bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
B2B e‐marketplace: an e‐marketing framework for B2B commerce
Authors: Kian Chong Woon , Shafaghi Mathew , Woollaston Christopher , Lui Vincent
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear understanding of the performance of business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐marketplace in conducting e‐marketing in the global business environment. The proposed framework is intended to be used as a guide for B2B firms especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who wish to adopt a proactive approach in the use of information and communication technology for business efficiency and competitive advantage, and those who wish to explore the internet technologies for marketing activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature from the B2B e‐marketplaces and operations of e‐marketing fields were analysed, and the findings were synthesised to develop a preliminary conceptual model of e‐marketing. The conceptual model was tested empirically through an online survey from various industries in China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Findings

With significant online and offline publications from both academia and industry, there is a growing awareness of the contribution of the e‐marketing in the global environment. This new marketing paradigm is reported to reshape the business relationships between both consumer marketers and consumers, improving business processes and enhancing the business exposure in the new markets.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation of this paper is associated with the sample selection. Although the literature findings were international, the empirical study was restricted to China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Therefore, the generalizability of the results may not be applicable for other countries. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents participated were SMEs. Hence, the applicability of findings to large‐scale organisations may be limited.

Practical implications

The framework allows B2B firms to capitalise and understand the e‐marketing opportunities provided by B2B e‐marketplace. The framework also offers guidance to marketing managers a most appropriate approach to adopt B2B e‐marketplace to perform their e‐marketing activities.

Originality/value

Based on the need for a framework for e‐marketing, this study is significance to: SMEs, marketers, information technology practitioners, and all other stakeholders that adopted the internet and other electronic means for marketing purposes.
Museums, consumers, and on‐site experiences
Authors: Mencarelli Rémi , Marteaux Séverine , Pulh Mathilde
Published: May 2010

Purpose

One conclusion is widely shared by professionals in the cultural sector: consumer motivations have changed and in particular their relations with cultural products and services. This paper seeks to analyze different trends applied to museums in order to improve the understanding of this “new” cultural audience.

Design/methodology/approach

For this trend marketing analysis, seven consumer orientations have been identified (without claiming they are at all exhaustive) after an extended review over the shape of contemporary consumer habits. Besides, the authors wanted to know the opinion of the cultural managers. Each consumer orientation has been evaluated by taking a sample of French practitioners from different areas of the museum sector.

Findings

The paper is interesting in that it highlights the gap between actual management practices and practitioners' judgments.

Research limitations/implications

The first limitation that should be borne in mind relates to the exploratory character of this paper. In an extremely shifting environment, it is difficult to claim to have successfully identified all of the consumer trends that may criss‐cross the cultural sector. The second limitation of the research is the cultural contingency of the empirical validation. This was done in a French context.

Practical implications

The environment (especially the competitive environment) in which cultural institutions find themselves should urge them to take account of changes in modes of cultural consumption in order to reach individuals through an attractive and coherent discourse. Museums have to continue to open up to their audiences. It is not, of course, a question of forcing a change or complexification of the core cultural offer (exhibition), but rather a contemplation of what can be done around that core.

Originality/value

The paper offers insights into the evolution of the relation between museums and visitors by analyzing seven consumer orientations. The authors illustrate how museums stray from their original image as a high cultural place. They then show that museums are also revitalizing themselves by redefining the role played by the visitor: from a passive individual to an actor fully interacting in the museum's offer.
Dancing with macro‐boycotters: the case of Arla Foods
Authors: Abosag Ibrahim
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Consumer boycotting is on the increase for various reasons. Macro‐boycotting campaigns, against one or more countries and their companies, rather than a specific single company, have had devastating effects on companies. The purpose of this paper is to describe how Arla Foods has combated such a ferocious campaign.

Design/methodology/approach

Secondary data were collected from various sources. Importantly, primary data were collected using interviews with senior managers at Arla Foods and a survey of 254 customers in Saudi Arabia.

Findings

The come‐back strategy developed and used by Arla Foods has had a good and positive impact and has helped the company to regain most of the market share it lost at the beginning of the boycotting campaign. Several steps are developed to combat the boycotting and regain the market.

