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Until recently, little research has been directed at the measurement of the impact of governmental support on the firm. The major focus of this article is on the methodological and measurement issues that appear to have a confounding effect and may account for broad equivocality of the findings in many of the studies. An evaluation paradigm is developed and applied to the research reviewed. The article concludes with a synthesis of the issues and provides specific directions for future research.

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of accountants towards advertising and to investigate changes in attitude that may have occurred between 1993 and 2004.

Data were collected from accountants using a mail survey approach in 1993 and using an e‐mail survey approach in 2004. Questions on the two surveys were identical and a random sample of accountants was selected for each study. Statistical tests were used to compare responses from 1993 with responses in 2004.

Analysis of the results revealed significant positive shifts in the attitudes accountants have toward advertising of accounting services. Negative attitudes toward various aspects of advertising shifted to either a neutral or a positive position. This dramatic, positive shift in advertising attitudes by accountants occurred while skepticism towards advertising remained relatively high, overall, among the general public. Between the two time periods, changes in the use of various marketing tools (such as web sites to attract new clients) were also found to have occurred. In addition, the use of marketing professionals by accounting service providers increased substantially over the 11‐year time period of the longitudinal study.

Sample selection and size create some concern about generalizability of the study. With any random sample selection process, the view of the non‐respondents is not known nor whether those who responded tended to have a higher level of acceptance of advertising.

For marketing professionals, this shift to a more positive attitude by accountants provides opportunities to offer greater marketing and advertising services. This shift also signals an increasing awareness on the part of accountants to market their services.

Reports on problems with coupon use experienced within ethnic subcultures by presenting the results and implications of a study of retailers in the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey area. Argues that marketers are challenged to understand the intricacies of ethnic markets as they grow in number and size in the USA. Suggests that marketing strategies that are successful in mass markets, such as couponing, are likely to operate differently in ethnic subcultures, such as Hispanic and Chinese markets. Recommends a retail perspective that uncovers potential problem areas encountered by retailers, consumers, and manufacturers alike.

Explores the extent to which consumers perceive various services as quality‐risk purchases. Describes a panel study which indicated that problem is felt by most types of services and therefore should be considered by service managers. Discusses possible strategies for reducing this perception.

This paper proposes a framework for connecting the involvement construct’s antecedents of Internet marketing, measured involvement degree, related constructs and consequences of consumer behavior. The research first determined the factors that influence the degree of Internet marketing involvement then established the different involvement degree clusters by measured involvement. Finally, the relationship among influence factors, Internet marketing involvement degree, and consequences of consumer behavior was analyzed. Based on the research findings, this paper discusses the possible Internet marketing strategies for a variety involvement degree clusters.

Reviews the findings of a study investigating the adoption of a service innovation and the relative importance to consumers in making the adoption decision. Suggests managerial implications and recommendations as a result of the study. Identifies other service industries to which the implications could be relevant. Includes an appendix describing the methodology of the study.

Over the last 40 years Do‐It‐Yourself (DIY) consumers have evolved from relative obscurity to a major multibillion dollar per year market. Research findings based on 403 DIY cases were used to develop insights for the formulation of retailer strategy. Types of projects undertaken and annual activity rates formed the basis of the investigation. Nine project categories were identified: carpentry, vehicle, painting, electrical, lawn and garden, plumbing, sewing, wall and floor covering, and masonry. Annual activity rates of the sample DIYers were used to identify three major groups: light doers, average doers, and heavy doers. The type of retail outlet preferred (e.g., department store, hardware store) depended primarily upon the project category the DIYer was considering. However, the mix of a retailer's product, price, promotion, and place elements desired by DIYers was related to activity levels. This led the authors to suggest that retail strategies might appropriately be developed along these two lines. First, consider which project categories retailer wishes to enter. Second, adjust the merchandising offering to best serve DIYers according to their activity levels.

Implicit in the traditional model of communication is the assumption that an individual or organization sends a single message to one receiver, or class of receivers. However, in practice there are often multiple senders, targeted receivers and even messages. This paper proposes expanding the traditional model of communication to include these additional facets and thus make the model more representative of business communication.