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Practitioners and academics have long discussed strategies for brand sales growth. A recent example is an industry debate in which different brand growth strategies were argued: https://www.mmaglobal.com/thegreatdebate (MMA Global & Neustarr, 2021). A central question in this arena is whether a brand should focus on its heavy, light, or non-buyers in its efforts to grow its sales. This study contributes to our knowledge about how sales growth can occur by investigating the potential contribution these three buyer groups can make to any sales gain. Using both, a simulation study and an empirical study of purchases of approximately 12,400 households in the UK, across different brands and categories, we show that almost any brand's headroom growth potential lies mostly in light or non-buyers of that brand. Even for large brands with high penetration the growth potential of light brand buyers eclipses heavy brand buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore the links between the structural organisation of the television industry and the wellbeing of the ordinary people who take part in its productions. Following a series of high-profile suicides, calls have been made for broadcasters to reconsider their duty of care. New regulations have been initiated in the UK, emphasising the need to risk-assess vulnerable contributors and provide them with psychological support. But these changes have been driven by moral outrage and media criticism rather than empirical research, and a lack of attention has been paid to understanding the views of the participants themselves. Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of 30 documentary contributors and producers, this article will seek to contextualise their experiences within the political economy of TV production, focussing on the impact of five recent developments in relation to working practices, jobs functions, narrative norms, marketing strategies, and the wider media ecology. My argument is that the wellbeing of contributors, producers, and the production environment are all intrinsically connected, and have been fundamentally reshaped by the neo-liberal reorganisation of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of novelty instruments in British concerts between 1750 and 1800. The author argues that these instruments were primarily used as a form of self-promotion by performers and were often associated with immigrant musicians in Britain. The article discusses the marketing strategies employed during this time, the concept of novelty in music, and the different types of novelty instruments that were used. It concludes that these instruments were primarily used as promotional tools in public performances and were not intended for domestic music-making. The article also highlights the role of immigrant musicians in this phenomenon and emphasizes the cultural and social factors that influenced the use of novelty instruments during this period. [Extracted from the article]

In the UK and other countries in the world, the volume of gambling advertisements is increasing, as is the popularity of online sports betting. While there is increasing research examining the content of such advertising, there is little research examining what gamblers themselves think about such advertising. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to firstly, explore the attitudes and opinions of sports bettors in response to marketing techniques used by the gambling industry and secondly, explore the perceived impact advertising has on their sports betting behavior. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 19 UK sports bettors aged between 21 and 32 years old. Thematic analysis (TA) was used to analyze the transcripts. The analysis identified three main themes: (i) "temptation to gamble," (ii) "promotion characteristics of gambling," and (iii) "regulating gambling advertising." Each theme consisted of two or three subthemes that illustrated the underlying factors that were perceived to be important aspects that contributed to the opinions and attitudes towards the advertising. Findings indicate that specific inducements including enhanced odds and "request-a-bet" promotions were perceived to increase feelings of control and reduce feelings of risk, in some cases resulting in the placing of impulsive bets. According to the participants, social media marketing was found to be intrusive and the frequency of gambling advertising contributed to the normalization of betting. The present study highlights the need for further research into the efficacy of current advertising regulations in the UK, with the end goal of minimizing gambling-related harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on levels of service failure and recovery strategies in relation to UK online fashion retailers. In a changing social, political and economic environment the use of information technology has permeated all forms of organisations: from private to public, local to global, old and new. Parallel with this development, companies have developed and experimented with new means of interacting with customers, and have devised and applied a variety of marketing strategies. The deployment of the internet, along with its subsets, has created a number of new opportunities, as well as a range of uncertainties and burdens, particularly on consumer perceptions of service quality, service failure and recovery. This paper contributes to extant knowledge and offers an understanding of behavioural-related issues, e.g. understanding consumer behaviour in the development of innovative business models in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how work and employment conditions for young workers are affected by the actions of the state at the spatial scale of the locality. The article argues that young workers have experienced deteriorating labour market conditions following shifts in the form which capitalist accumulation takes in the UK. This shift has altered the composition of the national state which has in turn led to changes in how it regulates both local labour markets and the economic strategies of the local state. One result of these changes is the diffusion of neoliberal labour market reforms which have led to negative material consequences for young workers; these are manifest in the expansion of low-waged work concentrated in a small number of sectors, and characterized by an intensified labour process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the marketing research in emerging markets conference organized by the Indian Institute of Management in Noida, India on January 10-11, 2014. The event features various papers on topics including emerging economies, innovative research methods and marketing strategy innovations. It provides a preview of various awards from the journal "International Journal of Market Research" including the Young Research Writer, MRS Silver Medal & Innovation in Research Methods and the Collaborative awards. It also offers an overview of the papers within the issue on topics including behavioural economics, positioning strategies for political parties in Great Britain and the relationship between market research and social media.