Originality/value

The unique position of Arla Foods during the boycotting campaign, which is unprecedented, creates a new challenge which requires new thinking on how to combat such severe and sudden change in the market conditions. Thus, as the frequency of boycotting is on the increase, the case study outlines a number of steps which can be adopted by other international companies. This will be useful for companies facing similar campaigns and will help in developing a successful marketing strategy during and after boycotting campaigns.
Integrated hazard and operability study using fuzzy linguistics approach in petrochemical industry
Authors: Ilangkumaran M. , Thamizhselvan P.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the failure modes present in the dangerous operations and modify processes. After the identification of potential failures, prioritization will be made to rank them for quick attention and immediate correction in the operation/modification.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology utilizes the strength of hazard and operability (HAZOP) study and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to identify and prioritize the hidden potential failures present in the system. Fuzzy linguistics approach has been applied to enhance the performance of the study. This study correlates HAZOP study, FMEA and fuzzy system.

Findings

This proposed technique is used to find the better ranking of the failure modes. Risk priority number and fuzzy weighted geometric mean of the risk factors are used to improve the performance of the risk evaluation. This makes the assessment easier to be carried out effectively for critically operated systems.

Practical implications

This proposed approach could be very useful for the systematic and rational risk assessment of passive systems.

Originality/value

A new decision‐making approach is used to prioritize the failure modes present in the process industry with use of a case study.
Availability, MTTF and cost analysis of complex system under preemptive‐repeat repair discipline using Gumbel‐Hougaard family copula
Authors: Ram Mangey , Singh S.B.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The main aim of this paper is to improve reliability characteristics namely availability, mean time to failure (MTTF), and expected profit of a complex system.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the availability of a complex system, which consists of two independent repairable subsystems A and B in (1‐out‐of‐2: F) and (1‐out‐of‐n: F) arrangement respectively. Subsystem A has two identical units arranged in parallel redundancy (1‐out‐of‐2: G), subsystem B has n units in series (1‐out‐of‐n: F) with two types of failure, namely, partial and catastrophic. Except at two transitions where there are two types of repair namely exponential and general possible. The failure and repair time for both subsystems follow exponential and general distributions respectively. The model is analysed under “preemptive‐repeat repair discipline” where A is a priority and B is non‐priority.

Findings

By employing supplementary variable technique, Laplace transformation and Gumbel‐Hougaard family copula various transition state probabilities, availability, MTTF and cost analysis (expected profit) are obtained along with steady‐state behaviour of the system. Inversions have also been carried out so as to obtain time dependent probabilities, which determine availability of the system at any instant.

Originality/value

This paper, through a systematic view, presents a mathematical model of a complex system from which the reliability characteristics namely availability, MTTF, and expected profit of a complex system can be improved.
In front of the blank canvas: sensing emerging futures
Authors: Otto Scharmer C. , Kaeufer Katrin
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The paper asks how leaders in organizations address complex situations or challenges where past experiences are no longer helpful or might pose an obstacle for success. The authors use the metaphor of the blank canvas to describe the work of entrepreneurs or innovators who connect to an emerging future possibility. Based on their research, the authors argue that social technologies allow actors in organizations to connect to an emerging future, and break through habitual patterns of the past.

Design/methodology/approach

Underlying this paper, are action research projects in change management and organizational learning. While social science methods tend to be based on observational data, the founder of action research, Kurt Lewin, and his successors, including Ed Schein, Chris Argyris, Peter Senge, and Bill Torbert, claim that we have to use more than just observation (third‐person views) to get meaningful data about social reality. According to Bill Torbert organizational researchers need to access third‐, second‐, and first‐person knowledge – that is, observational data (third person), conversational data (second person) and experiential data (first person) that stem from participative action inquiry.

Findings

The paper concludes that organizational innovation and change processes cannot be outsourced. Profound innovation and change are only sustainable and successful when connected to the knowledge of the individuals involved, and when created by the people who will use them and be responsible for the results they produce.

Originality/value

Any social action can originate from different inner places; every actor, an individual or a group, even an organization, can choose between different places from where their action originate. How we choose to attend to the world is the leverage we have to determine the outcome of our actions. The arts provide processes that allow actors in organizations to access this quality of knowledge and leverage it.
What good are artists?
Authors: Reaves John , Green David
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Examining the techniques of a management consulting firm comprising actors, directors, producers, writers, musicians and other artists, the article reveals through several case studies how a company of avant‐garde artists has turned the lack of conventional business training from a competitive disadvantage to a unique benefit.

