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The use of mobile devices by consumers and the accompanying response by retailers is rapidly revolutionizing the retail environment. In the past, retailers have focused primarily on the outcome (to purchase or not to purchase) of the consumer decision process, but now mobile technologies give retailers the opportunity to more actively influence the entire consumer decision-making processes. The increasing use of mobile devices by consumers makes shopping a continuous rather than discrete activity that requires retailers to engage with their customers at critical touch points of the decision process in order to provide a more customer-centric experience. This change in focus from the decision outcome to the decision process signifies an important paradigm shift for the retailing industry. After an extensive review of the literature, we identify four pillars that form the foundation for the mobile shopping revolution and represent the essential ways and means through which retailers can engage with consumers during the decision process. We also discuss the different areas in which the pillars can enable retailers to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the mobile shopping era.

This paper describes the process used and experiences gained in developing a social media and marketing course. As the first known paper on this topic appearing in the marketing education literature, the paper provides educators with a framework for developing similar courses. The course was developed using a sound instructional design model, the Kemp Instructional Model, and was continuously improved over a four-year cycle. The course concept entailed four distinguishing characteristics: an experiential-learning approach, a nontraditional class format, a practitioner orientation that focused on the use of social media in marketing, and the integration of a Learning Community (LC) that consisted of multiple participants with different professional perspectives and areas of expertise. Based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations collected over a four-year period from all members of the LC, the course was found to be highly successful in achieving all course objectives.

The emergence of Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them. Thus, the impact of consumer-to- consumer communications has beengreatlymagnified inthe marketplace. Thisarticle argues that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a nontra- ditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. The content, timing, and frequency of the social media-based conversations occurring between consumers are outside managers' direct control. This stands in contrast to the traditional integrated marketing communications paradigm whereby a high degree of control is present. Therefore, managers must learn to shape consumer discussions in a manner that is consistent with the organization's mission and performance goals. Methods by which this can be accomplished are delineated herein. They include providing consumers with networking platforms, and using blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools to engage customers.

Sales force automation (SFA) is the use of software to automate sales tasks, including sales activities, order processing, customer management, sales forecasting and analysis, sales force management, and information sharing. An SFA system is often part of an enterprise-wide information system that connects and integrates sales activities with the organization's other operations. Therefore, SFA software is not only a tool critical to the success of today's sales force, but is also vital to the entire organization. SFA has the potential to empower companies to more efficiently manage their sales force and sales processes, to automate and standardize sales activities, and to connect the sales force with the rest of the organization. The value of these potential benefits in terms of lower costs or increased revenues has encouraged businesses to adopt SFA. Once adopted, however, SFA systems often fail to deliver anticipated benefits. The leading cause of SFA failures has been revealed as low user acceptance, which can be attributed to such factors as the disruption of established sales routines, sales force perception of the system as a micromanagement tool, differences in sales force and managerial expectations for the system, and lack of managerial support for the system as perceived by the sales force. Given these circumstances, managers who are aware of the major issues surrounding user acceptance of SFA will be more successful in implementing such systems. This article explores the utilization of SFA, the benefits derived from these systems, and user acceptance issues. Herein, we offer suggestions that will help organizations succeed in adopting SFA systems.

Sales force automation (SFA) technologies have many apparent benefits, but the adoption of SFA systems often fails because the sales force holds poor perceptions of these technologies. Understanding how these perceptions affect adoption of SFA systems is important because negative perceptions held by the sales force can often adversely influence the successful adoption and implementation of such systems. This paper examines how the sales force’s perceptions of productivity gains resulting from the adoption of an SFA system can be affected by their corresponding perception of the SFA system as a tool employed by upper-level management to more closely manage the activities of the sales force. The results are based on a national survey of 1,657 salespeople. The findings indicate a negative relationship between salespeople’s perceptions of the potential gains associated with the adoption of an SFA system and their corresponding perception of the use of the system by upper-level management to more closely manage the activities of the sales force.

Differences between management and salespeople in their perceptions of a new technology can affect the acceptance and implementation of that technology. For sales force automation (SFA) systems, the differences in the perceptions held by management and salespeople toward the SFA can affect the successful adoption and implementation of the system by the organization. This paper reports the results of an investigation that focused on the differences in perceptions held by the United States Army's recruiting force and its higher level management toward the Army's newly adopted SFA system, the Army Recruiting Information Support System (ARISS). The results of the study indicate that significant differences exist between the perceptions held by the recruiting force and higher level management toward ARISS, the SFA system. The results offer important insights into managing SFA system deployment and gauging user expectations.