The 2010 British election particularly focused on the party leaders’ images – a departure in fifty years of British elections. The principal contribution of the article is to illustrate how a combined approach to assessing leadership positioning using both the traditional survey and semiotic analysis can provide insights into what image attribute dimensions end up in the minds of members of the public (actual positioning) and on what image attribute dimensions party marketers are trying to position themselves (intended positioning). Using data from the 2010 British general elections, our findings indicate that the combined methodological approach would be particularly useful for brands that need repositioning, those whose image attribute positions change dramatically over time, and those who wish to target previously unresponsive target audience segments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Strategy formulation is commonly understood as the match between a firm's internal resources and skills and its external environment. Marketing strategy performance is the function of a dynamic, interactive process incorporating internal firm resources, external environmental factors, and competitive actions. The study aims to assess the impact of competitor actions on marketing strategy performance. We develop a model that accommodates the effects of 29 variables (comprising internal marketing strategy variables, external environmental factors and competitors' marketing mix variables) on business performance. We empirically test the model using simultaneous equation modelling of time-series data on UK car manufacturers collected from publically available resources and annual reports. The results show that external factors, in particular competitors' marketing mix elements, have a greater influence on a company's business performance than internal (marketing and non-marketing) strategy variables. Implications for marketing theory and management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the use of evaluative cues by consumers in a services context. In particular, the paper investigates the extent to which consumers' familiarity and objective/subjective expertise affect the degree to which functional and non-functional cues are used in evaluating investment products. The methodology for the study is quantitative, involving a random telephone sample of 1002 respondents broadly representative of the UK population. Means scores for various constructs are used in a regression analysis to test three hypotheses. The findings indicate that greater familiarity is associated with the importance of functional, rather than non-functional, cues in financial services evaluation, as is greater objective expertise. However, no relationship is apparent between subjective expertise and cue utilisation. The study has significant managerial implications, as an informed understanding of how cue utilisation varies with consumers' familiarity and expertise will assist managers in their attempts to formulate marketing strategies that appeal to targeted customer segments. Overall, the paper provides a novel insight into the appropriate conceptualisation of evaluative cues in a services setting, as well as an enhanced understanding of how consumers’ utilisation of such cues in their evaluations of a high credence financial services is contingent upon familiarity and expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The coalition government that resulted from the 2010 general election represents a new scenario in the British political marketplace with implications for political marketing theory and practice. The modelling of political marketing in the UK has evolved in relatively stable market conditions in which majority governments are elected; the market restructure arising from the 2010 election outcome offers an opportunity for a revised understanding of the field. Political science has established an important and dynamic body of knowledge that explains the founding and operation of coalitions. A comparative appraisal of coalition government and commercial cooperative arrangements indicates some commonalities. Western European elections are characterised by multiple actors, regional preferences, smaller parties, cooperative distribution of power, and assumed negotiability of the offer. As the British political marketplace evolves to exhibit similar characteristics, insights from these markets are used to contribute to the more multifaceted, cooperative models of political marketing management required for the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the past and current migration of many populations, a significant and growing global marketing opportunity exists for products where the national identity or country of origin can be used as positive sub-branding. Two important questions for marketing researchers are discussed: first, how to 'reach' these consumers psychologically and, second, how to 'physically' reach them. To appreciate how to reach them psychologically the emotional significance and key dimensions of national, cultural or regional origins are examined using both the literature and a qualitative research study. As regards how 'physically' to reach and make contact both in marketing research and marketing terms with such a geographically dispersed target market, the authors examine marketing research and database research questions to establish a person's perceived roots, and report on an innovation in the use of personal and family names as indicators of origins or affiliations. Focusing on Scottish migrants and their descendants as a case study, the paper reports on a programme of research in which the strength of the link between Scottish identity and the consumption of Scottish goods is determined. The findings indicate a significant marketing opportunity given the above average level of purchasing of Scottish products by migrants and their