Design/methodology/approach

The article opens with a brief overview of the company, Learning Worlds, and its historical evolution from the Gertrude Stein Repertory Theater. From interviews with clients and several case studies, the article proposes three qualities through which Learning Worlds has demonstrated its value to global corporate enterprises developing sophisticated business products. These qualities are those of communication, differentiation and the perspective of “outsider” minds. The qualities are described and the part they have played in engagements with clients is demonstrated in three case studies, with Kepner‐Tregoe, LexisNexis, and Microsoft.

Findings

Arts training increases sensitivity to audiences, and improves facility with aesthetic impact, stories and drama. The avant‐garde impulse encourages organizations to look beyond the usual solutions and habitually search for difference. And an “outsider mind” sees through assumptions and around organizational barriers to discover new paths to success. Learning Worlds' success with clients is based on a willingness to grasp business issues, but hold onto the arts advantage.

Originality/value

By detailing qualities uniquely developed by artists and demonstrating how their expert application has led to success in particular situations, the article demonstrates the value of occasionally stepping outside determined best practice to try a different set of strategies for reaching winning solutions.
Learning how to look: developing leadership through intentional observation
Authors: Mitra Anu M. , Hsieh Yen , Buswick Ted
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This paper demonstrates how effectively developing visual skills from observing and analyzing works of art applies in developing leadership skills and examines one application where these artistic skills are viewed as specific thinking skills that are regularly used in new product development.

Design/methodology/approach

The lead author adapted a successful collaborative program of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the University of Cincinnati Medical School into a program for doctoral students at Union Institute and University, then taught the course numerous times, recording the results.

Findings

The anticipated results were observed, judging from qualitative measures such as instructor and student evaluations.

Research limitations/implications

This is a study of one course. To become an accepted practice, further study is needed in similar museum‐based learning situations.

Practical implications

At Union, the program has been adapted into a full course and should stimulate others in business, academia, and nonprofits to replicate the program.

Originality/value

The use of museum‐based training is widely used in medical training to increase diagnostic skills and empathy. It is less widely practiced in business and we believe this is the first program to adapt a successful medical training program to a successful leadership training program.
The art and science of experiential leadership: culture at the core of process change success
Authors: Thomson Graeme
Published: May 2010

Purpose

To show that: as leaders refine business performance, they are increasingly focusing on human capital performance – how leaders and teams deliver outstanding performance and productivity. Leaders who are paying practical attention to the inner aspects of behavior are often reporting strong cultural shifts in individual engagement and collaborative teamwork affecting all aspects of company performance. These personal aspects of performance can be effectively addressed using the experiential techniques and approaches common to the arts and performing arts.

Design/methodology/approach

This article describes the case of Harcourt Assessment, a large education testing and publishing business, which underwent a dramatic business turnaround in 2006‐07. This article is based on analysis of the change methodology adopted by Harcourt Assessment and its consulting firm, The TAI Group, in 2006‐2007, extensive interviews of key executive participants in the engagement, and analysis of the firm's employee survey in 2007.

Findings

Participants in the turnaround of Harcourt Assessment were consistent in their assessment that the deliberate adoption of a change strategy focusing on individual motivators and collaborative group alignment using a creative, performing arts‐based approach was critical to the project's success. These evaluations were also consistent with the attitudinal changes reported in the 2007 employee satisfaction survey of views on senior team performance, teamwork and collaboration, strategy and trust.

Originality/value

The case study and findings demonstrate the measurable value of adopting a practical, disciplined approach to profound corporate culture change based on the experiential principles of the performing arts. This approach, with individual motivations and behavior at the core, can be critical to creating an aligned culture capable of delivering sustained high performance.
Going beyond the dehydrated language of management: leadership insight
Authors: Adler Nancy J.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Leadership insight describes the importance of and approach to reflection for leaders, using traditional journal writing, leadership wisdom statements, and art work.

Design/methodology/approach

The article introduces the multiple ways in which the Leadership Insight journal supports leaders' most profound aspirations.

Findings

It explains the ways in which paintings help leaders to go beyond the dehydrated, and limiting, conventional language of management.

