Changes in both content and structure of consumers′ perceptions ofan organised tour over its duration are investigated. Participants in 15organised tours evaluated various…
Abstract
Changes in both content and structure of consumers′ perceptions of an organised tour over its duration are investigated. Participants in 15 organised tours evaluated various attributes describing the tour at its beginning and at its conclusion. A comparison of the factor structure underlying their evaluations showed a major change in perceptual structure. At the early stages of the tour perceptions are not well formed and the tour is mostly perceived in terms of one set of attributes. Over time, consumers′ experiences in the tour resulted in their forming a clearer view and an emphasis on different sets of attributes. The implications of these findings for tour operators and management are also discussed.
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Arieh Goldman and Amir Grinstein
Market orientation (MO) is at the center of the marketing discipline and has been the focus of one of the longest and richest research efforts in the field. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Market orientation (MO) is at the center of the marketing discipline and has been the focus of one of the longest and richest research efforts in the field. This paper aims to study the development of the MO research area and changes in its nature, and the implications these have for MO research in particular as well as for the marketing discipline as a whole.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is guided by sociology of science research and studies of the history of the marketing discipline. It is based on a review of all MO articles and references in the period 1957‐2005.
Findings
The findings reveal three periods in the development of MO research: 1950s‐late 1970s, late 1970s‐early 1990s, and early 1990s until today. In terms of diffusion over time, MO research has diffused from marketing mostly to management, from generalist to specialist journals, from higher to lower quality journals, and from the USA only to Europe. Over time more scholars have become involved in MO research and the number of co‐authored MO articles has increased. The paper also finds that the MO research knowledge base and impact continue to be limited to marketing and management.
Research limitations/implications
While the study involves a large effort to collect longitudinal data on MO publication activity, its main limitation is its descriptive nature.
Originality/value
Unlike previous research in marketing that has typically studied articles, authors and reference data to gain insight into the intellectual developments of specific marketing journals, here the authors use these sources for studying the structure and evolution of a specific and important research area such as MO. Also, the study is based on rich and longitudinal data, enabling a variety of longitudinal analyses. The link between the MO area and the marketing discipline is of value, showing how the development of MO mirrors key developments in the marketing discipline at large and is influenced by many of the same forces that shape the discipline.
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Self‐service food stores are a new emerging form of retail technology in Saudi Arabia. By focusing on relevant institutional, planning and operational dimensions, this exploratory…
Abstract
Self‐service food stores are a new emerging form of retail technology in Saudi Arabia. By focusing on relevant institutional, planning and operational dimensions, this exploratory study describes and analyses the process by which this form of food retailing was adopted. Data were collected from 96 stores located in three metropolitan areas of the Kingdom, and the results suggest that the sudden proliferation of these stores during the past decade was characterised by the lack of rational planning, short‐term decision making orientation, and limited concern for promotional activities. The analysis of the 62 study variables indicated that differences in store size exerted limited influence on store marketing activities and had a moderate effect on store planning and institutional dimensions.
Store names are perhaps the most visible aspect of the store entity, and are one of the main features used by consumers to specify and identify a store. Also, store names are…
Abstract
Store names are perhaps the most visible aspect of the store entity, and are one of the main features used by consumers to specify and identify a store. Also, store names are often used as clues for consumers' store choice decisions. It is, therefore, not surprising that store names are a most frequently used item in store advertisements and that many stores regard achieving consumers' familiarity with their names as one of the most desired objectives of their store promotion programmes. Do consumers actually use store names as their main clue for the identification of stores ? The results of a study reported in this article indicate that the issue is not as simple as it seems. When consumers are asked to recall and identify the stores where, say, they have made their most recent furniture purchase, they do indeed recall many of these stores by their names. In a sizeable proportion of the cases, store names cannot, however, be remembered and stores are identified in “area” type terms‐the street or general area where they are located. The focus of the present article is the store recall issue. The magnitude of the phenomenon of stores recalled in “area” type terms is first studied, the importance of this phenomenon is demonstrated and some possible explanations for it are suggested. These explanations are then empirically tested and, finally, the implications of the analysis for store promotion strategy are discussed.