descendants, particularly as such people represent ambassadors for goods from their country of origin. The implications for other migrant groups across the world are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses a long-standing debate in the literature regarding the appropriateness and performance consequences of marketing strategy standardization vs. adaptation. Much of the relevant literature represents the headquarters' viewpoint and broadly assesses antecedents of standardization or adaptation across widely varying markets. Using strategic fit as the theoretical platform for analysis, the study investigates international marketing strategy for a specific product or line within subsidiaries of U.S., Japanese, and German multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the U.K. The results indicate that degree of strategy standardization is significantly related to similarity between markets with respect to regulatory environments, technological intensity and velocity, customs and traditions, customer characteristics, a product's stage in its life cycle, and competitive intensity. On the critical question of performance consequences, the findings suggest that superior performance results from strategy standardization only to the extent that there is fit or coalignment between the MNC's environmental context and its international marketing strategy choice. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers not only the nature of segmentation, but in particular political segmentation. It suggests that currently political parties utilise a simplistic type of segmentation and that they need to be more aware of the complexities of the electorate. In particular, the political parties need to be aware of the preferences of those who make up 52% of the population - women. The literature on attracting women voters is explored indicating that women have different perceptions of politics and politicians. To illustrate the point a discussion group with black and Asian women is presented. The campaigns and the results of the 2005 election are also explored to further illustrate the point. The paper concludes that the issues of importance to politicians are not in line with the aspirations and requirements of the female voters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political marketing was a key factor in the 2005 campaign, but more for its ineffectiveness than for its success. The use of marketing techniques such as segmentation and targeting was prolific, however the extent to which the parties adopted the marketing concept was limited. The impact of Labour's Big Conversation and 'Team Labour' campaign approach was always going to be hindered by Tony Blair's perceived dismissal of party and voter opinion on the Iraq War and top-up fees; appointing a marketing director to work on the presentation rather than the design of policy, combined with a highly negative campaign, was never going to win the election for the Tories. The lessons of electoral history - and marketing - were proved right once again: only if parties fully embrace the marketing philosophy and comprehensively design their behaviour by reflecting and responding to public demand. Nevertheless the key to future success for UK parties is to bring back ideology: market-oriented politics should also include using party principles and leadership judgement in order to be able to produce a distinctive response to the public concerns that is both popular and credible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After identifying the paucity of positioning research relating to political marketing the construct is defined and practical examples of its application in politics provided. The analysis of the 2005 election starts by considering the long term framing of political issues and concludes that this, overall, provided Labour with a competitive advantage. Next the positioning dilemmas facing the three national parties in British politics at the start of the campaign are highlighted. Using a basic positioning model, the positioning strategies followed during the campaign itself are then discussed, both in terms of policies and image/emotional positioning approaches. The attempts by the opposition parties to reposition Labour and the latter's defensive reactions are discussed at this point. Then, the way the wider positioning of the parties was targeted at electoral segments is considered. The paper concludes with an attempt to explain the election result in terms of the relative success or failure of the positioning strategies adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political parties have long since targeted the marginal constituency and floating voters using demographic segmentation approaches and the use of market segmentation techniques in general election campaigns is now well-documented (see Johnson 1971; Ahmed and Jackson 1979; Yorke and Meehan 1986; Baines et al. 2003). The actual practice of segmentation as undertaken by political parties and its relation to theory is less well-considered. This paper represents a serious attempt to outline how political parties targeted a priori segments of the electorate including gender, age and life cycle in the 2005 British General Election when they should have been adopting a product attributed-based approach. Selected MORI surveys from April 2005 were analysed, using logistic regression to indicate the most important factors in determining how Britons vote. Principal components analysis provides an indication of how the three main British political parties are perceived. The paper discusses, using resource-advantage theory (Hunt 1995; Hunt and Arnett 2004) how political parties might use their party and leader image, and policies to build their popularity in an election campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour's 2005 election campaign was extensively underpinned by political marketing. This resulted in a campaign of unequal halves; generic and populist at national level; focused and individualised at local level. This article describes the text of Labour's campaign, and its response to its environment, focusing upon its image management strategies in response to the political and media environment within which it operated. This also included the Conservatives and an increasing overlap between politics and celebrity culture. This campaign saw a continuation and sophistication of marketing strategies and technologies, enabling parties to target individual, strategically important, voters. A specific personalised message was presented to 2% of the electorate, while