PurposeThis paper examines how perceptions about salesforce automation (SFA) systems are influenced by the perceived accuracy of the information the system provides.Design/methodology/approachThree hypotheses are tested. They are as follows. Sales people who perceive that the information is inaccurate will be less likely to: have a positive perception of the system; think that their training was helpful; and think that the system improves their productivity. Chi‐square tests are used to test the association between the perceptions of information accuracy and the statements in the hypotheses.FindingsNegative perceptions about the accuracy of information leads to negative perceptions about other aspects of the SFA system.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examines the results for only one particular organization. The results may not be generalizable to other organizations. As similar data about other SFA systems become available, this study can be used as a basis for examining the effect of information accuracy on perceptions of SFA systems.Originality/valueSince the company has some control over the accuracy of the information provided by the system, they should attempt to provide information that the salesforce finds useful. To enure that the proper information is provided, management must seek the user's input about what information should be provided. Additionally, the data should be cleansed and provide an indicator of the probability that a particular lead will result in a sale.

This study investigates the relationship between the price and quality of consumer products in 10 countries. The study first focuses on the strength of the price-quality relationship for durable and nondurable products individually within each country and then compares the price-quality correlations across countries. A second focus of the study is to explain the variability in the price-quality conditions by using an ANOVA model with price variability and price level as two independent variables.

The first objective of this investigation was to determine the relationship of brand label, unit price, and package size on product value for frequently purchased consumer packaged goods. These variables were selected because they are frequently available to the consumer at the point-of-purchase as visible cues for determining product value. A second objective of the investigation was to determine the relationship between product value and brand label (store brand versus national brand) for food and nonfood product categories. An analysis of approximately 700 national brands and 300 store brands indicated that store brands generally have higher value levels than do national brands. The affect of unit price and package size on product value was also analyzed.

This study investigates the relationship between price and quality, in four consumer product categories, in two major world markets. The product categories included in the analysis-major appliances, housewares, consumer electronics, and photography equipment-have experienced a considerable increase in international competition in both the respective market areas. The results of the study, which included approximately 25,000 brands, indicate that the two market areas have similar price-quality relationships. The second objective of the study examined the relationship between price variation and price level on the strength of the price-quality correlation.

The primary objective of this research was to develop a segmentation model for the United States Army Recruiting Command Headquarters (USAREC), located at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The segmentation model was based on the MicroVision geodemographic system, developed by National Decisions Systems. Cluster analysis was used to develop the segmentation model. The research resulted in identifying 18 unique segments, or clusters, that were based on demographic and socioeconomic variables. The second objective of the research was to predict contract production within each market segment. The results of this portion of the analysis have allowed USAREC to more effectively establish and evaluate contract production goals across the command structure. The methodology employed in the research has wide applications to both the military and other service organizations that use geodemographic systems in their marketing programs.

This paper investigates the price-quality relationship for consumer electronics, housewares, major appliances, and photography equipment in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A very large range in the correlation coefficients at the product-line level was found; however, the mean value of the correlation coefficients over the entire product sample ranged between 0.18 and 0.35. The results are very similar to the results reported in price-quality studies conducted during the past four decades in the United States. The lack of a strong price-quality relationship for consumer products appears to be an international phenomenon.

User perceptions of new technologies may ultimately affect their acceptance of that technology. Recent research has identified a clear connection between user perceptions of Sales Force Automation and their acceptance of Sales Force Automation technologies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that relative to less experienced salespeople, more experienced salespeople tend to have more negative perceptions of sales force automation. This paper examines the relationship between job experience and perceptions of a sales force automation system. The results are based on a survey of 1,657 salespeople about their perceptions of several aspects of a sales force automation system in a large sales organization. This study finds significant differences by sales experience in areas such as perceived productivity/efficiency gain, perception of sales force automation as a micromanagement tool, and user satisfaction with system functionality. Based on these results several important managerial implications for the adoption of a sales force automation system are suggested.

This study investigates the price-quality relationship between national and private label brands of processed food products. Price-quality correlations and regression analyses indicate a weak relationship between price and quality for most food products. Consumers pay substantially more for national brand products, even though there appears to be no difference in objective quality between national and similar private label brands. Larger package sizes are offered at lower unit prices for most products; however, for most products there was no difference in package sizes between national and private label brands.