Originality/value

Based on the article, managers will be able to use the Leadership Insight journal and reflection process to support their own most important aspirations for contributing to their organization, community, and the world. The article stresses the ability of mangers, by reflecting on a daily basis, to do well by doing good.
The day after neoliberal triumphalism
Authors: Wolnicki Miron
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causes of failure of the neoliberal model of capitalism and rise of state capitalism. The arguments that efficient market economy can thrive under autocracy are refuted.

Design/methodology/approach

Both western neoliberal capitalism and state capitalism in China and Russia are juxtaposed and critically analyzed.

Findings

Neoliberalism is a conceptual model of enthusiastic true believers who never succeed in developing a workable economic system but rather a travesty of its own ideal. The USA instead of an efficient, competitive market economy became a playground for lobbyists and a corporate autocracy fraught with deep imbalances. Yet due to the rule of law and inherent freedoms the post‐neoliberal USA will be capable of “self repair” which is not possible in state capitalism.

Research limitations/implications

The connections between politics and economics are inherently complex and difficult to be presented as predicable dependences. An interdisciplinary approach is necessary and revealing but it has obvious analytical limitations because of inadequate tools.

Practical implications

The proclamation of the end of the democratic capitalism is unfounded. The neoliberal ideologues are hardly to blame for the failures of the western market economy because they have merely created a pretext for corporate America to reduce the regulatory power of the government. The solution is in returning to the model of interventionist government mindful of the nation's long‐term wellbeing.

Originality/value

The author creates unique functional characteristics of western market capitalism and state capitalism and points out clear advantages of democratic western market capitalism often forgotten in the heat of the post‐crises debates.
Infrastructure investment and its performance in Africa over the course of the twentieth century
Authors: Luiz John
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse long‐term trends in the development of Africa's economic infrastructure.

Design/methodology/approach

The importance of infrastructure was examined in social and economic processes, followed by an exploration of the changing nature of infrastructure and its implications for delivery. The paper looked at the development of infrastructure in Africa by focusing on what was inherited at independence versus what had been achieved there since and why this was the case.

Findings

The development challenges are immense because delivery of infrastructure requires much more than financial resources – it requires the capacity to deliver massive, complex projects in an efficient manner. It is clear that African states do not possess this level of capacity but this can still be delivered through innovative public‐private partnerships, global cooperation, and the support of international institutions.

Practical implications

Improving Africa's infrastructure is a necessary but not sufficient condition to promote economic development and attract investment back to the continent.

Originality/value

The author assesses what needs to be done to ensure the massive infrastructure delivery required for the continent, which is estimated at 6 percent of output, and the innovation required for such a programme.
Gender gap in Pakistan: a socio‐demographic analysis
Authors: Raza Ahmad , Sohaib Murad Hasan
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of socio‐demographic bases of gender gap in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes various aspects of gender gap (gender inequalities) in Pakistan. The analysis is based on the secondary data drawn from reports published by several governmental, international development agencies, and local non‐governmental organizations. The analysis is descriptive in nature and interprets certain social and demographic data to ascertain the states of affairs about the prevailing social conditions relating to gender inequalities in Pakistan. Besides review of literature, the paper focuses on sectoral discussion of gender gap in population, health, education, political, and economic empowerment. In light of the secondary data analysis, suggestions to improve the current gender inequalities and possible recommendations to improve the current gender inequalities in Pakistan are also given.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that there are significant socio‐demographic and cultural factors, due to which gender gap persists in Pakistani society.

Research limitations/implications

The current analysis is based on secondary and published data and, therefore lacks empirical reliability. However, published quantitative data reveal certain social characteristics of gender gap.

Originality/value

The paper provides a descriptive cultural analysis of gender inequalities.
The demographic profile of socially responsible investors
Authors: Junkus Joan C. , Berry Thomas C.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Given the size and growing importance of socially responsible (SR)‐related funds and investments, the purpose of this paper is to see if those who invest in socially responsible investments (SRIs) conform to a particular profile and if that profile is significantly different than that of a typical investor.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveyed a large group of US‐based, well‐informed, individual investors, members of the American Association of Individual Investors. The survey respondents included both those who invest according to SRI principles, and those with no interest in SRI, to determine if demographic differences exist.

Findings

The paper finds that the typical SR investor is female and more likely to be single, younger, less wealthy, and better educated than their non‐SR counterparts.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed to determine if the higher risk aversion of women and their greater concern for the environment found in previous studies is responsible for the results.