a broad image was promoted to the rest of the populace. With an election focused on a targeted minority of the electorate, it is argued that far from being a force to enhance democracy, marketing at the 2005 election challenges the ideals upon which the democratic process of politics is premised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors use punctuated equilibrium theory as a framework to help explain potential differences in the export sales management arrangements between firms that adopt an export market expansion strategy of either market concentration or market spreading. On the basis of a thorough review of the extant literature, the authors identify certain export sales managers' characteristics and behavior, export sales behavioral control, and satisfaction with export sales territory design as potential discriminators between these two groups of direct exporting firms. Consistent with the hypotheses, in general, the authors find that the tenets of punctuated equilibrium theory hold for the sample of small and medium-sized U.K. exporters. In addition, the results indicate that export market expansion strategy has important implications for a firm's export sales management arrangements. The authors discuss the findings and outline implications for business practitioners and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context of globalization, firms have concentrated their efforts on the development of international brands. As a result, international brand portfolios have been restructured, and many successful local brands have been eliminated. This article's objective is to improve the understanding of local brand differences and competitive advantages relative to international brands. To achieve this, the authors reanalyzed the Young & Rubicam database Brand Asset Valuator and examined more than 744 brands across the four largest countries in Europe: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. The authors discuss the managerial implications of the findings for international marketers as they develop their ideal international brand portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that positioning is considered by both academics and practitioners to be one of the key elements of modern marketing management, it is surprising to uncover a general paucity of consumer/customer-derived typologies of positioning strategies. This research presents the results of an empirical study that develops and validates a scale measuring consumer/customer based generic typology of positioning strategies. Eight distinct positioning factors/strategies emerged that were named (a) top of the range, (b) service, (c) value for money, (d) reliability, (e) attractiveness, (f) country of origin, (g) the brand name, and (h) selectivity. The reliability and validity of the scale was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The scale has potential to serve as an instrument for the operationalisation of positioning strategies and given that no additional items are needed, it is simple to use. It concludes by providing managerial implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in services marketing has recognised the role of brands as aids to customers' decision making, particularly in situations where credence qualities and perceived risk may be high. In practice, there is limited empirical evidence for the role played by brands in highly intangible contexts such as financial services. This paper explores the role of the brand in relation to bank selection by small business customers in two culturally distinct countries, namely Egypt and the UK. The results indicate that there is considerable similarity in the role played by brands in both countries and suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on brands when developing marketing strategies for the small business market [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK currently has about 20 million people who are 50 years old or over. This number is expected to grow to 25 million by 2021. Older people offer new market opportunities, and companies that choose to ignore them will do so at their own peril. Literature indicates that marketers' existing understanding of older consumers revolves around their personal characteristics, in terms of socioeconomic, demographical and psychographical data. Marketers tend to use personal characteristics as independent variables for segmenting older consumers. For simplicity, marketers also tend to treat older consumers in a similar way to which they treat the rest of the consumer market and differentiate older consumers only in terms of their chronological age. In this article, the author discusses the potential application of benefit segmentation technique for segmenting and targeting older consumers in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have used the Narver and Slater's construct (1990), hereafter (N&S), to operationalise market orientation (MO). The assumption is that the construct is universally equivalent across cultures, countries and research contexts. We develop a way of testing the invariance of N&S operationalisations as an example of how researchers can establish measure invariance across different cultures, countries or languages. In this particular study we test the N&S operationalisation across Australian and UK samples. The results suggest that the conceptualisation of MO is similar in the two countries at a weak factorial invariance level. Thereafter the operationalisation is different, i.e. intercepts are significantly different and item reliabilities are also different. These results suggest that because measure equivalence is not strong, contextualisation of findings is necessary since generalisability may be limited. The significance of this research is in alerting researchers to the assumptions, rarely tested, that underlay comparisons across qualitatively distinct populations. We suggest researchers test these assumptions before substantive tests of theories are undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceived importance of five technical service qualities (Gronroos 1984) or features (i.e. national and local policies, leaders, values and candidates), and voters' ratings of the Labour and Conservative Parties' competence on each of these parameters, were investigated during the 2001 British General Election using an a priori segmentation method and the classification tree statistical technique for data analysis. Voter ratings of the technical service features were found to be indicators of intention to vote. A product differentiation