Looks at a study of issues involved in the introduction of the supermarket into a developing country — Israel. Discusses how urban consumers food shopping patterns have been…
Abstract
Looks at a study of issues involved in the introduction of the supermarket into a developing country — Israel. Discusses how urban consumers food shopping patterns have been affected, and reveals many respondents, despite easy accessibility to the supermarket, continue to buy some of their foods in traditional stores. Analyses 310 questionnaires of residents of Jerusalem and bases results on this, as the random sample of 75‐80 households was then drawn from each of four areas. States that the study results demonstrate problems involved in the common practice of using supermarket's share of market type data as the sole basis for indicating rate of a country's diffusion of rates and limitations of share. Implies that the supermarket will transform the traditional system of small one‐line food stores, which are considered costly, and with inefficient distribution of food items, into one which will consist mainly of supermarkets.
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Amir Grinstein and Arieh Goldman
Managers often face a number of dilemmas with respect to their stakeholders: Who are the most salient ones? How many should they target? How to allocate attention/efforts among…
Abstract
Purpose
Managers often face a number of dilemmas with respect to their stakeholders: Who are the most salient ones? How many should they target? How to allocate attention/efforts among them? Based on stakeholders and market orientation research this paper aims to address these dilemmas.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of managers in a cross‐industry sample of 115 firms. The authors first identify a specific group of salient stakeholders – those providing the firm with revenues and financial support. The article then studies the conditions under which firms should adopt a key approach to stakeholders' management – a “generalist” stakeholder strategy, that is, deal with a larger number of revenue and funding producing stakeholder types, and/or more evenly spread attention/efforts among them.
Findings
The findings suggest that a generalist stakeholder strategy has a positive effect on firms' performance among resource‐rich firms and among firms who face dissimilar (“unrelated”) stakeholders. Also, degree of environmental volatility was not found to moderate the relationship between a generalist stakeholder strategy and firms' performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the marketing and stakeholder literatures by identifying and studying a group of important stakeholders beyond final consumers – those providing the firm with revenues and financial support, and by studying the conditions under which firms benefit from one key approach to stakeholders – a “generalist” stakeholder strategy. The study's limitations characterize most cross‐sectional survey research (e.g. single informants, subjective performance assessments). However, substantial efforts were made to ensure the validity and robustness of the findings.
Practical implications
The study offers managers insight into the organizational and environmental conditions under which firms should adopt a generalist stakeholder strategy.
Originality/value
This is one of the few papers that integrate into the marketing literature the study of stakeholders. Specifically, it introduces the concept of a generalist stakeholder strategy.
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Using the supermarket technology in Hong Kong as an example, the article shows that the transference of the retail technology from one market to another is highly dependent on the…
Abstract
Using the supermarket technology in Hong Kong as an example, the article shows that the transference of the retail technology from one market to another is highly dependent on the socio‐cultural environment. In effecting an international transfer a retailer may have to be satisfied with an incomplete transfer, proceed in a gradual, evolutionary process and maintain an adaptive interaction with the environment.
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This article proposes a conceptual framework and a research methodology for transferring marketing technology to developing countries to address important societal problems. The…
Abstract
This article proposes a conceptual framework and a research methodology for transferring marketing technology to developing countries to address important societal problems. The methodology developed by the author is described and illustrated with an empirical investigation. Guidelines for implementation of this methodology in developing countries are also provided.
Pradeep A. Rau and John F. Preble
This paper presents an analysis of the current debate on “global marketing” and the degree to which multinational firms can standardise their marketing practices across countries…
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the current debate on “global marketing” and the degree to which multinational firms can standardise their marketing practices across countries. World markets are getting increasingly homogenised but the authors contend that the framework and associated propositions generated in the paper could help multinational firms determine the degree of standardisation that is possible in different markets.
Yoram C. Peles and Meir I. Schneller
Discusses the analysis that financial ratios have won lots of attention in the accounting and financial literature. Demonstrates how financial ratios can be used in order to…
Abstract
Discusses the analysis that financial ratios have won lots of attention in the accounting and financial literature. Demonstrates how financial ratios can be used in order to analyse certain aspects of a firm's marketing policy. Adopts the idea that accounting ratios are affected by the firm's marketing management philosophy. Validates results obtained for the ratios supposedly being affected by the firm's consumer service policy and uses other accounting figures, e.g. cash management. Presents financial data for a set of UK companies examining the impact of their marketing policy on the behaviour of financial ratios, and carries out a cross‐section analysis over time. Uses mathematical equations to explain the methodology, results and interpretation and freely employs tables to further emphasize points within. Sums up that in this study high levels of the marketing policies are associated with higher levels of operating profitability.