Practical implications

Given the statistically significant differences, additional efforts must be made to convince wealthier and male investors of the merits of socially responsible investing.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to use individuals who have committed resources to SR to compare their demographic characteristics to investors who have not invested in SRI products as distinct groups. Second, this is the first study to compare these groups using US investor data and to measure the statistical significance of the demographic factors.
Contemporaneous relationship between corporate reputation and return
Authors: Krueger Thomas M. , Wrolstad Mark A. , Van Dalsem Shane
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the contemporaneous relationship between changes in corporate reputations and stock prices.

Design/methodology/approach

The Harris Interactive Reputation QuotientTM is used as a measure of corporate reputation. Stock return and risk measures are evaluated for each Reputation QuotientTM survey period for the years 1999‐2007.

Findings

The results provide evidence that, in the aggregate, firm reputations are procyclical. Additionally, firms with improved reputations enjoy lower volatility in their stock prices than firms with diminished reputations.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the Harris Poll Online methodology, it is not clear that the price changes occur concurrently with the change in reputation.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the finance literature by examining the effect of a change in corporate reputation on stock price.
Performance of debt free firms
Authors: Zaher Tarek S.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow and operated with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high levels of debt.

Design/methodology/approach

The performance of portfolios of debt free firms are compared to comparable portfolios of leveraged firms. Debt free firms are matched with conventional firms of the same size from the same sector. Two tests of differences in the performance are conducted for a long period and for a short period.

Findings

The results of the study indicate that investments in portfolios of debt free firms tend to generate higher returns than investments in their peers of portfolios of leveraged firms over long and short periods. The results have clear implications on investment decisions and investment performance. Investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow heavily and operate with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high level of debt.

Originality/value

The results of the study can be of great interest to investors as well as firms specially during periods of financial crises. It raises again the question as to what is the optimal level of debt a firm should have in normal times and during periods of economic or financial crises.
Ukrainian financial markets: an examination of calendar anomalies
Authors: Depenchuk Iryna O. , Compton William S. , Kunkel Robert A.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This study aims to examine the market returns of the Ukrainian stock and bond markets to determine whether they exhibit calendar anomalies including the January effect, weekend effect, and turn‐of‐the‐month (TOM) effect. Ukraine provides an opportunity to examine the efficiency of an emerging market, adding to the extensive body of research on calendar anomalies.

Design/methodology/approach

Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between January returns vs non‐January returns, Monday returns vs non‐Monday returns, and TOM returns vs non‐TOM returns. Non‐parametric t‐tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests are also used to examine TOM returns vs the rest of the month returns.

Findings

There is no evidence of a January effect or a weekend effect in the Ukrainian stock and bond markets. However, our results support a TOM effect in the Ukrainian stock market. The mean daily TOM return is 0.35 vs 0.24 per cent for the rest of the month. Additionally, in 63 per cent of the months, the mean daily TOM return exceeds the return for the rest of the month.

Research limitations/implications

The data are limited to five‐years of daily returns and two different Ukrainian indexes. Thus, the results could be biased by the time period analyzed. The results are important for portfolio managers and investors as they can benefit from the TOM effect, but not the January effect and weekend effect.

Originality/value

This is the first study to our knowledge that has extensively examined the calendar anomalies in the Ukrainian stock and bond markets.
Economic impact of marketing alliances on shareholders' wealth
Authors: Ho Foo‐Nin , Shocker Allan D. , Yip Yewmun
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether marketing alliances create value for shareholders, and whether the results are robust across different business cycles.

Design/methodology/approach

Using standard event study methodology, abnormal returns (AR) were computed for 402 firms which formed marketing alliances in a 12‐month period covering three business time periods, namely bull, bear and post 9/11 periods. ANOVA and regression analyses were performed on cumulative abnormal returns (CAR).

Findings

Significant and positive AR were found on announcement day for firms forming marketing alliances. When the sample is segmented by market capitalization, small cap firms were found to stand to benefit the most, particularly when partnering with a large firm. During the bear market period, marketing alliances tend to benefit small cap firms and firms with low profitability, whereas during the bull market period, marketing alliances benefit firms with low asset utilization.

Research limitations/implications

Results are limited by the accuracy of the models used to measure AR.

Practical implications

The results seem to suggest that smaller partners tend to benefit more from marketing alliance, and the effect changes with business cycle.