approach is most likely to influence voting intention, because the technical service features are more readily manipulated through marketing programmes than demographic and customer characteristics (Bucklin and Gupta 1992). Ratings of technical service features are stronger indicators of voting intention than voter demographics and characteristics. A product differentiation approach, based around technical service features, would be the most effective focus for strategy development in future political marketing campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article sheds light on the relationship between internal marketing rhetoric and its practice within the UK retail bank sector and addresses a deficiency in the current internal marketing literature particularly in terms of implementation. A practitioner view is explored through data generated by in-depth qualitative interviews with thirty-five branch managers and twenty-one employees. The study produced some interesting findings structured in the form of relationships which highlighted the distinct nature of the internal marketing practice within the specific sector. This article sheds light on the six emergent relationships. The examination of the relationship between the rhetoric and practice of internal marketing within the UK retail bank industry raises some criticisms regarding the motives behind the adoption of internal marketing and the current implementation approach adopted by these organisations. The study's conclusions can be used as an outline agenda for future research aimed at strengthening internal marketing's legitimacy in the academic literature and highlighting its contribution to practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of research into the range of actors involved in the marketing of urban places as shopping destinations and the processes by which this marketing activity is planned. The paper highlights the differences between the process of marketing planning in this context (at the interface of the public and private sectors), as opposed to processes in private sector organizations from which the majority of current marketing theory was developed. It suggests various implications as to the characteristics of what Ashworth (1993) has termed a 'special type of marketing' to be applied to urban places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We outline the history of the UK Liberal Democratic Party (LibDem) and the context of the 2001 UK General Election and show how the strategy for the General Election campaign evolved within the party. The article traces the presentation of Charles Kennedy MP as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, the allocation of campaign resources and key events impacting upon the campaign. Particular consideration is given to the branding aspects of the leader role and the interaction between the party and leader in establishing the public perception of the LibDem brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to examine how well the political parties have targeted women and identifies political marketing as a means of creating voter satisfaction. It starts by examining the differences and changes in the number of women MPs following the general election in June 2001 compared with the outcome of the election in 1997. Voter behaviour and the lack of female role models in politics are then considered. The use of market segmentation is discussed. The paper concludes that political parties need to utilise segmentation in a more sensitive way to attract the silent majority of women and ensure their political success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the importance of building the brand image of parties and leaders in modern day politics. Firstly, the appropriateness of branding in the sphere of politics is considered. Then, brand image research on political parties and their leaders is identified and discussed. From this, the advertising (positive and negative), events and celebrity endorsements that affected the June 2001 election are discussed. Finally, some tentative conclusions on political image management are forwarded along with the likely future developments in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 1997-2001 the Conservative Party utilised many concepts and techniques from marketing but this yielded little success in the general election. This article explores the story behind this result: the attempts made by the leader William Hague to use political marketing and make the Party more responsive to voters, the obstacles he faced in changing the Conservatives at all levels; the final product they offered to voters in 2001, and the Party's communication efforts in the years before the election and the campaign. Overall, analysis indicates the difficulty but also the importance of marketing political parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour's second landslide victory of 2001 seemed inevitable given the almost continuous public support for the government through its first term. This paper considers the ways in which the party attempted to maintain and cultivate the electorate's backing during the last four weeks or 'short' campaign. Perhaps fearing apathy more than the Conservatives Labour launched 'Operation Turnout' in order to mobilise its core supporters. Though this attempt failed to boost electoral participation the party nevertheless achieved another major victory. In this so-called 'apathetic landslide' Labour was able to strategically outmanoeuvre their principal opponents the Conservatives. Interestingly the more telling and potentially compromising criticisms of government policy and party procedure came from sympathisers. These and other points will be examined with recourse to a marketing analysis of the Labour campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the typical account longevity is short, agencies should anticipate their likelihood of loss, seek to forestall and invest in their client relationships. A model is proposed for examining account lifetimes, which can offer guidance on the likely retention of future accounts. The impact of agency structural characteristics on longevity is also examined, and compared for both U.S. and U.K. markets. Results for both markets indicate that cumulative account dissolution increases at a decreasing rate over time. Greater account longevity is associated with larger agency size (both in terms of agency billings and employees), and agency age but not with stability of billings growth. Evidence suggests that several structural characteristics