories of emplacement (servicescape) and brand meaning actualization in terms of where, when and whom is involved in brand meaning actualization.Practical implications The paper develops four strategic propositions which broaden the type of brandfests that allow managers to define a range of potential strategies for engaging consumers and other enactors in a broader range of brandfests.Originality/value The paper reconceptualizes a dormant concept in the marketing literature to develop strategic implications based on the play theory. It challenges the prevalent centrality of the brand and consumer brand involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose From Adam Smith onwards, gratitude has been held as invaluable to societal functioning in view of its role in helping individuals maintain their reciprocal obligations to one another. The purpose of the current research is to use current conceptions of gratitude derived from work in social psychology to test whether simple descriptions of hypothetical organisations could systematically differ in the extent to which they elicit gratitude, and subsequently, whether gratitude would mediate behavioural intentions towards these organisations.Design/methodology/approach In two studies, participants read vignettes describing hypothetical organisations that systematically differed in the extent to which the services they provided were costly to the organisation, of high value and provided out of a genuine desire to help. Perceptions of these dimensions, feelings of gratitude and behavioural intentions towards each organisation were subsequently measured.Findings The appraisal group manipulation significantly affected consumers’ behavioural intentions towards these businesses, and the majority of these relationships were mediated by feelings of gratitude towards the organisations.Research limitations/implications These data indicate that gratitude not only mediates customer responses to relationship marketing investments, but may also be integral in marketing communications’ role in converting non-customers to customers. They also indicate that marketing communications should stress that an organisations services are of high value, of cost to the organisation and provided out of a genuine desire to help.Originality/value This paper shows for the first time that the same cognitive appraisals that underpin feelings of interpersonal gratitude mediate responses to global evaluations of organisations. This considerably broadens the situations under which gratitude had previously been considered to operate and argues for the inclusion of gratitude in understanding how marketing communications and relationship management are used to influence consumer responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Extant research on comparative advertising has focused only on “market leader” comparisons (a brand targeting the market leader), whereas in the marketplace, “multi-brand” comparisons are more prevalent (Kalro et al., 2010). Moreover, most research focuses on direct comparisons only. Hence, this research aims to investigate the interplay between comparison ad strategy (“market leader”/“multi-brand” comparisons) and comparison ad format (direct/indirect comparisons) on the effectiveness of comparative advertising.Design/methodology/approach This paper uses four 2 × 2 fully crossed factorial designs (comparison ad format: direct vs indirect and comparison ad strategy: market leader vs multi brand) with established and new brands in two categories: powdered detergents and smart phones. All studies were conducted in metropolitan cities of India.Findings By and large, the experiments indicated that direct (indirect) comparisons lowered (heightened) perceived manipulative intent and enhanced (reduced) attitude-toward-the-ad for multi-brand (market leader) comparisons.Practical implications Findings suggest that when advertisers use comparative advertising, they may use direct ads when using multi-brand comparisons and use indirect ones when using market leader comparisons. It could also be argued that when advertisers use multi-brand comparisons because of fragmentation in the marketplace, they may directly compare against these multiple brands. When advertisers need to compare against a market leader, they may do so indirectly.Originality/value This research is among the first to investigate multi-brand comparisons that are widely used in the industry and that too in the context of both direct and indirect comparison formats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to offer explanations of the wide variation in the impact of market size on new market entry decisions – i.e. its positive impact lessens because of unreliable predictability of market size on post-entry profit and entry motivations other than post-entry profit.Design/methodology/approach On the basis of the two explanations, this paper builds a contingency frame that the impact of market size on new market entry depends on entry-context-specific variables. It validates the contingency frame, empirically analyzing 219 parameter estimates of the impact of market size on market entry obtained from 41 existing empirical studies.Findings The meta-analysis results reveal that the entry-context-specific variables used in this study – niche market entry, high-tech market entry, entry by industry incumbent firms and the year of market entry – notably moderate the impact of market size on new market entry decisions, as the research frame suggests.Research limitations/implications This study examines the various literature and study outcomes in the areas of marketing, economics and strategy to elucidate whether and when market size is a critical driver of new market entry. In most cases, the greater the new market size, the greater is the propensity to enter the market. However, the contingency arguments stated in this paper suggest that firms may and do enter a new market even if the market size is not large at the time of entry.Originality/value This paper enhances the understanding of the relative importance of market size in market entry decisions, which depend on various entry contexts. It clarifies the direction and magnitude of the impact of such entry contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose A strong brand is one that consumers know and perceive as differentiated from competing brands. Building brands with high levels of awareness and uniqueness is critical to ensuring brand strength and sustained competitiveness. To this end, the roles of brand management capability and brand orientation are highlighted. However, given the significance of consistency in branding, firms’ brand management capability and brand orientation alone may not be sufficient, and a mechanism that facilitates branding consistency is required. In the integrating marketing control theory with