Originality/value

The paper analyses how the benefits of forming a marketing alliance are shared between partnering firms and how the different phases of business cycle influence the distribution of benefits.
Mobile phone choice: technology versus marketing. The brand effect in the Italian market
Authors: Petruzzellis Luca
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The main research question of the paper is to determine whether technology nowadays is overcome by customer preferences and needs. In particular, the role of the brand is to be analysed with respect to its influence in shifting customer preferences from the technical performances (tangible elements) to the emotional/symbolic ones (intangible elements).

Design/methodology/approach

Consumer behaviour was analysed by interviewing a random (but well stratified) sample of mobile phone users in order to study their consumption style and the motivations underlying the buying process in order to understand, on the one hand, the variables that influence people in the usage of mobile phones and, on the other, those that influence firms in launching new products, both from a technological point of view and from a marketing one.

Findings

The findings show various dimensions that are relevant in consumer minds when considering decisions regarding technological products. Brand attitudes do relate positively to consumer intention to use (purchase) specific mobile phones over others.

Research limitations/implications

The study, though exploratory, has underlined the importance of brand and the dualism between marketing and technology in the adoption and diffusion of technological products. Certainly, the analysis has some limitations, but it provides an initial perspective into understanding brand issues. Future research should focus on the effects of the cooperation between mobile operators and mobile manufacturers.

Originality/value

This paper provides an analysis of the brand attitude and perception tested and viewed through user eyes.
“Living the brand”: brand orientation in the business‐to‐business sector
Authors: Baumgarth Carsten
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design and test a model for the internal anchorage of a business‐to‐business brand via corporate brand orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 261 usable responses to a questionnaire distributed in the German business‐to‐business sector, were applied to model estimation by the “soft modelling” partial‐least‐squares regression technique.

Findings

The structure of the brand orientation model is supported by the results. The findings demonstrate the positive influence of brand orientation on market and economic performance. Smaller business‐to‐business companies exhibit lower levels of brand orientation than larger counterparts, to their strategic disadvantage. Line of business and management type had no influence on brand orientation in this survey.

Practical implications

Business‐to‐business brand managers now have empirically‐based evidence for the benefits of intensive implementation of brand orientation. The associated four‐level conceptual model of the phenomenon offers them an enhanced understanding of the process, procedures and probable outcomes. It can be used for management control as well as strategic planning and implementation.

Originality/value

The paper is the first empirical study to examine the internal aspects of branding in the business‐to‐business sector, and one of the first large‐scale surveys that is not industry‐specific to analyse the link between brand management and company performance.
Brief reflections
Authors: Lee Nick , Greenley Gordon
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this editorial is to explicitly recognise the first issue of EJM completely made up of submissions received under the new editorial team of Lee and Greenley, operating since January 2008. The authors also seek to make some broader points about academic review, and journal ranking.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors provide some conceptual thinking regarding journal review, and academic ranking of journals.

Findings

The authors propose that it is potentially dangerous to restrict the perception of top quality work to only that published in a limited selection of journals, and that research needs to be judged on its own merits.

Research limitations/implications

These thoughts are preliminary and intended to spark thinking and debate, not to represent editorial policy. Owing to space constraints, the coverage of many issues is necessarily brief.

Practical Implications

Marketing researchers should find these thoughts at the very least stimulating, and may wish to investigate these issues further.

Originality/value

The editorial should provide some interesting food for thought for marketing researchers.
Towards a new model of “customer compliance” service provision
Authors: Kasabov Edward , Warlow Alex J.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

In the last ten years, businesses taking advantage of market deregulation, call‐centre, intranet and internet technology have broken traditional marketing norms and path‐dependent customer management practices. These businesses offer substantially lower prices and good customer service. In spite of anecdotal evidence of the high level of service complaints in the press, these businesses are expanding rapidly by growing the market and by taking share from traditional suppliers. Service failure recovery and complaint management are two areas which are extensively re‐designed by such businesses. This paper aims to identify and examine such new practices. The authors suggest that the traditional “customer‐centricity” model is being replaced by a “customer‐compliance business model” (CCBM) of service provision. This new model and its propositions defy conventional thinking in the areas of service recovery and complaint management.

Design/methodology/approach

Available data and research are reviewed, in an attempt to understand CCBM. Differences with the customer‐centricity model are discussed.

