Kevin E. Voss, Alex R. Zablah, Yu-Shan (Sandy) Huang and Goutam Chakraborty
This study aims to determine the extent to which the use of coordinating conjunctions enhances or impairs definitional clarity.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine the extent to which the use of coordinating conjunctions enhances or impairs definitional clarity.
Design/methodology/approach
In two studies, a sample of 736 construct definitions from the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Consumer Research over a 30-year period was judged for ambiguity and vagueness by both academic and lay judges.
Findings
The authors demonstrate that constructing definitions using both “and” and “or” increases the ambiguity and vagueness of the construct’s meaning. The most frequently used conjunction is “and” which appeared in 42 per cent of the definitions. A significant percentage (26 per cent) contain the conjunction “or.”
Research limitations/implications
A framework for understanding alternative interpretations of “and” or “or” is developed. Five recommendations are proposed for evaluating the use of “and” and “or” in construct definitions. Theorists in all academic fields should not use both “and” and “or” in the same construct definition.
Practical implications
A five-step process is proposed for evaluating the use of “and” and “or” in construct definitions. Theorists should not use both “and” and “or” in the same construct definition.
Originality/value
This is the first exploration of how specific wording patterns used in construct definitions in academic research affect the clarity of the definition.
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Alex R. Zablah, Wesley J. Johnston and Danny N. Bellenger
To develop and propose a conceptual model that explains why downstream channel members (e.g. retailers) are likely to adopt or resist the implementation of emerging partner…
Abstract
Purpose
To develop and propose a conceptual model that explains why downstream channel members (e.g. retailers) are likely to adopt or resist the implementation of emerging partner relationship management (PRM) technologies by their channel counterparts (i.e. suppliers).
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model is grounded in organizational innovation theory and utilizes select case examples to support posited relationships.
Findings
Resellers' level of commitment to new PRM tools deployed by suppliers is likely to be driven by their perception of the technology's impact on the equity (i.e. fairness) and efficiency (i.e. cost) of existing channel relationships. In turn, resellers' perceptions about the equity and efficiency implications of PRM technology adoption are expected to be influenced by several factors, including: environmental factors, suppliers' choice of influence strategies and the characteristics of the exchange relationship.
Research limitations/implications
Aside from offering several testable propositions, the paper also raises various questions that are worthy of investigation, such as: To what extent (if at all) do boundary‐spanning technologies alter the basic nature of channel relationships? Can the deployment of PRM tools simultaneously lead to both greater channel conflict and coordination? Do differences in reseller commitment result when different implementation partners (i.e. third‐party software firms) handle the deployment of the technology across geographic regions?
Originality/value
The paper builds on the inter‐organizational concepts of equity and efficiency to offer a new perspective on the adoption of boundary‐spanning technologies in a channel setting.
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Samppa Suoniemi, Alex Zablah, Harri Terho, Rami Olkkonen, Detmar Straub and Hannu Makkonen
The current research aims to answer the following question: To what extent and under what conditions does hiring consultants to implement a customer relationship management (CRM…
Abstract
Purpose
The current research aims to answer the following question: To what extent and under what conditions does hiring consultants to implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system produce performance gains for companies? To answer this question, this research delves into the critical interdependent roles of CRM consultant resources (CR) and user involvement (UI) in overcoming CRM’s technological and organizational implementation challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative field study methodology was used to empirically test the research hypotheses. Cross-sectional data (N = 126) were collected from large client companies using CRM technology. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to estimate the significance levels of the structural model.
Findings
The findings indicate that the extent to which CRM consultants improve CRM system quality (SQ) and, ultimately, firm performance, largely depends on UI, which acts as the key facilitating mechanism to cope with application complexity (APP) and requirements uncertainty (REQ).
Originality/value
This research probes into the largely unexplored interactions between CRM CR, UI, APP and REQ. Using these parameters, this model successfully predicts CRM SQ and firm performance.
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The purpose of this article is to employ Self-Determination Theory to explain the mediated impact of work design – empowerment and serial and investiture socialization – on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to employ Self-Determination Theory to explain the mediated impact of work design – empowerment and serial and investiture socialization – on employee work affect. The theory proposes fulfilment of three psychological needs – autonomy, competence, and relatedness – will mediate individuals' ability to achieve contextually relevant well-being. An empirical study tests this claim and exposes the structure of the mediating effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey responses were collected from a sample of 239 front-line service employees using snowball data collection. SEM was used to test hypotheses.
Findings
Findings suggest that empowerment and serial and investiture socialization are significantly differentially related to need fulfilment. Additionally, all forms of need fulfilment do not directly influence employee affect. Instead, there are both direct and interactive effects that work simultaneously to influence employees' positive work affect.
Practical implications
This study exposes specific work design levers managers can manipulate to benefit employees. This research highlights the different effects of specific work design variables on employee work affect.
Originality/value
This paper extends understanding of Self-Determination Theory by exposing the direct and interactive effects of need fulfilment on work affect for service workers. Also, it delivers a deeper exploration of the impact of work design on employees by modelling multiple work design variables as well as process variables simultaneously to provide a more detailed picture of how work design influences employee work affect.
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Mathew S. Isaac, Ajay T. Abraham and Elaine Y. Richards
The purpose of this paper is to review the recent implementation of the Challenger Sales Model (CSM) at Cars.com, an online automotive marketplace that generated $633m in sales in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the recent implementation of the Challenger Sales Model (CSM) at Cars.com, an online automotive marketplace that generated $633m in sales in 2016 with a sales force of over 500 representatives, and to identify insights related to the implementation that may be relevant to sales researchers and other organizations considering similar implementations. A more specific aim is to determine whether establishing “constructive tension” between salespeople and their customers, which is a key tenet of the CSM, was perceived as a source of value for Cars.com.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study is based primarily on in-depth interviews with 15 employees spanning different sales and/or training responsibilities in the organization, from the current CEO (previously the former Senior Vice President of Sales) to sales representatives from different sales teams.