the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities (DC) theory, this study aims to examine how a firm’s brand orientation, when supported by formalisation, contributes to building brands with high levels of awareness and uniqueness through the intervening role of brand management capability.Design/methodology/approach In testing the hypotheses proposed in this study, survey data were drawn from a sample of firms operating in the consumer goods sector and examined through hierarchical regression analysis.Findings This study finds that firms are more likely to build brands with high levels of awareness and uniqueness in the market when their brand orientation is supported by formalisation, because this combination (brand orientation and formalisation) facilitates branding consistency and brand management capability development.Originality/value In weaving together the theoretical perspectives of marketing control, RBV and DC, this study extends current knowledge by showing that brand management capability and brand orientation alone are insufficient for building brands with high levels of awareness and uniqueness. Instead, maximising their performance effects requires the support of formalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to provide an empirical investigation into extension category effects on service brand extensions, both to other services (service–service extensions) and to products (service–product extensions), and the extension category’s influence on brand/consumer-level success drivers, as well as the perceived quality of the extension.Design/methodology/approach This study included an empirical testing of a conceptual framework using a hierarchical linear modeling approach and testing of hypotheses with a multilevel regression analysis. The data set consisted of 216 respondents reporting on both product and service extensions. Data were collected on three levels, namely, consumer level, parent brand level and extension level.Findings The findings indicate a general and consistent extension category-dependent effect that moderates the importance of brand extension success drivers. The influence of parent brand reliance and perceived parent brand quality were found to have stronger effects, whereas parent brand conviction was weaker in the context of service-to-service extensions.Research limitations/implications The study focuses on two brands with four extensions. Further research could replicate the study with a broader range of brands and extensions.Practical implications The study provides guidance to service managers to enhance consumers’ extension evaluations through better-positioned communication efforts when extending to different categories.Originality/value The study is one of the first empirical investigations into category-extension effects and its moderating role regarding brand and consumer level success drivers. Sparse research has been dedicated to a real-world occurrence of services extending between extension categories; this study thus furthers service brand research in terms of brand management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The authors aimed to examine the presence and character of inter- and intra-approaches to replication studies published in five leading marketing journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science) across four decade intervals (i.e. 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010/2011). The research sought answers to three research questions.Design/methodology/approach Content analysis of a randomly selected sample of 2,717 articles found 128 replicative studies in the journal issues. Comparisons of the replication approaches of the studies address two issues: the criticism that intra-study replication is not true replication as it is inconsistent with the criterion of researcher independence and the reported outcomes of the replicative studies relative to those of the original studies.Findings Overall, the presence of replications increased over time; however, the increase was attributable primarily to the number of intra-study replications published in two decades, the 2000s and 2010/2011 intervals. Conflicting findings infrequently appeared in the replication studies regardless of approach, indicating the possible existence of confirmation bias in the marketing literature.Originality/value Replication in marketing is either improving or stagnant depending on the accepted definition of replication. Of special importance, given the questioning of the intra-study approach as true replicative research, more replicated findings produced by independent researchers are needed to establish theoretical validity of marketing knowledge for use by both marketing academicians and decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The study investigates the development of three key strategic marketing constructs – market orientation, marketing-related business process capabilities and marketing performance measurement – as well as their performance implications over a period of six years in a Nordic setting. The aim of the study is to shed light on recent developments in contemporary strategic marketing, and thereby to identify managerially relevant points of focus for the future.Design/methodology/approach The study builds on a national-level survey study conducted among Finnish companies of various sizes representing different industries and market positions in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. The data capture the development of strategic marketing over the most recent business cycle, from the upturn to the financial crisis of late 2008, the following downturn and the recent tentative recovery.Findings The findings shed light on the changing role of the three key strategic marketing constructs over the years. Particularly, the study supports the recent notion that market orientation is no longer a differentiator, but a standard. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the varying role of marketing-related business process capabilities over the changing business cycle. Finally, the study shows that marketing performance measurement maintains its beneficial impact on firm performance across years and across the business cycle.Practical implications By investigating recent developments in the field of strategic marketing, taking into account the changing business cycle and the broader trends and developments in the field, this study provides insights for managers of both product and service businesses on how to better adjust their marketing efforts to the contemporary business environment and its economic development.Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study on a national level that longitudinally investigates the role and impact of the three key strategic marketing constructs, with a particular focus on their relative performance impact over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the strategic intent and consequent organisation of innovation summits. Innovation summits have recently appeared in practice as a new approach by which firms strategically market and further their open innovation agendas both internally and externally.Design/methodology/approach To advance the knowledge of this novel phenomenon, which has not yet been described in theory, a qualitative research design is appropriate. Consequently, this research conducts comparative case studies of four leading companies.Findings The paper contributes knowledge on how innovation summits can be designed and used as a strategic marketing approach to mobilise and match key people for open innovation. The authors find that the strategic scope and cognitive distance of invited firms are critical dimensions in characterising distinct types of innovation summits and propose a classification scheme for understanding different types of summits.Practical implications For practitioners, the authors present two central questions to consider before staging a summit: what is the strategic scope and who should be involved? This classification scheme offers managers an understanding of the implications of these choices.Originality/value While much research takes a macro-perspective on open innovation, much less is known about the micro-level of bringing parties together. In practise, the concept of innovation summits has gained a significant interest; however, the concept is still relatively unknown in the literature. This paper is one of the first to advance knowledge of this novel phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to create the taxonomy of firms based on the nature of the relationship between market-based resources and marketing capabilities. Anchored in the configuration theory, the present study aims to explore simultaneous roles of market-based resources, i.e. customer orientation and competitor orientation, and marketing capabilities, i.e. the execution of marketing practices and activities within a firm, on firm performance.Design/methodology/approach A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data from chief executive officers or top managers of 220 firms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a transitional economy in South Eastern Europe.Findings Drawing on a configuration approach via the latent class analysis, the authors empirically derive four distinct strategic marketing patterns, namely, marketing super achievers, marketing-focused virtuosi, marketing drifters and marketing mass pushers. The findings also highlight how business performance outcomes differ as a function of a class membership.Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional research design and focus on a single country are main limitations of the present study. Thus, longitudinal studies in the context of developed and fast-reforming transition economies are advisable for future work.Practical implications This study enhances the knowledge on how a firm can configure or bundle its market-based resources and marketing capabilities to produce desired outcomes. Findings suggest that joint attention to building market-oriented culture and developing marketing capabilities seems to pay off. However, the authors found that a lack of market knowledge can be substituted by the firms’ ability to build effective promotional and branding capabilities. Thus, the present study adds to the emerging dialog on the relative importance of alternative strategic orientations in achieving superior business performance.Originality/value This study contributes to the strategic marketing literature by examining the synergistic effect of market-based resources and marketing capabilities on firm performance using a configurational approach. It also provides support for the equifinality proposition, suggesting that different “bundles” of market-based resources and marketing capabilities can lead to similar level of performance outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to define a typology of strategic segmentation accounting for antecedents (potentially conscious or subconscious) that influence marketing managers’ practice of strategic segmentation, thereby formulating a new theoretical basis to bridge the current theory–practice literature gap in strategic segmentation.Design/methodology/approach Based on the resource-advantage theory, this paper defines a typology of strategic segmentation that depicts how a firm’s access to imperfectly mobile resources relates to the marketing manager’s assumed heterogeneity of the market and to the manager’s approach to the market.Findings The authors postulate a typology of firms’ strategic segmentation and approach to the market that is heavily influenced, and potentially limited, by the firm’s available resources to effectively segment and address the market.Research limitations/implications The typology suggests that resource availability affects a manager’s view and approach to the market. Therefore, testing of this typology should be performed to provide an empirical basis for a taxonomical foundation of strategic segmentation. Empirical testing should examine whether: resource availability is directly related to managers’ views of market heterogeneity, resources are negatively correlated with market approach, market-based intelligence (customer needs) are linked to the market approach, and there is relationship between a firm’s position within the typology and its long-term performance.Practical implications This paper provides an understanding that a manager’s knowledge of resource availability may be strategically counter-productive when creating a strategic segmentation. This limitation may lead to short-run choices for segmentation and market approach. Managers should, therefore, consider their strategic goals both with and without limiting their view based on current resources.Originality/value This paper provides the first typology of strategic segmentation by considering theoretical foundations of business that could bridge the often-noted theory–practice gap of segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to address two unique and important questions. First, how do recessions directly affect firms’ marketing spending decisions? Second, and more importantly, do firms which are more committed to marketing spending through past recessions achieve better stock market returns?Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a combination of National Bureau of Economic Research, COMPUSTAT and Center for Research in Security Prices data on 6,000 firms between 1982 and 2009 which are analyzed using panel data-based regression models.Findings The authors find that firms cut marketing spending during recessions. However, firms committed to marketing spending during past recessions achieve better stock market returns. The findings are found to be robust across B2B and B2C industries, different periods and US firms which vary on the proportion of their global revenue from non-US sales.Research limitations/implications Top executives cut marketing budgets during recessions; however, if they can resist the pressures, and strategically continue to make marketing investments during recessions, they will achieve higher stock market returns.Originality/value This is the first paper to establish the longer-term (not short-term) positive stock market performance of continuous (not episodic) marketing spending through past recessions, i.e. the view that marketing spending is necessary (not discretionary) for stock returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to establish how strategic target-market selection decisions are shaped, challenged and driven in response to the rapidly evolving technological landscape. The authors critically evaluate the implications of these changes for the role of marketers and the organizational function of marketing.Design/methodology/approach The research uses qualitative methods. Key-informant interviews are conducted among senior organizational practitioners within client-side organizations, digital agencies and strategic marketing consultancies, seeking to contrast their views.Findings The findings reveal an erosion of responsibility for the integrated strategic role of marketing decision-making. In particular, the authors reveal that the evolving digital landscape has precipitated a sense of crisis for marketers and the role of marketing within the firm. This extends beyond simply remedying a skills-gap and is triggering a transformation that has repercussions for the future of marketing and its practice, thus diminishing functional accountability.Research limitations/implications The findings have long-term implications for marketing as a strategic organizational function of the firm and for marketing as a practice.Originality/value The study considers an increasingly digitalized marketplace and the associated impact of big data for the function of marketing. It reveals the changing scope of strategic marketing practice and functional accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the value of marketing dashboards, a key area of interest for scholars and practitioners. This study examines two critical outcomes of marketing dashboards: marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Additionally, the research analyzes the impact of the firm’s internal structure on the relationship between marketing dashboards and the outcomes.Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm is tested. The research uses survey data collected from marketing professionals employed within business-to-business firms. Data from the key informants are analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings The results demonstrate that marketing dashboards are significantly related to marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Centralization exhibits a negative moderating effect, and formalization exhibits a positive moderating effect on the relationship between marketing dashboards and marketing strategy implementation speed. Marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are related to market performance.Originality/value Through the examination of main and moderating relationships, this paper demonstrates that marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are key integration mechanisms that leverage the marketing dashboard resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build an understanding of what we term “consumer discipline” by unpacking the practices and strategies by which people manage and exert control over what they consume. This is facilitated by looking at the context of food, an everyday necessity imbued with sizeable importance in terms of its impact on personal well-being, and how it is experienced by individuals who must manage the constraints of a chronic illness. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the Foucauldian concept of governmentality and theories surrounding the social facilitation of self-management, this paper analyses interviews with 17 consumers diagnosed with diabetes or coronary heart disease. Findings – By exploring how the chronically ill generate different strategies in managing what they eat and how they think about it, this paper outlines four analytical areas to continue the discussion of how consumption is disciplined and its conceptualisation in marketing and health-related research: “the Individual”, “the Other”, “the Market” and “the Object”. Practical implications – The results signal to policymakers the aspects of health promotion that can be enhanced to improve self-management amongst consumers in the pursuit of well-being. Originality/value – This paper makes two contributions: it conceptualises consumer discipline as a practice that involves self-control but also comprises the capabilities to self-manage one’s identity and relationships through leveraging personal and social strategies across various contexts; and it identifies macro influences such as the market as negotiable powers that can be contested or resisted to help assist in one’s self-management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This study aims to demonstrate that meta-perceptions play a contributing role in customers' direct complaint intention. Design/methodology/approach -- In an exploratory study, we identified different types of meta-perceptions. In a scenario-based experiment, we tested the interaction effect of service failure attribution and the perceived service failure severity on meta-perceptions and direct complaint intention. Findings -- After experiencing service failure, customers amplify both positive and negative meta-perceptions. Depending on how customers attribute the service failure and perceive the magnitude of service failure, they evaluate these meta-perceptions differently which then determine their subsequent actions. Research limitations/implications -- The use of hypothetical scenarios may not capture the richness of an actual service encounter. The study is limited to two service failure contexts: cable TV connection and restaurant booking. Practical implications -- Service managers should design marketing strategies that can elevate customers' positive social image associated with voicing complaints. Originality/value -- This study offers a new explanation, in that some customers do not engage in direct complaining behavior owing to meta-perceptions that they develop during service failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to investigate the determinants of successful online viral marketing. More companies in recent years have reduced their advertising expenditures on traditional media. Instead, they focus more on word-of-mouth marketing to reach their