Findings

CCBM cannot be explained adequately by current assumptions in marketing. It breaks commonplace marketing expectations about service failure and recovery.

Research limitations/implications

The emphasis is on explaining innovations in service recovery and complaint management.

Practical implications

Companies which operate the CCBM model are of growing importance to developed, service‐oriented economies. The paper builds on evidence to show how CCBM businesses have abandoned or minimised costly customer centricity and have broken past norms and conventional marketing thinking and practice.

Originality/value

The scarcity of research in this area is explained by the recent, rapid evolution of these new model businesses. The study reveals and makes sense of important trends in service provision, distinct from and incompatible with normative arguments in some academic writings that advocate service recovery excellence.
Fraudulent consumer returns: exploiting retailers' return policies
Authors: Harris Lloyd C.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Although dysfunctional behaviors by customers is increasingly being recognized by both scholars and practitioners, “illegitimate” complaining, in the form of fraudulent returns by customers, is under‐researched. The aim of this study is to address this gap in extant knowledge through explicitly focusing on uncovering factors which permit consumers to exploit retailers' liberal return policies when fraudulently returning products that they know they have used or damaged.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews were utilized as the main data collection method. Interviews were conducted amongst service employees and customers. A total of 87 interviews were conducted with front‐line employees and managers of 12 general retail outlets. Customer interviewing involved 96 interviews. Potential customer informants were randomly contacted with a request to participate in a study of customer service and returning goods.

Findings

Data analysis revealed ten main factors that appear to be related to customers' likelihood of successfully, fraudulently returning products.

Research limitations/implications

As with other similar studies of this nature, the findings and implications are limited by the research design and methods employed. However, these limitations also indicate potentially fruitful avenues of future research. Future studies could employ different methods and explore differing contexts to gauge the generalizability of findings.

Practical implications

The findings of the study have a range of implications for practitioners and policy makers. Insights are generated into the extent of fraudulent returning and the factors which facilitate successful fraudulent returns. As such, practitioners could use such insights to reduce the frequency of such episodes. Public policy implications centre on highlighting the issues which policy makers may wish to consider.

Originality/value

The current study is the first to explore how (rather than, why) consumers exploit firms' return policies and fraudulently defraud retailers. As such, a fundamental and stark contribution centres on the finding of widespread, recidivist fraudulent returning among those interviewed. Ten facilitators of fraudulent returning were identified, providing rich insights into how customers are able, successfully, to return used and damaged products.
How price image dimensions influence shopping intentions for different store formats
Authors: Zielke Stephan
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how five price image dimensions influence shopping intentions for different store formats.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 306 espondents evaluated three stores from a list of 18 retailers on a multiple‐item scale, resulting in 918 price‐image measurements. Based on these data, a covariance structure analysis in Mplus analyses the direct and indirect impact of five price image dimensions on shopping intentions. A multiple group analysis identifies differences in the effects between store formats.

Findings

The impact of image dimensions differs substantially between store formats. For discount stores, value for money is by far the most important image dimension. For supermarkets, price level and value are equally important, but price perceptibility and price processibility are also relevant. For organic food stores, value is most important, followed by price processibility and evaluation certainty. For the weekly market, price perceptibility plays a key role in explaining customers' shopping intentions.

Practical implications

The results carry several implications for retail pricing practice, as they indicate that retailers should not focus exclusively on price level competition. Depending on the store format, retailers should attach importance to the price image dimensions in varying degrees.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by: advancing price‐image measurement; modelling direct effects on shopping intentions; analysing a number of different indirect effects in an integrated model; and taking the moderating effects of store format into account.
Consumer cynicism: antecedents and consequences
Authors: Chylinski Matthew , Chu Anna
Published: May 2010

Purpose

By examining the behaviours of cynical consumers and the factors that give rise to them, the paper's aim is to highlight the potential impact of consumer cynicism on firms and to investigate the possibility of influencing the evolution of those behaviours over time.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi‐method approach uses five focus groups, a survey, and a longitudinal experiment to explore the behaviour of cynical consumers experiencing different patterns of goal/value (in)congruence with the actions of a firm.

Findings

Progressive development in the frequency and severity of cynical behaviours results from repeated incongruence between consumers' goals or values and firm actions. Value incongruence has a greater effect on the severity of cynical behaviours. Recency effects remove cynical behaviours when the underlying drivers of cynicism are reversed.