Findings
Five major insights emerged from this research: (1) Because it represents a change in the established norms governing interpersonal dynamics, constructive tension is often more difficult for salespeople to foster when interacting with existing (vs prospective) customers. (2) Whereas leading with insights is more difficult when interacting with prospective (vs existing) customers, sustaining meaningful insights over time is a major challenge when dealing with existing customers. (3 )Products that are more transactional or price-driven are ineffective at creating constructive tension and incompatible with the CSM. (4) Creating value from constructive tension requires the entire sales organization to share a common vision of what it means to be a Challenger and to adopt consistent nomenclature and formal programs for training and coaching. (5) Even more than other consultative sales models, the successful implementation of the CSM demands company-wide integration and makes it untenable for most indirect sales teams.
Originality/value
Although prior academic research has offered critiques of the CSM, the present paper is one of the first to use a discovery-oriented, qualitative research approach to provide a retrospective look at the actual implementation of the CSM within an organization. This approach results in novel insights, such as the identification of conditions when high-pressure versus low-pressure selling techniques are likely to be more successful, that may be of interest to sales researchers and to other companies considering a large-scale implementation of the CSM or related sales methodologies.
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Mark P. Leach, Rhett T. Epler and Sijun Wang
This paper aims to explore the usage of selling influence tactics across prospective customers with differing information-related needs.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the usage of selling influence tactics across prospective customers with differing information-related needs.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study uses an exploratory critical incident technique (CIT) methodology to identify and examine salesperson influence tactics.
Findings
This study identifies and explores the use of salesperson influence tactics across three information-based conditions often encountered by salespeople (i.e. information seeking customers, informed customers with information inaccuracies and informed customers making sub-optimal decisions). Regardless of condition, salespeople readily used non-coercive information exchange tactics. Whereas, recommendations and ingratiation tactics were applied by more effective salespeople when interacting with informed customers with information deficiencies. Furthermore, salespeople report executing less effectively with prospects with inaccurate preexisting information and with prospects making flawed or sub-optimal decisions.
Research limitations/implications
Findings illustrate the need for a renewed focus on salesperson influence tactics, the conditions under which they are effective, and how salespeople adapt their influence tactics to various situations. The exploratory nature of this study limits the generalizability of findings.
Practical implications
A framework of adaptive selling strategies is proposed to help tackle new challenges faced by B2B salespeople in today’s information intensive market. When interacting with more informed customers, pre-existing information is often inaccurate and incomplete. Thus, salespeople must assess and address these flaws and gaps and can adapt their influence strategies to do so effectively.
Originality/value
Industrial buyers today have virtually unlimited avenues to conduct extensive research and gain supplier information without the aid of interactions with salespeople. Thus, salespeople often enter sales interactions when their prospects have significantly more information than ever before. By examining salesperson influence techniques in selling situations that vary based on prospective customer preexisting knowledge, this research provides guidance on how selling may need to change in a more information intensive era.
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Kunal Swani, George Milne and Brian P. Brown
This research aims to investigate the message strategies most likely to promote online “word-of-mouth” (WOM) activity for business-to-business (B2B)/business-to-consumer as well…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to investigate the message strategies most likely to promote online “word-of-mouth” (WOM) activity for business-to-business (B2B)/business-to-consumer as well as product/service Facebook accounts.
Design/methodology/approach
Using content analysis and HLM, the authors measure the relationship between three types of message strategies and Facebook message “Likes” by analyzing 1,143 wall post messages of 193 Fortune 500 Facebook accounts.
Findings
Research findings suggest that B2B Facebook account posts are more effective if they include corporate brand names and avoid “hard sell” or explicitly commercial statements. Furthermore, results suggest that including emotional sentiments in Facebook posts is a particularly effective social media strategy for B2B and service marketers.
Originality/value
This study advances the knowledge of social media and online WOM behavior, as well as B2B and service advertising/communication literature, by relating message content to message popularity. In terms of managerial implications, this research provides explanations and support for the implementation of effective social media message strategies that are likely to promote WOM activity.
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The purpose of the this paper is to correct a deficiency in the published literature by examining the share price performance of firms that own high-value brands in uptrending…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the this paper is to correct a deficiency in the published literature by examining the share price performance of firms that own high-value brands in uptrending, downtrending and sideways markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examined stock price performance for an index of firms that owned brands in the Interbrand list of the “Best Global Brands” from 2001 through 2009 using the Fama-French method.
Findings
The authors’ index outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 when the market was up or downtrending, but not when it moved sideways.
Research limitations/implications
The authors find that an index of firms that own the produced better returns than the Standard & Poor’s 500 market index. Owning highly valued brands may be a marketplace signal to the investing community regarding the firm’s management acumen.
Practical implications
Owning high-value brands seems to influence share price performance, a metric used to judge chief executive officers. Thus, brand investments align with the shareholders’ interest. The authors help alleviate the perception (Challagalla et al., 2014) that marketing managers make investments on an ad hoc basis.
Originality/value
For the first time, the authors evaluate the effect of owning one or more of the world’s most valuable brands on the market value of common stock using data from downtrending, uptrending and no-trend periods. This research is also among the first to introduce volatility into the Fama-French method and it is an important explanatory variable. This paper’s approach has interesting comparisons to other papers taking a similar analytical approach.