of agencies reflect the motivation and/or ability to maintain accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued, on the basis of first principles and a case example, that 'leakage' of advertising messages beyond the target audience can generate negative reactions when 'activists' in an accidentally addressed 'meta-audience' exert 'social pressure' on the advertiser's 'micro and macro-audiences,' inflicting 'collateral damage' on the advertiser in various ways. Examination of published data from industry sources shows that activists are a small sub-set of the meta-audience, but it is argued that their potential to reduce the long-term advertising effectiveness of some advertising campaigns is an issue for advertising managers and planners. Analysis of hitherto unpublished data yields a profile of one type of activist: those who complained about television advertising between 1996 and 1998. They belong to homogeneous social sub-groups that are geographically and demographically distinct from the general population, not least in conforming to the notorious north-south divide in Britain. It is proposed that this first-ever research-based profile of complainants offers a factual basis on which prudent advertising planners can predict the risk of collateral damage, and plan to minimise it by avoiding pre-disposing creative tactics or media schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the integration of relationship marketing and marketing measurement. In particular, it addresses the need for the development of a segmented service strategy. The paper reports the main findings from a study of the extent to which senior UK marketing managers measure key aspects of their relationship marketing strategies. The research suggests that most companies are not using adequate measurement systems to evaluate their relationship marketing. The profit and cost implications of a segmented service strategy are investigated using case examples from two UK service organisations. This involves exploring the profit potential across segments as a result of improvement in customer service and resulting increase in customer retention. A four step framework for developing a segmented service strategy is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for the development of a comprehensive model of giving behaviour has never been greater. In the UK, the proportion of households electing to support charity is continuing a twenty year decline. This factor, combined with the accompanying and sharp increase in the number of registered charities has contributed to the creation of an ever more hostile fundraising environment. If they are to survive, charities seeking funds from individual donors will have to refine both the quality and targeting of their fundraising campaigns. It is the purpose of this article to develop a comprehensive model of giving behaviour to assist them in this process. The article draws on literature from the fields of marketing, economics, clinical psychology, social psychology, anthropology and sociology. The implications of the resultant model for fundraising strategy are discussed and opportunities for further research delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market entry decisions are complex and involve high sunk costs with uncertain or risky outcomes. In this study we explore how owner, firm, and competitive pressures shape this decision. Using a large UK data set of SMEs, we find that the preferred form of growth, and growth is not always desired, is expansion in existing markets. Key determinants of the decision to pursue a new market entry strategy are formal education, and large firm based market competition. Further, these decisions are made simultaneously not sequentially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors set out and estimate a dynamic logit model of viewing behavior, which relates a channel's share ratings and audience composition to the programme types that it and competing channels are offering. Using the model on U.K. data, they evaluate the likely effects of changes in the programme types offered by current channels on the socioeconomic composition of channel audiences. They also show the impact of a new channel on audience composition, and how the model can be used in strategic programme scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade shows are a multibillion-dollar business in the United States and the United Kingdom, but little is known about the determinants of trade show effectiveness. The authors build a model that captures differences in trade show effectiveness across industries, companies, and two countries. They focus on the differences in trade show effectiveness measured in a similar way across similar samples of 221 U.S. and 135 UK firm-show experiences between 1982 and 1993. Although the variables explain different amounts of variance in these two countries and some variables tend to have different relative effects, the similarities outweigh the differences. The authors are able to generalize about the effect of various show selection (go/not go) variables as well as tactical variables (e.g., booth size, personnel) on observed performance. They conclude by discussing the implications of their research for developing benchmarks for trade show performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines market orientation following a critique of existing literature. It then operationalises this definition via a model containing three behavioural elements (customer orientation, employee orientation, and organisational co-ordination) linked to a long term survival requirement The model is tested in the context of the development of market orientation in the further education sector (in which professional--rather than commercial--values have tended to dominate). This sector is characterised by dynamic change in both its social/demographic and economic circumstances as well as the impact of government policy initiatives--especially the Education Reform Act of 1988 and Local Management of Colleges. The empirical focus of the paper is on three large FE Colleges in the English Midlands. It provides evidence to support the operationalisation of the definition of market orientation in the context of the management of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First stage internationalization begins when a firm begins to export, and reaches maturity with the establishment of one or more foreign manufacturing subsidiaries. Initially, a manufacturing subsidiary may service only its local market but, in time, the subsidiary begins to