Research limitations/implications

The results are based on consumers' behavioural intentions, requiring a degree of subjective interpretation to quantify the severity of consumer behaviours.

Practical implications

Because of the potentially severe nature of cynical consumer behaviours, the study helps managers to gain a better understanding of these behaviours, their source, and how to monitor their frequency, severity, and development over time.

Originality/value

Several facets of consumer cynicism are examined that have not been explored together previously, including drivers, cognitive/affective mechanisms, and the pattern of resulting behaviours. This approach provides managers with a tool to predict how consumers will react to a given situation and suggests actions to mitigate these reactions.
The effect of consumer confusion proneness on word of mouth, trust, and customer satisfaction
Authors: Walsh Gianfranco , Mitchell Vincent‐Wayne
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Consumer sovereignty assumes that consumers have adequate product information and are able to understand that information in order to make an informed choice. However, this is not the case when consumers are confused. Recently, Walsh et al. identified dimensions of consumer confusion proneness and developed scales to measure these dimensions. Drawing on their concept of consumer confusion proneness, this paper seeks to examine consumers' general tendency to be confused from marketplace information and its effect on three relevant outcome variables – word of mouth, trust, and satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The reliability and validity of the consumer confusion proneness scale was tested on the basis of a sample of 355 consumers, using confirmatory factor analysis. The study employs structural equation modelling to examine the hypothesised relationships.

Findings

The results show that the consumer confusion proneness scale has sound psychometric properties and that the three dimensions of similarity, overload, and ambiguity have a differential impact on word of mouth behaviour, trust, and customer satisfaction.

Practical implications

The findings have implications for marketing theory and management, as well as consumer education. Marketers may apply the consumer confusion proneness scale to their customers and assess which dimension is the most damaging in terms of the three marketing outcomes examined.

Originality/value

This is the first study to test Walsh et al.'s consumer confusion proneness scale and to extend their work by analysing the effect of the three construct dimensions on three key marketing outcome variables.
Double jeopardy in brand defection
Authors: Wright Malcolm , Riebe Erica
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test whether brand defection shows double‐jeopardy effects, and whether stochastic models provide useful benchmarks of expected brand defection rates.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach takes the form of an empirical study of brand defection in four markets using panel data, comparing the performance of simple OLS models with a stochastic model.

Findings

Brand defection shows double jeopardy. Almost all brand defection in the markets studied could be explained by the category examined and the market share of the focal brand. A stochastic model of choice fits these data well, and provides many further practical and theoretical applications.

Practical implications

The study provides improved benchmarks for brand defection, allowing managers to spot whether their brand is performing better or worse than expected. It also allows better analysis of market structure for subscription services, especially under dynamic conditions, and better estimation of customer lifetime value when defection rates are not known for all brands.

Originality/value

The paper closes a gap in the brand defection literature by showing that a given level of defection is a natural characteristic of any market, subject to within‐market variations dominated by market share. Recent work has overlooked these points, resulting in unrealistic goals for customer defection programmes and inefficient estimates of customer lifetime value. The paper also provides a method of defection analysis that can be deployed by numerate managers and market researchers, and used as a basis for further academic work.
Ability of heating to enhance water uptake in wood/plastic composites
Authors: Mitsuhashi June , Morrell J.J.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Wetting wood plastic composites (WPCs) prior to testing can be challenging because of the inherent water repellency of the plastic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of heating and wetting to accelerate moisture uptake on two WPCs.

Design/methodology/approach

Full size samples of the two WPCs were immersed in water at various temperatures or heated in an autoclave. Samples were removed periodically and dissected to determine the moisture profile by oven drying and weighing.

Findings

Moisture uptake is accelerated by heating, but the effect is mainly confined to the outer 5 mm of the samples. Moisture levels deeper in the samples are largely unaffected.

Research limitations/implications

Moisture uptake can be enhanced by heating, but the inability to increase moisture levels deeper in the wood suggests that tests assessing the role of moisture on WPC properties should use thinner specimens to ensure that moisture is well distributed in the materials.

Practical implications

The results suggest the need for a re‐evaluation of test methodologies for WPCs where moisture uptake is an integral part of the procedures to more closely align the methods to the WPC/moisture behaviour.

Originality/value

This paper will help researchers develop better methods for assessing the role of moisture in WPC behaviour.