potential customers. Design/methodology/approach -- A 2 (high/low utilitarian message context) × 2 (high/low hedonic message context) × 2 (message source: strong/weak tie strength) × 2 (channel: e-mail/blog) between-subjects experiment was conducted. A total of 363 completed questionnaires were collected in Taiwan. Findings -- The findings are fourfold. First, the greater the tie strength between the sender and the receiver, the more actively they share information. Second, an audience is more willing to share a message with others when the message contains higher degrees of utilitarian or hedonic values. Third, those who are highly involved with the products are more willing to share information than those who are less involved. Fourth, those who access the information via blogs are more willing to share information with others. Research limitations/implications -- The first limitation pertains to the issue of external validity. Also, to maximize internal validity, hypothetical scenarios and experimental designs were used rather than actual e-mail/blog experiences as stimuli. The results of this study provide some key strategic implications for companies that are seeking to enhance a successful viral marketing campaign. Practical implications -- This study suggests there is no "one size fits all" answer. A successful viral marketing campaign is specific to individual characteristics and the approaches used. Originality/value -- The present study combines related research -- including communication theory, consumer value and involvement theory -- to investigate the determinants of individuals' intentions to share marketing information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In cooperation with a German online retail bank, the aim of this paper is to investigate how the bank should price a new fee-only financial advisory service. Two types of pricing plans differ in terms of their strategies for determining monthly prices: a fixed monthly price that is identical for all clients (i.e. a flat pricing plan) or a monthly price that varies as a function of each client's assets under management (i.e. a volume pricing plan). Design/methodology/approach – With a discrete choice experiment, this article studies client preferences for the two types of plans. To ensure that the respondents understood the financial consequences of their decisions, a price calculator was embedded into the discrete choice experiment to enable the respondents to determine their individual monthly prices based on their assets under management. Findings – Methodologically, the price calculator is useful for simplifying mathematically complex decisions, and it provides additional valuable information for analysis. Substantively, the results show that clients perceive both types of pricing plans as equally attractive; however, the service provider's revenues would increase by up to 12 per cent if it uses the volume pricing plan. Originality/value – This research extends the stream of literature on the measurement of pricing plan preferences and offers guidance for service industries, such as telecommunications, cloud computing services, insurances, or transportation. It extends the use of discrete choice experiments to study client preferences for different pricing plans and also integrates a decision aid, i.e. a price calculator, in the experiment to assist clients in comparing alternatives more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – A loyalty program might influence buyer behavior in several ways. Prior research offers evidence that buyers might increase the frequency of purchases and volume per occasion in a loyalty program; however, the effect on buyers' price tolerance has not been studied before. The aim of this paper is to examine buyers' willingness to pay a price premium for a firm offering a loyalty program reward. Design/methodology/approach – An analytical model of dynamic consumer choice is developed, where one of the two selling firms offers a reward for a certain number of purchases. The maximum price premium that a normatively rational buyer should be willing to pay at each level of accumulated purchases is obtained. A price tolerance in controlled settings is obtained and these are compared with normative solutions. Findings – Analytically, it is shown that the maximum price premium increases as purchases are accumulated; and the exact solutions can be found, given the price distributions and program design parameters. In the empirical studies it is found that individuals' maximum premiums are less than the normative levels. On the other hand, as buyers accumulate purchases from the reward offering firm, and get closer to the reward, maximum premiums paid increase – particularly when the reward is immediate. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the loyalty programs literature by examining the price premium, or switching barrier, aspect of buyer response. Furthermore, the paper not only models and solves the normative strategy, but also obtains actual price tolerance in laboratory settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Very little is known about why, how and to what effect firms deviate from intended marketing plans. The aim of this paper is to extend the understanding of this phenomenon, post plan improvisation (PPI), and begin to identify and categorize such deviations along with their apparent causes and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Using the critical incident technique, 384 incidents of PPI were gathered and systematically classified from marketing planners (managers who use marketing planning software) on six different continents using an online survey. Findings – The principal contributions of this study are: the systematic development of a taxonomy for post-plan improvisations; the reported frequencies associated with those categories; and tentative findings regarding relationships between the causes, deviations, and success of PPI. Improvisations that were prompted by changes in external market factors were more likely to be judged by planners as having been successful than those made for reasons internal to the firm. The results also suggest that there exists an optimal level of PPI, that improvisations in pricing are likely to result from changes in the external macro environment, that improvisations in promotion are likely to be responses to competitors, and that managers who are less experienced at planning are less successful than experienced planners at improvisation. Originality/value – Due to the inherent unpredictability of improvisational decision making, few empirical studies have attempted to capture details regarding specific deviations from intended actions. This study is the first attempt to capture and categorize those data in order to allow for more meaningful future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]