export its output to other countries, thus engaging in second stage internationalisation. This paper examines the activities of a sample of UK-based manufacturing subsidiaries of multinational corporations that are engaged in second stage internationalisation, assesses the linkages with other operating characteristics, and identifies strategy parameters that are associated with second stage internationalisation. In particular, attention is focused on the degree of autonomy enjoyed by the subsidiary, on the extent to which it is integrated with other affiliates within the parent network, the extent of configuration and coordination applied to its activities, and on the subsidiary's propensity to adjust its local responsiveness as it internationalises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing as an area of management has come under close scrutiny in recent years and the management of brands, both product and corporate, has been no exception. In particular, the brand manager as the champion of the brand has been under attack, namely, they are too young, inexperienced and focus too much on the short term. Indeed, the entire system of brand management has been questioned in the light of the rapidly changing marketing environment brought about by economic recession, internationalization and changing patterns of distribution. Add to this the growth of corporate branding and it is not difficult to understand the concerns. However, do these concerns reflect the reality? This paper explores the role and profile of the brand manager through a research survey carried out by the authors. The research examined the age, experience and remuneration package of brand managers and looked at their responsibilities, accountability and planning horizons within marketing departments. The results are discussed in the context of the wider marketing environment and trends towards alternative management systems such as category management and flatter organizational structures. It concludes that many of the criticisms are true but sometimes only in part. For example, brand managers are young and well educated but poorly trained. They manage more brands than they used to but have not widened their span of functional responsibilities to include the newer areas of marketing such as database marketing and trade marketing. They spend a relatively short period of time in one job, have short-term objectives and are paid in proportion to the size of their advertising and promotion budgets but are nevertheless usually part of a strategy formulation team. The research also indicates that organizations have been slow to adopt new structures, which is resulting in an increasingly fragmented brand management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of a longitudinal study of co-operative strategies in a small sample of pharmaceutical and scientific instrument companies and brought to bear on the process of internationalisation. Ten companies are studied over a four-year period–two are British scientific instruments companies, eight are pharmaceutical companies, five British owned, two French and one European. Five pharmaceutical companies are separated out as having their internationalisation strategy affected by extreme turbulence in the industry, resulting in acquisition or merger. The relatively stable environment of the other five companies provides a telling contrast. Internationalisation strategies are found to depend on the company's overall strategy, the immediate context of the firm and its past history of internationalisation. However, the crucial issue of the level of the analysis arises because many internationalisation moves are shown to be initiated at division, unit, site or individual manager level, with the result that a single internationalisation strategy cannot be described and that for the firm as a whole, conflicting international moves are often made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the European defence industry has had to respond to increasing pressures of reduced defence spending, exacerbated more recently by removal of the immediate military threat from the former Soviet Union. Under the "Options for Change", the UK has abandoned certain weapons programmes, while Germany has had the additional economic and social problems brought on by re-unification. The industry's options comprise conversion, diversification or specialization, thus continuing to face structure change and competition from defence imports and "off-the-shelf" systems and equipment. Given the high exit barriers and past "cushioning" of the industry by governments, the presence of skills and know-how to compete effectively is questionable. The case for strategic marketing approach for those suppliers remaining is clear; as buyer (monopsonistic) power strengthens, the threat of new entrants increases and the associated competitive rivalry intensifies. However, the ingrained "defence culture" in many supplier organizations may be an impediment to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the UK and German detergent markets provides useful evidence for the development of a model to predict the share changes that occur when a new product enters the market. A simple share order effect (SOE) model based on Luce's Axiom of the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) is tested on four different new product launches. Of these, only the product with both a new brand name and a new product format is consistent with the model. In the remaining three cases, all line extensions, the empirical data deviate from the model's predictions. The two UK line extensions appear to be affected by product format; the German line extension cannibalizes the parent. From these studies, it is suggested that radical line extensions do not cannibalize whereas line extensions that have a close fit with the parent are more likely to take sales from the core brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports empirical findings from a study of sports sponsorship activities by a representative sample of UK banks, building societies and insurance companies. While there are indications of a professional approach to the management of sports sponsorship programmes by some institutions, this pattern is by no means universal. The general impression is that sports sponsorship is used on an ad hoc, intermittent basis and appears unhinged from broader strategic considerations. There is only limited evidence of a rigorous practical application of the theoretical prescriptions identified in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]