Focuses on quality service issues as they relate to channel retail systems, providing insights into the type of channel systems rewards that are given to distributors that produce superior service quality, and providing insights into the determinants of service quality in retail channel systems. Examines the relationship between retailers and consumers in the consumer beverage industry. Provides implications for managers and researchers.

This case addresses two frequently heard questions in real-world business settings: Why are sales going down? and What decisions must we make to reverse the sales decline? These questions were directed to Dr. Felix Wilder, a professor of Marketing, by the senior management of Big Red, Ltd., headquartered in Waco, Texas, after sales reports indicated a significant decline in year-over-year sales in the Louisville, Kentucky, market region. This region represented one of Big Reds most important market areas for soft drinks outside of its home base in Texas. Members of Big Reds senior management team were unable to identify the specific factors that had contributed to the sales decline. As a result, they commissioned Dr. Wilder to conduct an extensive marketing research project to determine the factors contributing to the erosion in sales. Dr. Wilder proposed a multifaceted exploratory research project that involved an extensive review of industry and trade literature, in-depth interviews with grocery store and super center store managers, an in-store consumer survey of Big Red customers, and a consumer focus group. The research design focused on the marketing mix variables, environmental factors, the target market, and changing consumer purchase behavior and lifestyle issues as possible sources contributing to the sales erosion. The results of Dr. Wilders investigation conflicted with Big Red managements preliminary hypotheses and revealed unexpected factors that may have contributed to the downward drift in sales. Based on the research, Dr. Wilder presented management with various alternative courses of action to correct the sales decline.

This paper extends the results of C. Hjorth-Andersen (1988) by examining agglomeration in quality space for 16,257 consumer products tested by Konsument and Test magazines. These magazines have tested and evaluated quality characteristics for a large number of brands of different consumer products, thereby indicating brand positions in quality space. The results indicate that markets for consumer products cluster around average and high quality. Manufacturers tend to provide consistent attribute qualities. The results remain consistent for different product classifications and different definitions of quality space. Copyright 1993 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Jn "The Concept of Quality and the Efficiency of Markets for Consumer Products," Hjorth-Andersen (1984) strongly condemns the use of overall productquality rankings, such as those published by Consumer Reports, as a basis for scientific research. His primary criticism is that creating an index of quality as a weighted average of subscores is usually misleading. He claims that this averaging process is unjustified except for brands that occupy approximately the same rank position on each attribute. This article reviews Hjorth-Andersen's arguments and identifies several important related questions on the use of published quality ratings in academic research. Statistical theory is developed to demonstrate that Hjorth-Andersen's conclusions are limited, and to examine the precise conditions under which his conclusions hold. Empirical evidence is presented that reveals the statistical frequency in real markets of the logical conditions deduced using our theory. Our conclusions differ significantly from those drawn by HjorthAndersen. A debate about the efficacy of quality indices is relevant not only to academic research but also to consumer welfare and strategic marketing planning. Consumer welfare and choice is affected by published quality ratings (Archibald, Haulman, and Moody 1983; Beales et al. 1981; Thorelli and Thorelli 1977). Commercial importance is evident from the widespread distribution of magazines like Consumer Reports. The consumer testing movement, started in 1927 by Chase and Schlink, has spread to agencies in more than 50 nations. These agencies are members of the International Organization of Consumers Unions (IOCU), and the combined circulation of their magazines is in the millions. Published quality ratings also influence academic research: our literature review' identified more than 30 studies that use objective quality ratings as data from which to draw inferences about price versus quality tradeoffs, advertising versus quality interactions, price versus quality changes over product life cycles, brand switching, market efficiency, and rational consumer judgments. Since this review concentrated on the marketing and economics literature, it is likely that the role of published quality ratings in academic research has been underestimated. In any case, academic researchers can and should assist product testing agencies in understanding sources of potential error in their quality scales. Strategic research, such as that conducted by the Strategic Planning Institute at Harvard University, has focused management attention on the influence of product quality on market performance measures like market share and rate-of-return on investment. For example, Phillips, Chang, and Buzzell (1983) indicate that product quality influences a firm's market share directly and its rate-of-return on investment indirectly through market share (see also Day 1986; Farris and Reibstein 1979; Urban et al. 1984). It is important that future research define coherently and measure accurately the construct of quality.